Winter Tyres On Zs 17"

[John21]

Soooo I have been phoning around this morning about winter tyres. No where seems to stock tyres for the 17" optional wheels on the ZS? (205/40 R17)

What is everyone else doing? I was thinking about buying some steel wheels and getting tyres for them...but would rather not spend too much.

[Jack_P]

I have 205/40 R17's on my ST. Are you sure your looking in the right places?

I have some "new" tyres on mine, they are soft compound so not such winter "type" but they tread depth they have is well erm, tractor like

Search Yoko Parada spec-2 and you will see what i mean!

[iNath]

I bought winter tyres & some 15" steel wheels. Think you'll struggle in that size, actually struggle in any size given the demand right now!

[sidge]

Not sure if this will be any use to you, I only have ideas of prices for 15" and 16" tyres. I spent hours phoning round for prices from different people. Might be of use to other people.

BTW Gordon's tyres quoted a minimum 6 week delivery time for some brand I have never heard of.

Kwik-Fit quoted me £280 for 4 15" tyres and £350 for 4 16" tyres - these were Continental and could be fitted almost immediately (I phoned round on Saturday). They also quoted me £200 each for Michelin's. The Kwik-Fit price also included free wheel alignment.

I phoned lots of other places as well but they won't able to quote on them, didn't go to any independent garages though.

Just on a side note, if you do go to Kwik-Fit they offer a tyre hotel service. It is £45 but they will send your summer tyres away to a warehouse for "safekeeping" till you want them back on, then they will ship them to your local branch and refit them for you. Same for winter tyres as well.

[iNath]

I got 4 x Continental WinterContact TS800 from Kwik Fit for £253.

They are 195/50/R15

Date stamped 4110 so fresh out the factory.

[titanium_s_spec]

why are you all buying 4 surely you only need 2 unless they have made a 4wd version of the fiesta.you only need them on your driving wheels which on a fiesta are the front 2 wheels.I bet these tyre places are rubbing there hands with glee.as for kwik fit steer clear.

[Stanhead]

So long as you've got some decent tyres on the back wheels already you should be ok. It's the fronts I'd be more concerned with. The fronts will be the ones that will lose traction while cornering and they're the ones with the good brakes

[iNath]

why are you all buying 4 surely you only need 2 unless they have made a 4wd version of the fiesta.you only need them on your driving wheels which on a fiesta are the front 2 wheels.I bet these tyre places are rubbing there hands with glee.as for kwik fit steer clear.

No no no and no! That can be more dangerous than just sticking with the 4 tyres you have at the moment! No point in having allt the grip at the front for you to loose it at the back and spin round loosing control.

As for Kwik Fit, steer clear for repair work, great for tyres due to their buying power and prices.

[Jack_P]

No no no and no! That can be more dangerous than just sticking with the 4 tyres you have at the moment! No point in having allt the grip at the front for you to loose it at the back and spin round loosing control.

As for Kwik Fit, steer clear for repair work, great for tyres due to their buying power and prices.

+1 at that

The rear will just spin out when you have no grip. Why would you just get two

[titanium_s_spec]

+1 at that

The rear will just spin out when you have no grip. Why would you just get two

utter dinkom the grip and breaking is done on the front of the car unless you use the handbrake to slow down.so the back will not losse grip unless you want it to . when have you ever seen the back of a car just spin out if a car slides tyres would be no good what ever wheels u have them on.

[Jack_P]

utter dinkom the grip and breaking is done on the front of the car unless you use the handbrake to slow down.so the back will not losse grip unless you want it to . when have you ever seen the back of a car just spin out if a car slides tyres would be no good what ever wheels u have them on.

Again

Plenty of times have i seen the "back kick out" of a fwd car, you need to consider the situation such as weather, conditions, road surface, weight shifting. All of these are variables that can change how a car reacts

If the grip and the breaking is done on the front wheels then why would manufactuers put tyres and breaks on the back wheels? Why dont we all just run round on bare wheels and no brakes to see how we get on? I know how we would get on, within 5 seconds we would be in a ditch, plain and simple.

You need all the grip you can get from the back end with a decent pair of tyres or you will have less control on some crappy worn out things if you go into a spin. An example of control is how you should NEVER coast in neutral with no drive, because you have less control over the car than if you were driving with the gear.

You need TWO decent tyres on the front and TWO decent tyres on the rear. End of

[iNath]

You need TWO decent tyres on the front and TWO decent tyres on the rear. End of

+1 ;)

Looks like even Ford are getting in on the action now with a [50%] money back guarantee.Link

Fitting 2 winter tyres to front wheels only? Skip to 0:55 of

.

[sparticus5]

Here's another video that may be of some interest...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YsQ_a_ijA

I live in Scotland and I'm well used to driving in snowy conditions. I've never really had issues with any of my cars and that includes a couple of rwd BMW's and a rwd merc, but this Fiesta is pants, hence I'm looking to purchase winter tyres. But like others, I'm having difficulty sourcing them.

My insurance isn't affected if I replace the tyres like-4-like but I'm wondering what your insurers make of fitting 15" wheels? That's a pretty big change away from std specification, I wouldn't have thought your insurers would be very happy with that?

Not sure if it's the Bridgstone tyres, the fact 17" rubber on such a light car is a bad combo or there's a lack of low down torque on the 1.6 petrol but it seems my car just needs the slightest whiff of snow and it's wheel spin time.

Has anyone played around with the ESP? Turning ESP off helps a little in getting the car out of snow but once on the move the car's all over the place until I switch ESP on again. Weird.

[Jack_P]

Thats the exact video i was looking for! The point well proven :)

[AndrewL]

Another interesting couple of videos...

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/bmw-x3-video-summer-or-winter-tyres/

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/do-winter-tyres-work-video/

[iNath]

Best video yet

.

Wach from 1:25 when they put 2 winter tyres on the front & 2 all-seasons on rear.

[harweyko]

just for comparison Continental Premiumcontact 2 and Pirelli Snowsport 210, do you still think winter pair on front and summer pair on rear will handle well?

[iNath]

And for compairson: Hankook S1 Evo Vs Continental WinterContact TS800

[titanium_s_spec]

ok getting back to this when every body poo hood my thing about putting winter tyres only on the front just been advised by a tyre retailer that it is fine to put winter tyres on the front of a front wheel drive car because that is where the car is driven from.would you like the number.

[iNath]

ok getting back to this when every body poo hood my thing about putting winter tyres only on the front just been advised by a tyre retailer that it is fine to put winter tyres on the front of a front wheel drive car because that is where the car is driven from.would you like the number.

At the end of the day it's up to you, keep his number for when you're in the ditch.

If you're cornering on 4 all-season tyres and you start to slip you can feel it through the steering wheel and can take action to correct it.

If you only have 2 winter tyres on front they will grip fine and you won't know there's a problem until the back slides and you cannot compensate for it.

[Nay ZS]

At the end of the day it's up to you, keep his number for when you're in the ditch.

If you're cornering on 4 all-season tyres and you start to slip you can feel it through the steering wheel and can take action to correct it.

If you only have 2 winter tyres on front they will grip fine and you won't know there's a problem until the back slides and you cannot compensate for it.

That sounds like a bit of a worst case scenario. I agree with having four winter tyres fitted but the ESP (if fitted) will do its very best to stop the car spinning out provding there is at least some grip.

I know this because I had my snow socks on the other day decided to give it a little welly pulling out of my side road on some really slushy snow. Barely any drama. The snow socks on the front and the 17 inch bridgstones on the back create a huge imbalance of grip levels which presume would match the summer/ winter tyre mix.

I say as long as you don't drive like an idiot (ie being aware of the imbalance in grip levels) with the summer/winter mix, have ESP fitted and don't panic if it does slide a little you should be ok.

The snow socks (autosock) I have are amazing. We had really deep snow the other week and tbe car just pulls away in 1st gear with NO wheelspin. As you all know this car is awful on compacted snow thanks to the 17" Bridgstones.

[titanium_s_spec]

blimey i see we are all rally drivers now blimey to front snow tyres are good enough.in a ditch may be you mate but not me because i'll be taking it easy even with my 2 front snow tyres.

[iNath]

blimey i see we are all rally drivers now blimey to front snow tyres are good enough.in a ditch may be you mate but not me because i'll be taking it easy even with my 2 front snow tyres.

Like I said it's up to you. I see you have the Mountune upgrades so assumed you like a performance car/drive a little faster than others. If I was wrong I apologise.

Take it easy and you should be fine but I much prefer the safety of having all 4, don't want a imbalance of grip or different tread patterns on opposing axels.

[John21]

That sounds like a bit of a worst case scenario. I agree with having four winter tyres fitted but the ESP (if fitted) will do its very best to stop the car spinning out provding there is at least some grip.

I know this because I had my snow socks on the other day decided to give it a little welly pulling out of my side road on some really slushy snow. Barely any drama. The snow socks on the front and the 17 inch bridgstones on the back create a huge imbalance of grip levels which presume would match the summer/ winter tyre mix.

I say as long as you don't drive like an idiot (ie being aware of the imbalance in grip levels) with the summer/winter mix, have ESP fitted and don't panic if it does slide a little you should be ok.

The snow socks (autosock) I have are amazing. We had really deep snow the other week and tbe car just pulls away in 1st gear with NO wheelspin. As you all know this car is awful on compacted snow thanks to the 17" Bridgstones.

What are the socks like on roads with minimal snow? Do they just rip up?

I have been looking at them, but a bit worried that they would tear up on roads that have been cleared.

Thanks

John

[Stanhead]

What are the socks like on roads with minimal snow? Do they just rip up?

I have been looking at them, but a bit worried that they would tear up on roads that have been cleared.

Thanks

John

Socks wont damage tarmac (or themselves driving on tarmac at low speeds) but if roads are clear you should try to take them off if possible. If not try not to drive like a nutter and they should be OK for short journeys, but the reason they shouldn't be used on tarmac is that they get hot when driven on anything other than snow/ice.