Winter tyres on Mrs GTI’s Ibiza got me through snow like that pictured with no hassle at all – they’re amazing.

Winter tyres (and M+S marked all season tyres) are brilliant. They should be a legal requirement, like they are in most of the rest of northern Europe.

Is this the winter tyre thread for 2013/2014 then?

Most of my miles last winter were highland ones. Sensible driving + winter tyres is a good combination. I can’t say I’ve ever felt the need to stop and consider “What would a surrey driving god do?” when i’m trying to get my car out of a road that hasn’t been cleared at 6pm on a sunday night. In less harsh winter conditions when winter tyres aren’t strictly necessary, they still perform better than my summers so it’s a no brainer for me.

Winter tyres are compulsory where I live and if the police stop you and you don’t have them on the car, you’re fined. I have a complete set of alloys + tyres for my car which the garage keeps and swaps as needed.

I reckon I get 2 months of driving in winter when they’re needed, snow, constant pretty low temps. Two winters ago we had a couple of months at -10 degrees C or lower where the snow never cleared. Obviously, though, the fact that pretty much everyone has them means you can be assured that a quick stop doesn’t mean a load of summer tyred cars will be ploughing into you.

peterfile
I can’t say I’ve ever felt the need to stop and consider “What would a surrey driving god do?”

Peter that should be capitals for Surrey and God, if you can’t manage two Capital letters then just for Surrey …..

🙂

I could change god to deity and we’d avoid this issue altogether i suppose.

Not sure what i could change surrey to though which doesn’t need capitals? “an area near the bottom of the country which has a disproportionately high number of demi deities and boutique razors”

winter round here means that all those without winter tires stick to the main roads into town – also means my route to work would take in north deeside road , north anderson drive and the haudagain

with winter tires on my 4×4 i can take the back roads direct route – slightly slower than normal mind you and not sit in traffic for 3 hours. (when the snows too deep to cycle) then i can also shoot up the ski centres without worry when the snows good

glupton1976 – Member

How often do you get the chance to drive on snow or ice that isn’t slush full of grit? An hour/yr?

And do you trust the ability of other drivers, when it comes to them not driving into you, on snow and ice covered roads? I don’t.

Glupton, you’re either trolling or really not looked in to this.

It’s not just about sbow and ice. Summer tyres dramatically reduce their ability to grip (wet or dry) below about 7-8 degrees. It is simply out of their designed temperaure opperating range. So yes winter tyres in winter (colder temperatures) give you significantly more grip whether wet/dry/frosty/snowy. Added to their significant more open tread pattern which disperses water quicker and allows them not to clog up with slush/snow.

I suggest you do some reading comparing stopping distance in circa zero degree tmperatures when using winter tyres against summer tyres.

Theres a lot of people on here who have a false sense of security for fitting winter tyres.

Peter that should be capitals for Surrey and God, if you can’t manage two Capital letters then just for Surrey …..

Actually, it’s only a capital G for god if you’re talking about THE God. I’ll not mention your ‘Capital’. Or your five-dot ellipsis. (Whoops.)

If you’re going to be a pedant, do it right! 😉

We just left the winter tyres on the car all year. It likely wears them out a bit faster but saves the hassle and cost of storing and fitting.

After many years of driving around Scotland in winter I’m kicking myself for not having tried them earlier, such is the improvement in traction and control.

I shall be enjoying my first winter in a rear wheel car, but have a set of winters already waiting for a change over. I’ve seen some pretty convincing video’s of beemers/ rear wheel cars with winters vs 4×4’s without trying to go up hills – would never have thought a beemer would outdo a 4×4 in that stake.

I’ve got a RWD car Sui and the difference is night and day.

Why is it that every year – normally more than once – we have so many otherwise intelligent people failing to grasp that winter tyres are for cold weather and not just snow?

MoreCashThanDash – Member

Why is it that every year – normally more than once – we have so many otherwise intelligent people failing to grasp that winter tyres are for cold weather and not just snow?

Because this is STW, and any motoring thread makes (relatively) normal people incapable of:

1. Reading any thread properly.
2. Reading the whole thread.
3. Using normal rational when deciding their view point.
4. Modifying their view point when presented with anyother (read wrong) view point.

and a few others I missed.

5. basic research before forming a view (rather than just going on their gut)

Why is it that every year – normally more than once – we have so many otherwise intelligent people failing to grasp that winter tyres are for cold weather and not just snow?

I dunno? Would it make sense to put just two winter tyres on the car at diagonally opposite corners to equalise the grip front and back? I know some people will point out it could lead to side to side discrepancies, but I’d have thought the diagonal thing would balance that out? Seems like a good way of getting increased grip without having to splash out on four tyres at once.

Left hand corner handling vs right hand corner handling as a start…

I have some winter tyres for sale if anyone’s interested.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-nanking-snow-sk-2-winter-tyres

Would it make sense to put just two winter tyres on the car at diagonally opposite corners to equalise the grip front and back?

what could possibly go wrong?

Don’t be so daft.

Putting both on the same side would work much better 🙄

I run both summer and winter tyres on both my cars, one set on steelies and the other on a set 16 inch rims.

Currently running Michelin alpins and Goodyear ultra grip pro’s

It’s all about lateral grip and traction.

It’s the best investment which can be made to the car.

Bwd – familliar with how differentials work ? If not go read up and then think about why diagonals might be. Bad idea 😉

From what I’ve read all season tyres seem to be a compromise. The main thing that stood out for me was that the summer tyres were much better braking in wet conditions than any others, and that winter tyres were definitely better in snow. Therefore given that we only suffer 4 snow days a year I think I’ll stick with good quality summer tyres.

How many days of the year do you drive when the temperature is below 7C?

scotroutes – given that I commute to and from work in the dark from October to March, and my job takes me all over rural areas like the High Peak, I can be driving at less than 7C anytime from Thursday (looking at the forecast) through to May (thinking about this year)

Your driving requirements may be different of course.

MCTD – my point precisely. I’m trying to point out to Pieface that he, like so many other posters on this and similar threads, has misunderstood what winter tyres are for.

The main thing that stood out for me was that the summer tyres were much better braking in wet conditions than any others, and that winter tyres were definitely better in snow.

Incorrect.

Summer tyres are only better for braking in the wet when it’s above 7 degrees (e.g. summer).

Winter tyres are better are braking in the wet below 7 degrees, which covers all of winter and much of autumn/spring.

I’m not sure how people continue to argue otherwise for 50 pages every year.

Also… A premium winter tyre will out perform a cheap budget Far East summer rubber circle in the wet above 7’c.

Fact is, there’s too many motorists in the uk who are happy to comprise safety for cost.

People who don’t run or have never run winter tyres are the people who say they are not require.

The way I look at it is that, them 4 patches of rubber touching the ground is what holds the car to the road. So why would I put myself or family at risk?

What didn’t come across clearly in my post was that all seasons seemed a bit of a duff deal. IMO you’d go for Winter and Summer tyres. However given my budget restrictions the summer tyres cover my requirements more.

What didn’t come across clearly in my post was that all seasons seemed a bit of a duff deal. IMO you’d go for Winter and Summer tyres. However given my budget restrictions the summer tyres cover my requirements more.

Aye, sorry pieface, I didn’t meant to have a dig at you personally, just more of a gripe at reading the same old arguments against cold weather tyres.

You’re completely right, if you can only have one set of tyres, it has to be the one which is the best compromise for you, and summers will definitely win for many people (particularly those who don’t live in more rural areas).

One thing I will say about budget though is that although you have to fork out for another set of tyres, your summers will last twice as long, so the rubber costs (almost) equalise. That said, the cost of steels/changing is obviously additional to just running summers all year round.

If I had to run one set of rubber, I would run a premium winter tyre all year round.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Summer-VS-Winter-tyres-Warm-weather-performance.htm

Simple things- winter tyres can be worse than summer tyres in safety critical terms, but only when road conditions are at their best, which is when it matters least. Meanwhile they are better when road conditions are at their worst, when it matters most.

For me it was the incredible cheapness of used, decent condition winter tyres on wheels that made the decision for me, 4 barely worn snowproxes on (ugly as ****) alloys for barely more than I usually pay per corner. Sold. If you were paying RRP that’d be harder to justify.

I have all season Hankook Optimo 4s on my car and we have winter tyres all year round on my wife’s car. I do 30k pa she does 6k pa.

When push comes to shove winters are a little better in snow but any sensible person drives with a bit of care in wintry weather.

I would whole heartedly recommend four season tyres, the Hankooks are great in snow, brilliant in the wet and very comfy AND hardwearing in summer.

I would echo jp-t853 above.
Our Touran has run Optimo S allround tyres for two sets / 45,000miles now. With out a doubt, in cold, wet conditions they are superb. Noticeably grippier and clear water quickly.
In snow they are *marginally* behind the full on winter tyres that the Yaris ran (Coopers and Hankook’s) for the last three winters. Again, they are much better in cold and wet conditions compared to the (summer) low-rolling resistance Michelins my father had fitted before.
I do drive enough cold, wet days to justify the winter or all round tyres. The snow days are just a bonus. They stay on year round, and the Touran managed same miles on allround tyres as the previous summer Uniroyals.

If you could get a winter tyre with a decent efficiency rating (how accurate are these anyway?) I’d probably run them all year round.

More sipes and working edges = more grip = higher rolling resistance = slightly higher fuel consumption. I know I’d rather have the grip when it mattered than save a few quid on fuel.

If you could get a winter tyre with a decent efficiency rating (how accurate are these anyway?) I’d probably run them all year round.

My car is fairly thisty, but I only drop 2-4 mpg with the winters on. Some of that will be due to the cold weather anyway, but I suppose it will be balanced out by the fact i’m normally lighter with my right foot through the wetter months.

the optimo S are a good compromise – we had them on the golf – ground clearance stopped it long before the tires lost traction.

remember driving onto an unploughed carpark at the lecht to wait for the ski day to start- had a kip. while waiting a chaved up civic full of lads tried to do the same… only they drove on and instantly started to wheel spin – stuck half on the road and half off the road – used the golf to pull it off the road no sweat- lad was impressed and was off to buy some winter tires after that – seeminly they had had a few hairy moments on the way up – for me it was like driving on a damp day as oppose to a snowy day.

I run winters on the Van year round, I ran a BMW130i all last winter (RWD and 260+HP) on 17″ Steels for that proper “Munich Taxi” look !!
We had lots of people that could not get off our estate for a week, I was up and down from Norfolk to Somerset and never had a problem in any conditions. Until you have driven on winter tyres in winter, you will not believe the difference in grip, stability and safety.
I sold the 130 and sold the winter wheels separately for what I paid for them 8000 miles earlier as they wouldn’t fit the 5 series, so I have just brought a set of spare 18″ wheels which will shortly be fitted with Conti Winter contacts for the late Autumn to spring period.

Total cost is about £800 with brand new premium winter tyres(£600), and they will last maybe 3 seasons and still be saleable for £350-400 at 4-5mm tread depth

Its a total no brainer, and I cant be doing with the hassle of sorting out a prang or taking time off work to dig the route out off the estate, which I wont get paid for.
I want my family to be safe driving around and know that they can get where they need to go and home again whatever the weather.