New tyres, summer or winter

Hi guys just after a few opinions, my disco 2 is desperate for new tyres, had a look on oponeo who seem cheapest and for £65 a tyre I can get imperial snowdragon (winter) or £67 I can get imperial eco sport (summer) both tyres iv had on my freelander 2 before and were Realy good for the money. I did want a set of all seasons but due to having a new baby who is absorbing money like it’s going out of fashion, it’s going to have to be them, however it’s july now and I’m thinking is it worth putting the winters on ready for October onward or stick with summers? What are disco 2s like in snow on summer tyres just Incase we get some this year. Cheers

Why not buy the winter ones and put them on?
They'd be OK now provided you take it into account when driving and then come winter you'll be ok too.
But wouldn't it be better in the long run to go for General Grabber A/Ts and then forget about 'em? Saves having to buy two sets of tyres and then store the other set.

Iv never had to store tyres as my mileage iv always gone through 2 sets a year on previous cars although I don’t know how long they last on disco 2s but usaly iv had winters then around March they would be knackered so buy summers then. I would get something like that but right now money is to tight and I’m self employed so I don’t know how work will go in future with covid, I don’t think people will have general work done, probably just essentiall/ call out work. So unfortunately it’s got to be them, which I don’t mind as iv experience of both tyres before and for the price there very good. My only concern with the winters is if there from a U.K. warehouse from two tyre places year or two ago they both said winters don’t come into Britain until about end of September so are the winters last years tyres so I will enquire about the date code on them.

2 sets a year, what sort of milage you doing?

It has gone down now with having the gremlin arrive as iv cut a lot of traveling out to work more local but was doing anything from 25-35000 a year. Looking into future it should be more like 15-20000

Winter tyres grip better in summer than summer tyres do in winter if that makes sense. Only issue is that winters will wear down quickly in the summer. In Germany they have to use winter tyres between October and March, and apparently some people do leave winters on all year round rather than swap twice a year.

Disco will handle on any tyres is not a 200sx, that said in this country winter conditions are more likely than summer ones.
Do you do winter/summer oil changes too?

Just emailed the company asking about the date code on the winter tyres, see if there last years stock. Oil changes- engine oil every 7000 with filters every second change, all other oils, diffs/ t box and fuel and air filter every 6 months and auto box every 12.

I recently put some Gripmax AT tyres on my D2. Cant fault them really for the money. Like a budget grabber AT in many ways. I paid £62 a tyre which is cheap. They were pretty rubbish in mud recently but I expected that. In wet on road they feel fine. They are white letter too so i can advertise to everyone that i cant afford BFGs

Mud I’m not to bothered about, most off roading I do is grass/ gravel tracks for shooting then farm tracks for work, very occasionally venture into a field but only when firm but not bothered if I get stuck as farmers just get tractor out and tow. But I would like something good In wet roads and snow as I live at bottom of a very steep hill which is murder in snow, especially with parked cars each side not much sliding space.

My regular car has a set of Barum Polaris 3 on steel wheels which I run in the winter. Huge difference in any sort of ice or snow compared to the summer tyres. There's a mini roundabout at the bottom of the hill near me that I was regularly sliding round before I fitted the winter tyres, afterwards it just drove round like a dry road. They're good in cold and wet conditions as well which of course we get a lot more of. Ok in the mud down the allotment too! They are a full winter tyre though so might wear out too rapidly if you ran them in summer. If you're contemplating getting a second set of wheels and swapping them twice a year they're great.

rich28uk said:

Hi guys...

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@rich28uk

First of all: Congratulations on new baby. I don't know if the baby is your first or if you already have other kids. I've been a single parent for like 16 years, but my kids are now older and have moved out.

Wishing your new baby many years of well being health, but you have to accept that like with every parents and their babies, you would be expected to have to take your baby to see the doctor or to the hospital, and it could happen at a short notice.

So you can't afford to have your Discovery let you down just when you really need it, specially including tyre wear. It would be best if you can try to keep your car in good order, at the minimum basic needed by law, including tyre wear.

The problem with cheap budget tyres is that they would hardly last longer, you would end up having to spend on new ones every couple of years (depending on the mileage you drive). The problem with premium tyres is that they're expensive to buy to start with, and you need your money for the baby. Let alone worrying about winter tyres.

But in my experience when I had the Ford Focus, I did start off with budget tyres because they're cheaper, but found out that they hardly lasted long. Sometimes just a year, sometimes a couple of years. When the time comes for me to have to buy new tyres, I couldn't afford new ones, because sometimes it may be late August and I need the money on school uniforms and new shoes for the kids. It would be £260 (assuming £65 x 4) then a couple of years later, it would be another £260, and so on.

Few years later, I decided to go for premium tyres, it could be £400 (assuming £100 x 4) and they did lasted me much longer, like as much as four years (assuming if I cut down travelling a lot).

But if you think about it: Spending £260 for budget tyres, then two years later, you have to spend another £260, it would mean something like £520 in four years, compared to having to spend £400 on premium tyres for the next four years.

And bear in mind, some of the premium summer tyres could cope better-than-nothing in winter than cheap budget summer tyres in winter, so if you have premium summer tyres, then you could put buying winter tyres on hold until you got better funding, and you just reply on your driver skills during winter.

By the time budget tyres have reached the legal limit, money-wise, it may be a bad time to buy a new set. I would feel like saying "Why now? Couldn't those tyres have worn out next year? I don't have much money this year!"

It may be worth thinking about going for mid-range or premium tyres, either summer tyres or all-season tyres, and budget winter tyres (assuming if not going for all-season), that way, you would stop worrying about how soon the budge summer tyres is going to last and if you can afford replacements too soon.

Plus if you needed money for the baby, surely your family would like to help chip-in some of the costs? Most grandparents would be happy to help out buying few new clothes for the baby, they would rather help with the baby but not with your car.

If it was me: I would go for premium summer tyres and use them during winter, just as long as I use driver skills to get through safety, and opt to think about buying winter tyres for winter of 2020-21, and hopefully no worries about buying new tyres until around 2025(ish) depending on how many miles I clock up, and if premium tyres haven't yet reached legal limit. That way, for next few years, I spend more on the baby. But that's just me.

Yea first one, 10 weeks old now, time seems to fly. I get what your saying and if money allowed I’d sooner have premium tyres but have had Imperials before without any issues, main thing at the moment is 4 tyres at right money, I do like to keep on top of my disco and other half’s ds3 and keep reliability up on them, ds3 is always needing something. I did find online some Goodyear eagle all seasons for £240 for 4 in size 255/60/18 even though mine is 255/55/18 I can’t see the extra bit making much difference and I would if anything think it would make the speedo more accurate?

ronsealdeath said:

I recently put some Gripmax AT tyres on my D2. Cant fault them really for the money. Like a budget grabber AT in many ways. I paid £62 a tyre which is cheap. They were pretty rubbish in mud recently but I expected that. In wet on road they feel fine. They are white letter too so i can advertise to everyone that i cant afford BFGs

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When I bought my General Grabbers they asked me if I wanted the white letters on the inside or the outside, have to confess I went for the inside!

Just fitted a set of Yokohama Geolandar GO15s on my series (LT 235/85-16), got a very good deal at kwikfit (of all places), worked out cheaper than oponeo, black circles and camskill. They do a car and an LT version - the LT should last 60,000 miles and is all terrain and M/S rated.

Stanleysteamer said:

When I bought my General Grabbers they asked me if I wanted the white letters on the inside or the outside, have to confess I went for the inside!

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Have to admit I’d do the same, really don’t like white letters.

Mine came with white letters and I asked for them to be on the inside but the tyres guys said the manufacturers intruction was outside and there was a possibility they were handed.