Winter Tyres for road use not off road

[Airforceone]

Need some advice on the above.

Never had winter tyres before but looking into getting a set along with alloys to swap over
during the winter months.

I have a 2013 Grand Vitara SZ5 so size is going to be 235/55/18 on 8Jx18 rims the standard wheels are 225/60/18 so not a massive difference.

Been looking at Nokian WR SUV 3 or Bridgestone Blizzak DM V2, both are about £100 a tyre
and have excellent reviews.

Can anyone comment on these tyres or give suggestions on other brands.

Cheers

[donkeychomp]

Never too sure what tyre companies mean by 'winter' tyres. Are they all terrains with another name? Most of us here use M/T's all year round...not only are they fantastic in the mud/snow, they seem to work very well on the road in every day use. I'd go for a set of mud tyres full time.

[Airforceone]

As I'll only be doing normal road/motorway driving I need which ever tyres I get to be relatively economical
Most off road tyres aren't unfortunately. The tyres I mentioned are specifically for suv/4x4's and get high ratings on tyre reviews.co.uk.

What may help is if someone can verify if 16 inch wheels will fit on a 2013 GO, this might help my decision on tyre size. It came with 18 inch as standard.

[Jordi]

Don't bother wasting your cash on "winter" tyres, its a con.

If your only driving on motorways or "normal" roads standard road tyres are fine.

I used my '58 plate GV on low profiles (20" rims) in all weathers, all road conditions.

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[Anton]

I have to agree with Jordi - winter tyres are a bit of a con. Almost no-one I know of has ever fitted "summer" or "winter" tyres - they just fit good all round tyres and they're done with it.

If you're interested in fuel economy, look at some low rolling resistance tyres perhaps?

And Jordi - that GV looks like someone bobtailed it! I LOVE how that thing looks, I've never really been into GV's but that looks a bit sexy!

[dan_2k_uk]

Winter tyres do work on compacted snow or ice.

What we normally get over here is a bit of snow overnight that warms up and turns to slush by the end of rush hour.

The way snow tyres work is that all the tiny slits fill with snow which is the best thing to grip more snow (imagine making a snowball)

As soon as the conditions change away from that you may as well be on a decent set of ATs with high silica content as if there's no fresh dry clean snow to fill the slits then snow specific tyres won't have much benefit.

For deep snow off the beaten track some nice soft MTs all the way.

[RickUK]

Don't bother wasting your cash on "winter" tyres, its a con.

If your only driving on motorways or "normal" roads standard road tyres are fine.

I used my '58 plate GV on low profiles (20" rims) in all weathers, all road conditions.

image.jpeg

@Jordi,i do like the look of that GV that you use,have sent you a PM.

Have never seen the need in using Winter tyres or even the expense especially on a 4x4,i would have said that is say Norway/Sweden those types of countries that have long snow duration then that would be a good/wise move but here in the UK we only get the odd flurry and in the last 2 years have never got stuck or had traction problems.I run bog standard road tyres and not even AT tyres on my Vitara,cheap as chips and works fine for my needs,never got bogged down on any of the farms that i visit.

[Tramp]

I've never had winter tyres but I know that some people swear by them and they would be throwing their toys out of the pram at this thread! And that's fair enough, they make them for a reason and if people want to invest why not, unfortunately Because im a tight Yorkshire man I try not to part with my money unless it's necessary, therefore my daily drive tyres are the cheapest money can buy and my SJ sits on remoulds....... So I'm probably not the best person to give tyre advice, unless of course you want my standard Yorkshireman logic 'they all do a job, but as they are consumable you'll be replacing them anyway, so why spend a lot?'

[RickUK]

@Tramp,i am of the same wavelength as yourself,i bet you have a combination lock on your wallet as well i have and i am not even from Yorkshire

[ROBBIE]

Not from Yorkshire and I agree with you tramp