The short answer
A second set of wheels on winter tyres makes sense in Ireland and the UK if you drive through winter regardless of weather, cover serious mileage, or live somewhere rural and hilly. Go one inch smaller than your summer wheels on a taller tyre profile. The set pays for itself because your summer tyres stop wearing for five months of the year, and because one avoided kerb or hedge is cheaper than the wheels.
Drive through Germany, Austria or Scandinavia in December and nearly every car is on winter tyres, usually mounted on a cheaper second set of wheels that lives in the garage half the year. In Ireland and the UK almost nobody does it. The weather here is milder, the law does not require it, and most people reckon they would rather take their chances.
That is a reasonable position. But it is worth understanding what you are actually choosing, because the usual argument for winter tyres is about snow and the real argument is about temperature.
Why winter tyres are not really about snow
A summer tyre compound starts to go hard and lose grip below about seven degrees celsius. Not in ice, not in snow, just in cold. Below that number a winter compound grips better on a dry road than a summer tyre does, and the gap widens as the temperature drops.
Look at the average overnight low across Fermanagh, Tyrone or the Midlands from November to March. You are below seven degrees for most of it. That is five months of the year where your tyres are working outside their best operating window on every cold morning commute, regardless of whether a flake of snow ever falls.
The braking distance differences at four or five degrees on a damp road are not marginal. That is the actual case for winter tyres here, and it has nothing to do with the two days a year the country closes because of snow.
Why fit them to a second set of wheels?
You can have winter tyres fitted to your existing wheels every autumn and swapped back every spring. Most people who try it once stop doing it, for three reasons.
- Cost per swap. Two fittings a year on four wheels, with balancing, adds up fast. Over three or four years it approaches the cost of a second set of wheels.
- Bead damage. Repeatedly breaking and reseating the tyre bead on an alloy marks the rim. Do it eight times over four years and the finish shows it.
- Faff. A wheel and tyre swap on your driveway with a trolley jack takes forty minutes. Booking two tyre shop appointments a year takes a morning each.
With a second set you jack the car up, swap four wheels, and put the others in the garage. No tyre shop, no bead breaking, no appointments.
What size should a winter wheel be?
Smaller than your summer set, usually by one inch, sometimes two.
A narrower tyre cuts through standing water and slush better instead of floating on it. A taller sidewall absorbs potholes, which you will meet more of in winter. And a smaller wheel costs less, both in the wheel and in the tyre.
If your car came on 19s, look at 17s or 18s for winter. If it came on 18s, 17s are usually the sweet spot. Check the smallest wheel that clears your brakes, because that is your limit. Most modern cars with big brakes will not go below 17 or 18 inches and the factory handbook will say so.
Something like our 17 inch VW Clubsport style in black machined works well as a winter wheel on a Golf, Leon or Octavia. For the Audi and Skoda crowd the 18 inch VRS style in gunmetal is a sensible step down from a 19 or 20 inch summer set. Both are in stock.
Should winter wheels be a cheap finish?
Yes, and deliberately so. Winter is when wheels get salted, kerbed on a dark narrow road, and scrubbed by grit. Putting your diamond cut or polished set through that is how you end up with corrosion blooming under the lacquer by March.
A painted gloss black, gunmetal or silver finish is far more tolerant. It cleans up, it touches in, and a mark on it does not ruin the wheel. Save the machined faces for summer.
Does a winter set actually save money?
Run the numbers on your own car and be honest about it.
If you cover 15,000 miles a year, roughly five months of that is winter, so around 6,000 miles comes off your summer tyres. A set of good summer tyres on a 19 inch wheel is not cheap, and taking 40 percent of the annual wear off them extends their life accordingly. You are not buying two sets of tyres, you are splitting the same total mileage across two sets, each of which lasts far longer.
Add in the fitting costs you avoid, and the fact that you are not kerbing your good wheels on salted roads, and the second set is closer to cost neutral over four or five years than most people expect. It is the up front outlay that puts people off, not the lifetime cost.
That said, if you do 4,000 miles a year and mostly in town, the maths does not work and you should not bother. This is a decision for high mileage and rural drivers.
What else do you need?
- Bolts of the right length. A different wheel can need different bolts. Get the seat shape right too, which we explain in wheel bolts and nuts and why the wrong seat shape will loosen your wheel.
- Spigot rings if the winter wheels have a larger centre bore than your hub. See do I need spigot rings.
- Correct rolling radius. Going down an inch in wheel means going up in tyre profile to keep the overall diameter the same, or your speedometer reads wrong. The arithmetic is in are bigger alloy wheels road legal.
- Somewhere dry to store the off season set, stacked flat or on a rack, not leaning against a damp wall.
- A spare. If your car came without one, a space saver spare wheel kit is worth more in January than any other month.
Do I need to tell my insurer?
If the winter wheels are a different size to the factory fitment, yes, that is a modification and it should be declared. Most insurers treat a sensible downsize as a non issue, and some actively look favourably on winter tyres, but it has to be on the policy. Full detail in do alloy wheels affect your car insurance.
Common questions
Are winter tyres legal in the UK and Ireland?
Yes, entirely legal and there is no requirement to remove them in summer. They simply wear faster in heat and offer less dry grip, which is why most people swap back.
Can I just fit two winter tyres to the driven wheels?
No. Mixing winter and summer tyres front to rear gives you different grip levels at each axle and makes the car unpredictable when it does let go. Fit four or none.
What about all season tyres instead?
All seasons are a genuine middle ground and a reasonable answer for town drivers in milder parts of Ireland and England. They are not as good as a winter tyre below freezing or a summer tyre in July, but they remove the swap entirely. If you were never going to own two sets, all seasons beat summer tyres in a British winter.
What size winter wheel fits my car?
Send us your make, model and year. We will tell you the smallest wheel that clears your brakes and what tyre size keeps your speedometer honest. Our full alloy wheel range is searchable by fitment, and trade customers can order through the trade portal.
Thinking about it for this winter? Message us on WhatsApp or email sales@omiwheels.com with your car and we will put a sensible winter package together.