Hello all,
I know that winter tire questions are not the most exciting, but I was curious about a few things. I live in Iceland and just took delivery of my Discovery 4 back around Easter. I absolutely love the vehicle, and I have been out and about doing what it was designed for -- cruising comfortably on the highway and then effortlessly driving through rivers, rough trails and so on.
Now that winter is coming, I was hoping to get some advice on tires. Currently I live in the city of Reykjavík, but I am planning on a move to the countryside soon, where I will be forced to drive about an hour over paved road, ending in a downhill dirt road to the place I am moving. We do not get tons of snow here, but we do get it. The temperature in the winter is generally from 4C to -10C, going back and forth around freezing a lot. Road clearance is not particularly American...by which I mean zealous! They generally clear the road once if they can. So in the winter there is often hard pack, ice or varying surfaces on the road. Then it goes back to slush etc, a good proportion of the time, the roads are clear in Reykjavík.
The question is whether to get studded tires or not, and the second question is what size works best for the 18" Compomotives...my current tires are 265/65R18 Cooper Discover AT3, but that size is not necessarily what I need, and it can be hard to find. Should I go smaller?
As for tires, I am looking at the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 and the R2 SUV. One is studded, the other is not. I was also looking at the Michelin X-Ice Xi2. I don't think the 3 is available in truck sizes here. All of these tires are around 550 dollars each here, so please understand that I want to make the right decision the first time! The tires will potentially be used from November until March, so they are fairly important here.
Any thoughts? Studded tires are popular here, but I can say that I am not super excited about the road noise prospects of using them, nor the fact that they might impact wet and dry grip when there is no snow or ice...
Or, if I really needed to get around in the snow, I guess I could ask my friend...
Thank you for the help!
I know that winter tire questions are not the most exciting, but I was curious about a few things. I live in Iceland and just took delivery of my Discovery 4 back around Easter. I absolutely love the vehicle, and I have been out and about doing what it was designed for -- cruising comfortably on the highway and then effortlessly driving through rivers, rough trails and so on.
Now that winter is coming, I was hoping to get some advice on tires. Currently I live in the city of Reykjavík, but I am planning on a move to the countryside soon, where I will be forced to drive about an hour over paved road, ending in a downhill dirt road to the place I am moving. We do not get tons of snow here, but we do get it. The temperature in the winter is generally from 4C to -10C, going back and forth around freezing a lot. Road clearance is not particularly American...by which I mean zealous! They generally clear the road once if they can. So in the winter there is often hard pack, ice or varying surfaces on the road. Then it goes back to slush etc, a good proportion of the time, the roads are clear in Reykjavík.
The question is whether to get studded tires or not, and the second question is what size works best for the 18" Compomotives...my current tires are 265/65R18 Cooper Discover AT3, but that size is not necessarily what I need, and it can be hard to find. Should I go smaller?
As for tires, I am looking at the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 and the R2 SUV. One is studded, the other is not. I was also looking at the Michelin X-Ice Xi2. I don't think the 3 is available in truck sizes here. All of these tires are around 550 dollars each here, so please understand that I want to make the right decision the first time! The tires will potentially be used from November until March, so they are fairly important here.
Any thoughts? Studded tires are popular here, but I can say that I am not super excited about the road noise prospects of using them, nor the fact that they might impact wet and dry grip when there is no snow or ice...
Or, if I really needed to get around in the snow, I guess I could ask my friend...
Thank you for the help!