Hi there,

I am in my 4th week with my 2013 RRS SDV6 HSE Black Edition and I am loving it. The car is currently running on 20 inch alloys with Continental 275/40 R20 tyres which seem good for a summer setup but not sure how these would perform on winter roads?

The alloys have all been recently refurbished and are still in perfect condition so I want to avoid them being exposed to the winter roads. My plan is to source a set of used alloys in reasonable condition and fit them with winter tyres. It has been suggested to me by a friend that I should be looking for a set of 19 inch alloys and maybe Pirelli winter tyres.

What are you running or what would you recommend?

Thanks,

Steve

A winter tyre from any of the decent makes will do you fine, to be honest. You might need to use a 255/55/19 tyre in order to give you a better choice, however, as 255/50/19 doesn't seem as popular and so is a little limiting.

Vredestein Wintracs used to be the go-to choice but they're a bit old hat now (not even sure if they still make them). I used to run these but the last few winters I've just had All Terrains on all year.

This might help (noting the slightly different tested tyre size):
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2016-...e-Test.htm

I'd be more concerned with wet performance rather than snow performance in the UK. We get so little snow that it's not that important - you just need to drive much slower and more gently. But it will be cold and wet so wet performance is key. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Hi RRSTDV8,

Thanks for the reply and very helpful info, much appreciated

So do you think that going from 20" to 19" wheels for winter tyres is a good idea?

Also, do you have any thoughts on M&S winter tyres as apposed to just winter tyres? I had no idea there was a difference, but after doing some research apparently you can get just winter tyres with the Mountain and snow flake symbol or M&S winter tyres that have both the Mountain and snowflake symbol and the M + S logo.

I was thinking that maybe the M&S winter tyres may be better for the occasional muddy off-road use as well?

Any experiences or advice from you or other Forum Members would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

I run 19in rims all year round but others do swap between 19 and 20 with the seasons.

"Mud and Snow" (M&S) is just a rating determined by the percentage of lands to grooves rather than specific ability. There is no official test for M&S as I understand it. Winter tyres, on the other hand, are tested. You can get winter tyres with M&S because the design has large grooves between blocks.

If you're only doing occasional off road use, I'd stick with a road biased tyre, perhaps an all season. LR use the Scorpion Verde all season and you can get them in 255/55/19 or 275/45/20 but not in RRS "official" 275/40/20 or 255/50/19. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I have a set of 4 19 inch genuine LR wheels with good tyres sitting in my garage. I bought them for my 2008 RRS but they don't fit over my Brembos. Bought them to improve the ride and give me a set that would work well in the snow and ice on my trips to Aberdeenshire. Not sure how they'd work on yours but they are for sale if you are interested - originally wanted £550 but they're just cluttering up the place now so you can have them for £525.
You should be able to see a few pictures below and also the link to my earlier post on these. There are more pictures in my gallery

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46896.html

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

The other reason to go for 19's in winter tyres is that there is a bigger choice. I had no issues running my TDv8 on its OEM Pirellis all your round for the first year, the next winter I ran with Winter pattern Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow 19's, we didn't get a lot of snow but their performance in the wet was very reassuring especially on roads like motorways with deep standing water. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Hi,
Winter tyres (snowflake marked) work better below 7 degrees due to their compound and thread pattern, sipes,
so you don't need to have snow, the sipes give more grip on ice and the compound more grip on colder roads
and if you have a bit more grip you can stop a bit sooner
I am more bothered about the slowing than the going

and have two sets of wheels and tyres for sale AT's and winters, as having a change of sizes all of which are and still will be 19"

Hi riverblanche,

Thanks for your reply to my questions, excuse my ignorance but what are "sipes"?

Also, could you PM me more details of the wheels and tyres you have for sale?

Thanks

Steve

Top wheels Eaters and the correct wheels for the car, i run my 19s on 255/55/19 Goodyear Duratracs. Awesome offroad and Awesome in winter  2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Hey Riverblanche, in the light of your comment about "snowflake" just had a look at my 19 inch tyres. See image below. Is this the snowflake you are referring to?

Click image to enlarge

Evo5man wrote:

Hi riverblanche,

Thanks for your reply to my questions, excuse my ignorance but what are "sipes"?

Steve

There you go, help give more grip/traction in wet/icy conditions basically.




Cheers
Col

Thanks for all the replies

I started out on this journey knowing nothing about winter wheels and tyres for my RRS, thanks to the forum I now know what wheels I am looking for and some good recommendations on tyres

In summary:

Wheels: 8J x 19 inch with ET (offset) of 53mm PDC 120mm 5 stud

Tyres: Because of the general lack of snow in the UK it is better to focus on wet weather performance and this will also help with off-road performance. Maybe better for me to focus on M&S tyres rather than the winter (snowflake emblem) tyres. Although the combination of both M&S and winter tyres could be a good setup for me.

Thanks everyone

Forums are just great for this type of question to get some 'real life' feedback.

Regards,

Steve

Hi,
bit of a late reply

Yes the "snow flake" inside the "mountain" indicates a true Winter tyre, from memory the silica content is higher which gives the better grip when cold as well

You can also see the Sipes in Eaters second picture with 3 or 4 in each tread block

Will drop you a PM Steve regarding tyres, think they should still be live adverts on here as well

Evo5man wrote:

In summary:

Wheels: 8J x 19 inch with ET (offset) of 53mm PDC 120mm 5 stud

Hi RRSTDV8,

Thanks for correcting my summary

Just proves what I said about the value of forums, there is a wealth of information out there that we can tap into

Regards,

Steve