Winter wheels and tyres?

bartok

New user
Sep 5, 2012
3
0
Rep Ireland
Hi all,

I had an awful time in snow and ice a couple of winters ago on standard tyres, so for the first time ever in my life I'm thinking of investing in winter jobs. I have no idea about this stuff, so apologies for the noob questions.

Because i'm on low profiles atm and potholes are murderous round here, i'm going to try and get standard wheels for the winter tyres. First, do i need four or just two for the front? Any recommended tyres? Also, since cougars are rare in Ireland and I might not be able to source wheels easily at a breakers, will any other wheels do, Mondeo eg? If so, would Cougar hubcaps fit?

My Cougar is a 2000 2.5 X.

Many thanks for your thoughts.

(PS Love my Cougar to bits.)
 
Yeah any wheels that fit a Mk2 Mondeo will bolt straight onto the Cougar. As for actual tyres - there's probably not a lot of difference as they're all designed for winter use (just don't leave them on once the weather warms up as they wear quite quickly in warm/dry conditions). As for the Cougar hubcaps - I doubt these will fit any Mondeo alloys.....but you could get some Cougar stickers made up by our resident sticker man on here Pid_16V (y)

Better still, get a 4x4 conversion - cracking for winter driving :devilish:
 
Personally I wouldn't - you would end up with more grip on the front which would make the car very tail happy....not what you want in wintery conditions
 
I'd go for 16" Mondeo wheels and 205/55R16 or 225/50R16 winter tyres. As John says - you really need winter tyres on all four wheels. Having winter tyres just on the front is fine to get you moving, but at least when you're stuck you can't crash. Once you actually get moving you need a properly balanced car to keep it under control on corners and when slowing down again.