Winter Tyre Size?
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So what's people going to buy then?
I'm tempted with Vredestein Wintrac Extremes. I've used them before and though they're a premium tyre they are really good. However I've also had recommended a Hankook winter tyre. At £35/tyre cheaper - that's £140 overall and these offered as a good alternative by a tyre fitter who fitted them to his own vans last winter.
Open to any other suggestions from people with experience of other tyres.
I'm tempted with Vredestein Wintrac Extremes. I've used them before and though they're a premium tyre they are really good. However I've also had recommended a Hankook winter tyre. At £35/tyre cheaper - that's £140 overall and these offered as a good alternative by a tyre fitter who fitted them to his own vans last winter.
Open to any other suggestions from people with experience of other tyres.
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Current thinking is Dunlop Winter Sports (they still seem to come out best in tests and do everything well) on OEM wheels. Like we did with the Civ VTi. They're expensive - for good reason.
The rationale being, you get optimum handling on the better winter days and don't have to suffer skinny, ugly steel wheels.
Yes, the Pirelli -1 concept (sic)is usually applied to winters, but that's in harsher climes where snow is a lot more prevalent.
The rationale being, you get optimum handling on the better winter days and don't have to suffer skinny, ugly steel wheels.
Yes, the Pirelli -1 concept (sic)is usually applied to winters, but that's in harsher climes where snow is a lot more prevalent.
Did quite a bit of research on this for my previous car (Hyundai SIII Coupe 2L 2007) which just happened to have exactly the same size tyres/wheels as our stock GT86 has (that I have now sitting in my garage keeping me happy!Targ86 said:
The main recommendations are for thinner, higher profile (better compliance) tyres run at lower pressure in the snow or on ice (this also tied in with my previous experience in international group B rallying from an earlier time in my life) and actually, even the Hyundai recommendation for the Coupe (for snow/ice) was the combination which gives as close to the same rolling circumference as possible (in this case less than 1% difference) so that it doesn't mess the speedo up too much.
The combo was 195/65 x 15 on 6Jx15 rims which gives the less than 1% difference to the stock 215/45 x 17 (on 7Jx17 rims)by the time you marry the tyres/rims together. It also has the added advantage that since the difference is actually a tiny (<1%) bit smaller, there are no clearance issues as a result (and of course the width is a lot thinner too).
On my Coupe, I originally had Goodyear Eagle F1 (3rd Gen) 215/45R17's on which were expensive and a brilliant tyre in the dry and wet but once the temperature sank below -6C for extended periods (like it did last year up here in Scotland) they suffered the same as many other tyres on the market with lower real rubber content compound. So, I went to the Hyundai dealer and ordered 4 stock 6Jx15 steel wheels at the surprisingly low price of £65/wheel (inc. VAT) and then picked up a set of Avon Ice Tourer 91T tyres at another dealer. Once on the car(during that cold period)and set to 30psi all round (stock were 36f/33r) the transformation was incredible and the grip levels on ice were amazing. Whilst others were slithering around, having a hard time getting up hills (I live atop one!) and generally having a problem even stopping, I was just cruising serenely by and having no problems at all...
The great end to this story is, guess what? the Coupe also uses 5 stud wheels which just happen to be identical spacing to the GT86!
Yes I know, steel wheels look a bit naff but I'd prefer to be able to handle the snow/ice and to heck with the cosmetics for a couple of months...
Edited by: CPN
Will they clear the brake calipers though? I bought a 16" Subaru space saver and have tried it on the front on mine (see here) and it had about 6-8 mm clearance from the caliper. If the wheels you have are 15" I'd suggest checking very carefully that they don't foul the brake calipers.
I'm very interested to know if they do fit though, as £65 a wheel is the sort of price I want to pay to have a set for fitting winter tyres and like you I don't mind putting up with steel wheels (see my thread here)
AlecEdited by: keelerad
I'm very interested to know if they do fit though, as £65 a wheel is the sort of price I want to pay to have a set for fitting winter tyres and like you I don't mind putting up with steel wheels (see my thread here)
AlecEdited by: keelerad
Just using Mk1 eyeballs, they (disc/caliper) look to be about the same size as the Coupe (if anything, the Coupe's looked slightly bigger) but of course I will be checking... (I'm more worried about the offset - vertical line across the face of the inside of the rim vs. disc/caliper)keelerad said:
For you, I plan to do a "dry run" check later this week so I'll let you know how it goes...keelerad said:
Colin
dont forget to check the centerbore size as well. you might need a fresh set of centric rings to make them fit. which still makes it a much cheaper deal than for most of usCPN said:the Coupe also uses 5 stud wheels which just happen to be identical spacing to the GT86!So, I have 4 nice part worn (2 winters so far) tyres sitting in the garage alongside "BimBam" just itching to get on there when the weather turns a bit bad...![]()
The only thing I need to check before using them in earnest is to make sure that the hub offset is within tolerance for the GT86 for those rims...![]()
lucky devilWell, believe it or not they do! However, and I think its worthy of an AAARRRGH!! here, my previous rough measurement was a bit off in terms of the stud spacinggt_sjo said:
Intriguingly, I used one of the front hubs to offer up the 15" wheel and even though I couldn't push it right on (because of the spigot spacing), I could see that it would clear thecalliperby a similar spacing to what Alecdescribed earlier for the 16" wheels!
So, since there is at least another 3 or 4 winters left in my Avons, I'll have to pop over to that other thread where someone mentioned someSubaru 15inchers available somewhere...
Colin
Edited by: CPN
Bitten the bullet now that we've started to experience those cold frosty mornings this week. I actually had the heated seats on this week. Mmmm nice....
Anyway ordered the tyres and once their in stock shortly, they'll be fitted on Monday.
Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme
Anyway ordered the tyres and once their in stock shortly, they'll be fitted on Monday.
Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme
yes. original size winter tyres fitted to the original wheels.
there's no reason to fit horrible heavy steel wheels on such a good looking car. I've always swapped tyres onto original wheels on my cars, even with much larger width and much large diameter.
there's no reason to fit horrible heavy steel wheels on such a good looking car. I've always swapped tyres onto original wheels on my cars, even with much larger width and much large diameter.
Could be a bargain? I like the look of that tread pattern actually... It's the "microsipes" that do the trick on fresh snow... It's a bit like the woollen mitten effect on snowballs and is the same trick that snowsocks use. The finer you can get that pattern, the more drag you get on snow - and that's the objective after all... It's what I like about my Avons. When on and you drive over fresh snow, you can actually see it working in the tracks that are left behind... almost a textile finish to the surface of the snow - like a fine weave. Gives awesome stopping power on ice also.lordgrover said:
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