On Thursday I am picking up my New Year´s "present" RRS TDV8 and I do not know what to do with winter tires. I will buy or 275/40/20 Continental Cross Contact Winter or buy an extra set of 19 inch alu with 255/50 Pirelli Ice&Snow. Now my question is the handling on ice and snow with 255/50/19 tires much better than with 275/40/20 (I know what is better in theory but in real life.....)? Does anybody have a personal experience with it?

I would go for 275\40\20....
No need in R19 unless you are going to use in real snow and ice...
If you stay most of the time "onroad" - 275\40\20 contis winter - is ok! 2014 Mercedes-Benz S500
2014 Range Rover Autobiography, Causeway Gray, Ivory/Ebony
2013 BMW 530d
2008 Range Rover Supercharged Vogue S\E, Java Black, Ebony. SOLD
2006 Range Rover Sport Supercharged, Java Black, Ebony. Arden body-kit. SOLD
2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 Buckingam blue, Ivory. - SOLD.

Most of the time I will stay "on road" but I have a house in the mountains and some times there is on the road cca 25cm of fresh snow. Besides that I would really like to take the car into the woods when there is snow...

If you are going to use it in that depth of snow and go into the woods, I would put the scorpions on with the narrower wheels. It makes a lot of difference to the handling of the car.

I have Scorpions on and I can actually drive on fresh snow that is lying on ice plates. (I was the only car to make it to the lake in the alps, the others gave up and turned back). They are also excellent in mud and can survive being smacked against kerbs at speed (unfortunately, neither of my wheels survived )

19" will give you better grip on snow and ice, no doubt, however the 20" looks a lot better on the 10 spoke rims. Remember the 20" rims are very exposed to damages because the tyres hardly provide any side protection at all. 2010 RRS TDV6 3,0, Bali Blue/Tan/Anigre/Dynamic Pack/Logic7/Keyless entry/Paddle

1st of Feb i have to drive with a trailer thru Germany and Austria to Greece.
Austria could be snow , Greece could be warm.
Shall i buy Winter tyres or not ? Because here in Belgium i dont really need them.

You may try Nokian Hakkapelita 5 SUV 275\40\20 and get lots of grip on ice and snow... 2014 Mercedes-Benz S500
2014 Range Rover Autobiography, Causeway Gray, Ivory/Ebony
2013 BMW 530d
2008 Range Rover Supercharged Vogue S\E, Java Black, Ebony. SOLD
2006 Range Rover Sport Supercharged, Java Black, Ebony. Arden body-kit. SOLD
2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 Buckingam blue, Ivory. - SOLD.

cherrybay wrote:

1st of Feb i have to drive with a trailer thru Germany and Austria to Greece.
Austria could be snow , Greece could be warm.
Shall i buy Winter tyres or not ? Because here in Belgium i dont really need them.

Good luck finding them, I've been phoning around and none of the dealers have them.

The best one was a dealer in Wavre who could tell me what kind of tires I would require but refused to fit them on my 20" wheels, I had to buy a set of 19" from him before he would fit winter tires. Quote for the job 3900€ !!  08.5 RRS TDV6 HSE Java Black/Alpaga - Cold Climate Pack - Privacy Glass - Bluetooth - Sunroof - 20" wheels - Rubber Floor mats.
07 Mini Cooper Cabrio - Astro Black - Leather Recaro seats - Chili Pack - Chrome Pack - Chrono Pack - Extra Lights - JCW/K&N engine tuning - John Cooper edition.

Previous cars:
Mercedes C 270CDI - Opel Vectra GTS 2.2DTI - Volvo V40 1.9DTI - Mercedes C 220CDI

Phantom wrote:

cherrybay wrote:

1st of Feb i have to drive with a trailer thru Germany and Austria to Greece.
Austria could be snow , Greece could be warm.
Shall i buy Winter tyres or not ? Because here in Belgium i dont really need them.

Good luck finding them, I've been phoning around and none of the dealers have them.

The best one was a dealer in Wavre who could tell me what kind of tires I would require but refused to fit them on my 20" wheels, I had to buy a set of 19" from him before he would fit winter tires. Quote for the job 3900€ !!

here in belgium one of the biggest tyre dealers they ask 1220,- euros for scorpion 275/40/20 tyres and 1200,- for 20" aftermarket stormers. they are located next door to a very big LR Dealer who also uses them .
Iasked them about the weight thing they say the prob all come from the same factory anyways and they fitted hundreds allready on very heavy RR and never had any problems.
I'm still not sure what to do , fit winter tyres on my orig. 20" stormers and buy new 22" for the summer. or just change the tyre 20" tyres ?

hello cherrybay. Because I was living in Belgium for a few years i know that you do not get a lot of snow i would suggest you Scorpions 20". I personally just bought today for my newly arrived RRS TDV8 Continental Cross conti Winter 275/40/20 . I could choose between Pirelli or Conti (they have similar profile) but I choose Conti-better test results in smaller dim made by ADAC.