chicken george wrote:

The Doctor wrote:

Very true. 17's are standard on my GS and less prone to damage whilst off roading which is fortunate as I go across CG's farm quite often.

Fuzzkaz wrote:

To throw my hat into the ring. I am looking forward to my first winter in a Freelander, and I have invested in 17" Vredesteins, my logic is that including buying 17" alloys off E-bay they were still £160.00 cheaper than a new set of 19" tyres, so I get a full 7mm/8mm of tread to start my winter on rather than the 19's I have part worn. I would rather enter winter with new tyres and save my summer tyres for summer. As an added bonus I get to avoid the salt getting at my shadow chome finish alloys. The number of people you see with legal but only just legal tyres in winter amazes me, anyway as the tyres were only £500.00 for a set I figured I had nothing to lose. Unless they wear out in 10,000 miles or something daft like that.

A very sensible man at last and for all the right reasons  2007 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Manual with Premium Pack & Moonroof.
Stornoway Grey with Ebony Black Pleather, Clear Indicators, Body Side Mouldings etc.

I'm in agreement with the Doctor, never had any problems in my FL2 or D3 with Wranglers in the snow, they're also fitted on the D4 so just waiting for the snow now  ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

Wranglers on the RRS so lets see what happens when the white peril arrives At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

http://www.tyresafe.org/campaigns/tyre-safety-month-2011

Still no replies from anyone who used Continental Contact in the snow in the last couple of winters, any info would be of interest. Gone, 2007 TD4 SE Auto Baltic blue, clear side repeaters, full sized alloy spare.

English by birth..... Yorkshire by the grace of God.

I had them last year for an hour or so in the snow, awful, previous year I had the Good Year Wranglers and was more than happy with them. I didn't expect the Conti's to be any good and they didn't surprise me, wasn't bothered as I had already made alternative arrangements for winter, just hadn't got round to fitting them.

Mine had and still has Continental Contacts on and I had no issues in the snow last year. The front two tyres are about ready for replacement now so I am considering the Grabber A/T or Michelin Latitude Cross for the extra off road ability.

Both mine came with Continental's and were OK in snow but I still found Wranglers better when I fitted them to my first FL2.

Speedway wrote:

Still no replies from anyone who used Continental Contact in the snow in the last couple of winters, any info would be of interest.

I found them pretty good first winter when they new but proved less than useful in snow when they were at 4mm tread so had to go - replaced with GG ATs (very good) but then got a set of winter wheels with Wintracs (which were unstoppable in the last snow). Middle of next month I'll be sticking the Wintracs back on and the ATs in the garage - then wait for the weather

These are the superb winter tyres her Ladyship has on her FL2 - they are labelled as follows:

CONTINENTAL CROSS CONTACT WINTER 235/65 R17 108H EXTRA LOAD

They have been used for 2 full winters here in the Swiss alps. This means that they have been on for 2x 5mth periods in temperatures down to -32°C and over approximately 16k kms. They will be mounted on the 6th October for their third winter of duty. All 4 are showing excellent durability with plenty of deep tread left. They performed as their test result predicted. In the top 3 of winter tyres independently tested by the TCS, ÖAMTC AND ADAC motoring organisations (Swiss, Austrian and German) and they do know a great deal about snow and winter tyres.

You pay's your money and you takes your choice. Theses are our choice. When the time comes to buy a new set of winter tyres I will review the latest test results and again choose a tyre that comes in the top 3 of all the tyres tested that year. Maybe on the next occasion it will be Conti again - maybe not - only time and a through independent test result will determine that.

Have fun, but be safe in the snow.

Thanks for the replies guys, Will have to see how the Continentals perform, UNLESS I can persuade ere in drawers that I really need an extra set of wheels and wintracs.........watch out for sparks flying. Gone, 2007 TD4 SE Auto Baltic blue, clear side repeaters, full sized alloy spare.

English by birth..... Yorkshire by the grace of God.

Mine also had conti 4x4 contact m&s on for the last 2 winters and had no probs at all, even on compacted snow. Changed them for 4 new grabber A/T's a few months ago.

Fuzzkaz wrote:

To throw my hat into the ring. I am looking forward to my first winter in a Freelander, and I have invested in 17" Vredesteins, my logic is that including buying 17" alloys off E-bay they were still £160.00 cheaper than a new set of 19" tyres, so I get a full 7mm/8mm of tread to start my winter on rather than the 19's I have part worn. I would rather enter winter with new tyres and save my summer tyres for summer. As an added bonus I get to avoid the salt getting at my shadow chome finish alloys. The number of people you see with legal but only just legal tyres in winter amazes me, anyway as the tyres were only £500.00 for a set I figured I had nothing to lose. Unless they wear out in 10,000 miles or something daft like that.

I had this debate this time last year as all 4 tyres needed replacing and I ended up going for the 17" wintrac 4's. My plan was to get a another set of alloys the following may with summer/more mud orientated tyres fitted. Having never got round to the second set I have ended up running the wintrac 4's all year round and they have been brilliant in deepish snow, standing water, the bit of a summer we had and light off roading. i've done approx 12-13k miles with the tyres so far and looking at the tread I'll easily get another 12-15K out of them. i also found the vredsteins £15 a corner cheaper than the factory fitted 17" M&S tyres

there are winter tyres on the market which would perform better in tough snowy conditions (like in the alps), but for the weather we get in the uk the vredsteins are an all rounder that I really think you cant go wrong with. also i live quite rural at about 1300ft, so ive had a good chance to try them in the snow

I was apprehensive to go for winter tyres but no regrets, so must be happy with them