Winter wheels/all season tyres

[Mike Hammill]

Hi all,
We have a 2016 Beach with 18'' Sportline alloys and 255 / 45 R18 tyres. We are planning a trip to Norway and would like to get 16'' or 17'' steel wheels and all season tyres. Does anyone have any recommendations for tyres and package suppliers??
Regards,
Mike and Maddy

 

[Bellcrew]

Hi all,
We have a 2016 Beach with 18'' Sportline alloys and 255 / 45 R18 tyres. We are planning a trip to Norway and would like to get 16'' or 17'' steel wheels and all season tyres. Does anyone have any recommendations for tyres and package suppliers??
Regards,
Mike and Maddy

Check the brake disc size fitted to you van, some only allow the fitting of 17" wheels or larger.

 

[scottk]

Might be better getting winters if you are going to be running the other tyres in summer.

 

[Mike Hammill]

Hi Scott, Had considered this. Going out to Spain in winter means you may hit cold snowy conditions getting there. Same with Norway in mid-summer. Both trips will involve a lot of motorway though. So I figured all seasons would be best. I have heard that some of the most highly rated are noisy?? We have 18'' alloys on - didn't want them and would like to swop them over to a standard steel wheel (17'') with Goodyear Vector 4 seasons. I would keep the latter when selling on. Cheers.

 

[s2bear]

I’ve used Camskill tyres more than a few times and found them VERY competitive and helpful. They’re online. S


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[Mike Hammill]

Thanks very much - will have a look!

 

[Jason wallace]

Could try dropping a message to https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/members/beni1664.5636/

He sells on full sets taken off new vans. I had a set of heavy duty Steels off him before Xmas. They came with new summer tyres which I’ll sell off. The price was about the Same as a standard set, but any money I get for the summer tyres will be my saving.

Had them powder coated they are now sporting my winter boots.

 

[Mike Hammill]

Hi Jason, Thanks very much - I will send a message. Cheers, Mike

 

[Miroslav Cap]

Hi all,
We have a 2016 Beach with 18'' Sportline alloys and 255 / 45 R18 tyres. We are planning a trip to Norway and would like to get 16'' or 17'' steel wheels and all season tyres. Does anyone have any recommendations for tyres and package suppliers??
Regards,
Mike and Maddy

Hi according dimension of brakes is in technical specification VW For Your car statment 16” or 17” Check it. Than if You use snow chain the only permited tire is 215 mm wide on 235 mm is not possible to drive with chain. Read the manual.
Miroslav

 

[Kris Emery]

Hmm... my good friend (a Toyota car dealer) points out the all season tyres are a compromise. As with all compromises you get the worst of both worlds and the best of none. The main reason is the spec of the rubber (winter tyres wear out quickly in summer) and tread design (summer tyres on compressed snow have a life of their own).

I have summer tyres on my Cali as I use it mostly in Spring through to Autumn. My runabout (Toyota) has summer tyres in summer and winter tyres in winter. Here in Switzerland insurers take a dim view of a claim without the correct tyres. In Germany there are some restrictions and limitations on where you can drive in winter without the correct boots.

So horses for courses...

 

[Mike Hammill]

Thanks very much. Already checked the details and the Beach originally had 16" alloys and still has the original steel 16" spare. I need to check if the disc size has been increased - in which case the spare may not work! Endless fun indeed!

 

[Mike Hammill]

Hmm... my good friend (a Toyota car dealer) points out the all season tyres are a compromise. As with all compromises you get the worst of both worlds and the best of none. The main reason is the spec of the rubber (winter tyres wear out quickly in summer) and tread design (summer tyres on compressed snow have a life of their own).

I have summer tyres on my Cali as I use it mostly in Spring through to Autumn. My runabout (Toyota) has summer tyres in summer and winter tyres in winter. Here in Switzerland insurers take a dim view of a claim without the correct tyres. In Germany there are some restrictions and limitations on where you can drive in winter without the correct boots.

So horses for courses...

Thanks very much - we don't get much snow here in the North Wales mountains below 200m. We wanted some all seasons for the odd times when we want to park high in winter to go climbing. Seemed like a compromise was a good idea!

 

[Keith Smith]

Does anyone know if all season tyres are better on wet grass/mud than standard tyres?

 

[WelshGas]

Does anyone know if all season tyres are better on wet grass/mud than standard tyres?

I’ve not had any problems with All Season tyres, but I do have 4Motion as well, so probably not the best comparison.

 

[B J G]

Does anyone know if all season tyres are better on wet grass/mud than standard tyres?

Not much doubt about all season tyres being a better tread pattern in muddy or wet grass conditions.
Summer tyres have very little cross grooving to bite into mud or grass.

 

[Trebor]

Hi Jason, Thanks very much - I will send a message. Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike I got a set of 17 in steels with Dunlop winter sport ( very good winter tyres ) from Ben . He’s a nice nice guy .

 

[Trebor]

Hi all,
We have a 2016 Beach with 18'' Sportline alloys and 255 / 45 R18 tyres. We are planning a trip to Norway and would like to get 16'' or 17'' steel wheels and all season tyres. Does anyone have any recommendations for tyres and package suppliers??
Regards,
Mike and Maddy

What time of year do you plan to go Mike ? We just did 62 day to Nordkapp up west coast and back through northern Finland and eastern Sweden 7000mls . We started beginning Sept last year at Kmann’s Denmark meet ( highly recommended ) and got back early Nov . We had Winter tyres ( Dunlop Winter Sport 215/65/17 ) and needed them . From the middle of September everyone had studded Winters and told us not to go out after dark with our Winters ! We didn’t have any problems though. I’ve just fitted BfGoorich because I’d like to go back again in winter and summer and they’re the nearest thing to studs and they’re 4 seasons with mountain/ snowlake. I think if you’re going to be back by early Nov then 4 seasons would be fine but I’d get narrower 215s . Be careful on the shaded corners on mountain roads when it’s sub zero .

I was talking to a friend who’d been to Southern Norway in June about 3 years ago and they said there was 2 metres of vertical snow at the roadsides ! Have a great trip . It’s amazing but you need lots of time .

 

[Trebor]

I’ve not had any problems with All Season tyres, but I do have 4Motion as well, so probably not the best comparison.

Have you been to Norway , Finland and Sweden in winter WelshGas ? I know lots of roads will be closed over mountains . Maybe April May June is a good time before mosquitos ?

 

[WelshGas]

Have you been to Norway , Finland and Sweden in winter WelshGas ? I know lots of roads will be closed over mountains . Maybe April May June is a good time before mosquitos ?

I go Mid-May. 2015 drove via Sweden and Finland to Nordkapp for the midnight sun.. Up via the cost back inland. 2017 drove to Tromso via Sweden and then back through Norway visiting the Lofoten Islands. This year I’m driving to Bergen and follow the coast back down, maybe! We’ll see.
Why May? The majority of campsites are open. The great whites aren’t on the move so traffic is light. No midges. I’ve had good weather on my last few trips. Roads clear and only came across one road that was closed - the old road to Bergen now replaced by the 25km long Laerdel Tunnel. And that opened the following week.

See here.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/countdown-begins.10091/

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/countdown-2-begins-scandinavia-2017.18071/

 

[Trebor]

I go Mid-May. 2015 drove via Sweden and Finland to Nordkapp for the midnight sun.. Up via the cost back inland. 2017 drove to Tromso via Sweden and then back through Norway visiting the Lofoten Islands. This year I’m driving to Bergen and follow the coast back down, maybe! We’ll see.
Why May? The majority of campsites are open. The great whites aren’t on the move so traffic is light. No midges. I’ve had good weather on my last few trips. Roads clear and only came across one road that was closed - the old road to Bergen now replaced by the 25km long Laerdel Tunnel. And that opened the following week.

See here.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/countdown-begins.10091/

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/countdown-2-begins-scandinavia-2017.18071/

Thanks for that WelshGas . We went through so many tunnels including 25 km and one 27 km . Amazing ! What temp do you call good weather ? We had a lot of wind and rain early September then snow . What are deer whistles?

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for that WelshGas . We went through so many tunnels including 25 km and one 27 km . Amazing ! What temp do you call good weather ? We had a lot of wind and rain early September then snow . What are deer whistles?

Daytime 10 to 15c only had one day of drizzle on both trips. No frost at night. Lowest nighttime temperature was about 2c. Most days had sun, some more than others. Was windy at Nordkapp but not too bad.
Deer Whistles. I’ve no idea if they work or not.

https://www.lifewire.com/do-car-deer-whistles-work-4061222

 

[Trebor]

Very interesting WeshGas . Olle in Umea told us Saabs were and Volvo are only cars designed to withstand a Moose hit ( not sure what speed ) as a car takes it off it’s legs and the body hits the windscreen pillars .

I hit a New forest pony many years ago at about 40 mph in the dark ( well actually it galloped across the road right in front of us from behind a big gorse bush ) . We were in a new Renault 5 ( which we’d swapped our T2 westfalia 1700cc auto for. Were we mad ?) Luckily it was a glancing blow down one side . Pony galloped off . We reported to police . Windscreen went . All panels on near side dented and roof down about 3 in ! I went out the next day and bought a Saab 99 . This was first of many Saabs including 9000 and 900 turbo ( my favourite ) then I turned Landrover .

 

[WelshGas]

Very interesting WeshGas . Olle in Umea told us Saabs were and Volvo are only cars designed to withstand a Moose hit ( not sure what speed ) as a car takes it off it’s legs and the body hits the windscreen pillars .

I hit a New forest pony many years ago at about 40 mph in the dark ( well actually it galloped across the road right in front of us from behind a big gorse bush ) . We were in a new Renault 5 ( which we’d swapped our T2 westfalia 1700cc auto for. We’re we mad ?) Luckily it was a glancing blow down one side . Pony galloped off . We reported to police . Windscreen went . All panels on near side dented and roof down about 3 in ! I went out the next day and bought a Saab 99 . This was first of many Saabs including 9000 and 900 turbo ( my favourite ) then I turned Landrover .

My claim to fame is being hit by a Woodland Wallaby in NSW, Australia. Travelling at 80km on a quiet A road through woodland, saw something black on my side and an almighty bang. Stopped the car fearing the worst. No damage but a funny dust mark on the front wheel. 4x4 travelling behind stopped behind to check we were ok and told us it was a Woodland Wallaby . Left in the road after hitting us, then stood up, shook its head and hopped back into the woods.

Saw plenty of reindeer in Scandinavia and a few Elk.

 

[Trebor]

Does anyone know if all season tyres are better on wet grass/mud than standard tyres?

Hi Keith Smith . I’ve got Goodyear Vectors on my alloys which have been great but we went to a Point to Point shortly after we got the van and nearly got stuck . The car park at the side of the track was very damp and sloping and it was clay under the surface . Everyone was having a lot of trouble getting out . Lots of tows needed but sideways sliding wasn’t fun with lots of cars in very close proximity . Used dif lock . Traction control went crazy ( will turn off next time )Tyre pressure alert permanently on . We did get out under our own steam just and I’ve done quite a bit of off-roading in Landrovers . Another reason I’ve just fitted Bf Goodrich .

 

[bassbikemike]

Hi all,
We have a 2016 Beach with 18'' Sportline alloys and 255 / 45 R18 tyres. We are planning a trip to Norway and would like to get 16'' or 17'' steel wheels and all season tyres. Does anyone have any recommendations for tyres and package suppliers??
Regards,
Mike and Maddy

1+ for Michelin CrossClimate tyres. They're superb. A new breed of tyre. Check out these YouTube videos which convinced me before I bought 4 for our Cali:

I have a summer and winter set of wheels for our car, but for the Cali no such hassle - same tyres all year round - brilliant!!