Winter Wheels On

[Tooks]

i know it's not all that cold in the UK yet, but I put my winter wheels on today. I got stuck in my old MkV Golf a few years back on my way home from work in a dip a couple of miles from my village, I decided on the long trudge back that night after having to abandon my car that I would get either a 4WD, winter tyres, snow chains or a combination of them all so I wouldn't get stuck again. I ran an S3 for a few years after that, and indeed never got stranded again even in very bad road conditions, but braking was always interesting!

So, as I've been running a Polo GTI for 6 months now and winter is on the way, I decided to buy a new set of 15" steel wheels with Dunlop Winter Sport tyres, but decided I couldn't live with the steel look even with some OEM VW wheels trims. Shallow I know!

Fortunately, a friend took them off me for their polo so I put the money towards a set of 17" alloys and some more budget orientated tyres. I did look around for a used set of GTI alloys, but they seem to fetch silly money in good condition.

I settled on some Team Dynamics Dezent RE 5 spokes, which I figured would be easy to clean. I partnered them with some Nankang NS-2 tyres. They are 7 x 17 ET38, which sit out 8mm more than the GTI wheels and sit better with regard to the edges of the wings. At £150 a corner delivered with fitting hardware, I thought they were worth a go.

Now, it's difficult to find reviews of these NS-2 tyres, magazine tests online seem to put them at the bottom of the winter tyre pile, citing wet grip in particular as being worse in comparison to the 'big name' winter tyres. Trying to make sense of those results, I figured that worse wet grip compared to the other winters still meant better wet grip than the premium summer tyre they compared all the winters to (as indeed there own results say), and my own Bridgestone Potenza's too. Dry performance was excellent and of course grip on snow and ice was comparable to the big name winters and way way better than any summer tyre.

Searching some car forums, there are plenty of posts around that give some real world experiences which are pretty favourable, which helped my decision. Driving 100+ miles on the wet and greasy roads of Lincolnshire this afternoon and evening certainly didn't give me any cause for concern. Certainly I was impressed with the overall grip level once they'd scrubbed in a bit, and road noise is very low too. I'll report back periodically, especially if we get any white stuff.

I weighed the OEM GTI wheel with the Bridgestone Potenza and it was 19.1kg. The TD wheel and NS-2 also weighed 19.1kg, so there appears to be no weight penalty either. Incidentally, a spare GTI alloy I have fitted with a Barum Bravuris 3 (Continental) tyre weighs in at 18.2kg. The NS-2 tyre itself looks quite 'sporty' and the Nankang branding is tiny, so nobody need know!


Polo GTI Winter Wheels by iaintookey, on Flickr

[RUM4MO]

Yes, as you discovered with the S3, 4WD is good for getting going and keeping going, but steering and braking in ice/snow is just the same as 2WD. It took me about 16 years of 4WD saloons to come to that conclusion! When I bought my S4, the first thing I did was to buy some 18" Audi 5 spokes, get them refinished by power coating, and fitted Michelin Pilot Alpins on them. So they are now back on again, 19" 7 twin spokes are safe in the garage. Always remember that these tyres are better than summer tyres in heavy rain as well as snow and cold etc. Wife's Polo 9N has 15" alloys, but gets 14" steelies with Michelin Alpins on in winter, and has done for the past 5 or 6 years, safer and more predictable handling, without going mad to prove a point. I'll need to start again when she gets a new car, again I'll probably go for smaller diameter narrower tyres for winter use - not as small and as narrow as possible, but one size down from summer alloys.

To repeat for what other have said in the past, miles on your winter tyres are miles saved from your summer tyres - all good if you have the space to store the spare wheels/tyres, remember to wash them properly before storing them away for the summer - I have seen the mess that some salt can do on "used" alloys left in storage for 4 or 5 years after being on during winter!

[Daz Auto]

Yes, as you discovered with the S3, 4WD is good for getting going and keeping going, but steering and braking in ice/snow is just the same as 2WD.

I know from personal experience that 4x4 is a great feature on a tractor. So I was considering getting Quattro in my next car. I did a google search '4 wheel drive myths'. What I discovered is that 4x4 in cars is a performance feature and NOT a safety feature as some advertising suggest. I also went onto youtube and watched several videos showing that for braking and steering on snow and ice, winter tyres are the safest option. Both our cars have winter tyres fitted.

[Tooks]

We got about 10cm of snow here in my part of Lincolnshire on Bixing Day night, so I've had some proper conditions to test the snow tyres on the last couple of days.

We also have an Audi A3 Sportback on summer tyres so I've been able to drive the same routes on different tyres, albeit in different cars.

I went to the steepest hill I could find, which was covered in hard packed and icy snow, and stopped half way up and tried to get going again. In the Polo with winter tyres, there was a fair bit of initial wheel spin even with little throttle and then no progress. After a couple of attempts though, it's like the DSG box sensed a low traction situation and engaged about 1100rpm and the tyres 'but' and I was off. I repeated this a few times, with the same result. I found another steep hill with fresher and uncompacted snow, and this time the tyres found grip with no drama. I ithnk this is because there is loose snow that fills the Sipes (little tiny grooves) in the winter tyres and that gets you the traction. Nothing sticks to snow like snow, as anybody who has built a snowman will know.

On the ice covered hill, I was relying more on the softer compound of the tyre, which is why progress was less impressive, but still progress nonetheless.

I repeated the same hill start tests in our A3 summer tyre equipped car, and both times it was just lots of wheel spin and on a couple of occasions I slipped backwards. I ended up reversing back down the first hill very carefully.

The biggest difference though with the winter tyres is the braking and steering on snow and ice. The difference is indeed remarkable, and I could not get used to how great the Polo braking was with minimal intrusion from ABS and pulling up in a space that kept surprising me.

The A3 on summer tyres in contrast you had to drive very carefully and even touching the brakes engaged ABS instantly and I sailed past where the Polo would have been stopped. Yes, the A3 is a heavier car, but I was also going much slower than I was in the Polo.

So, I'd say winter tyres are a great asset to any car, but particularly a DSG equipped one where you can't engage 2nd to pull away etc. the braking and steering differences are worth the money alone in my opinion, and the traction is a bonus.

Realistically, you still have to drive to the conditions of course, but it feels like you have so much more of a margin to play with regarding steering and braking.

If you're stuck in a queue of summer tyres cars on a hill, then of course you're still stuck, and the braking is so much better than a summer tyred car you've got to be worried when somebody is behind you, but for a late night cross country drive home in freezing and snowy conditions, I'll take the winters.

[Doc_House]

Love my winter wheels just done a 600mile round trip in the old polo and they where fantastic climbed some nice snow covered and slushy hills in the midlands and passed much pricer stuff stuck spinning their wheels. Be sad to see this one go in a few weeks.

[Mart!n-GTI-DK]

Love my winter wheels just done a 600mile round trip in the old polo and they where fantastic climbed some nice snow covered and slushy hills in the midlands and passed much pricer stuff stuck spinning their wheels. Be sad to see this one go in a few weeks.

Love mine too.
Had a go in my parents car the other day. You forget how good winter tires are until you try a car without them on.

[vc-10]

[quote="Daz Auto"What I discovered is that 4x4 in cars is a performance feature and NOT a safety feature as some advertising suggest. I also went onto youtube and watched several videos showing that for braking and steering on snow and ice, winter tyres are the safest option.[/quote]

Well of course- every car has 4 wheel braking! A lot of people forget this and think that just because they have a 4x4 they can just drive out across snow and ice and be fine. 4x4 will help you get going, but it's not going to help you steer or brake.

[TheFrog]

Well of course- every car has 4 wheel braking! A lot of people forget this and think that just because they have a 4x4 they can just drive out across snow and ice and be fine. 4x4 will help you get going, but it's not going to help you steer or brake.

You're right, but 4WD does provide additional 4-wheel engine braking which, on snow and ice, is a very nice thing to have

[Daz Auto]

You're right, but 4WD does provide additional 4-wheel engine braking which, on snow and ice, is a very nice thing to have

Engine braking is fine as long as you have room to do so, but remember not all 4WD systems are created equal...

Is Haldex the system VW use? This is from Wikipedia, "Disadvantages of the Haldex Traction system include: the vehicle has inherent front-wheel drive handling characteristics (as when engine braking, load is only applied on the front wheels..." Though there is some debate about the abilities of the latest generations of Haldex on the internet.

Just found this...

The cold, hard facts about seven winter driving myths

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-dr ... e21648077/

"3. All-wheel drive is your winter saviour

All-wheel drive only helps you accelerate – it offers no advantage when you’re trying to turn or stop on slick surfaces. Because it adds weight, the stopping distance of an all-wheel drive vehicle can actually be worse than a comparable two-wheel drive model."

There is also some interesting information about new vs old ABS systems in that article. "But on loose surfaces like gravel and snow, it’s more complicated – and old-school ABS can make a car feel like it has no brakes at all."