Tires for the winter

[Trolkar]

Hi all! – But mainly users in Scandinavia.

My Grand Espace (3.0 automatic) came without tires for the winter, so I therefore need the best of the best!

I have learned, that a test in a magazine isn't always the best. If the test car is e.g. a WV Golf, (mainly in ADAC) there is a huge difference on how the tire wheel react on another car.

Which tire brand and dimension are you using?
I am considering Michelin Pilot Alpine PA3, and the size 215/65-16" (A higher and smaller tire, to get more weight on a smaller surface) or the 225/60-16" (Also a higher tire, but the same width for best grip in rain)

Both dimensions is more than original. There is plenty of space for a bigger wheels, and if I mount a bigger wheels, my speed-reading will be more correct. – Right now is 9-10% wrong. Driving 100 km/t an hour on the GPS, the speedometer shows 109-110 km/t.

[Anders Dinsen]

I'm running Michelin PA2 at 225/55-R16 for the winter. They suit the car well and are not noisy. The 3.0 Espace's after 2000 came with 16" rims, and 225 is the only TüV approved size you can put on this car.

Lennart (our forum administrator) runs 225/55-R17 on his car to fix the speedometer reading, but I have heard that it is possible to calibrate this using the diagnostic computer. I don't know the details, though.

/Anders

[Sommerby]

I'm using 225/55 R16, 95H, Conti. TS 790 Winter tires and they are working so great with me  that I don't really sense any big differences compared to my  225/55 R16, 95H Conti Premium Contact summer tires.

[Trolkar]

I'm using 225/55 R16, 95H, Conti. TS 790 Winter tires and they are working so great with me  that I don't really sense any big differences compared to my  225/55 R16, 95H Conti Premium Contact summer tires.

Isent the Continental TS 790 an "old" tire?

[renaultbiler]

Lennart (our forum administrator) runs 225/55-R17 on his car to fix the speedometer reading, but I have heard that it is possible to calibrate this using the diagnostic computer. I don't know the details, though.

/Anders

This is possible on all cars with ABS 5.3 with speed information, that means most 99 and all beyond.

Log on the ABS computer with NXR or CLIP - enter config and change the speed index according to tire size (5-6 different options). If none of the options is exactly the size on the car you need to calculate the closest match. This is a 2 minutes job with diagnostic tool, since i have 17" summer and 15" winter i reprogram this each season on my car - but thats because i already have the tools to do it.

[Sommerby]

I'm using 225/55 R16, 95H, Conti. TS 790 Winter tires and they are working so great with me  that I don't really sense any big differences compared to my  225/55 R16, 95H Conti Premium Contact summer tires.

Isent the Continental TS 790 an "old" tire?

Yes . I believe that the new series are 800 (and something), but my "old" T790's  are still working great :-)

[Lennart Sorth]

Lennart (our forum administrator) runs 225/55-R17 on his car to fix the speedometer reading

Yes, and that suits the car VERY well I have to say, - however this is only the summer-wheel option.

For wintger use, I have the opriginal 16" steel alloys.  This also means by default we drive a bit slower during winter, as the speedo overrreads :-)    (good thing)

/Lennart