Winter just around the corner - tyre advice

[Sootchucker]

HI all,

As this will be my first winter in the Rocco, and as it seems we are destined for a lot more freezing temperatures and lots of snow, (sorry for being depressing ), I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on driving the Rocco in these conditions.

Last year where I live in the north west, we had a ton of snow and temperatures for a couple of weeks that dropped to -10° to -17°C. At the time I had a MK5 Golf 2.0 GT TDi, running 225x40x18 GoodYear Eagle F1 Assymetrical's (were brand new in November of last year so only had about 2k miles on them when the snow hit, so almost new). TBH, the Golf was crap in these conditions, and gave me more than one heart in the mouth moment. Even the slightest incline would defeat the Golf with the front wheels just spinning. My local council (Warrington), had obviously not heard of a thing called grit, so even some quite major "A" roads near me were death traps for quite a few weeks.

Now I appreciate that the F1's are not a winter tyre and that had a huge amount to do with it, but is the Rocco worse, and did anyone drive last year in these conditions on the Pirelli self sealers that I have on the Rocco ?

Anyone use a dedicated set of winter wheels and tyres, or is it a case of park the Rocco up and use public transport or Shank's pony ?

Cheers.

[Shaun]

I would say the Rocco will be as bad as the golf, my edition 30 was terrible in the snow, i expect the Rocco would be even worse as it has 19's on it, lucky for me though is i have a spare set of talladegas with these babies on.

[Sootchucker]

Now that's just showing off Shaun

[ReubenGT]

I think I'm getting some 16" steels and winter tyres this year. Some of the snow and cold driving last year was scary. Tyres become pretty affordable if you're willing to run steels over winter. ~ Had a quote for around £600 for all four on steels with JINYU tyres. The bloke recommended them over better know brands.

Has anyone heard of this make?

[coullstar]

Winter tyres are the way forward. I have to laugh at the costs now, I bought my first set a few years back and they were cheap as helll for brand name, now you struggle to get unknown brands for a good price. Access to cheap wheels helps but Im just fitting some Hankook 18's to my original front wheels. I will see what its like with front wheels only, might be quite good with some sideways action.

[Komar]

mine will be on GY UG8

[mike-p]

I'll be running on 205 17 50 Michelin Pilot Alpins for the next 4-5 months. The standard summer tyres were OK last year through the 4-5 weeks of snow and ice, but this year I'm not risking it.

[Deacon]

Mine arrived today - Nokian WRA3's in 235/45/17

[b0rk]

I think I'm getting some 16" steels and winter tyres this year. Some of the snow and cold driving last year was scary. Tyres become pretty affordable if you're willing to run steels over winter. ~ Had a quote for around £600 for all four on steels with JINYU tyres. The bloke recommended them over better know brands.

Has anyone heard of this make?

I didn't pay much more for 4x 19" vredestein wintrac's back in june without wheels much like shaun's actually so £600 for four 16" sounds expensive, then again at this time of year winter tyres do become remarkably expensive.

You can for example get any of the choices below for similar money 16" steel wheel fitted with a brand name tyre...

BF Goodrich g-FORCE WINTER 205/55 R16 94H M+S marking BSW £646.80 delivered
Avon Ice Touring 205/55 R16 91T £572.00 delivered.
Firestone WINTERHAWK 2 EVO 205/55 R16 91T M+S marking £ 598.80 delivered.
Pirelli W 190 Snowcontrol Serie II 205/55 R16 91T ECOIMPACT, M+S marking BSW £668.80 delivered.

[Shaun]

my 19's cost me £125 each last year.

[ayeaye]

my 19's cost me £125 each last year.

Got a good deal there! My Kumhos on 18"s that I bought this year were approx £135 each but that included fitting.

[Shaun]

my 19's cost me £125 each last year.

Got a good deal there! My Kumhos on 18"s that I bought this year were approx £135 each but that included fitting.

yes when winter set in they went up to £200.00 each

[mhadley82]

I struggled at times last winter in my MK5 gti, struggled to get up hills etc on the standard tyres so i'm thinking about getting some winter tyres this year for my scirocco, but for a decent brand in the 235/35 R19 size they seem to be very expensive. I think it was michelin pilot alpin PA2 ones that were about £330 per tyre including fitting!, so that's over £1300 for all 4 tyres. Wondering if it's worth it because that's a hell of a lot of money, or if I should just get some auto-socks which i've used in the past and are very effective in my opinion.

Only problem with auto socks is they are really just designed for emergency use I guess, to get you out of trouble, because once you have got off snow roads and then drive onto gritted roads with them, they will start to get trashed.

[smikko]

Ok, when it comes to winter tyres, here's a few good to know's:

The narrower the better. 235/35/19's aren't a good idea grip wise since they will spread the weight of the vehicle on a much wider surface. Many people here in sweden use 15 or 16 inch with a 175 to 195 profile.
Increased height of the tyre is also good to get out of the snow and when decreasing the tyre size (for example from 18 to 16 inch wheels, you need the increased height to maintain the rolling ratio (circumferrence) of the wheel.
So basically everything about winter tyres and dimensions is opposite to the summer mindset. This is if you're interested in good grip on snow and ice. On a car like the scirocco, who would want 15 inch wheels right? It would make it look like a goddam skateboard.. But 17 inch with a 205/50-225/45 profile would be sound and a good mix between grip and cosmetic appeal. Or at least leave it at 18's.

When it comes to mixin summer and winter tyres, this is a really bad idea. Keeping the grip on your fronts and completly loosing it on your rear when turning on slippery roads can surely become a death trap. Here in sweden it's illegal, even. All your tires must be winter tyres during the winter and if you have tyres in different conditions it is recommended to put your best ones on the rear axis of a FWD car.
Not trying to be a smart ass or anything, just minding your safety guys... And If you had snow and cold last yearyou should consider your safety and invest in some proper winter tyres. The best ones are Nokian hakkapeliitta R, Michelin X-ice, Goodyear ultragrip +. Those are made for nordic conditions and are close to the stud variants in performance nowadays. For most of you guys, I guess something like Nokian hakka..yeah see above for spelling it's finnish;) WR would be a good option. Or pirelli zottozero. The cheap brands are generally not in par with the premium brands when it comes to winter conditions but surely much much better than hard rubber summer tires that goes plastic hard in low temperatures..

Happy and safe winter driving from sweden!
It's time to get mine on up here for sure...

[Shaun]

You agree that 19" winter tyres are better than 19" summer tyres in the snow though?, i know that smaller and skinnier tyres are better but i have no wish to put skinny 17's on my scirocco for 4 months every year, i would rather leave it at home and bus it to work

[Deacon]

I also don't think the smaller, narrower wheel and tyre combo is so relevant to us anyway - fair enough it won't be as good in snow sticking with the stock size but only 15% of our winter is apparently snow and ice so it's not as important as if we were in a Scandinavian country with much more snowy and icy winters.

[RoccoScientist]

The best ones are Nokian hakkapeliitta R, Michelin X-ice, Goodyear ultragrip +. Those are made for nordic conditions and are close to the stud variants in performance nowadays.

Close on snow, slightly better on bare asphalt, still worse on ice. Continental is also a good winter tyre brand, btw.

I had only lost a couple of studs from my 205/50R17 Continentals last winter, so all I need to get this year is a snow showel. My Scirocco was often something of a snow plow last winter already (never got stuck, though!) and now it's lowered by about 20 mm... Even so, I can't wait for the winter to arrive. It'll be fun to see how the XDS changes things.

(Picture from last year. Apologies for the bad quality. The snow on the car had appeared overnight and took some time to brush off [minding the paintwork, of coure], but once that was done I was happily on my way to work - well, as happy as one can be going to work on a cold, gray winter morning. )

[Komar]

actually, I am taking Continetal T830

[SherlockQQ]

Indeed two front tyres that have worn in the middle where's the best place to buy them from vw wanted to charge me 225.00 per tyre !!!!!

[Cuprabob]

Indeed two front tyres that have worn in the middle where's the best place to buy them from vw wanted to charge me 225.00 per tyre !!!!!

Try Camskill:-)