Given
93%
while driving a
SEAT Leon FR tdi
(215/45 R17 W)
on
mostly motorways
for 45,000
easy going miles
These tires I purchased on a whim as the hype about Winter tires was about. So I thought I'd buy a cheap set, try them out and if I didn't like them, then I could chuck them away and move on. I Fitted these tires on to My BMW E36 M3 initially, ran them for a few thousand miles, then took them off and put them on to my E36 323 Touring for a few thousand miles, but on the same rims, then changed them finally to a 1M Seat Leon FR TDi 150ps on to different rims where they stayed until exchange for a new set.
These tires surprised me. An M3, 300hp and no issues in British snow, ice or rain. I managed to get everywhere, up hills in Wales as well as 65mph on motorways on lanes that were slushy. No twitching or nothing.
When I moved these tires on to my Seat, they spent 99% of their time on motorways. They clocked 45000 miles on this car(+ whatever few thousand I did in the BMW's,) so the wear is excellent. The economy was not hindered over normal summer tires, the performance of the side loads on the tire were fine, but if I was to criticise them for anything, it would be the slight slip that you get from any winter tire in conditions above 15 degrees Celsius. From that last comment, you can see that I left them on all year round, and apart from a marginal increase in wear during the months of July and Aug on the hotter days of which there are few, they were fine. No issues with overheating or slip.
These tires assisted me on a road trip around the Yorkshire dales and Lake District in Summer last year, some spirited driving was undertaken on roads such as the Snake Pass and Buttertubs Pass, apart from knowing I would get a little more understeer than on a summer tire, they performed great.
The tires have been removed yesterday, (only because one was worn in the middle, I managed to remove a chunk out one on a kerb and I ran one flat for an unknown number of miles (which was very evident when removed),) and replaced with the same tire again, I liked them that much. They have gone back on the Seat, as well as another set for the 323 BMW. When removed, there was evidence of minor cracking above the letters for ‘Achilles' and ‘Winter' on the inside of the tire, so if you buy a set, keep an eye out for this. Bear in mind they were fitted in 2012 and removed in 2017 so the time of cyclic thermal loading may be the cause for this. I changed the tires at approx. 2-3mm, but that was out of choice as rear left was worn out due to a suspension issue creating an alignment issue.
These tires perform as well as some of the bigger brands, at a fraction of the cost. Granted that the bigger brands may perform at the extremes of weather, but in Britain, this is rare, so some carful driving on those days should suffice. I managed to get a deal on eBay, I paid for a set of 4 new from stock the same as you would pay for a Michelin Alpin with fitting and balance, so if it bothers anyone that much, change at 5mm as these tires come with 9.7mm from new not the 7mm that you get from Michelin and some others.
I know this may be sad, but I have recorded a graph of ‘mileage against wear' whilst on the Seat so this can be sent to anyone whom desires to review.
Enjoy!
