Winter Tyres?

[MHS]

Hi Bilbo59
From memory both of our Shogun's were supplied new with tyres that had the M&S marking, so were all season tyres and ok on snow.
They were not all terrain, but road based tyres.

 

[Bilbo59]

Hi Bilbo59
From memory both of our Shogun's were supplied new with tyres that had the M&S marking, so were all season tyres and ok on snow.
They were not all terrain, but road based tyres.

The tyres were Pirelli Scorpion Zero, hard wearing and really good in the dry and wet, not so good in mud but seemed to work well in the snow.

 

[PolishPilot]

Just changed for 16" Dunlop Winter Sport directional
(we had -4C tonight):

Little bit more noisy, still no clue what will happen with mileage.

 

[maby]

I would hope that fuel economy would improve slightly - the softer rubber should reduce rolling resistance. It will be difficult to know for sure unless you run a week or so on the summer tyres as well - the colder weather is going to hit the overall fuel economy quite hard and the benefit from the winter tyres will be lost in the overall reduction in economy.

 

[MHS]

Just changed for 16" Dunlop Winter Sport directional
(we had -4C tonight):

Little bit more noisy, still no clue what will happen with mileage.

The standard Toyos are rated E for fuel economy. Odd when you consider it's meant to be a green vehicle!!

The Dunlop winter sport 4D are rated C in the required size, so should improve economy. In theory!!!!

 

[greendwarf]

Just changed for 16" Dunlop Winter Sport directional
(we had -4C tonight):

Little bit more noisy, still no clue what will happen with mileage.

The standard Toyos are rated E for fuel economy. Odd when you consider it's meant to be a green vehicle!!

The Dunlop winter sport 4D are rated C in the required size, so should improve economy. In theory!!!!

Looking on tyre retailers sites, I can't see these described as SUV only passenger - is that OK?

Anyway just ordered 4 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-80 Evo £525.96 delivered from Tyreleader (in Germany?) - scary item about storage on their website though

 

[jdsx]

Anyway just ordered 4 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-80 Evo £525.96 delivered from Tyreleader (in Germany?) - scary item about storage on their website though

I'd be very interested to hear how that works out for you greendwarf. Not heard of them before but the prices seem very cheap

 

[greendwarf]

Anyway just ordered 4 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-80 Evo £525.96 delivered from Tyreleader (in Germany?) - scary item about storage on their website though

I'd be very interested to hear how that works out for you greendwarf. Not heard of them before but the prices seem very cheap

I found them checking out the Dunlops mentioned above and liked the C rating for the wet - most others seem to be E - given I'm more likely to see that than actual snow here in London this winter, but still need the snow rating if I go skiing in February (rash promise to granddaughter so can't really back out :lol: ). They should arrive next week and should have them on the car by next weekend.

Update - tyres arrived yesterday at local fitters, along with the return of Summer here in London (21c today) - so don't know when I'll get to put them on the car :lol:

 

[Bilbo59]

I aim to buy a set of 18" alloys with Vredestein Wintrac 4 Extreme winter tyres fitted and have started researching suitable wheels. Found this web site which may be useful to anyone considering the same approach. It has explanations and calculators for wheel offset, tyre size, rim width etc.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

If anyone has bought non-Mitsubishi 18" alloys and has some pics it would be appreciated. The hardest part is trying to ascertain what alloys will look good. One wheel/tyre site has pics, as stated in another post, but the car isn't a representative colour for my white PHEV.

Also, did anyone ever venture over to Holland and buy some wheels there? The Dutch accessory brochure has the following prices which look pretty good compared to the UK where the 5 spoke rims, without tyres, are about £450 each:

Dutch Accessories Brochure
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.nl/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=8589939645
Winter Wheels Set 18 " 7 -spoke alloy wheels with Hankook 225 / 55R18
winter tires including TPMS sensors
MWHK1465T € 1,745 (approx £1732)

Winter Wheels Set 18 " 5 -spoke alloy wheels with Hankook 225 / 55R18
winter tires including TPMS sensors
MWHK1464T € 2,095 (approx £1649)

 

[maby]

I aim to buy a set of 18" alloys with Vredestein Wintrac 4 Extreme winter tyres fitted and have started researching suitable wheels. Found this web site which may be useful to anyone considering the same approach. It has explanations and calculators for wheel offset, tyre size, rim width etc.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

If anyone has bought non-Mitsubishi 18" alloys and has some pics it would be appreciated. The hardest part is trying to ascertain what alloys will look good. One wheel/tyre site has pics, as stated in another post, but the car isn't a representative colour for my white PHEV.

Also, did anyone ever venture over to Holland and buy some wheels there? The Dutch accessory brochure has the following prices which look pretty good compared to the UK where the 5 spoke rims, without tyres, are about £450 each:

Dutch Accessories Brochure
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.nl/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=8589939645
Winter Wheels Set 18 " 7 -spoke alloy wheels with Hankook 225 / 55R18
winter tires including TPMS sensors
MWHK1465T € 1,745 (approx £1732)

Winter Wheels Set 18 " 5 -spoke alloy wheels with Hankook 225 / 55R18
winter tires including TPMS sensors
MWHK1464T € 2,095 (approx £1649)

Interesting, in passing, that those offers refer to TPMS sensors - I was under the impression that the Outlander TPMS depends on capturing data from the ABS sensors.

 

[Bilbo59]

Just added TPMS sensors to my research list. Need to work out if they should be fitted to any wheel I buy and do they need calibrated for the car!!

Buying alloy wheels used to be easy!!

 

[maby]

According to the manual, the TPMS needs to be recalibrated following a wheel change, but I don't think it uses pressure sensors in each wheel - I believe it uses the rotational data from the ABS sensors to infer tyre pressure.

 

[ian4x4]

According to the manual, the TPMS needs to be recalibrated following a wheel change, but I don't think it uses pressure sensors in each wheel - I believe it uses the rotational data from the ABS sensors to infer tyre pressure.

I think you are right, and as most built in GPS systems also require calibration on tyre change as they have a 'dead reckoning' function for temporary loss of signal.

 

[Rooksdown]

Hi all

I did a bit of research on which winter tyres to fit to the Phev in the UK. There are quite a lot of choices. As the the Phev isn't a tyre munching fire breathing tubocharged 500hp V8 4x4, I ended up selecting a lesser known tyre brand (at least in the UK). So I have bought 4 x Vredestein Wintrac 4 Xtreme 225/55 R18 98V XL, FSL They're specially designed for a 4x4 - and XL stands for eXtra Load so should be fine with the weight of a fully loaded Phev 'sparking' it's way up north at Christmas. I found these tyres on line at just under £100 a corner ( ex VAT) so when they turn up will get my local tyre people to make the swap on the standard rims and store the Toyos.

As a side thought I just wonder if I'm going to have another bust up with my car insurance company? Who when I informed them last year I had fitted winter tyres wanted to charge me £15 for 'modifying the vehicle' !. Didn't I just make it safer? Maybe I should live in Germany..

Cheers

 

[gobiman]

I do have a tyre-munching fire breathing non-turbocharged 380 bhp 4X4 (X5) as my other car and it has had those Vreds as its winter tyres for the last three years. They are fantastic and I rate them highly. I use them for 2/3 trips to the Alps every year and have never had to resort to chains despite some pretty poor conditions. The last 10km to ny destination is above 2000m and usually packed or fresh snow.
Good choice! I've also found they have worn well - now getting on for 20k and still 5mm left.

 

[gobiman]

And just to add, I would suggest getting a set of rims. Personal view but I'm not sure tyres are really designed to be taken on/off twice a year- if you look at the machines that do it, they are pretty basic and rely on force (a bit like enlarged bicycle levers). Can't be good for the tyres and they are such a safety-critical piece of kit.

 

[Ozukus]

In 2010 the Association British Insurers (ABI) issued instructions to insurers that the use of winter tyres should not impact premiums provided that the wheel rims and tyres comply with the vehicle manufacturer's specifications, and any alternative wheel rims are not of a higher value than the originals. They are aware that some people are being asked for increased premiums and believe that this message may not be getting through to some insurer's call centres.

Anyone asked to pay a higher premium is advised to take the issue up via their insurer's complaints process.

So as long as your Tyres are 225/55 R 18 specification fitted to the existing 18" x 7.0J Alloys then you have not modified the car.

If you put lower profile tyres on say 19" rims then this would be a modification or if you purchased say £2,000 18" Alloys then this could also be considered a modification as it has increased the value, which the insurer does need to know about.

 

[BeeJay]

I do have a tyre-munching fire breathing non-turbocharged 380 bhp 4X4 (X5) as my other car and it has had those Vreds as its winter tyres for the last three years. They are fantastic and I rate them highly. I use them for 2/3 trips to the Alps every year and have never had to resort to chains despite some pretty poor conditions. The last 10km to ny destination is above 2000m and usually packed or fresh snow.
Good choice! I've also found they have worn well - now getting on for 20k and still 5mm left.

Likewise - been running the Wintrak 4 Xtremes on my Range Rover for 3-4 winters now and as gobiman says, they are phenomenal on snow, never needed chains since I have had them - usually get 20-25k out of a set. I used to run them all year round as only did 7-8k/year and couldn't be bothered to take them off - they are fine to leave on. They are fantastic in the wet and not too bad on muddy fields either.

First thing I will do when I get my PHEV delivered in the next couple of weeks will be to put Vreds on it...

 

[BeerHunter]

I believe winter tyres are an essential item when the average temperature is 7c or below.
After some research and reading all the reviews, I've just ordered a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D and will have them fitted on Monday.

Kev.

 

[davec]

Have also ordered Vred's for mine, should be arriving tomorrow. Had thought I would put them on the existing rims but I'm inclined to agree with gobiman regarding excessive changing, plus also the cost of 2 changes per year. I've found these well priced (for 18") alloy wheels that are winter rated http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/msw/19/silver/18-inch which I'm inclined to order. Our fleet insurer is Zurich and they have confirmed they have no problem with after-market alloys and winter tyres.