Model Year 24/25 Winter Tyres

[Northern_monkey]

I'm thinking about winter tyres for my Formentor ABT (245/35/ZR20) and unfortunately there are no specific reviews I can find online.

Does anyone have any recommendations and/or previous experience of which brands work well on the Formentor. I've always fitted Contiwintercontacts to all my previous Audis and found them to be good but I know that different cars can perform better with different brands.

TIA

 

[Bahnstormer_vRS]

Do you *need* Winter Tyres or will All Seasons cover bases for you?

Reason I ask is that I've used Winter Tyres (Nov - Apr) in Hertfordshire, UK for the last 15 years and only truly needed to use them in snow during one winter and, yes, I know they are designed to operate best in temperatures of <7 degC dry/wet/snow.

Needing a new set for my Ateca this winter I've looked around and Winter tyres don't seem to be as available as in the past, but the market is very well covered with All Season tyres. Therefore;-

On the recommendation of my local independent tyre supplier/fitter I'm going to get a set of the recently released Michelin Cross Climate 3 Sport which are listed as available in the 245/35 20 you are looking for.

Are these a viable option for you?

Guy

 

[mrtoomanytoys]

Cannot comment on Formentor specifics... But winters in general...
Anything in the mid to premium brands and of latest generations will be pretty good.. (tyre reviews on youtube)
I run Hankook winters on the Outback 3.6 (260bhp awd) and find them very good all round, will check model as 4 years old)
My son has Vredestien wintrac pro+ on his Kia Proceed GT (205 bhp fwd) and he reckons they are very good.
We share an older 2.5 Outback and that has a set of Dunlop wintersport 3 which were superb in some horrible conditions 4 years ago.. it has Vredestien quatrac 6 all seasons for summer which seems to find a surprising amount of grip off road and are great on the road....

Personally, you may find something like the Michelin cross climates (all season) will give the winter performance, with great road manners..
Certainly from a value point, the Vredestien give an awful lot of performance for the money..
So much so I have tried a set of summers on the 3.6, so far been very pleased..

In the premium brands I don't think there will be much in it, choice may be limited by the tyre size in any case..
May be worth investigating a smaller diameter, narrower wheel for winters.

 

[Northern_monkey]

Thanks for your reply

I do tend to opt for full winters as I'll be swapping them out for the Hankook Ventus tyres currently on my vehicle so if driven carefully I should get a couple of years out of the two sets. Might consider an all season when both sets have been used though

 

[Bahnstormer_vRS]

^^^^ I've got Pirelli PZ4s on a set of Team Dynamic wheels for summer use, and will use the Michelin Cross Climate 3 Sports on my OE 'Copper' wheels as my winter tyres.

That way I only need to switch the wheels around in November & April; as opposed to mounting and remounting tyres on rims and, like you, will get 3 - 4 years motoring out of the two sets.

Guy

 

[Northern_monkey]

Cannot comment on Formentor specifics... But winters in general...
Anything in the mid to premium brands and of latest generations will be pretty good.. (tyre reviews on youtube)
I run Hankook winters on the Outback 3.6 (260bhp awd) and find them very good all round, will check model as 4 years old)
My son has Vredestien wintrac pro+ on his Kia Proceed GT (205 bhp fwd) and he reckons they are very good.
We share an older 2.5 Outback and that has a set of Dunlop wintersport 3 which were superb in some horrible conditions 4 years ago.. it has Vredestien quatrac 6 all seasons for summer which seems to find a surprising amount of grip off road and are great on the road....

Personally, you may find something like the Michelin cross climates (all season) will give the winter performance, with great road manners..
Certainly from a value point, the Vredestien give an awful lot of performance for the money..
So much so I have tried a set of summers on the 3.6, so far been very pleased..

In the premium brands I don't think there will be much in it, choice may be limited by the tyre size in any case..
May be worth investigating a smaller diameter, narrower wheel for winters.

Thanks for your reply.

Having done a bit more research I'm considering the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 as that is generally well reviewed and a lot cheaper than the Contis. I have heard good things about Vredestein, I think a bit more research is needed. As above I'm probably not going down the all season at this stage, whilst winters here aren't generally that harsh I do feel I'll get better performance from a tyre that's specifically designed for each season.

I'm inclined to agree with your overall opinion that the premium brands will deliver the performance and safety I'm looking for

 

[Northern_monkey]

^^^^ I've got Pirelli PZ4s on a set of Team Dynamic wheels for summer use, and will use the Michelin Cross Climate 3 Sports on my OE 'Copper' wheels as my winter tyres.

That way I only need to switch the wheels around in November & April; as opposed to mounting and remounting tyres on rims and, like you, will get 3 - 4 years motoring out of the two sets.

Guy

Thanks for your reply, a second set of alloys is a good idea but out of budget at the moment, I've had such a variety of fitting estimates from £10-70 per tyre!

 

[Northern_monkey]

Cannot comment on Formentor specifics... But winters in general...
Anything in the mid to premium brands and of latest generations will be pretty good.. (tyre reviews on youtube)
I run Hankook winters on the Outback 3.6 (260bhp awd) and find them very good all round, will check model as 4 years old)
My son has Vredestien wintrac pro+ on his Kia Proceed GT (205 bhp fwd) and he reckons they are very good.
We share an older 2.5 Outback and that has a set of Dunlop wintersport 3 which were superb in some horrible conditions 4 years ago.. it has Vredestien quatrac 6 all seasons for summer which seems to find a surprising amount of grip off road and are great on the road....

Personally, you may find something like the Michelin cross climates (all season) will give the winter performance, with great road manners..
Certainly from a value point, the Vredestien give an awful lot of performance for the money..
So much so I have tried a set of summers on the 3.6, so far been very pleased..

In the premium brands I don't think there will be much in it, choice may be limited by the tyre size in any case..
May be worth investigating a smaller diameter, narrower wheel for winters.

Sorry I meant to ask, is there a reliable conversion chart to determine alternative sizes for winters?

 

[Bahnstormer_vRS]

Sorry I meant to ask, is there a reliable conversion chart to determine alternative sizes for winters?

I've used the calculator on AlloyWheels.com over the years.

They've also got calculators for when you want to switch around rim sizes as well.

Guy

 

[Northern_monkey]

Many thanks

 

[mrtoomanytoys]

May be limited on wheel size that will fit over the brakes.. (I am not familiar with whats what yet)..

Maybe on the tyre sticker in the door jamb or in handbook.. ?
Some manufacturers do list it for euro countries that require winters by law. (Germany etc)

I am running full winters as I travel a lot. If I get caught out in a snow storm across country, I will find a way home..

The latest generation of premium all seasons are virtually as good as full winters now.. Hence the suggestion for winter use.. would benefit from better life and be a bit better on those warmer winter days.

Having said that.. I had to drop my winters on for a week late aug while I got my summer wheels refurbed, the winter Hankooks worked easily as well as the worn out Yokohama's