Winter tyres fitted!

Leopard680

Leopard680

A2OC Donor
Pirelli Snow Control... My normal choice wasn't available for my wheels! Will be interested to see what difference they make to Alison!
 
You've beaten me to it, and you're in Kent! Have been waiting for the temps to drop <9°C which they now appear to be doing, fitting them this weekend. I've got the same tyres (205/50 r16s) but no insight, first time running winter tyres :) .
 
Fitted mine last weekend. Also got a set of wheels sorted out for Yorkshirehill to fit to her breaking car so that she can fit winters to the 15" Audi wheels.
 
Fitted mine last week, its grim up north you know!
First time iv had snow tyres, Only had the A2 18months and last year it slid and slide'd around on the 17's (I work 7 till 7 so get the cold commutes) + I think light weight car and fat tyres dose'nt allow them to bite into the ice /snow?
One thing were amazed at is the ride comfort, my other half dose'nt want the 17's back on!!
 
Mine'll be going on next weekend as the Daily Express' hysterical articles about freezing Armageddon are getting more frequent. :roll eyes:

It was the experience of winter tyres on 15" rims that prompted me to downsize to 15s all year round. The difference in ride quality is material. Mine wasn't just "firm" on 16s - it felt like something was going to break over potholes. Nothing ever has, mind.......
 
Winter tyres fitted today - Kumho l'zen on 15". Amazing grip so feeling confident now for any icy Yorkshire conditions!

Really pleased to find IDS Tyres ,Mobile tyre fitter called Ian - Chb's recommendation and I will certainly recommend him highly too. Excellent service and professional communication as well as being an A2 fan.

Plenty of work involved this afternoon for IDS. Three sets of tyres transfers between the FSI and Grey 2 as well as removing the tyres on a set for Chb ready for his project car. We checked every tyre ended up in the right place. Started to look complicated with sixteen wheels on the drive!
 
Got my winters on last night too. The mercury was around zero while fitting them, so not a moment too soon. The steels arn't half as good looking as the S3 wheels but definately needed this time of year.
 
Hi, sorry about the late reply! Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 wasn't available in the correct section sadly... The Pirelli's are impressive so far!
 
I fitted my winter wheels a couple of weeks back once the salt started to go down the polished whhels had to come off, second year with these on now Vredesteins extreme winter

Phil
 
I've had mine on since Nov 3. But hey, it's a little colder here in Sweden. We actually have a law that requires you to have winter tyres when the road is considered to be a winter road.
While we are talking about winter tyres. Let's talk about wheel sides. To make us with steel rims a little nicer, and to protect the hubs. What is the proper english word for it? Is it wheel sides? In Swedish, a lot of people confuse hub caps with wheel sides. But that doesn't seem to be the case in english.
 
GuruX said:
I've had mine on since Nov 3. But hey, it's a little colder here in Sweden. We actually have a law that requires you to have winter tyres when the road is considered to be a winter road.
While we are talking about winter tyres. Let's talk about wheel sides. To make us with steel rims a little nicer, and to protect the hubs. What is the proper english word for it? Is it wheel sides? In Swedish, a lot of people confuse hub caps with wheel sides. But that doesn't seem to be the case in english.
Click to expand...

Yes, we (especially the older people!) normally call them hub caps, but that is because years ago the only things that pushed onto wheels were genuine caps that covered the hubs and so the name stuck.

Wheel trims seems to be another option sometimes used here.

Steve B
 
Wheel trim is what goes on the wheel and covers all the wheel and to me a hub Cap is a smaller one that covers just the hub like you said back in the day lol
Cheers Phil
 
Reckon I'll stick my winter steelies on next week - it's still not really cold enough in my part of the UK, but I plan to be venturing up to Derbyshire between Christmas and the New Year, so will want the extra winter grip up there I'm sure.
 
Got my winter tires, Semperit Speed Grip, on the car a few weeks ago. I never had any other winter tyre so difficult to compare. Comfort wise they are really stiff but still feels like they swerve a bit... I overinflated them last week becouse the car was fully loaded with 5 adults and bagage. So that havent helped the comfort, will lose some pressure next time I fill up.

Cant complain when it comes to grip . Gives me some confidence in them. But we mostly have wet snow here, not sure how good they would be on dry snow or ice.

There is a new version of this also, the Speed Grip 2. Anyone tried those?

Anyone else experienced this tires?
 
I'm considering fitting some 195 X 45 X 16 Winter tyres to give me more choice of manufacturer etc.as the 185 50's seem a less common size? The tyres will be premium quality and also be 'T' rated which the Audi Handbook gives as 190 km/h (approx. 118 mph) which exceeds any speed likely. My A2 is a Tdi 75 with OSS running on the standard 16" 6- spoke alloys.

My question is are there any handling compromises running 195 X 45 X 16 instead of the usual 185 x 50 X 16?
Are there any safety issues using 'T' rated tyres on an A2?
 
meriafel said:
I'm considering fitting some 195 X 45 X 16 Winter tyres to give me more choice of manufacturer etc.as the 185 50's seem a less common size? The tyres will be premium quality and also be 'T' rated which the Audi Handbook gives as 190 km/h (approx. 118 mph) which exceeds any speed likely. My A2 is a Tdi 75 with OSS running on the standard 16" 6- spoke alloys.

My question is are there any handling compromises running 195 X 45 X 16 instead of the usual 185 x 50 X 16?
Are there any safety issues using 'T' rated tyres on an A2?
Click to expand...

The speed ratings are almost irrelevant for the A2. The "T" rating, for example, is safe for continued running at speeds up to 118 MPH as you say, but since you would not be getting even close to that they are fine for the A2.

The difference between the two sizes you mention is tiny and so handling should not be affected to any noticeable degree.The 195s are half an inch wider and half an inch smaller in diameter (which is one quarter of an inch effectively, because the important measure is the radius and that is between the hub and the road)

So they should be no different, apart from the wider choice you mention.

Steve B
 
I would not fit 195 45 16 tyres to your rims. I have them on mine (Pirelli) and the difference in size between them and the 185 50 16 Alpins I have on the front axel are significant. I have mine fitted to the rear axel, so thats OK, but when they (eventually) wear out I will fit the "proper" size. These were not available when I originally bought them (the Alpins were imported). For the sake of £10-15 a tyre its not worth going against the proper size guide, especially as theres quite a choice of 185 50 R16 in winter now.
 
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