winter tyres.

[Chippy_Tea]

According to 5 live if you split the county in half from North to South 1 in 20 in the West of the country now fit them and 1 in 10 on the East fit them, they may be safer but we never used to have them and if you drive to the conditions on normal tyres i do not think they are necessary, i think they give people a false sense of security making them drive when they would not have on normal tyres they are also expensive and you need to switch them back to the summer tyres when the temperature rise adding another expense (unless you are into D.I.Y) you also need to store them through the summer months.

Do you use them or are you considering buying a set?

.

 

[Nicks90]

If you suffer from significant prolonged cold, they are a godsend. Winter tyres aren't just for snow and ice, but the compound is different and works more effectively at colder temps.
Don't try this at home, but your braking distances using summer tyres when it's -10 are much greater due to the compound not being optimal at that temp.

Look at places like Poland or Germany where they get 4 months of constant cold and virtually everyone fits them.

Wouldn't bother in the UK though. I know my rear wheel drive Merc wearing sporty summer rubber sucks in the cold and ice and snow, so I just don't go out in it when the weather sucks...or i drive accordingly if I have to.

 

[mickthetrick]

i use them. my car just stands still with a slight covering of snow. the thing with tyres thats changed over the years is the size and width. most cars now have these low profile tyres which are wide. when i first started driving tyres were skinny and mostly 13 inch, even land rovers had shinny tyres lol. now they are these fat low profile which are useless in the snow. also i must say the younger generation dont know how to drive in the snow too.

 

[mickthetrick]

forgot to say, i have my snow tyres on a spare set of rims. i just change the fronts tyres over when winter comes. live pretty high up and if it snow it dosnt seem to miss us much.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Mick puttiiing them one axle is not a good idea.

 

[yeastinfection]

We as a company run winter tyres all year round. The difference is very noticeable. Unfortunately the most we get from bridgestone is 12k Michelin tend to last longer.
Do I fit them to my own cars .no

 

[prog99]

I swap over to winters (well all weathers) around november(ish). Worth it if your regularly having to do winter trips up north but I'd not bother if I didn't.
Did help during last years big snowfall in Edinburgh though.
Next car I get I think I'll just run the all weathers year round.

 

[Gunge]

I'm gunna fit caterpillar tracks to my mota... working on the prototype right now.

 

[Brewed_Force]

Had my MOT last week, there was an advisory ..."snow tyre fitted on front nearside "
I didn't even know there was such a thing (we don't get snow very often in Liverpool).
My car mechanic explained that they are compulsory in Germany & France in winter, and when spring comes they ship them over here as part-worn.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Did you find out how the snow tyre got on your car?

 

[Brewed_Force]

Yes, I had a bad puncture and got a decent part-worn from a local tyre fitter.
I've not noticed any difference, to be honest, it was just the car mechanic pointed it out.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I just hope some unlucky motorist didn't get a pair fitted to the same axle by this person in fact I would go back and ask for a proper tyre to replace the one you have.

 

[Clint]

Great idea Gunge! Maybe a WWII Wehrmacht half track might be better..

 

[mickthetrick]

Mick puttiiing them one axle is not a good idea.

learn something new every day. thanks for that Chippey_Tea

 

[Chippy_Tea]

At the risk of losing a sale a tyre fitter told me to either fit four or non at all I guess there are still some honest people left in business.

 

[simon12]

I think what the video doesn't say but sort of shows is the winter tyres on the front only make you feel like you have grip when you don't. A few recent journeys I have been on icy roads that are mainly OK but a few bits have no grip and its the feel on the front tyres that tell me which bits. I did consider winter tyres as I do 30 miles a day 2/3rds on small roads that half don't get gritted but never got rond to buying a spare set of rims and what I read abut them is they run out by the time the roads are bad.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think what the video doesn't say but sort of shows is the winter tyres on the front only make you feel like you have grip when you don't.

I don't think it makes you "feel" like you have grip as you actually do have more with the winter tyres what you don't have is the same amount of grip on the rear hence him losing traction.

Having them on the front in a front wheel drive car is bad enough but having them on the rear wheels on a rear wheel drive car shoving normal tyres on the steering wheels must be much worse.

.

 

[PhilM]

I live in Sweden and winter tires are compulsory. Don’t understand why you would use stud fri tires. They really make a difference and you can drive at motorway speeds without any worries. Obviously the studded ones are much better and where we live(in the north) they’re on from 1st October to May.
Never put the tires on the front only. Put the on the back if you have to choose because that’s where you lose control.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Never put the tires on the front only. Put the on the back if you have to choose because that’s where you lose control.

If you have 60% more grip on one axle either front or rear its not safe.


What are the risks of fitting two winter tyres to the front?
If you only run two winter tyres to the front, it means that the rear end of your car is left vulnerable to the icy/wet conditions. This will generally result in rear skidding which can be hard to deal with when inexperienced. You increase the risk of spinning the vehicle under acceleration (rear-wheel drive cars) or when turning (for front or rear wheel drive cars).


What are the risks of fitting two winter tyres to the rear?
If you only run two winter tyres to the rear, you will experience the same imbalance between your wheels and you might end up losing the control of your vehicle and you’ll probably get understeer.

.

 

[DavidDetroit]

I've never done winter tires. The roads are generally clear again with 12-24 hours even after a lot of snow.
But you can get caught in pretty bad, deep snow in Michigan. I watch some of the trucks zip past on the freeway during these poor driving conditions. They'll go 20mph, or more, faster than everyone else. I assumed it was because they have infinite faith in their four-wheel drive vehicle. My thought has always been, "Well, if all four lose traction, you're in trouble." I don't know if the pickup trucks have better tires, if the heaviness of the vehicle helps or what. I'm going to assume that the drivers of trucks are highly responsible, patient and contain loads of common sense.
If I lived in a place that had snow for a long time, I'm sure I would get the winter ones.