All season / winter tyre choice dilemma

T

TFG

A2OC Donor
My never-ending rebuild is nearing completion and I'm on the lookout for a set of 15" pepperpots. Question then is, with what rubber to shod them?

I'm tempted by a set of CrossClimates but I don't see them listed in anything other than high Load Index & XL ratings, which isn't going to do the ride quality any favours in a light car like the A2. I want something for comfortable winter driving and may well get some proper summer rubber next year for the set of 16" SE wheels that are on the car at the moment. For the pepperpots though, Goodyear Vector 4Seasons can be had in lower LI (84T) and so can the Continental TS860. I'm surprised to see that the Conti's are cheaper than the Goodyears in spite of their excellent reputation as a true Winter tyre, which is usually a sure sign of a higher price tag. 185/60 size seems to be a sweet spot for pricing; a good choice of brands, speed ratings etc.

Does anyone have a recommendation, or if you've recently bought similar tyres, can you let me know what you went with?
 
I’m currently using Kleber all weather which I’m happy with, road noise is quiet and wear is good. In the past I’ve used Vredestein good grip but road noise a little to loud for my liking.
My wife’s car has Goodyear Vector 4Seasons fitted seem to be ok, but I’d go for conti’s next time round mainly because of good reviews and I haven’t tried them before.
Ross
 
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On my winter 15” pepperpots, I am running Michelin Alpin A4 185/60 R15 88T. Obviously it is an old tyre, but there may be some out there. It was very well reviewed when a current model
 
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I'm on 16" SEs throughout the garage - so this post is a bit tenuous given the 15" rim original post. Last year I got a set of 185/55/16 Nexen Winguards fitted the first week of December. They were a godsend with the snow up this way last spring and I can thoroughly recommend them, even though they don't have the highest scores in a few tests I've seen compared with Premium brands at double the price per tyre. I have also picked up a set of 1-season-used Michelin Alpin 4s in the 195/55/16 size a few weeks ago from an online place that re-sells German lease-car company winter tyres every summer - will be interesting to compare.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I'm not sure it's clarified anything for me though as everyone so far has suggested a different tyre! o_O

I'm also surprised that most are going with "full winter" tyres rather than the currently in-vogue "all seasons" types. I thought I'd get a blanket "Michelin CrossClimate, end of" response. Not so much as a single mention so far though...

Yes @spike - tyrereviews' YouTube channel is very watchable, isn't it? The guy has a laid back way of presenting, which I quite like.

Anyway, keep the suggestions coming. I'm still undecided!
 
TFG said:
Thanks for all the responses. I'm not sure it's clarified anything for me though as everyone so far has suggested a different tyre! o_O

I'm also surprised that most are going with "full winter" tyres rather than the currently in-vogue "all seasons" types. I thought I'd get a blanket "Michelin CrossClimate, end of" response. Not so much as a single mention so far though...

Yes @spike - tyrereviews' YouTube channel is very watchable, isn't it? The guy has a laid back way of presenting, which I quite like.

Anyway, keep the suggestions coming. I'm still undecided!
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Auto express did an all season tyre test and included a full winter Conti and summer Dunlop for comparison. Surprisingly the top rated all season tyres gave very little away in the 'snow' tests - https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/acces...season-tyre-test-20172018-results-by-category

For me the Goodyear all season is the perfect tyre for UK roads It's better in wet and cold conditions than a summer tyre and gives little away in snow when compared to a full winter tyre. Michelin Cross Climate would be top of my list if they offered an alternative to the 'XL' construction, which, as you say, is likely to compromise ride quality on a light vehicle

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
Auto express did an all season tyre test and included a full winter Conti and summer Dunlop for comparison. Surprisingly the top rated all season tyres gave very little away in the 'snow' tests - https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/acces...season-tyre-test-20172018-results-by-category

For me the Goodyear all season is the perfect tyre for UK roads It's better in wet and cold conditions than a summer tyre and gives little away in snow when compared to a full winter tyre. Michelin Cross Climate would be top of my list if they offered an alternative to the 'XL' construction, which, as you say, is likely to compromise ride quality on a light vehicle

Cheers Spike
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@spike are you running those Goodyear all season tyres? If so, what is wear like? Reviews seem to think Michelin CC have long lives.
Thank you, Andrew
 
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We have 185/65/15 Nokian WRD4's on pepperpots for the winter months and will probably wait until the end of October before fitting them.

Was thinking of trying the 195/65/15's but decided on the 185/65's instead.
 
Howdy Ay 2 said:
We have 185/65/15 Nokian WRD4's on pepperpots for the winter months and will probably wait until the end of October before fitting them.

Was thinking of trying the 195/65/15's but decided on the 185/65's instead.
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Do 185/65's fit without rubbing?
 
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