Anyone do this this instead of changing back to summer tyres?

I’m thinking of doing this as:
-I’ve got a one week ski trip to the alps in Dec
-And of course the UK winter to get through.
-In total I only do around 4000 miles a year so the extra fuel hit is not a issue.

sound sensible?

I did.

We were still getting temperatures below 7 degrees into early May this year. It hardly seemed worth changing them given that we had frost in September.

If you are doing low mileage in any case then the added wear on them will cost less than what it would cost to have two tyre fits every year.

Yup.

And my Conti Winter Sport (M+S with the mountain and snowflake) All-Season tyres outlasted the Pirelli P6000’s that came with the car. By quite some margin too.

Little more road noise, fuel hit is indistinguishable.

I was about to say no way, but then saw your annual mileage. If thats all you are going to do, then leave them on.

Have you bought them yet? Have you considered All Weather tyres?

I think the Avon winter tyres I have for Mrs Gti’s car are more comfortable than the summer tyres…. with a softer compound I suppose it’s possible.

A person I work with did and said as long as you didn’t go nuts in the dry weather,they didn’t wear too bad.
He also liked how good they were in the rain.

very much depends on the tire

hankook optimo s – only lasted 10k normal driving

bf goodrich snowflake rated ATs lasted 30 odd k

and some far east cheapo winters on the van have both been impressive in the cold and snow AND in terms of not wearing quickly.

“Pirelli P6000’s that came with the car. By quite some margin too.”

i struggle to believe that – p6000s dont die they just get old. worst tire ever.

Don’t conti reccomend that if your going to use one tyre year round in the UK, then use winters?

I think it makes sense to unless you like to press on a bit in summer, in which case they’ll wear a bit quicker and squirm a bit more.

Yes. Bridgestone Blizzaks have been on for about 3 years now, sameish annual mileage as you, maybe a little more. They’ve still got plenty of life in them.

I leave them on all year on both vehicles. Not really for any reason than they both were due for new tyres at the onset of winter so winter tyres are what went on and the tyres I had were’t worth keeping.

Depends where you are in the UK but as with Mr Scotroutes Its only been a fairly short part of the year where the tyres have been outside their ‘zone’. They’re best under 7 deg and measurably worse above 20 deg – well over 20deg at the times of day when I’m actually behind the wheel hasn’t really happened very much.

This is with the caveat that I don’t use fashion tyres, they’re not big/wide/low profile/ expensive so my tyres are unfashionable and relatively cheap, and I don’t do high milages (particularly as my driving is split between two vehicles) so if there is concern about accelerated wear its not enough of concern for me to bother with.

As per cp, from Continental:

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/van-tyres/winter-tyres/why-winter-tyres.html

It is recommended that you switch to winter tyres in the UK between October and April.

If you are reluctant to change tyres and have nowhere to store summer tyres when they are not in use, you are better off using winter tyres all year round.

Winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to sophisticated compound technology, do not wear any more quickly.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service

Ask everyone in Eastern Europe. It’s not ideal but at that mileage you’ll be fine.

p6000s dont die they just get old. worst tire ever.

Oh my word yes. Understeering, aquaplaning, feel-absorbing junk. The stereotypical Pirelli hoop.

I left my icebears on all year a while back, worked fine. A little loss of grip in dry conditions but nothing major, still better than most of the ditchfinders people seem to choose. And the biggest loss of performance comes when road conditions are at their best so you miss it least. Also was useful for driving through fields and ditches etc!

I change my snowproxes now just because they’re ridiculously big and they’re on a set of very ugly wheels 🙂 They’ll be going back on soon though. (I’ve said this before, but every year I take off my winter tyres, and shortly after get stuck in mud because I forget)

I have a pair of winter tyres (not tires) on the front of my VW Beetle. But as it does about 2000 miles a year at most and is as far from a performance vehicle you can get I can’t say they affect the drive at all.

Can only echo what those above have said as I’ve left mine on this year with no issues.

At that mileage you’ll probably change your car before they wear out!

Yep, had the Nokian WR on my XC90 for the last 4 years must have done >30k on them – just about to be changed.

Cool – all go for winter tyres then.

I looked at all seasons but they came out to over £20 per corner.

Its hard to tell by looking at reviews as they say things like ‘not as good in wet or dry’ but they don’t say by how much over a summer tyre. Or by how much over a good summer vs a bad summer.

I.e in the summer, how much worse is a good winter than budget summer? Miles or by not much?

Going to go for some Uniroyal MSPlus77 from Camskill – bargain.

Nope. But then I don’t use winter tyres. Never felt the need as the weather in the UK is rarely THAT bad (unless you live somewhere extreme like Glencoe) and the winter doesn’t last long enough.

I do however have a set of winter wheels with narrower, higher profile all-round tyres fitted. These will be going on at the end of the month and will stop on until about the end of March

Oh my word yes. Understeering, aquaplaning, feel-absorbing junk. The stereotypical Pirelli hoop.

I did get some joy out of them. Throwing them into the recycling pit when changing for something wot grips 🙂

Yes, all year round here, but they are Kleber Quadraxer which are marketed as all season. Over 30k out of the fronts I think.

Nope. But then I don’t use winter tyres. Never felt the need as the weather in the UK england is rarely THAT bad (unless you live somewhere extreme like Glencoe Scotland) and the winter doesn’t last long enough.

My street, day one of a week’s snow a couple of years ago.

Going nowhere by Northwindlowlander, on Flickr

That’s a very extreme suburb of edinburgh 😉

I do however have a set of winter wheels with narrower, higher profile all-round tyres fitted.

I’ve been told that too – narrow is better for snow (i.e. panda 4×4)
So going from 195/60 to 185/65. Circumference is 1% diff but width is 5% narrower and price is £15 cheaper a corner.

Nope. But then I don’t use winter tyres. Never felt the need as the weather in the UK england is rarely THAT bad (unless you live somewhere extreme like Glencoe Scotland) and the winter doesn’t last long enough.

It only takes one slide towards a parked car, never mind a person, to have all sorts of ‘ah crap, a few hundred quid on winter tyres seems a bargain right now compared to crashing into that car and the associated faff & increased insurance costs’.

They genuinely do give you a hell of a lot more cold weather/muddy/snow grip compared to ‘normal’ tyres.

An additional benefit of year round use is the huge traction increase driving around muddy mtb event fields.

Nope. But then I don’t use winter tyres. Never felt the need as the weather in the UK england is rarely THAT bad (unless you live somewhere extreme like Glencoe Scotland) and the winter doesn’t last long enough.[/quote]

You must winter in the Southern Hemisphere, lucky you. Here in Blighty (Leeds) the last 4 winters have proven the need for winter tyres. I can think of at least a dozen occasions in the last few years when I simply wouldn’t have gotten home if I didn’t have winter tyres.

After my wife had to sleep in her office at work whilst 5 months pregnant and I only got home by borrowing a 4×4 from work we opted for winter tyres for her car last year. World of difference in a BMW and no issue in the significant amount of snow we got later.

Sold it and just had 3 of the 4 ordered winter wheels arrive for the replacement. Will probably leave them on till April and then swop again but have large shed to store such stuff in. If not I think I would go all season as a compromise.

Reviews look ok and gone for Nokians this time so will see once the 4 th wheel turns up!

A friend did in her z4 for about 18 months, even knackered they were solid round the snow covered roads of Denmark (despite her heavy right foot)- at the same time the UK was shut down due to 1/4 of the snow they had.

Live in the slightly damp and bracing west of Scotland. Bought additional sets of winter wheels/tyres for Mrs Shep and I. Not cheap but never been stuck. Noticeably more traction on cold dry tarmac, frosted roads, saturated road surfaces and snow. If I had to lose summer or winter, summer would go. Winter tyres are better in all but warm dry conditions when grip is plentiful. Wish I had just bought the tyres rather than wheels/tyres. Some insurance companies insist on being informed when W/T are fitted. Ours didn’t load the premium.

I’ve run 2 sets of winter tyres, hankook ice cept and a goodyear on a 206 and a punto. Both on the front for 2 years straight. they both perform very well in wet conditions as well as the occasional bit of snow. No noticable loss in performance or fuel use on either. better than aquaplaning in the wet in summer.

Depends how you drive too.

nokian WRG2s here and I absolutely love them. I actually look forward to cold weather so I can use them. But, I drive quite hard and when it gets warm I can feel the softer rubber squirm a bit more. Also I don’t want to wear them out so it makes me drive like a granny when it gets warm and they are still on.

Oh and mpg is higher with them on that my summer tyres.

trail_rat – Member

“Pirelli P6000’s that came with the car. By quite some margin too.”

i struggle to believe that – p6000s dont die they just get old. worst tire ever.

I’ve got no idea what this thread is about, but I can tell you that my car is shod with P6000s, the tyre it was intended for, and they’re shite.
God bless.

I just leave them on, set of conti winter contacts picked up at my decent local part worn place for £120 for 245/45 17s all round was a bargain, what’s the point in changing them?

German tyre rules are great for us and the tyres were epic, car felt like a 4×4

Our cheapo Goodride winter tyres were great last year on roads covered with running water and snow. Which was most of last year through till May this year just outside Derby. The extra grip in the wet was terrific. Took them off only when the proper summer arrived, they are going back in a fortnight, probably.

You must winter in the Southern Hemisphere, lucky you. Here in Blighty (Leeds) the last 4 winters have proven the need for winter tyres. I can think of at least a dozen occasions in the last few years when I simply wouldn’t have gotten home if I didn’t have winter tyres.

I live in Burnley (top of the Championship, got a cricked neck yet looking up?). Been driving for 25 years, never once had an issue where I thought “I need winter tyres”.

But then I know how to drive.

cant see the need either – all taken on the 2.5 miles to the road from the door and all been ploughed by the farmer which made it worse for standard tires. my van got out with a fight on winters and the landrover also on winters coped with it admirably – pulling out the coalmans brava which was on non winter road tires- meanwhile my neighbours car had to be parked at the bins at the bottom of the road in the last photo – it couldnt even get up the snow covered track let alone the ice.

“can’t see the need”. Is that a good old Landy bonnet in one of those pictures? Hmmm……Not playing fair!

trail_rat was being ironic….in response to the previous post.

1987 LR 90 – rolling on toyo open country M + S and snow flaked road biased ATS – and yes significant amounts of irony was being deployed scotroutes