Member Since: 08 Aug 2008
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 37
Tell me about using winter tyres please
As a newly proud Disco owner Im keen to be able to run all year round
Im looking to buy a spare set of rims to put 'winter' tyres on
I figure this isnt such a waste of money as it means my summer tyres will last longer
The Vredestein Wintrac Extreme gets rave reviews and some of you even seem to be using it all year round
Now Im actually happy to swap my own wheels around in October/April and am lucky enough to be able to store the fallow set so I really only want something for winter
Im not talking major Alpine trips either
Just a tyre to give half decent grip on the 3 snowy days we're due next winter LOL and to give more security chewing through a few thousand miles when its cold, wet and occasionally icy
I totally dont want a hardcore pure snow tyre - I want something that will be happy and safe doing 500 miles at speed up the motorway network without complaining or disintegrating
Is the Vredestein the best compromise?
And at what temperature is it sensible to swap them?
The Vredestein website isnt clear
About 20 yrs ago, I put some old snow tyres (inadvertantly movedfrom US to OZ) on the back of a ute (pickup?) just to see what happens on a 43C day in Port Hedland. They lasted about 3kms and left gooey treadmarks on the road (yes, this occured before I got acclimatized to Aussie-strength beer ). The road surface measured about 70C (what us engineers call the "black surface temperature" when designing heat exchangers, etc). So here's your upper limit. I would think twice about using any snow/winter tyres in Spain, parts of France, certainly Morocco. The failure could have been in the structural bits, not the tread.Jim Dowell - D4 HSE TDi, 12,000 hydraulic winch & hidden winch mount, MTRs, TyreDog, Traxide 2 x aux battery system, fixed air compressor, Dolium roof rack, MitchHitch.
RIP 2005 D3 HSE V8 5 seater gold (stolen and torched)
14th May 2009 3:54 am
AJS4X4
Member Since: 30 Mar 2008
Location: Surrey
Posts: 3224
We have customers using the Vredestein Wintrac all year round with no probs.
After having issues in the snow earlier in the year on my wranglers I decided to swap all my tyres out. Have gone for Vredestein Wintrac. Didn't have the money or patience to buy a separate set of winter tyres. Haven't had the chance to try them out in snow yet but as a road tyre they are fine, not noisy and seem to handle well. I have done about 5-6k miles in mine now.
14th May 2009 6:42 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72788
Did loads of roads up here in proper norf this year with MTRs & they were excellent!!! Driving thru foot of fresh snow, compacted ploughed stuff and part melted then refrozen slush (at -20c and with great care) all perfect. Was going to get winters but just use the muds for that and playing in the gloppy stuff.
I've just fitted a set of Vredestein Wintracs an they're staying on all year. Much better than the Pirelli's I took off, with no road noise and excellent grip on and off road. Couldn't recommend them highly enough
Click image to enlarge
Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
Remember that winter tyres make use of those fine sipes on the edge of the tyre to "hold on" to snow, giving better grip. If you use them all year around you'll wear those sipes down a lot quicker.
On the continent, a winter tyre is no longer classified as such once the grip gets below 5mm for this very reason. So you can run them new in winter, all through the summer, but come the next winter they may no longer qualify as a winter tyre if the tread has dropped enough.
I have a set of Conti Winter Contacts on 18" rims and they were blinding in snow, ice and in the wet. I changed back to summer tyres about 4 weeks ago. If temps are regularly below 10degC then stick your winters on. Once your above that and through the damp part of spring you can switch back to your standard tyres.I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
14th May 2009 8:48 am
AJS4X4
Member Since: 30 Mar 2008
Location: Surrey
Posts: 3224
These Vredestein's are a very good tyre and only good feedback from our customers, value for money too.
Agree, the Vredestein seems to tick the boxes as a great summer tyre right down to the standard legal limit. It's the winter tyre aspect that people need to be aware of, particularly re. those fine snow/ice sipes that run across the tread as they have less depth than the main tread (which is designed to handle wet roads).
At the price I'd say they're a cracking buy. Given the weather in this country, and how greasy the roads can get after a late spring shower, I personally would consider them ahead of a pair of Scorpion Zeros as a single-use tyre I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
The feedback from many Vredestein Wintac users is that the tyre lasts for 30K + miles in UK conditions, which is twice as long as the Scorpion (on a D3). The Scorpions on mine were useless in the snow - only the D3's excellent traction control allowed me to make progress on them, so a tyre optimised for snow, but also highly capable in other conditions, with half the wear rate, ticked all the right boxes for me. And they were £60 per corner less that the Scorpions, fitted The higher pressures that the Wintrac runs at seem to improve economy slightly as well - up by about 0.5mpg since fitting.Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
14th May 2009 10:18 am
Brede
Member Since: 17 Apr 2008
Location: Norway
Posts: 53
I've run the Vredsteins this winter and I'm frankly a bit dissapointed.. But it might be that road conditions in Norway differ from what you guys experience. And I suspect that my problem wasn't the tyre, but the weight of the car. We get a lot of icy conditions and with a 2.5 ton vehicle spikes are the only way to go.
I've just put on a new set of MTRs and will try these out next winter, but these are probably even worse so I'll end up buying some spiked ones I guess. Anyone tryed inserting spikes into the MTRs?
BTW I found the Vredsteins not very strong off road. Pretty good grip, but after 15 minutes of medium off roading I had two flats. The sidewalls seem pretty weak, but I'm no expert.
But I have to say that the Vredsteins were excellent in dry snow, very good grip. And they work a treat on the black stuff too.
14th May 2009 1:39 pm
garyr
Member Since: 29 Oct 2007
Location: Bucks
Posts: 182
Just removed my Vredestein Wintrac Extreme and swapped back to summer tyres now - so I dont keep all year round.
I put on the Vredestein's in November and remove around April - superb tyre.
Fantastic in the UK when we had both bad ice and snow. Also drove to Slovakia and back at Xmas.
Cant recommend them highly enough. They are now in storage for later on this year
BTW I found the Vredsteins not very strong off road. Pretty good grip, but after 15 minutes of medium off roading I had two flats. The sidewalls seem pretty weak, but I'm no expert.
Maybe that's why they recommend such high pressures?Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
14th May 2009 9:01 pm
cold_n_wet
Member Since: 05 May 2009
Location: Bergen
Posts: 1509
I can only share my experience with the Defender, I use Cooper discovery M+S without studs.
These are great tyres, but due to the excessive salt used on the roads here on the coast they need cleaning often.
The salt gets into to the treads, and binds salt and tarmac residue.
I use a proprietry tread cleaner and the tyres are back to there good grips again.
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). The road surface measured about 70C (what us engineers call the "black surface temperature" when designing heat exchangers, etc). So here's your upper limit. I would think twice about using any snow/winter tyres in Spain, parts of France, certainly Morocco. The failure could have been in the structural bits, not the tread.
The higher pressures that the Wintrac runs at seem to improve economy slightly as well - up by about 0.5mpg since fitting.
