Winter tyre switch

[Ray-ISF]

They look nice DT, did you get them in Silver or Black?

Make sure you put up a pic when you have them fitted

[DT_Racing]

Would have loved them in an anthracite to make them less noticeable but unfortunately not available. Just plain silver, should still look good. 

 

Will certainly post some pics when they arrive. 

[DAW]

Hi Dave nice choice of wheels!!

Just for your info re the powder coating wheel refurb.

A friend recently bought a car which had refurbished powder coated wheels. After about a thosand miles he noticed a vibration when braking which got progressively worse. Got the brakes inspected with no issues found so did some research and contacted a guy who races cars and specialises in brakes. Having got the guy to checked the car he confirmed that there was no issue with the brake discs etc, but found that there was excessive powder coating to one of the rear wheels on one side of the contact area with the hub. The guy skimmed the coating to flatten the contact surface and the issue has been resolved.

I hadn't heard about anything like this before, never having had powder coated wheels, so just thought this may be useful info for anyone considering it.

[DT_Racing]

Interesting that not heard of that before. The place I use have done 2 sets for me previous and I know they do a good job. Wonder if that place just forgot to balance them up afterwards or it threw a wheel weight? 

[DAW]

The independant garage my friend bought the car from had them refurbished, so the costs he incurred ended up being covered under warranty. Not sure how the coating ended up uneven but the brake specialist had not come across this issue before.

Its sobering to note that had my friend left it to the local Maserati dealer they would have replaced the discs, which would have been very expensive and wouldn't have solved the issue. He also couldn't have claimed under the cars warranty because it doesn't cover consumables, so as you can imagine he is chuffed with the outcome on all fronts. He considers himself very lucky to have found someone with exactly the right skills for the job. How difficult would that have been in the days before the internet!!

Out of interest, and if you don't mind me asking, are the costs significantly different from the more usual painted refurb?

[DT_Racing]

There can be a huge variance but generally not in the finish i.e. painted or powder coated. The variance generally comes in the preparation works and the time taken to complete it. As a reference point the cost for a full set of 4 wheels, tyres stripped, chemical dip bare metal, aquabrade, any damage removed then powder coated is just under £500 and is a 2 day turn around.

 

[DAW]

Ok so not a huge difference in cost compared with the painted refurbs I've had done in the past. Thats food for thought!!. Thanks for the info.

[Killysprint]

Had mine fitted today - quite like them!!

19"x10J Linea corse 818, with 255/35 19 Bridgestone blizzaks on all wheels

drives really well.

[emjay82]

Had my oem size winters on for one week, I have to say that the wet grip is not as good as the vredsteins which are the slightly wider sizes. Lots to wheel spins/twitchy rear end. Is this to be expected in the wet or am I noticing the difference the wider tyre sizes make? hopefully they will prove their worth when the frost/ice comes!

[lotusdave]

that sounds wrong. Are they fitted correctly? Right direction. Should be substantially better in the wet, not worse. And narrow is better in the standing water.

mine go on tomorrow and I can assure you they are far better in the cold and wet.

however, the tread blocks move much more so they feel very different. Perhaps thats what you can feel? But actual opposite lock style twitching, no that's totally wrong.

[lotusdave]

tyre pressures?

[DT_Racing]

On 11/11/2016 at 2:38 PM, Killysprint said:

Had mine fitted today - quite like them!!

19"x10J Linea corse 818, with 255/35 19 Bridgestone blizzaks on all wheels

drives really well.

I do like those, good to see as I don't think mine will look massively different. Makes it look more German I think, has a waft of BMW going on. Yep thumbs up.

[emjay82]

19 minutes ago, lotusdave said:

that sounds wrong. Are they fitted correctly? Right direction. Should be substantially better in the wet, not worse. And narrow is better in the standing water.

mine go on tomorrow and I can assure you they are far better in the cold and wet.

however, the tread blocks move much more so they feel very different. Perhaps thats what you can feel? But actual opposite lock style twitching, no that's totally wrong.

Hmm slightly concerning, will have a good check over tomorrow. They're bridgestone blizzaks and the guy at the tyre shop set the pressure at 38

[lotusdave]

I can't remember what I run mine at but I follow the pressure on the door, perhaps a little softer to take the edge off the ride. However my summer tyres are wearing more  on the edge than middle of the tread because of that which is expensive!

 

Are they brand new ? Give them a bit od time to settle in and see if they improve. Mind you a whole week should be enough. It wasn't usually hot weather?

 

[emjay82]

4 hours ago, lotusdave said:

I can't remember what I run mine at but I follow the pressure on the door, perhaps a little softer to take the edge off the ride. However my summer tyres are wearing more  on the edge than middle of the tread because of that which is expensive!

 

Are they brand new ? Give them a bit od time to settle in and see if they improve. Mind you a whole week should be enough. It wasn't usually hot weather?

 

I checked the rears quickly and they are on the right way. Purchased the tyres from a member on here who had used them for a couple of seasons but plenty of tread left... 6-7mm. Quidelines for pressures written on the car is 40, tyre fitted took them to 38 to allow for the winters. Going to take it easy for a couple of weeks, see if they improve! 

[lotusdave]

what was the ambient temperature? Maybe if say 10' or more, given the power of our cars, they just didn't work as well as your summer tyres. But that would be outside of their optimum range.

as i said yesterday, they feel different as you get more squirm from the tread blocks.

wait for the snow then you'll realise just how amazing winters are!

 

[DT_Racing]

So these (finally) arrived today. Rims as expected not up to OZ or BBS standard but they're winters so ideal. Fitting early December I think. Temp still hovering annoyingly around the 7deg mark. 

 

[Malc1]

On 10/10/2016 at 2:45 PM, Verbout said:

Nah, don't get it at all.

If I did get it I would probably invest in a cheap 4x4.

I feel the same tbh ................  when there's a hint of ice or snow my Ls400 gets abandoned and the 323f Mazda takes over, which performs well in those conditions, and then when it's not so treacherous on the roads, the Ls400 comes back.

The Honda Legend SH-AWD we also now have promises to perform brilliantly in the worse road conditions but have yet to find that out for sure.

Kent isn't renowned for long spells of snow and ice.

Buggering about changing tyres and wheels for a few days a year in most of the UK seems to me to take some of the joy from driving our wonderful cars. 

Malc1

[DT_Racing]

Winter tyres all the way, well worth the investment and time. We have a Volvo XC60 AWD also, it was shamed by my Audi S3 on winters., a RWD car on winters will sail past a 4x4 on summers in bad snow...

 

[Linas.P]

15 minutes ago, DT_Racing said:

Winter tyres all the way, well worth the investment and time. We have a Volvo XC60 AWD also, it was shamed by my Audi S3 on winters., a RWD car on winters will sail past a 4x4 on summers in bad snow...

True, but in mild UK winters you might need to wait a while until you have conditions to prove it :) Not only that in during that time you will have more expensive and inferior tires. 

What is funny .. I am advocating so hard against winter tires in UK and just got set of winter tires fitted myself - that is because trip to continent where winter tires are not only mandatory, but as well might prove necessary (as unlike UK they actually have winters there).

P.S. I like your rims choice.

[Malc1]

Just now, Linas.P said:

True, but in mild UK winters you might need to wait a while until you have conditions to prove it :) Not only that in during that time you will have more expensive and inferior tires. 

What is funny .. I am advocating so hard against winter tires in UK and just got set of winter tires fitted myself - that is because trip to continent where winter tires are not only mandatory, but as well might prove necessary (as unlike UK they actually have winters there).

True about driving in the eu.. Last year on my Grand Tour of Italy in my Ls400 I purposefully went outside the compulsory winter tyre shod or having to carry snow chains period, which I believe was sometime September to April  ..  it's legally compulsory on some roads but you don't know which until you're on it driving 

Malc1

[DT_Racing]

It's a fair enough comment, as with all things it's each to their own. Since I first used winters 5 years or so ago I'd not be without them, a lot of people dont have the same requirement as I do, I may live in the Midlands but I travel every other week to Scotland and up to Wick. Not a chance in h£ll i'd venture up there without the assurance of winters.

[Linas.P]

44 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

True about driving in the eu.. Last year on my Grand Tour of Italy in my Ls400 I purposefully went outside the compulsory winter tyre shod or having to carry snow chains period, which I believe was sometime September to April  ..  it's legally compulsory on some roads but you don't know which until you're on it driving 

Malc1

That is not going to be problem for me... I will drive through countries where winter tires compulsory between November and April. Current, forecast -10C, 40cm of snow... would be dangerous on summer tires, though I have done that when I was 18 and stupid enough to drive on summer tires all winter, not only summer tires, but completely bald ones with the cords already visible (call that skill or madness... I don't think there is much in between). Back then my car was worth less than set of winter tires :D

42 minutes ago, DT_Racing said:

It's a fair enough comment, as with all things it's each to their own. Since I first used winters 5 years or so ago I'd not be without them, a lot of people dont have the same requirement as I do, I may live in the Midlands but I travel every other week to Scotland and up to Wick. Not a chance in h£ll i'd venture up there without the assurance of winters.

I am not criticising - everyone to their own. First of all as you mentioned.. conditions you have might be very different from anyone else and winter tires for you might be the choice between safe journey home and death. Same here.. I would never user winter or even all season tires in London, but I have changes to winter tires straight away as soon as I decided on trip where weather requires such tires. My only point is that I don't take people seriously when they mainly drive in London where we have 3 day of temperatures below 0 a year and they change the tires and believe that is safer. Point two we need to understand that at any temperatures above 7C winter tires are much worse, and do not become better until at least 0.

[emjay82]

I have to admit that getting the winter tyres swapped over was a pain for me because they were used, purchased from a member on here at a cost effective price. Very few fitters will do the swap as I assume (for insurance) they can't be seen to fit used tyres. @DT_Racing has the most straight forward method but my fairly modest mileage didn't warrant the extra cost for new alloys and tyres. We're coming into a cold snap so looking forward to feeling the difference. For what I spent on the good quality used tyres and the swap its a no brainer for me for a safer car (if only for a couple of months) but also preserving the summer tyres a bit!

[CharlieC]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 2:38 PM, Killysprint said:

Had mine fitted today - quite like them!!

19"x10J Linea corse 818, with 255/35 19 Bridgestone blizzaks on all wheels

drives really well.

How`s the clearance on the fronts,any rubbing on full lock?