Winter tyres on my Tuscan
Discussion
Had a set of 235/40 Conti WinterContacts fitted to my Tuscan last week. After the weekend and a 350 mile round trip to a very cold and snowy Lincolnshire, the verdict is most certainly a thumbs up.
They offer uncanny levels of grip on typical winter wet and greasy tarmac, in fact they feel almost as good as my summer tyres (F1 Asymmetrics) do in the summer. They don't track quite as well but there's not much in it. Not in the least bit wobbly, slidey or scarey. Not to mention on the snow and ice where they just go where you want to go. They're also much more controllable when you decide to have a bit of slidey carpark fun too. Just to give you an idea of the grip, full throttle in second right up to the red line on a wet and slimey winter road and there's no slip. Same with heavy braking and cornering. Try doing that with summer tyres in these conditions without some brown trouser moments.
Only issue I found, unsuprisingly, was ground clearance....the front splitter ends up being quite a good snowplough!
So if you still want to use your TVR safely in the winter, a set of appropriate tyres (and a good waxoyl) will ensure you can.
I wonder if that plum in the X5 wildly spinning all fours that I just drove around managed to get out of the carpark or if he's still there?
They offer uncanny levels of grip on typical winter wet and greasy tarmac, in fact they feel almost as good as my summer tyres (F1 Asymmetrics) do in the summer. They don't track quite as well but there's not much in it. Not in the least bit wobbly, slidey or scarey. Not to mention on the snow and ice where they just go where you want to go. They're also much more controllable when you decide to have a bit of slidey carpark fun too. Just to give you an idea of the grip, full throttle in second right up to the red line on a wet and slimey winter road and there's no slip. Same with heavy braking and cornering. Try doing that with summer tyres in these conditions without some brown trouser moments.
Only issue I found, unsuprisingly, was ground clearance....the front splitter ends up being quite a good snowplough!
So if you still want to use your TVR safely in the winter, a set of appropriate tyres (and a good waxoyl) will ensure you can.
I wonder if that plum in the X5 wildly spinning all fours that I just drove around managed to get out of the carpark or if he's still there?
Hi dvs_dave.
I'm interested by your post as for some time have been thinking about putting winter tyres on the Tamora (as will be running it throughout the winter).
Are you using the same wheels and if so what size are they? Can I ask approximately what a set of winter tyres set you back.
I've got 18" wheels on the Tam and tyres for this size seem pretty pricy. Thinking of picking up a set of 16" wheels and putting the winter tyres on these. Can anyone advise whether a change from 18" to 16" would mean that the geo etc would need setting up again (if so would seem to defeat the object of being a DIY exercise).
I'm interested by your post as for some time have been thinking about putting winter tyres on the Tamora (as will be running it throughout the winter).
Are you using the same wheels and if so what size are they? Can I ask approximately what a set of winter tyres set you back.
I've got 18" wheels on the Tam and tyres for this size seem pretty pricy. Thinking of picking up a set of 16" wheels and putting the winter tyres on these. Can anyone advise whether a change from 18" to 16" would mean that the geo etc would need setting up again (if so would seem to defeat the object of being a DIY exercise).
I just swapped the tyres on the existing 18" spiders and put my summer tyres in storage for the season. I went down a bit in width from the 255/35/18 summers to 235/40/18 winters which where £170 a corner fitted though Kwikfit online.
I also have a Tuscan S with the bigger brakes so 16" wheels wouldn't fit anyway.
As it happens a separate set of 16" wheels and winter tyres was A LOT more expensive than just swapping the 18" tyres. As it happens a set of 16" tyres isn't much cheaper than a set of 18" tyres like for like.
I also have a Tuscan S with the bigger brakes so 16" wheels wouldn't fit anyway.
As it happens a separate set of 16" wheels and winter tyres was A LOT more expensive than just swapping the 18" tyres. As it happens a set of 16" tyres isn't much cheaper than a set of 18" tyres like for like.
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