Hi all,

Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, I tried searching but I got so many results about winter tyres in general, I thought I'd chance this post. If it has, a link would be gratefully received

Me and the missus have just moved back to the UK after living in Norway for 3 years. I got very used to having 4 wheel drive and studded winter tyres (pig tyres!) and the routine of checking them and changing them. Now, while it's pretty normal over there for cars to have two sets of alloys for your summer/winter tyres, it's not over here. We've just bought a SD4 and love it. I'm keen to get some winter tyres for it as well (though not studded natch), but I'm not sure about picking up another set of alloys to go with them...which brings me to:

I heard that some garages or dealers offer a winter tyre service where they store the tyres for you, just wondering what people's experience with them is like, if there's any recommendations, or whether I should just go get another set of alloys...(which would be a nice excuse to pick up a nice set of diamond edged 19" :p)

Cheers!
Mkm

ive run 4x4 for years and never used winter tyres yet i feel as though its just another money spinner for the tyre manufacturer/retialers others have differant views, if it snows that hard that a 4x4 sutch as a freelander cant cope with the terrain its time to stay in for saftey reasons  rainy-city
xs

I've only watched the odd video test in low temperature rainy conditions, so can't really offer much argument there, but after living and driving around the local ski resorts in Voss in deep snow, I would not want to be without them.

However, then we were driving round in a Audi Quattro, this is my first time owning a LR with terrain response so I haven't experienced how effective it is with standard tyres in snow or icy conditions. I can say that the Audi was useless without winter tyres!

I went for the second set of alloys (17") and a trolley jack, and store the unused wheels in my own garage. This will be the first winter with them, though, so I as yet have no experience of the winter tyres.

Having lived in Germany for 2 years, I am a great fan of 2 sets of tyres FOR A CAR. Apart from the added grip and shorter stopping distances another great bonus is that my tyre wear dropped massively as I was using both sets close to their optimum temperatures and so, long term, I saved money too. As for the UK and a 4 x 4, it really depends on your mileage imho and where in the UK you live. I live down south and only do 5,000 per year in my FL2 and 2 sets of tyres would be silly as they would probably be perished before they got to 15 K miles !! FL2 HSE Auto Galway Green
Evoque SD4 Auto Blue.
FL1 HSE TD4 Manual Black - Gone.
RR Classic V8 EFI - Gone

Hi,

I'm a believer in winter tyres. Not just for snow and ice but for cold and wet in general.
I've witnessed many a BMW and Mercedes that was otherwise unusable in the last bad winter to being perfectly usable with winter tyres. What amazes me is why the tyre suppliers and maufacturers aren't shouting about them.
To be honest, if I had known what I know now about how good they are, I might never have ever considered owning a 4X4.
Having said all that, I've only ever had M&S tyres on the Freelander. During the last winter I had the OEM Continentals on and only got temporarily stuck twice. Both times on the flat where there was ice under the snow.
I had to rock the car to get some momentum before it drove out. I'm very tempted to get winter tyres for the Freelander. I've got the other half on Goodyear winters on her Mondeo estate.

Anyhoo, back to the question, I know that Kwik Fit do a winter tyre service whereby they will fit your winters and store the summer tyres for you in a big warehouse in Corby. I'm not sure how much they charge for that though.

Stuart

Thanks Stuart, good to know.
Hmm, still undecided tbh. Pedro's point is a good one, we're working from a home office now so our mileage will likely be very low over the year as well

Hi,

Oh I said that I was tempted by winter tyres for the Freelander but I just can't bring myself to do it. It feels like I'm missing the point of having a 4X4!
I'm on Pirelli Scorpion ATRs on at the moment and although I don't like them, this will be their first proper winter (assuming we get a winter this year). If they're worse than the Continentals I'll jump to a set of winters. If they do ok, I'll stick with them.

Stuart

i live in oldham just at the foot of the pennines and had my freelander for 2.5yrs from new it came with pereli scorpion atr on m&s tyre the first winter ihad the vehicle wich would be 2010/11 we had a fair bit of snow working in trafford park and traveling to and fro to oldham i have to go up a few large hills it coped with ease evan where other 4x4 were getting stuck the freelander just kepted going. all i would recomend you to try and get a free 4x4 off road day from ur land rover dealer and you will see what the freelander can do with standard factory fitted tyres or go to www.landroverexperience.co.uk and purchess a 1/2 day session hope this helps you  rainy-city
xs

Hi Bigalf!

Good to hear you liked the Pirelli Scorpions. I think Martyn has them and likes them too.
I've had problems with mine in the wet and if there's frost. They feel like they have no grip at all.
However, I've still to try them in snow so we'll see.
I did go on a Land Rover experience day in Dunkeld. It was brilliant. I just wish I could blag another voucher.

Stuart

I've used both road tyres and winter tyres in bad weather.
Plenty of grip on road tryes on the flat and uphill.

Trouble is you just can't stop the thing as it weights almost 2 tons. I found stoping downhill on compacted snow on road tyres a nightmare. This was at 10mph and it just kept going till I reached the bottom of the hill. Anything in front or coming the oppisite direction would have been hit by me. Very worrying.

So I got some winter tyres and it's a whole different experiance. Of course driving skill has a lot to do with it, but at least I can now stop downhill and feel i'm less of a risk to other road users. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

I run the standard fit Scorpion Zeroes, not been an issue at all.
Just reached 40k miles with 3mm front and 4mm rear left, have a new set that will go on next week before the bad weather starts.
Plenty of rain, snow, ice on and off road, they have been impeccable.
The FL2 on the LRE course was also on Scorpions, steep grassy slopes, no problem, I find the steering is the biggest issue, you simply get no feedback at all.

Ahem: http://www.avontyres.com/node/3224

Bloody brilliant tyres. Just had them put back on last weekend. They laugh at deep snow, compacted snow, snow with ice underneath, braking on snow/ice etc  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Although the Doc is a bit OTT , i have to agree that winter tyres make a huge difference, particulary when stopping.
Just remember that those behind can't stop as quickly!

Personally i hate driving in the white stuff. Why some fools want to go out and play in snow and ice in thier cars on the public highway is beyond compreshension and downright irresponsible. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Fair points all, being able to stop would be nice

I loved having the winter tyres in Norway. Our first winter there, it hit -34c and didn't get above -20 for over 6 weeks. The roads are ploughed regularly, but you still end with a thick crust on top. Driving on snow over there, everything's just business as usual. Life goes on and it's not a bother, well, aside from the odd occasion where things conspire to form really treacherous conditions but even that wasn't a prob with studded tyres

I like the sound of the Land Rover experience, how does one go about getting one from their local dealer? Is that assuming you've bought the car from them? (which we didn't, we bought from an indie).
I saw another thread selling some vouchers, so maybe that's my best bet if there's any left.

Think I'll see how it goes for now, if it does start bucketing snow down again, I guess I'll rush, in a slow controlled manner, to the local garage.