Winter tyre set

The road I live on is a bit treacherous in winter (steep turning bend usually crammed up with peoples cars when the snows start) so I'm thinking about getting a set of steelies with some decent winter tyres.

The motor came with a set of General Grabber AW 255/65/R16 on its alloys, and these are looking a bit tired but still look to have some miles left on them (replace next summer I think).

Any recommendations for the winter set? Grabber AT2's seem to be a good bet from what people are saying here, but what steelies do i need and what tyre size?

Cheers.

General Grabber AT2's are not winter tyres, they're all terrain tyres. Winter tyres are different altogether and look like normal road tyres, except they're made using extremely soft compound rubber. They're certainly no use off road and no use in temperatures above 7 degrees celsius either. Hence, you don't see many cars fitted with them here in the UK. Despite getting a couple inches of snow in the winter, the UK is certainly not the Northpole so I'd say that winter tyres are generally not worth it here. Though, the likes of Kwik Fit will still try to convince you that you need them.

What I would recommend is having all terrain tyres, such as General Grabber AT's or BF Goodrich all terrains if you're desperate for more beefy looking tyres. All terrain tyres are the jack of all trades, but master of none. Given that the UK has such diverse weather conditions, I think all terrains are the most ideal tyre type for any 4x4 that sees dirt from time to time. (unless you spend 60%+ of your time mud plugging in which case you'd be better off with mud terrain tyres)

Btw the General Grabber AT2's are good but they're old and have been replaced by General Grabber AT's. (Yes, AT's are newer than AT2's - no idea why they called them that but it's annoying because most people on here still speak of AT2's.)

i have bought these ready for the winter, atm and last winter the disco has bfg all terranes which where ok in the snow but have had series trucks in the past with similar tyres to these with better traction so i am going to give them a go and see what they are like.

just need to get them painted before i fit them.

OK cheers for that Rich, I'm completely clueless on all this (as you can tell). So, should I bother with a set of steelies or just replace the existing tyres - the vehicle will be used to tootle between hudders and the lake district many times in summer which is why I was thinking of keeping 2 sets.

Cant see the point in painting them, the tarmac will wear it off.

storm99 said:

Cant see the point in painting them, the tarmac will wear it off.

Click to expand...

Muhahahahahaha

cornish rattler said:

i have bought these ready for the winter, atm and last winter the disco has bfg all terranes which where ok in the snow but have had series trucks in the past with similar tyres to these with better traction so i am going to give them a go and see what they are like.

just need to get them painted before i fit them.

Click to expand...

Those will be of an even harder compound. Although I'm sure they will be great in deep slushy snow, they probably won't be very good on compacted snow or ice. If anything, they'd probably be worse than normal all terrain tyres. I'd stick with all terrains given that you're more likely to encounter compacted snow and ice.

Bennehboy said:

OK cheers for that Rich, I'm completely clueless on all this (as you can tell). So, should I bother with a set of steelies or just replace the existing tyres - the vehicle will be used to tootle between hudders and the lake district many times in summer which is why I was thinking of keeping 2 sets.

Click to expand...

Do you have nice alloys on at the moment?

When I upgraded to all terrains on my last car, I just sold my wheels with the standard road tyres on ebay (as the tyres still had life left on them) and bought cheaper wheels (of a different size) and put all terrains on them.

My gov'ner has got himself a Jag XF, which was rubbish in the snow last winter.

So, he has ordered a set of Winter Tyres for this year...guess how much...

£1250 per axle.....are you sure?

Well it's a company car and he ownes the company.

I still can't get over that price tho.

Didn't any problems last year with my Goodyear GT+4 all season tyres they were standard fitment on D1's when new, and they have the snow and rain symbols, but with the soft compound 18,000 miles and thats for the front tyres.
The snow symbol (blue pic below) on tyres is now a requirement in Germany in the winter and other 'snow' countries as well now.

RichM said:

Do you have nice alloys on at the moment?

When I upgraded to all terrains on my last car, I just sold my wheels with the standard road tyres on ebay (as the tyres still had life left on them) and bought cheaper wheels (of a different size) and put all terrains on them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the alloys that are on are in good nick, I'd rather keep them than have done with em.

Ok, so still the magic question, what would be the best size AT tyres to get for snow, something thinner? And what's the most readily available 2nd hand steel rim size? Or is this a dumb question?

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the info.

We had a set of Cooper STT's on our Defender last winter, in soft snow they were excellent and not too shabby even on packed ice and compacted snow.

However, as mentioned above, these are mud tyres, not winter tyres (which has a super soft compound e.t.c). If you have the cash and feel, for your safety you really need them, pick some winter tyres up as you can't put a price on staying safe. Just don't get too cocky with them (basically the opposite of what JC would do).

We live on a crescent off a short dead end road that branches from a B road, the B road is always kept clear as its a bus route, but our road and crescent NEVER get salted or ploughed. I'd salt it myself if the greedy ****ers at the bottom of the road didn't nick all the salt for their drives every time it looks like snow, seriously!

The first 100m into our road system from the B road is a pretty steep hill with a slight kink, and it's a nightmare getting up and down this in snow because everyone on the estate parks at the neck making it even narrower, this was a big contributing factor to us buying the disco.

Given that my wife will be driving the vehicle a lot in winter (unless I cave and buy her a gaylander) I really want something decent on for snow, BUT, I don't think a true winter tyre is for me because I'd like a set that will last a few seasons, sounds like a true winter tyre would lose tread quick in the UK

From what's been said above I'm thinking the best option is just a set of decent AT tyres on steels that I whack on in Oct/Nov and take off in Feb.

RichM said:

Those will be of an even harder compound. Although I'm sure they will be great in deep slushy snow, they probably won't be very good on compacted snow or ice. If anything, they'd probably be worse than normal all terrain tyres. I'd stick with all terrains given that you're more likely to encounter compacted snow and ice.

Click to expand...

If the tyres are anything like the colway machos (same tread pattern) that I had on the 110 last year they will be fine. They were actually marked as an M&S tyre even though they were an MT tread.

Bennehboy said:

Yeah, the alloys that are on are in good nick, I'd rather keep them than have done with em.

Ok, so still the magic question, what would be the best size AT tyres to get for snow, something thinner? And what's the most readily available 2nd hand steel rim size? Or is this a dumb question?

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the info.

Click to expand...

its a bit of a never ending argument with tyre size just get the size you already have. Steel wheels come in 16" and....................






16" so not really much choice but you do get plenty of choice with tyre sizes.

OK, Ta

Bennehboy said:

The road I live on is a bit treacherous in winter (steep turning bend usually crammed up with peoples cars when the snows start) so I'm thinking about getting a set of steelies with some decent winter tyres.

The motor came with a set of General Grabber AW 255/65/R16 on its alloys, and these are looking a bit tired but still look to have some miles left on them (replace next summer I think).

Any recommendations for the winter set? Grabber AT2's seem to be a good bet from what people are saying here, but what steelies do i need and what tyre size?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

I have a full set of general grabber at2's on 255,55,18's and they performed great last year in the snow, even pulled a large lorry up a hill no issues.

Settled on a set of Grabber AT2's in 255/70/16 on black modulars from Craddocks:

Dippypud said:

My gov'ner has got himself a Jag XF, which was rubbish in the snow last winter.

So, he has ordered a set of Winter Tyres for this year...guess how much...

£1250 per axle.....are you sure?

Well it's a company car and he ownes the company.

I still can't get over that price tho.

Click to expand...

Has he told his insurance company, it’s a modification away from the manufactures specification and some insurance companies will not allow it.

Land rovers don’t follow the same rules as it’s expected for them to have off road tyres.

We have Avon Ice tyres on my daughters car (sorry it’s a Suzuki Jimny) and they are amazing in the wet, snow and general winter conditions, also having spoken to the man at the Avon factory, we run these tyres all year round.