I'm looking at getting winter tyres soon but I want to just swap them onto the rims, so need them to be the correct size: 205 / 40 R17 (that's why I included ZS, they have the same size tyres right?)

These are proving quite hard to find online. Here's the best I found so far: http://lovetyres.com/tyre/Bridgestone-Blizzak-LM25/205-40-17

But they only have one in stock. I'll give them a call and see if they will get more soon, but that looks like the best price for a decent quality tyre.

Has anyone bought winter tyres in this size before, and can you recommend a specific tyre and where to get it from?

Uniroyal Rainsports, you won't get better and they aren't that expensive, get them from Camskill, seem to have the best prices.

Uniroyal Rainsports

They're made by Continental, so they should be good, I'll have a look cheers.

Uniroyal Rainsports, you won't get better and they aren't that expensive, get them from Camskill, seem to have the best prices.

But they aren't actually winter tyres.

I suggest that you get a cheap set of 15" wheels, then the tyres will be much cheaper, you'll have a wide selection, complete flexibility of when you use them, they will probably work better in snow, and you won't have the cost of swapping tyres..

Tyres here:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m138b0s7991p0/All_Season_-_Four_Season_-_All_Weather_-_Car_MPV_Tyres_-_15_inch_R15_inch_-_195_50_15_195_50R15

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m95b0s623p0/Winter_-_Snow_-_Cold_Weather_-_Car_MPV_Tyres_-_15_inch_R15_inch_-_195_50_15_195_50R15

On my current car I've been using Quatrac 3s, and they've been good plus I don't need anything more winter orientated here (dry / warm weather running is compromised). Might be different in Yorkshire!

There are only two types of good wintertyres in size 205 40 17, one is the one you posted a link to and the other one is from pirelli. But in my opinion they are not actually good, they are just better than these china things. I have a set of 16" Ford wheels with nokian wr a3 an they are awesome ;)

I thought about getting some winter tyres on other rims, but I don't want to spoil the look of my car for almost half the year. I know that gives me limited choices due to this tyre size being a bit unusual.

Anyway, looks like Pneus have a decent price for the Pirellis at just over £100: http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/car-tyres/pirelli/winter-210-sottozero/205-40-r17-tl-84-h-xl.html

That seems pretty reasonable. Anyone know if that's a good winter tyre? And I've noticed some of the winter tyres I find online maybe aren't the latest designs, because when I went on Bridgestone and Pirelli's sites they have other tyres on there, such as the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3.

Are winter tyres worth it? I've never had anything worth putting them on until I got my ST so I don't know what I'm missing!

Are winter tyres worth it? I've never had anything worth putting them on until I got my ST so I don't know what I'm missing!

I've never had them either and didn't think they were worth it, but someone else mentioned the fact that you're saving your summer tyres the whole time you're using winter tyres instead. So looking at it that way they are worth it, especially when you think they will make driving in snow a lot easier and could even save your life.

I won't start using them until the temperatures are consistently below 7C which is when winter tyres are meant to have an advantage, but might buy them soon because I guess demand will go up as we go into winter. If I spend £400 on a set and they last me 2 or 3 winters I think that sounds like decent value.

Winter tyres. Depends on a number of factors.. Where you live in the UK, how you use the car (long rural commute?) and if you actually must use the car if it snows?

From experience, winter tyres offer much less performance - unless it's icey or snow. In the dry or wet, and above 2 degrees, a decent summer tyre will have the advantage. But in the more exposed parts of the UK, I would certainly have winter tyres on the car for at least 4 months of the year.

In the dry or wet, and above 2 degrees, a decent summer tyre will have the advantage.

Until recently I would have agreed with you, until I saw this:

http://youtu.be/elP_34ltdWI?t=3m20s

The main thing to take away from that is that on a cold wet road, braking from 50mph, a car with summer tyres will be doing 20 mph at the point where it would have stopped with winter tyres. And the temperature during that test was 6 degrees.

Lots of conflicting reports, the link below reflects my experience..

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/All-Season-Tyres-How-Do-They-Stack-Up.htm

An ST on winter tyres in dry and / or warm conditions will not be fun, that's why swapping the wheels is usually the cheaper and more flexible solution.

I bought 15" alloys so I can get reasonably priced Continental WinterContacts :)

Lots of conflicting reports, the link below reflects my experience..

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/All-Season-Tyres-How-Do-They-Stack-Up.htm

An ST on winter tyres in dry and / or warm conditions will not be fun, that's why swapping the wheels is usually the cheaper and more flexible solution.

You're right, that seems to suggest winter tyres only have an advantage in the snow. This is making me have seconds thoughts, I'll have to look into it further.

I've decided to take the plunge this year and get winter tyres. I need two new tyres anyway so decided to go for a full set of winter tyres and then I can buy 2 new summer tyres in the spring.

Been to a local independent tyre fitters, for my ST on 205/40 R17's they initially offered budgets or Continental's at £100+ but managed to find me some mid range Nexen's at £68+vat from their suppliers.

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I've decided to take the plunge this year and get winter tyres. I need two new tyres anyway so decided to go for a full set of winter tyres and then I can buy 2 new summer tyres in the spring.

Been to a local independent tyre fitters, for my ST on 205/40 R17's they initially offered budgets or Continental's at £100+ but managed to find me some mid range Nexen's at £68+vat from their suppliers.

I didn't know Continental did a winter tyre in that size. I've only seen Bridgestone and Pirelli online, except for some budget brands.

Hi, I can speak with experience on the issue of winter tyres. I have had Continental winter tyres on the family Mondeo Titanium X Sport for 3 years. The difference in driving during the winter, not only in snow is like night and day. The tyres are 235/40/18 and I have them on a spare set of alloys. They are superior in every way, when the temperature is less than 5 degrees.

I have just bought a set of Nokian DS3's on steel wheels to go on our Fiesta, now normally like yours it runs on 205/40/17. I have bought 15" wheels with 195/55/15 tyres, this keeps the rolling radius the same so the speedo will still be accurate. Thinner is definitely better with winter tyres, have a look at rally cars running on snow and you will see what I mean.

I got the brand new wheels and tyres for less than £320 from Germany and that included free postage and delivery in 2 days. The tyres were manufactured 6 weeks ago and are date stamped.

A couple of pictures for you.

Cheers Greg, some good information there. I might consider doing the same as you and just swap them on when it starts snowing.

The Nokians were recommended by my colleagues in Germany, they are a Finnish brand, so they know about driving in winter.

The Nokians are awesome and trust me your car is still looking cool with 16" or 15"

This is my ST with winter tyres

That looks good Sven, are those 16" rims?

Yes they are, I bought them from ebay for 350 € :D

I think if I'm going to do it I'll have to just buy the tyres. Even though I could get narrower tyres a lot cheaper, extra alloys would cost way too much and steel rims would look horrible. I'm not in any hurry though, the forecast for the next 2 weeks shows temperatures barely into single figures.

In Germany I'm not allowed to install steel rims on to the fiesta ST, you are only allowed to do this to the normal Fiesta :D

Maybe because of the brakes but I'm not sure. I'm also not allowed to put 15" on.

Over there I was talking about the alloys, which I spend 350€ on. The tyres were 390€ I think.

Does rims and alloys mean the same? (my english isn't good enough sorry...)

In Germany I'm not allowed to install steel rims on to the fiesta ST, you are only allowed to do this to the normal Fiesta :D

Maybe because of the brakes but I'm not sure. I'm also not allowed to put 15" on.

Over there I was talking about the alloys, which I spend 350€ on. The tyres were 390€ I think.

Does rims and alloys mean the same? (my english isn't good enough sorry...)

I don't know why the brakes would stop you from putting steel rims on, when there is a steel spare wheel, unless that is specially designed to fit. And yes rims and alloys are the same thing. We have too many words for them, rims alloys and wheels lol.