Which winter tyres should I fit to my Toyota Yaris?

I read about your preference for winter tyres in many articles in Telegraph. I have a Toyota Yaris 1.3TR petrol. Could you please suggest the best make of winter tyres for this car and also a cheap place to buy them? Do I have to buy tyres with a separate steel wheel or only buy the winter tyres but still use steel wheel of my current existing tyres?

Asked on 28 January 2012 by VD, Rickmansworth

Answered by Honest John
If you fit "all-weather" or "winter" tyres you have to fit them to all four wheels, not just the fronts, or the vehicle could become uncontrollable in icy conditions.

Bridgestone A001s are reasonable all weather tyres. I favour Michelin Alpin winter tyres and in a recent Which test they came out top. In a recent Auto Motor und Sport winter tyre test, Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 came first, Continental WinterContact TS 830P came second and Michelin Alpin 4 came third. In the Auto Express Winter Tyre Test, Continental WinterContact TS 830P came first, Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance 2 came second and Dunlop SP Wintersport 4d came third. (For all tyre tests, see www.tyrereviews.co.uk ).

UK stocks of many winter tyres were exhausted by last November, so you may have to take what you can get. I think it's best to fit them to a separate set of steel wheels because it is then easier to swap them over. But you don't have to. www.event-tyres.co.uk is very good
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