Winter tyres. Discuss.

[kerryxeg]

Thread seems to have drifted, much like the snow outside the house, anyway just my 2p

I've worked in Norway a couple of times, and as a keen skier used the compulsory winter tyre in some pretty nasty conditions to get to the slopes without fail. This included one trip at -25 through powder snow that started coming onto the bonnet and spilling off the wings. Radiator icing then became a problem. In Norway they tend to leave the winter roads with a hard packed snow covering, partly due to the remoteness but it's less of an issue as most people in these areas also run with studs. The car I got in 2000 didn't come with studs, just winter tyres, but tyre technology had moved on. I went testing on a icy twisty road to the moutain ski trails outside oslo and although the car would slide if pushed too hard on bends, the stopping distance in combination with ABS was very good. At the top I went for a wee walk and could hardly stand. There is no question a winter tyre is much safer in cold conditions especially ice and snow. The fact that it also helps with traction is a secondary issue in my mind.

The economics of winter tyres are different for everyone. Short term or low mileage cars it's always going to be harder to justify, but on a longer term car - 2-3 year ownership, then it should be a no brainer with a bit of forward thinking. I usually hunt out a set of 2nd hand genuine alloys for the winter tyres and swap them in Nov through to March. As Campbell said you have to pay for rubber anyway so it's not an extra cost in the long run. The last 3 cars I've sold (all Audi Quattro's) have been sold in winter. each time I offered the option of the summer or winter set and each time they bought both, effectively refunding the extra wheel cost and probably helping to sell the car.

So I think they are unquestionably safer, with the added benefit that you can use roads others can't avoiding a jam, drive offline to pass the 20 mph brigade without clenched buttocks, and in my part of the country give the odd stranded motorist a tug back onto the road when they slither off. I discussed with insurance companies in the past, they may have an issue if the tyre size is different from one of the manufacturer supplied sizes for that model or if the wheels are a different size, but thus far it's never been an issue for me.

For lower mileage car of the cooking variety, you can get combination tyres, the inner part of the tyre is a pretty standard road tyre, but the outer is like a snow tyre. I put these on my mothers Nissan, and they seem to work well enough in snow and deep slush.

Tyre wise you can usually get a reasonable deal with Vredstein if you order early , I like Wintertracs, but Toyo tyres are good and are reasonable as well.
Finally the tyre makes a difference but so does the driving technique, static friction will always be greater than the wheel spinning dynamic friction. As we all know you have to drive to the conditions, which in winter is not necessarily the temperature. -1 can be far more dangerous than -10

Kerry

[ryallm]

Just spotted this on SELOC

[Rich H]

20mph brigade out in force this morning in Preston...

[r055]

Just spotted this on SELOC

[Dominic]

BMW owner; "these snow chains are rubbish"

[j2 lot]

Just spent 5 minutes trying to work out what was the significance of the picture - it was only after Doms post that I spotted the chains

That is class

[JohnStewart]

I spotted a Mondeo parked at Tesco's in Inverurie on Saturday with those snow sock things fitted - to the rear wheels only!

Also this as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6yX70Ce9VY

I've long been a fan of winter tyres, and this will be my current set's 6th (and final) winter as they are down to about 3 - 4mm tread now, and no t as effective as they were when new. Still many times better than a summer type tyre in the current conditions though.

[Corranga]

Just spotted this on SELOC

Genius. Edinburgh reg too I reckon.

Chris

[JohnStewart]

Some interesting videos from Canada. This is number 3 out of 6 (you can find them on related videos)

RWD cars - comparing winter tyres with all season tyres (ie not summer tyres like A048s, R888s etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKw3HffVJrk

[jason]

Also this as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6yX70Ce9VY

She certainly took a stupid pill... but bet she loves havIng sniggering, unhelpful tw*ts as neighbours

[BiggestNizzy]

Also this as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6yX70Ce9VY

She certainly took a stupid pill... but bet she loves havIng sniggering, unhelpful tw*ts as neighbours

She looked not bad, should have gone in and helped. she may have been "gratefull"

[j2 lot]

Just been reading from BMWs own research earlier in the year that 4 out of 5 BMW 1 series owners thought there cars were fwd.

[Alistair]

Was speaking to a chap last week about winter tyres and apparently if you buy them from Kwik-Fit (scary - I know) they will fit them for you and swap them back for free in the spring.

Indeed they will also store your summer tyres for you if you don't have the space - though I think there was a small fee for that service.

Cheers

[kevham]

I'm a complete convert to the winter tyres now. I got a set of Vredestein Snowtrac 3s for my Volvo 940 barge and the transformation is incredible.
So much so that when it snowed yesterday, I was out looking for empty car parks to 'play' in. The combination of RWD automatics is not the best for winter perhaps but the tyres transform a 'stressful' car in to a competent winter shed. The traction is remarkable - the car will go places many 4x4s on standard tyres wouldn't, the stability is excellent but the most amazing thing to me is the braking performance. It's almost (but not quite) as if there is no snow or ice.
Best £350 I've spent on a car in ages and I'll be getting a set for my family bus as soon as I can source them.

[SAJ]

the transformation is incredible.
So much so that when it snowed yesterday, I was out looking for empty car parks to 'play' in.

Did the exact same thing yesterday, went to down to Whitehill Industrial estate and started doing laps to test the grip level and went for a mess about in some of the empty car parks where the snow was totally untouched. They had at least 3 inches of snow and the Europa had no issues flying through any of it.

What I like most about the winter tyres is how predictable the grip is, they don't snap and loose grip instantly, it's more gradual and gives you time to apply a tiny bit of opposite lock to bring the ass of the car back in.

I also found braking was enhanced significantly as I tried a few emergency stops and was very impressed by how stable the car was when breaking hard.

Winter tyres don't make you invincible but the sure as hell make things much safer as I love driving the car, it doesn't have to stay parked up in these conditions either.