All terrain / snow tyres

[BAYVELLE]

recently got hold of a set of genuine vw syncro 16" steels and im looking at tyre choices. They will be used as winter wheels on my 2wd Westy so will be a smaller profile tyre than some of you syncro boys and girls run?
Prob be something like 205/60/16 ?

Basically after any advice from any of you for a general all round tyre choice for all terrain / snow etc?

Also have not looked properly yet but how are the centre caps held on with these steels?

[toomanytoys]

If they are only for winter use, go for proper winter tyres.. AT's work, but full winters will be better.. If you might venture into Euroland during winter, you will need full winters (mointain and snowflake marked) for a lot of countries now...
206/60's are the ideal size, but might be a bit limited in whats available in comercial load rated.. 195/65's slightly taller (8mm) but lots of brands available..

Have you got the center caps?? only they were no longer available... the nuts hold them in place..

[syncropaddy]

Have a look at this post .... https://club8090.co.uk/forum./viewtopic. ... 0&start=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These are the winter tyres the Scandinavians use and in spite of what some say BF Goodrich do not recommend their A/T or M/T tyres as winter tyres. Problem with real winter tyres is that when temperatures rise above 7 degrees the tyres start to feel like jelly as their compounds are designed to work below 7 degrees. Continental do a range called Vanco Winter which are a good all rounder

[toomanytoys]

Winter tyres work better at lower temperatures.. the "magical" 7 degrees is a guide.. winters work above this, in wet conditions at 10 degrees, they will still perform very well.. Just the warmer the temperatures especially in the dry, the worse they can get.. the compound is softer and designed to still move around at low temperatures.. so summer temps of 20+ start to make them wear and move around a lot more.. So thats why the 7 degrees is used as an ideal changeover point..

The michelin Alpins performed as well in "warmer" weather as the cheapo "summer's" that came on my old Audi 100..

I have been running Semperit vangrip's on the syncro, for most of the last 5 years.. they are supposed to be a winter van tyre, but they perform very well in summer conditions too.. have lasted surprisingly well too.. perhaps they were more an all season tyre.. or more likely winter tyre technology has moved on a bit since then... They do move around a bit in the higher temperatures seen in France (35 ambient)...

[max and caddy]

BFGs A/T tyres do in fact have a snowflake on them so are a winter tyre.

[syncropaddy]

BFGs A/T tyres do in fact have a snowflake on them so are a winter tyre.

Only some of them do and BFG do not recommend them as a winter tyre as the compound is not a winter compound. This is an old argument so I rang BFG to confirm ( 0845 366 1535 UK number) this and said that the only tyre in 215/75/15 that they class as a winter tyre is a Michelin Branded tyre ( I only asked about one size ). Winter tyres will not work above 15 degrees and the hotter it gets the worse they get as the compound starts to break up.

Ask any of the Scandinavians who post on here

[syncron ice]

Hi,

I've had these from new since I bought my 16" about 5 years ago. Good for hot Spain and Italy motorway driving and snow last year. Very durable.

http://www.ityre.com/en/tyres/catalog/g ... ize/61209/

Cheers,

Tony

[BAYVELLE]

All good advice there chaps, thanks for that. Wheels will be just for winter use and dont need to be full on off road tyres.
Out of interest did they only do the 16" steels in 5.5j?

[syncropaddy]

Mefro do a 6 and a 6.5 I think