Hi All,

Advice needed

Our 2007 XS is fitted with Bridgestone Turanza er30 235 65 R 17 tyres and in the frost, wet or snow the car handles simply terrible. It slides all over the place even with TR set to snow and ice. The spare tyre is a Goodyear Wrangler.

My last Freelander TD4 was fitted with Michellen Sycro's which were amazing in all weathers and when i occasional toom the vehicle off road.

Does anyone else have this problem with there car or is it simply fitted with the wrong sort of tyres? I have googled them and it appears they are a summer tyre.

What tyres do other people have? The car have occasion green laning use and some off road. Cannot wait for Driffield!

Would anyone recommend Wranglers? Gone S383 ABA Freelander 2.0 XEDI Rioja Red
Gone NT02 CUA Freelander 2.0 TD4 ES Blue
Gone ND06 URU Freelander 2.0 TD4 Rimini Red
Gone NA56 VJN Freeelander 2.0 TD4 Black
HERE OE07 JRX Freelander 2.2 TD4 XS Rimini

Hi Bone,

I am on Vredestein Snowtrac and my Freelander feels solid as a rock!
I even drove down a skislope in Germany without chains and without a problem.

Good luck!

Wheatonshunter

Wrong sort of tyres!
That tire is a summer tire, at most handles well on wet, but it is not even close to a snow/ice tire.
In temperatures below 5 deg. celsius, it will harden like plastic and will slip like hell.
Get a winter tire for snow and ice. Not even an all season. Those also are crap on ice. A winter tyre!
A winter tire is made from special rubber that is much softer and also has more small transversal lamelas.
See here: http://www.vredestein.com/Onlineadvies_vee...p;FaqID=27

Bone,
Strange tyre choice, I currantly have Continental cross contacts fitted and they are a great road holding tyre in any condition (fast cornering) inc the recent snow and ice, previously I had goodyear wranglers M+S fitted and they were also a great allround tyre,

I have Continental "Cross Contact Winter Heavy" fitted. These are their Cross Contact winter tyre specifically developed for heavier vehicles like for example Land Rover's as opposed to lighter normal family cars. They are superb.

As Alex has already said -fit proper winter tyres, anything else is simply asking for trouble and a waste of money in snow, ice and very cold temperatures. My own extra snippet of wisdom is to fit winter tyres that are designed specifically for heavier vehicles if you drive a Land Rover.

Thanks for your comments.

I bought the car in the middle of January when we had the worst snow in an age, and these tyres were already fitted to the car and they are only six months old.

So from what i have read, the car should handle well in the snow it just has the wrong tyres on.

Looks like i better get some priced up.

Any UK lads have any comments on how their Freelander copes in this weather we are having at present Gone S383 ABA Freelander 2.0 XEDI Rioja Red
Gone NT02 CUA Freelander 2.0 TD4 ES Blue
Gone ND06 URU Freelander 2.0 TD4 Rimini Red
Gone NA56 VJN Freeelander 2.0 TD4 Black
HERE OE07 JRX Freelander 2.2 TD4 XS Rimini

my Continental cross contacts UHP hadle fine in the snow, a slight bit of slip on ice, but you expect that as they are not 100% winter tyres

Previous car ran Wranglers M+S without any problems aswell Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Factory fit Goodyear Wrangler M+S and are superb in the little bit of snow we get.

Will the Goodyears be OK for all year use?

Seem a bit cheaper than the Conti's.

I can get them through work. Conti's are £155.45 and Wranglers are £117 each

Think it will be Wranglers as i had these on one of my Freelander 1's and they seemed good. Gone S383 ABA Freelander 2.0 XEDI Rioja Red
Gone NT02 CUA Freelander 2.0 TD4 ES Blue
Gone ND06 URU Freelander 2.0 TD4 Rimini Red
Gone NA56 VJN Freeelander 2.0 TD4 Black
HERE OE07 JRX Freelander 2.2 TD4 XS Rimini

I also use Wranglers (as fitted from new) and found them ok in the snow and ice until faced with this:

Click image to enlarge

My experience is that Conti Contacts are a little better than Wranglers in winter conditions. I'd suggest you take the ones you have off the car until April. Get some cheap alloys with Contis for the November-March. There's often very good deals on wheels with tyres and you'll have to buy tyres eventually anyway.

Conti's or Wranglers are fine for all year round road use, Very grippy, quiet and smooth on tarmac & great in snow, no real need for summer & winter tyres over here even in the recent snow, my village was cut off from the town-except for Freelys

Agreed. M&S tyres are fine in the UK for all year use, but as Bone already has inappropriate tyres for winter, it would be worth swapping to a more useful set of boots. Once he's worn the summers out, replace them with M&S and maybe sell the other set to recoup some cost.
Personally, I'm sticking with a 2-set option since I suspect our winters might be more severe in future, so I'll be running on true winter tyres for winter rather than all-rounders. It takes half an hour and a trolley jack to swap them - no biggy.

Bone,
I have Michelin latitude tour hp at approx 4mm And apart from sheet ice they where very good in the snow over the past months see my Gallery, off road not to sure its not been to muddy when I have been off road.
I may try the Michelin Cross tires next ??? Cost approx £151.00
Has anybody tried these tires out ???

Bone wrote:

Will the Goodyears be OK for all year use?

Seem a bit cheaper than the Conti's.

I can get them through work. Conti's are £155.45 and Wranglers are £117 each

Think it will be Wranglers as i had these on one of my Freelander 1's and they seemed good.

For £155.45 each they should at least come with brand new 19" Triple Sport Alloys fitted.... mine did!