Winter/Cold Weather Tyres

[John_Findlay]

Ok, I'm driving 4 nights a week in this ice and mush at the moment. If I don't work, I don't earn.

One of the other drivers at my work, who's Polish (I'm in a minority of 1 in 20) mentioned he has changed to winter tyres now. They cost him about £260 apparently. It's a legal requirement for a good part of the year in many northern European countries, so maybe it was habit for him.

He said he had no problems on the road tonight, whereas I had to get pushed by bystanders 3 times again. Any slight slope was useless and taking off was troublesome at the best of times. Stopping? Well...

Anyone use them? I'm very tempted given that we're due to have this weather for the whole of December and beyond. A wee knock in the car (or worse) is gonna cost a hell of a lot more than replacements. And they sound as if they'll be of benefit all the way through spring, too.

Here are some YouTube videos I found which are quite disturbing when you think about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyiBoTxCao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM

 

[Ethan]

I have a set of winter tyres coming in a couple of days. Will report back after I try them.

 

[medwayjon]

I have winter tyres on the driven wheels of the car.

I paid £26 a corner for 195/60/15's, they are ukranian tyres. Got the last 2 from the wholesaler which was a right touch.

 

[USER1999]

Two sounds a bit more do able than 4, especially when they are £120 a corner for my car.

 

[Tommo21]

John, my sister stays in Freeziemore, she's got a spare set of wheels with winter tyres ready for each season........it's a must for up there.

Your luck John, as soon as you get them it will thaw, so go get em.

 

[CliveW]

I was on a motoring forum last night and the talk is that there are no winter tyres to be had anywhere in the UK

 

[John_Findlay]

Cheers guys,

I would go for all four tyres as it looks pretty dangerous to only have them on the drive wheels.

 

[Lawrence22]

Did a skiing trip in Austria a couple of years ago. We flew into Munich hired a mondeo fitted with winter tyres and drove to resort. I have to say the tyres did make a huge difference. Just don't know if the weather here is cold enough for long enough to justify the cost.

 

[John_Findlay]

If they justify not crashing they're worth it.

Apparently they're better in snow OR just wet, cold weather. Anything under 7 degrees. That'll be 6 months a year up here.

 

[medwayjon]

Cheers guys,

I would go for all four tyres as it looks pretty dangerous to only have them on the drive wheels.

Its no problem at all just on the driven wheels.

They are the ones on my car that obviously drive, steer and do about 80% of the braking efficiency so they need to have the winter rubber on.

Its in terms of actually getting the car to find traction that the winter-tyres are designed for hence why you can drive on pretty much sheet ice with them so I saw no need to rubber-up the rear wheels for winter.

If I was driving a RWD vehicle I would probably go for 4.

Still wish I hadnt sold my Isuzu Trooper earlier this year, that thing was a go-anywhere beast. Definately going to get a series 2 disco for next year.

 

[Lump]

FYI. Those youtube clips are just scare mongering.

Front snow tires and summers on the back will be fine.... as long as you drive to the conditions. Winter tires make sure you can move off and stop, it doesn't turn your car into a 4wd snow mastering beast.

I have a few friends that run boomers and mercs with just rear winter tires and they cope fine (everybody know just how bad both brands are in the snow).

Thankfully my golf seems to be quite sure footed in the snow/ice (first winter of owning it). I was planning on doing the same as you are thinking. Not really needed now.

 

[birdieman]

I don't bother with winter tyres, I just carry snow chains -they are the dogs danglies if you find yourself in some snow bother. Much cheaper option than winter tyres too.
Legal requirement in Switzerland for a good reason.
Traction with chains on in packed snow is unbelievable.
Having lived most of my life at Grantownon-Spey, Aviemore and Ballater I feel qualified to speak of things snow related!

 

[rickg]

My recent purchase ( Mazda RX-8 Kuro) is well known as the worst handling car on the planet in snow.

I just bought a pair of Snow Socks (by Goodyear) £60. Arrived next day. They are an alternative to snow chains, but easier to fit. They are only a get you out of trouble device and as soon as you hit clear road, you take them off again.

Read lots of car forums that all raved about them.
Will probably find out if they're any good in the next few days I expect!!

http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/p...Tyre_Socks.html

 

[Smiffy]

My recent purchase ( Mazda RX-8 Kuro) is well known as being a hairdressers car

Corrected for your Rick

 

[surefire]

I don't bother with winter tyres, I just carry snow chains -they are the dogs danglies if you find yourself in some snow bother. Much cheaper option than winter tyres too.
Legal requirement in Switzerland for a good reason.
Traction with chains on in packed snow is unbelievable.
Having lived most of my life at Grantownon-Spey, Aviemore and Ballater I feel qualified to speak of things snow related!

Are snow chains legal in the UK?

I just wondered, because even when I used to live in Michigan, which has far more snow than here, snow chains were heavily restricted, and effectively illegal. Mainly because of how much they shred up the road surface.

 

[CliveW]

I don't bother with winter tyres, I just carry snow chains -they are the dogs danglies if you find yourself in some snow bother. Much cheaper option than winter tyres too.
Legal requirement in Switzerland for a good reason.
Traction with chains on in packed snow is unbelievable.
Having lived most of my life at Grantownon-Spey, Aviemore and Ballater I feel qualified to speak of things snow related!

I think you can only use them on roads with snow. When the road is clear you must remove them.
Years ago (30+) there was a spray product called "Liquid Tyre Chain". It was an aerosol you sprayed on your tyres that made them extremely sticky. It only lasted for about a hundred yards or so, but it was enough to get you moving.

 

[Macster]

I heard a few people comment that they have switched to Winter tyres.

Last week, the guy I use for tyres & repairs, (big independent tyre retailer locally), was telling me just how good they are on wet/cold/icy roads in comparison to normal tyres, and I expect they are 'better' in snow too.
Mind you, he may have been biased, and making a good pot out of them !

But at what cost ?......my EClass Estate has 18" 265/40 tyres on, so even winter rubber would be expensive I guess, unless I bought some crapy Steel wheels to put something smaller on.
All that would add up I'm sure.

Now I know that last year we had quite a bit of snow, and currently we have had nearly 2' of snow, and its likely to be here for frickin weeks, but lets face it, in the UK as a whole for the last 15yrs, we have hardly seen a flake ! And when we did, it didnt last long.

Sooo......is this just a freak 2 winters, or is this the start of the Northern Hemisphere plunging headlong into Arctic conditions as we lose the Gulf Stream due to the melt of the Ice Caps !?

Makes you think !!

For now, I'll stick to using my daughter's likkle XReg Micra, which thankfully handles snow without even thinking of losing grip !
And the wife's Corsa come to think of it.

PS: If anyone does want Winter Tyres, he sells online, and posts out nooooo problem.
http://www.tyremen.co.uk/winter-tyres.html

 

[doubletripledouble]

What car and what wheel/tyres do you run at the moment John?

I put new rubber on all round in the middle of last week and they seem to be coping ok. I have been thinking of changing the front's to thinner 16 or 17" steels for the winter with higher walls though.

 

[CliveW]

We have a BMW 525 Sport Touring which is auto and pretty good in the snow compared to our other car (BMW 330 sport manual) primarily because of the tread pattern. The 330 has Michelin Pilot Sport directioal low profiles whilst the 525 has Bridgestone non directionals.
Anyway, we have a coal fire and cannot get a delivery of coal because of the snow, so on Tuesday I drove to the garage and got four 20kg bags and put them in the boot. The difference in traction is fantastic, so instead of dumping the coal bags in the shed they will stay in the car until we need to burn it.

 

[surefire]

That was another trick that was common in the US when I was there, especially as almost everyone drove pick ups.

The only difference was instead of sacks of coal, it was bags of salt, so you could also use them if you did get a bit stuck.