Given
96%
while driving a
Citroën berlingo
(225/45 R17) on
a combination of roads
for 3,000
average miles
I bought these tires for my Citroen Berlingo Multispace as I was about to tow the caravan for 8 weeks through England and Scotland - between November and December. Although I didn't realise it at the time they are rated XL, for Extra Load, ideal for the extra burden of the 'van. I bought them online and had them fitted at my local deal for £10 each, in total 4 tires bought and fitted for just under £200.
The tread pattern looks rugged enough to deal with winter but it wasn't until they were fitted that I was able to appreciate how good they are. Living in North Wales there are enough hills, twisty roads and rain to test any tire, and initial reaction was surprisingly good. They felt very competent on both dry and wet roads but wheel spin on hill starts was noticed with less than 100 miles of use, since scrubbing them in, this hasn't happened again. Towing the 'van was a revelation, the rear of the car seemed much firmer and overall feedback through the tires was very positive, it was as if the rear suspension had been beefed up - I can only put this down to the XL rating and the stiffer tire construction. The trip covered 2000 miles and the overall MPG for the towing and solo use of the car was 34mpg, slightly better than with previous tires. Solo use since being back is just under 50mpg, which is about the same as usual.
In the wet, and there's been a lot of it at this end of 2015, is very encouraging. Driving through flooded roads and standing water has been uneventful, never any sign of aquaplaning. Grip has always been exceptionally good in wet and dry conditions so far but there was another area that really surprised me - these are budget price tires that claim to be low on road noise - given the tread pattern and the cost - they REALLY are quiet, I've have never had such smooth, quiet and well behaved tires as these. I was planning to keep these as winter only tires and put summer tires on later next year, but I may keep these on now and see how they cope as multi season ones. Tread wear so far is not evident.
I was hoping to comment on how good they are in the snow, but that is not happening in this abnormally warm December!!
Overall, if you're looking for a great all round winter tire, give these a go.