every year i play a bit of a lottery, and wait until im fairly sure the lovely sunshine has gone, and then fit them. i usually lose and end up driving around for a week on winters in blazing sunshine, or summers in pissing rain and cold.
my german colleagues tell me they just stick them on first week in october. what think you?
I had 4 x cross climates fitted on the hottest day of the year, good discount though…
To be fair winters in blazing sun is preferable to summers in the cold.
For most people that is - Unless of course your driving to the extreme of your vehicle's ability and getting squirm setting the lap record for the trip to tesco.
I'll swap them over when the temperature is routinely below 7. We ain't there yet.
Does this not depend on whether it's cold where you live, given that summer tyres can be A rated for wet grip?
All seasons.
Get them on at some point in October when I have a spare hour.
All seasons (Agilis Crossclimates) went on the van a couple of weeks back. They'll be staying on all year round so not much use to your decision making.
I was a bit surprised as to how quiet they are (compared to the previous tyres) considering how chunky they are (for road tyres)
Dont really have the weather to justify full winters where I live.
I really like winters for just cold and wet generally but I’m going to gamble leaving as late as possible this year. Need eneough tread left in them for a (fingers crossed) trip to the alps in Feb but as I’m probably selling the car after then don’t want to have to buy another set. So all in all we’re guaranteed loads of nov-jan snow here🙄😉
Just bought a new (play) bike with Hans Dampfs, are these winter tyres? Don't normally change my mountain bike tyres between seasons, I just tend to ride a different bike:
- Lightweight carbon full suss is for good weather or big days out in the hills where making progress over proper off-road terrain is priority.
- Singlespeed 27.5+ rigid bike for all year riding with the kids plus is brilliant when it's filthy.
My Cross bike is the only bike that I change tyres on it for winter slop. Fast rolling tyres in the winter and a set of wet/mud tyres ready to be installed for the winter which will probably be over the next week or so.
Edit:- Apologies, I thought this was a 'bike' tyre thread.
re all seasons, that is the correct answer, however when i bought the car it had horrible ditchfinders on it so i went straight to the tyre place for 4 nice new summer tyres, and only when i was driving home did i remember i should have got all seasons. i think i'll stick it out a couple of weeks yet as its not below 7. normally the first frost is first week in november.
Does this not depend on whether it’s cold where you live,
This.
I have full winters fitted all year.
When the current tyres are threadbare…but then I replace with the same tyre, so I may not be too helpful
In all of my 47 years on this planet I have never met or known anyone who has two sets of tyres for a motor vehicle. Is this really a thing?
Discovery has Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Seasons on - they'll be staying on until they wear out.
Hoping we get some snow this year to see how all the fancy automatic terrain response systems deal with it
I usually forget until the first icy day (usually in November). But ideally I'd put them on at some point in the next month.
In all of my 47 years on this planet I have never met or known anyone who has two sets of tyres for a motor vehicle. Is this really a thing?
Yeah, it's great. You should try it.
How fast are you lot driving that you require specific tyre choices for when it's cold? It's not bloody f1!
Having driven in Scotland, where the weather ain't exactly warm all year, for 27 years, not once have I felt the need for a dedicated winter tyre.
How fast are you lot driving that you require specific tyre choices for when it’s cold?
its not the going, its the stopping...
Having driven in Scotland, where the weather ain’t exactly warm all year, for 27 years, not once have I felt the need for a dedicated winter tyre.
would that be central belt or city bypass limits ?
the first frost of the year is always fun at our house watching those who have pushed it a bit long before getting their winter tires fitted waiting on the gritter before they can get up the hill to the main road......
not that they would have helped in the 9ft drifts we had last year ......(also in scotland where it is cold)
Probably end of the month for us.
The Germans say "October bis Oestern"
October til Easter - but there are insurance issues in the Fatherland about fitting winter tyres. They are brilliant on loose snow and hard pack snow. But as rubbish a summer tyres on black ice.
Winter tyres were great when I lived in Germany and Switzerland. My issue in the UK is that it very few people have winter tyres, so if you are able to stop really quickly and the people behind you can't ....
I have 2 sets of wheels/tyres for both my van and car!
Van I rarely swap these days as doesn’t get used much over winter and I now run ATs which cope ok on the odd days it is used.
Skoda car has full winters and I swap when the average temperature drops low enough for them to make a difference.
I’ll swap them over when the temperature is routinely below 7. We ain’t there yet.
Same understanding from me too. Cross over point is when the average temperature is regularly below 7.
My winter tyres also deal with rain much better than my summer tyres. So if you are going through a particularly wet patch that could influence your decision too.
In all of my 47 years on this planet I have never met or known anyone who has two sets of tyres for a motor vehicle. Is this really a thing?
Yes its a thing and has been for a while a now. Do you 100% need it ... No.
Depends on your situation, but I find even living in Hertfordshire there are benefits to having two sets of tyres.
I drive a sports car as my daily driver and I feel having two sets of tyres gives me best of best worlds. Fun and communicative feel in the summer and safety and confidence in the winter no matter what the conditions.
My van has one set of all season tyres, as the compromise of loss of sporty feel isn't something I care about in my van.
South Manchester and never bothered. That said, ice spikers are ready for the MTB's when needed. Will fit Snow Studs early to the commuter as I'm commuting on the canal and don't fancy icy cobbles without them.
Ditto the 7C thing. Norwegian recommendation is 1st November in the south, 16 November in the north.
as some others have said, CrossClimates all year round, and have done on last few cars, can't fault 'em. Scotland Central belt driving mainly with some trips further north and south a few times a year.
Previously it's been when commuting o'clock is regularly 7°C or colder. However, a recent vehicle change means the spare wheels and tyres no longer fit.
Think I might move the new car over to cross climates rather than swap wheels twice a year.
Stealth add. Vauxhall AstraH/Zafira B alloy wheels and winter tyres for sale. May fit other vehicles. South Yorkshire/NE Derbyshire area.
It's been around 7'C the past couple of mornings as my wife has left for work so I'll be changing the tyres on the car later this week I recon.
As soon as the morning/evening temperatures are below 7deg on a regular basis.
Having driven in Scotland, where the weather ain’t exactly warm all year, for 27 years, not once have I felt the need for a dedicated winter tyre.
Its one of the things unless you try you'll never know. A bit like tapered head tubes and through axles. I never thought my frame or forks were flexly until I demoed a bike with a stiffer front end and noticed the difference and improvement in performance.
Did it mean my old bike was instantly unsuitable for off road? ... No But now I was enlightened I didn't want to go back.
Most modern cars have high levels of steering and braking assistance and poor levels of feedback. While this makes the car very comfortable on bumpy roads or in traffic etc .. it does mean the driver is disconnected and can't get a feel for the conditions.
On my sports car which has very good feedback I can feel the tyres go plastic and not key into the road surface as well in colder temperatures. On frosty days I can feel a slight pushing of the front end and a delay in initial turn in. This is felt while driving normally round town in residential areas below 30mph.
Driving the sports car in the winter doesn't make the car unsafe (even the summer tyres are good road tyres not silly semi slicks) but the winter tyres just give me more confidence and peace of mind, even when just pottering about and popping to the supermarket to get some groceries.
Having driven in Scotland, where the weather ain’t exactly warm all year, for 27 years, not once have I felt the need for a dedicated winter tyre.
Most of us don't need "dedicated" winter tyres, but decent all-season tyres are a much better compromise than using summer tyres all year round.
Last winter I got them swapped in early to mid October and the guy who stores them and swaps them for us said it wasn’t time yet. However I knew it was the last winter I would get out of them so thought may as well have them on longer and save the tread on the summer tyres.
Need to buy some new winters but can’t remember the dimensions of the steel rims they are on. Just know it’s a smaller rim than the alloys the summers are in! D’oh!
Having driven in Scotland, where the weather ain’t exactly warm all year, for 27 years, not once have I felt the need for a dedicated winter tyre.
For the last decade my commute as been either south shore of Loch Tay singletrack road (no sun at all, no gritting etc) or all around Scotland including Highlands and Borders, year around, visiting schools and nurseries. As others have said, under 7*c and wet they are better at stopping and cornering. They have also got me out of trouble a few times - including these days our road which is a hill at each end, shaded from sun and often sheet ice or slippery. Both cars wear all seasons.
I have Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons fitted to my car. I've driven to work (2wd Octavia) with side streets covered in snow then at work driven the 4wd Octavia Scout. The 2wd car with all seasons was far better.
During the Beast From The East it was the only car I saw getting out our estate for about 2 weeks. Managed to go through unplowed snow above front valance level.
I work shifts so now and then am on roads which haven't been treated and when daily temps are at their lowest. In central Scotland we can be below 7C on some days for 8 months of the year.a
Obviously 99% of the time it makes no difference. If I had to emergency stop on cold wet roads it would matter though. Summers are a quarter longer stopping distance at 2c wet braking.
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/Summer-All-Season-and-Winter-Tyres-Tested-at-0c-15c.htm
If they get me to work once or twice when I wouldn't have got there or stop on damaging slide onto a kerb once they have paid for themselves as the premium over summer tyres is only around £20 a tyre.
Wouldn't fit anything else but all seasons.
I’ve yet to experience a winter when I’ve not been happy enough on the summer tyres. Yes a buy A wet grip rated ones but that’s it. For the number of times it snows and I need travel then it’s not worth it. If I wasn’t a suburban dweller then I might have a different perspective
. For the number of times it snows and I need travel then it’s not worth it.
The way my man-maths works it out is that having winter tyres and summer tyres - each for ~6months of the year works out at zero additional cost. Each set of tyres will last approximately twice as long as they are on half the time.
Therefore the equation as I see it as there is probably no benefit most of the time to having winter tyres for general driving, but if you need them - ie emergency stop then there is a clear benefit.
Therefore clear benefit at no extra* cost makes it a no brainer.
*granted there you are front loading the cost of two sets of tyres at the start rather than spreading the cost over say 5 years.
All seasons for me, again Goodyear vectors, my little country village is only 2 mile from the large conurbation, but it's two mile I'd not want to walk. They are noisier than normal tyres, but given the state of the roads and our varied weather, they seemed the best compromise. Also owning a Haldex 4x4, there no way I wanted to get stuck in bad weather, due to summer tyres 😀
For the number of times it snows
Winter tyres, not snow tyres. Anywhere it's often below 7c you should see a benefit. You dont need to be bashing through snow drifts for them to provide improved safety.
The way my man-maths works it out is that having winter tyres and summer tyres – each for ~6months of the year works out at zero additional cost.
I reckon most will be paying someone to swap those tyres/wheels over.
I’ve yet to experience a winter when I’ve not been happy enough on the summer tyres. Yes a buy A wet grip rated ones but that’s it. For the number of times it snows and I need travel then it’s not worth it. If I wasn’t a suburban dweller then I might have a different perspective.
I've had three - 2008, 2010 and 2012 - 2008 I had brand new summer tyres on and still managed to get into the middle of the Yorkshire Dales in a rear wheel drive BMW with 2" of snow everywhere, but some of that was sideways. 2010 my Z4MC with 19" CSLs and <4mm of summer tred got stuck on a totally flat car park in similar conditions. 10 mile walk home in -10deg temperatures. 2012 - 3 Series Touring with new winter tyres managed to make it home to the bottom of a steep twisty valley with maybe 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and a lot of compacted ice. There were cars in every hedgerow on the way down, but my silly automatic RWD bus made it down okay. They work.
The main reason I like CrossClimates so much is wet weather traction. No other tyre* I've used resists wheelspin so well in the wet. It makes the car easier and nicer to drive.
I've had a succession of FWD hatchbacks all with 200-250hp and always used good tyres (Eagle F1, Pilot Sports etc) but the CrossClimates blow them away for traction in the wet. The fact that they are okay (vs completely useless) in the occasional snow we have is also a bonus.
*I've yet to try a more winter optimised all season like the Goodyear Vector though
But as rubbish a summer tyres on black ice.
Not IME. I regularly drive on a stretch of water ice where spring water crosses the road and freezes. This isn't a problem despite a moderate slope and gradient when taking care on Winter tyres. On the rare occasions I've had Summer tyres it takes extreme care at walking pace to get across.
+1 Michelin Cross Climate+ left on all year round. Performed great in the snow last December and earlier this year
Probably November for me. As others have said - once its regularly below 7°C
Big fan of winter tyres, although I do miss the sharpness and ultimate grip of the summers - the winters feel very wooly if you corner hard on dry roads when its warmer. I'll trade that for the ability to get where I want to go with less chance of ending up in a ditch. (plus a slightly paranoid attitude to not wanting to be *that* guy in the beemer)
My experience is that (outside of snow) the summers aren't too bad when they've got some heat in them, but for the first 20 minutes of a journey on a cold dank morning, the car feels a lot more skittish on summers than it does on the winters. Like driving on hard plastic rather than rubber. On ice, winters still aren't great, but you do at least stand a chance. A bit like a mountainbike -v- a roadbike. One you'll definitely crash, the other you might be alright if you're careful/lucky.
As an outdoorsy type, I like being out in the hills in the snow, so being able to get to the hills in winter weather (back again) is worth the expense!
I have 2 sets of wheels. The spares live in the cellar the rest of the year. I've just bought new winter tyres - the first set lasted 9 years, so feels like a decent payback period.
scruff9252
Free MemberThe way my man-maths works it out is that having winter tyres and summer tyres – each for ~6months of the year works out at zero additional cost. Each set of tyres will last approximately twice as long as they are on half the time.
Yup. And people tend to sell the wheels separately from the car when they move it on, so it's generally straightforward to find a set of wheels with good quality winter tyres cheaply so it's not even that big a cost. Storage is the only real hassle, for anyone that can work a spanner and has a jack.
For me, they used to always be fitted in a panic, the day before the Kinlochleven enduro- usually first weekend of November.
Does the maths still work out if your tyres age out rather than wear out? Had the MX5 MOT the other day and they recommended a tyre change at 6 year old, but still way more than half tread all round. The last 2 years most cars will have done reduced mileage. I'll keep an eye on them, but just looked at Michelin CrossClimate, way more than double the cost of good regular choices.