Tyre & wheel options for winter driving UK?

[Craiglxviii]

Thanks for all the advice. There's a set of wheels & winter tyres advertised locally for £550, but to save money I might just keep my current wheels and change the out of date tyres (one is 17 yrs old!!) to all season 225/45 17R tyres and just leave them on.

So to confirm, a set of 225/45 17R tyres will happily fit on my rear 8.5J ET30 wheels?

Why all seasons? They’re the worst of both worlds really nowadays, average come rain, shine or snow…

 

[Dale Stevens]

Why all seasons? They’re the worst of both worlds really nowadays, average come rain, shine or snow…

Or a financial compromise

 

[Craiglxviii]

Or a financial compromise

A financial compromise would be to just get good summer/ rain tyres instead. They’re far better for year-round use and not much worse than all-season for winter use. For the 5 days per year that you’ll be worried about driving in snow, unless you live on Ben Nevis that is

That’s what I do, I’ve stopped bothering with different sets of tyres/ wheels and not seen any difference to driving safety in winter.

 

[Craiglxviii]

NB that includes conditions like these (Rainsport 3s fitted).

 

[Dale Stevens]

View attachment 78814
NB that includes conditions like these (Rainsport 3s fitted).

Do they handle ok in the snow too, or do you try to avoid driving in snow for the few days we get it?

 

[Dale Stevens]

Just spoke to the wife (who uses the CLK for work sales appointments etc) about her expected use of the car during winter. Whilst she could avoid going out when there is snow on the ground, there is a likelihood she finds herself away from home one day and it starts snowing and she needs to get home, so I need to factor this in when choosing tyres. An advantage with winter tyres is they are good at cold temperatures regardless of snow.

Of course an alternative option to having two sets of wheels is having just the one set, but have two sets of tyres, and find a garage that is happy to just swap them over twice a year. I'm guessing the might charge £10 - £15 per wheel?

 

[Chrishazle]

Doing that you also stand the risk of them damaging a rim when changing the tyres - as happened to me when buying the S204 and MB Ashford (the seller) took the previous owner's winter tyres off and fitted his summer tyres they'd been storing for him - damaging one of the rims in the process. OK, they fixed it, but in the process one wheel bolt (the locker) was not refitted, so I again had the hassle of getting the car to them and they had to supply a full new set of genuine MB lockers!!

 

[AnthonyUK]

Just spoke to the wife (who uses the CLK for work sales appointments etc) about her expected use of the car during winter. Whilst she could avoid going out when there is snow on the ground, there is a likelihood she finds herself away from home one day and it starts snowing and she needs to get home, so I need to factor this in when choosing tyres. An advantage with winter tyres is they are good at cold temperatures regardless of snow.

Of course an alternative option to having two sets of wheels is having just the one set, but have two sets of tyres, and find a garage that is happy to just swap them over twice a year. I'm guessing the might charge £10 - £15 per wheel?

They are not so much of a compromise as people make out.
Check out some tests. The Crossclimate2 which isn't the top choice but decent all-round has 95%+ performance of a summer tyre and is significantly better not just in the snow but for the months when the temperature is below 7ºc.
The tests linked below for example use a Summer and Winter tyre in their All-Season tests as controls and while you do need to check what they are using, they do tend be be decent choices generally.
A decent all-season may have a stopping distance of 1-4m more in the summer but this is also true of quality vs budget tyres.
In the snow though the crossclimate2 stopped at least 15m shorter than the summer.

Plenty of test data available to make your own informed decisions.

2020 Tyre Reviews All Season Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

With the promise of one tyre to work in all conditions, all season tyres are a rapidly growing market segment. To find out which of these all season tyres is best, and whether they can match a ...

www.tyrereviews.com

2021 Auto Bild All Season Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

The 2021 Auto Bild all season tyre test has tested sixteen of the best all season tyres in the popular 225/50 R17 size.Auto Bild are the European leaders in tyre testing, and go to lengths with their ...

www.tyrereviews.com

 

[JBell]

Just spoke to the wife (who uses the CLK for work sales appointments etc) about her expected use of the car during winter. Whilst she could avoid going out when there is snow on the ground, there is a likelihood she finds herself away from home one day and it starts snowing and she needs to get home, so I need to factor this in when choosing tyres. An advantage with winter tyres is they are good at cold temperatures regardless of snow.

So is the Rainsport 5 due to it's higher Silica content

Front

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s16p188143/Uniroyal_Tyres_Car_Uniroyal_RainSport_5_-_225_45_R17_91Y_FR_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_C_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_71dB

Rear

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s18p188339/Uniroyal_Tyres_Car_Uniroyal_RainSport_5_-_245_40_R17_91Y_FR_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_D_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_71dB

Of course an alternative option to having two sets of wheels is having just the one set, but have two sets of tyres, and find a garage that is happy to just swap them over twice a year. I'm guessing the might charge £10 - £15 per wheel?

I would think you are looking at £15 a tyre twice a year so £120 a season to swap tyres over, makes 2 sets of wheels a better proposition

 

[Craiglxviii]

Do they handle ok in the snow too, or do you try to avoid driving in snow for the few days we get it?

They were fine in the snow. I usually throw a couple of 25kg bags of sand in the boot to get better traction, but as that image shows, driving in thick snow wasn’t a problem- we took the car out later that day.

 

[Dale Stevens]

They would be

7Jx16 ET37 fitted with 205/55R16 91V
8Jx16 ET32 fitted with 225/50R16 92V

On winters put the 7Jx16 ET37 fitted with 205/55R16 91V all round

Would 7Jx16 and ET31 alloys fit at all? Some for sale locally at this size.

 

[JBell]

Would 7Jx16 and ET31 alloys fit at all? Some for sale locally at this size.

Yes, no problem at all

 

[Dale Stevens]

Yes, no problem at all

Thanks, I bought the wheels today, quite cheap as they need refurbishing.
They came with 205/55 R16 & 225/50 R16 tyres but I'm going to get new winter tyres fitted, I think you suggested 205/55R16 91V?
Will check they fit ok tomorrow and them get them refurbed.

 

[JBell]

Thanks, I bought the wheels today, quite cheap as they need refurbishing.
They came with 205/55 R16 & 225/50 R16 tyres but I'm going to get new winter tyres fitted, I think you suggested 205/55R16 91V?
Will check they fit ok tomorrow and them get them refurbed.

Loads of options in 205/55 R16

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m139b0s8003p0/All_Season_-_Four_Season_-_All_Weather_-_Car_MPV_Tyres_-_16_inch_R16_inch_-_205_55_16_205_55R16

Just have the wheels powdercoated, easy and a tough finish

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks, I bought the wheels today, quite cheap as they need refurbishing.
They came with 205/55 R16 & 225/50 R16 tyres but I'm going to get new winter tyres fitted, I think you suggested 205/55R16 91V?
Will check they fit ok tomorrow and them get them refurbed.

Loads of options in 205/55 R16

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m139b0s8003p0/All_Season_-_Four_Season_-_All_Weather_-_Car_MPV_Tyres_-_16_inch_R16_inch_-_205_55_16_205_55R16

Just have the wheels powdercoated, easy and a tough finish

I've just ordered some 205 55 R16 91H Michelin CrossClimate 2's from Black Circles for £314.04 fully fitted... for 4

Got to love 16" rims

 

[Droverunner]

>>>205 55 R16 91H Michelin CrossClimate 2's from Black Circles for £314.04 fully fitted... for 4

That's a bargain. In pricing these for the 225/50x17 on my standard S-max wheels they are £618.52... which is enough to make me hesitate.

 

[JBell]

I've just ordered some 205 55 R16 91H Michelin CrossClimate 2's from Black Circles for £314.04 fully fitted... for 4

Got to love 16" rims

They are cheap because they are "H" rated for speed

 

[Dale Stevens]

Had a closer look at the new wheels today, there are two sized at 7J16 ET31, and to sized at 8J16 ET32

Although they may look OK on the photo, they do need referring or powder coating, or whatever is best. Now to get some 205/55 R16 winter tyres all round..

Oh, and I'm starting a new thread on jacking up the CLK as what I expected to see as central jacking points, I didn't see!!! https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/jacking-up-a-2003-clk240.195073/

 

[Blobcat]

They are cheap because they are "H" rated for speed

Anytime you want to go over 130mph in the snow be my guest...

Most modern Mercedes have an option in the dash to limit speeds for Winter Tyre's - I generally stay below 100mph with my winter wheels and H rated is correct for mine

 

[JBell]

Had a closer look at the new wheels today, there are two sized at 7J16 ET31, and to sized at 8J16 ET32

Although they may look OK on the photo, they do need referring or powder coating, or whatever is best. Now to get some 205/55 R16 winter tyres all round..

8" wide is too wide for a 205 section tyre (Max is 7.5" wide), you will need to put 225/50 R16 on the rear