Changing to winter or all season tyres
Discussion
Has anyone fitted winter or all season tyres to their A110 and been through a UK winter yet, worth it and effect on handling?
My Pure is due shortly and I will probably use it daily so I’m seriously thinking about fitting all season or winter tyres to the Fuchs. I'm not too worried about the 3 days snow we have a year in the UK but where I am in the NE, we have many wet days of low / close to freezing temperatures.
My Pure is due shortly and I will probably use it daily so I’m seriously thinking about fitting all season or winter tyres to the Fuchs. I'm not too worried about the 3 days snow we have a year in the UK but where I am in the NE, we have many wet days of low / close to freezing temperatures.
To be honest, I’ve had Lotus Elise and Exige and various other fast go-carts but have never really considered winter tyres. In the past it’s been down to cost and storage limitations, but it’s one of those things (as I have never tried them) that I have no idea how much benefit they bring in real terms. I guess if you are running semi-slick, barely road legal tyres for road use then it’s pretty obvious that you might want something a bit more grippy.
How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
Coilover said:
To be honest, I’ve had Lotus Elise and Exige and various other fast go-carts but have never really considered winter tyres. In the past it’s been down to cost and storage limitations, but it’s one of those things (as I have never tried them) that I have no idea how much benefit they bring in real terms. I guess if you are running semi-slick, barely road legal tyres for road use then it’s pretty obvious that you might want something a bit more grippy.
How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
The PS4 tyres fitted as standard work (surprizingly) well down to low single digit temperatures, so I've never felt the need though I do drive throughout the winter. I did have a set of winter dunlops for my Cayman which were much better than the Pirellis in cold conditions. Depends on where you live/drive or how hard you want to push it - I'm in the midlands, were I further North or more gung ho I might take a different view.How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
If you are running something like Cup 2s then winter tyres would be a must.
Coilover said:
To be honest, I’ve had Lotus Elise and Exige and various other fast go-carts but have never really considered winter tyres. In the past it’s been down to cost and storage limitations, but it’s one of those things (as I have never tried them) that I have no idea how much benefit they bring in real terms. I guess if you are running semi-slick, barely road legal tyres for road use then it’s pretty obvious that you might want something a bit more grippy.
How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
You raise some good points. How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
Regarding storage, it is costly to own and store an extra wheel set (I still have the winter wheel set for my 997 knocking around unused). Recently though, I have found a local indy garage who are very careful when changing tyres and will store the removed set effectively for free by charging £72 to change the tyres on the existing rims.
How useful winters are really is a function of your personal use case - I had winter wheels and tyres for my 997 as it went up the Alps and lived some of its life in parts of Europe where winters are mandatory.
From personal experience I find PS4s are not that great when its getting damp and cold, but have not used PS4 tyres in winter conditions, so I guess this is what drives my question. ATM I'm leaning more to fitting the Michelin Cross Climate 2 all season tyres.
bcr5784 said:
Coilover said:
To be honest, I’ve had Lotus Elise and Exige and various other fast go-carts but have never really considered winter tyres. In the past it’s been down to cost and storage limitations, but it’s one of those things (as I have never tried them) that I have no idea how much benefit they bring in real terms. I guess if you are running semi-slick, barely road legal tyres for road use then it’s pretty obvious that you might want something a bit more grippy.
How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
The PS4 tyres fitted as standard work (surprizingly) well down to low single digit temperatures, so I've never felt the need though I do drive throughout the winter. I did have a set of winter dunlops for my Cayman which were much better than the Pirellis in cold conditions. Depends on where you live/drive or how hard you want to push it - I'm in the midlands, were I further North or more gung ho I might take a different view.How much real benefit do winter vs summer tyres bring?
If you are running something like Cup 2s then winter tyres would be a must.
I'm swapping Cups 2s for P4S on Monday - not fun in cold and wet conditions.
I've not run winters on the A110 before but I have plenty of experience of the benefits.
Temp is a massive factor, below 5 degC the grip of a summer tyre goes away quite quickly, at 0 deg and below, especially on a wet road, a winter tyre will have a fair bit more grip due to how the rubber compounds behave. So not just about snow.
I've not felt the need for winters so far living in the midlands, but then we have an all season shod car in the household.
Temp is a massive factor, below 5 degC the grip of a summer tyre goes away quite quickly, at 0 deg and below, especially on a wet road, a winter tyre will have a fair bit more grip due to how the rubber compounds behave. So not just about snow.
I've not felt the need for winters so far living in the midlands, but then we have an all season shod car in the household.
I guess a lot of it comes down to awareness in the first place. With non-exotic tyres you just have to be aware that there is slightly less grip in colder conditions and if you hoon it around ,you might end up in a hedge.
You would have thought it common sense, but most drivers have that vacant stare when you mention winter tyres.
My friends from Bavaria HAVE to change theirs; it's the rules over there as with a lot of countries in Europe where altitude/geography combination makes for extended periods of cold weather.
You would have thought it common sense, but most drivers have that vacant stare when you mention winter tyres.
My friends from Bavaria HAVE to change theirs; it's the rules over there as with a lot of countries in Europe where altitude/geography combination makes for extended periods of cold weather.
Swede here — I have winter tyres for my A110 since they're a legal requirement here. Apparently most A110 owners just garage their cars over the winter and don't bother — where's the fun in that?!
Anyway, the Alpine recommended winter tyre (or at least, it was when I bought mine in 2019) is the Pirelli Sottozero 3. Of course, take that recommendation with whatever pinch of salt you think a marketing deal is worth.
I don't drive the car particularly exuberantly when the conditions are wintery, but I'm happy with their performance as a winter tyre — I can turn and accelerate and stop perfectly well, and I've driven through untreated and unplowed roads after a snowfall and been fine.
On my previous car (an MX-5) I had Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32s and was also pretty happy with them.
I'm not sure it's relevant for the conditions in the UK, but I've heard a couple of people here complain that the A110 is a handful when conditions get wintery and icy, even at sensible speeds. I haven't had that, but I put the Life110 geo on it pretty much right away — I wouldn't be surprised if the particular feel that geo aims for also helps manageability in slippery conditions.
Anyway, the Alpine recommended winter tyre (or at least, it was when I bought mine in 2019) is the Pirelli Sottozero 3. Of course, take that recommendation with whatever pinch of salt you think a marketing deal is worth.
I don't drive the car particularly exuberantly when the conditions are wintery, but I'm happy with their performance as a winter tyre — I can turn and accelerate and stop perfectly well, and I've driven through untreated and unplowed roads after a snowfall and been fine.
On my previous car (an MX-5) I had Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32s and was also pretty happy with them.
I'm not sure it's relevant for the conditions in the UK, but I've heard a couple of people here complain that the A110 is a handful when conditions get wintery and icy, even at sensible speeds. I haven't had that, but I put the Life110 geo on it pretty much right away — I wouldn't be surprised if the particular feel that geo aims for also helps manageability in slippery conditions.
I’m tempted to get winters too, Michelin Pilot Alpin 5s, as I think they come in the correct sizes. Not sure about the Alpin 4.
With the arrival of my Life110 wheels fairly soon I’ll be able to just have the winters in the garage through the summer on the Serac wheels which will be nice, and if I get 3 winters out of each set that’s not too bad value for money.
With the arrival of my Life110 wheels fairly soon I’ll be able to just have the winters in the garage through the summer on the Serac wheels which will be nice, and if I get 3 winters out of each set that’s not too bad value for money.
Life110 said:
I've not run winters on the A110 before but I have plenty of experience of the benefits.
Temp is a massive factor, below 5 degC the grip of a summer tyre goes away quite quickly, at 0 deg and below, especially on a wet road, a winter tyre will have a fair bit more grip due to how the rubber compounds behave. So not just about snow.
I've not felt the need for winters so far living in the midlands, but then we have an all season shod car in the household.
I'm also in the Midlands, though we often venture to snowy hills in Wales nearby; the Alpine will stay on PS4's but won't be out in snow and ice, Temp is a massive factor, below 5 degC the grip of a summer tyre goes away quite quickly, at 0 deg and below, especially on a wet road, a winter tyre will have a fair bit more grip due to how the rubber compounds behave. So not just about snow.
I've not felt the need for winters so far living in the midlands, but then we have an all season shod car in the household.
I also have all-season tyres on my Clio Cup for that, and having tried full winters as well, all-season tyres as long as snowflake-rated are very impressive year round being half winter on the inside section, and in the UK provide all the extra grip you'll need unless you're regularly dealing with significant snow and ice combined with hills.
If you're not alone on the road, my experience has been that even with all-season's the main hazard is being stuck behind or run into by everyone else having no clue and spinning their wheels/locking up under braking!
iKenndac said:
I'm not sure it's relevant for the conditions in the UK, but I've heard a couple of people here complain that the A110 is a handful when conditions get wintery and icy, even at sensible speeds. I haven't had that, but I put the Life110 geo on it pretty much right away — I wouldn't be surprised if the particular feel that geo aims for also helps manageability in slippery conditions.
It would be useful to understand exactly what the issue is - ESP systems are pretty effective even in rubbish weatherhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-2UAfsbyZo
Given the cold conditions (as low as -2) and snow today I was interested to see how well the car behaved when you pushed it (just) a bit. All in the interests of science of course. The car is still very communicative and with a decent amount of grip. I was surprized (well amazed actually) that I had no trouble whatsover getting up my snow-covered drive this morning. It's quite steep. (PS4 tyres)
Edited by bcr5784 on Monday 29th November 14:17
iKenndac said:
Swede here — I have winter tyres for my A110 since they're a legal requirement here.
Speaking of which, today was winter tyre day. Time for some sliding about!
My previous car, an MX-5, was a hoot in the snow and ice. Manual gearbox + LSD + rather simplistic nannies meant you could pull some wicked low-speed slides out of the drive in 1st gear. The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
iKenndac said:
Speaking of which, today was winter tyre day. Time for some sliding about!
My previous car, an MX-5, was a hoot in the snow and ice. Manual gearbox + LSD + rather simplistic nannies meant you could pull some wicked low-speed slides out of the drive in 1st gear. The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
Interesting, so it still stops some of the sliding fun with it in Track mode? My previous car, an MX-5, was a hoot in the snow and ice. Manual gearbox + LSD + rather simplistic nannies meant you could pull some wicked low-speed slides out of the drive in 1st gear. The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
tail slide said:
iKenndac said:
Speaking of which, today was winter tyre day. Time for some sliding about!
My previous car, an MX-5, was a hoot in the snow and ice. Manual gearbox + LSD + rather simplistic nannies meant you could pull some wicked low-speed slides out of the drive in 1st gear. The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
Interesting, so it still stops some of the sliding fun with it in Track mode? My previous car, an MX-5, was a hoot in the snow and ice. Manual gearbox + LSD + rather simplistic nannies meant you could pull some wicked low-speed slides out of the drive in 1st gear. The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
tail slide said:
Ah, must have missed in manual - so even if in Track mode press the Traction control switch below the centre screen and relaxes it further?
Yes, the effect is massive in really slippery conditions. I couldn't get any sideways action on the skid pan until the traction control was fully off - then you can drive around on opposite lock to your heart's content.tail slide said:
iKenndac said:
The A110's electronic this and that prevent such childishness, unfortunately.
Interesting, so it still stops some of the sliding fun with it in Track mode? I *think* what's happening is that the car is going "You're travelling at 5mph — you can't POSSIBLY want anything but fully open", whereas the "dumb" mechanical diff in my MX-5 would lock whenever. You can still get the A110 sideways if you mean it, but no lazy 5mph drifts out of a t-junction
Now rolling on a set of Vredestein Wintrac Pro, in the 'normal' (non-S) 18" sizes. Ordinarily I like doing everything by the OE book, but these were about £100 less than a set of Pirelli Sottozeros, and generally review better than those - so what might any of us do?
I have no reference other than the Michelin PS4 summer fit tyres, so it's not surprising that they're "a bit different". What's surprised me more than any differences in steering and handling though, is how much the car struggles for traction. I've not experienced TC on the summers, so initially the sense of 'bogging down' was alarming (particularly when overtaking), and without a flashing light on the dash, it took me a while to understand what was going on.
Of course, conditions are different etc etc, but this seems the most obvious aspect of having changed over so far - it takes several seconds for the TC intervention to finish. Would be interesting to hear if anybody using the OE Pirelli suggestion (or any other winter tyres) is experiencing similar on cold/wet/damp tarmac, during firm/heavy acceleration - do let me know.
Amazingly they've already seen their first snow, which is nice. They were jolly good on that.
I have no reference other than the Michelin PS4 summer fit tyres, so it's not surprising that they're "a bit different". What's surprised me more than any differences in steering and handling though, is how much the car struggles for traction. I've not experienced TC on the summers, so initially the sense of 'bogging down' was alarming (particularly when overtaking), and without a flashing light on the dash, it took me a while to understand what was going on.
Of course, conditions are different etc etc, but this seems the most obvious aspect of having changed over so far - it takes several seconds for the TC intervention to finish. Would be interesting to hear if anybody using the OE Pirelli suggestion (or any other winter tyres) is experiencing similar on cold/wet/damp tarmac, during firm/heavy acceleration - do let me know.
Amazingly they've already seen their first snow, which is nice. They were jolly good on that.
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