Anyone using real winter tyres

Bavarianbrit

Well-Known Member
Just wondered as the snow has hit the UK how many SD members use a spare set of wheels set up just for winter use with low hysteris rubber (winter) tyres as we do here in Germany, By law I must add.
They function better in grip and braking distance up to plus 7 degrees Celcius I am reliably informed.
Martin
 
Don't use low hysteris rubber (winter) tyres but do use [FONT=&amp]Goodyear MTR's in the snow[/FONT], great grip.

06012010267.jpg
 
Yes full snow tyres that incidentally can be identified as such by a snowflake motif on the sidewall, are fitted to my Subaru Forester every December and stay on until late spring. Wow do they work! Two years ago with 14 inches of snow they saved me from the British Snow Paralysis Syndrome. They should be a legal requirement in the UK. Simples! Cheers, K
 
if you have 4 wheel drive you dont need them but they are gr8 on my bros car its just softer rubber really
 
They should be a legal requirement in the UK. Simples! Cheers, K

You have to be joking :cuckoo:
You think we should all spend a small fortune on extra wheels and tires, plus find somewhere to store them for the maybe 3 or 4 days of snow we may or may not get.

Neil. :)
 
You have to be joking :cuckoo:
You think we should all spend a small fortune on extra wheels and tires, plus find somewhere to store them for the maybe 3 or 4 days of snow we may or may not get.

Neil. :)


yes!
Or if you can't drive in snow stay or are likely to get stuck they should stay at home!

the number of idiots who blocked my street trying to get their BMW/Merc/Alfa/Toyota/Kia/Freelander (yes! it happened!) up the road in stuipd skinny low profile summer tyres with no concept of how to drive.......

I should have been charging a tenner a time to pull the morons out!

I run Nokian WRG2's on a Audi
Awesome in snow and wet, second set I have had and I left this set on all year
no significant wear over normal tyres, I do about 15k miles a years mostly city and country road, some motorway

best thing I have bought for this car
 
No Neil, 1 set of wheels have tyre house swap em over & store others if you need. After initial outlay and not much more in price than summer ones, two sets of tyres last twice as long and may just save your life - a no brainer. Cheers, K
 
Still think it is completely unnecessary for most of the uk, fair enough if you live in areas that get snow every year.
But down here in Essex it is a once every couple of years (touch wood) so far this year we have had a whole half inch, which was gone by 10am.
Last year it lasted 2 days in the estate, and less than a day on the main roads, the year before was a little worse, but still no real drama, I think I drove
in it twice.

Neil. :)
 
A friend of mine has been in the tyre business for years. In his opinion snow tyres should be fitted to both front and rear, and that is not just so he makes more money. I have driven several cars with snow tyres fitted to the front only and on occasion have experienced the back breaking away.

I agree that the rear wheel drive vehicles should have something in place to make them more capable because a few years ago I passed about 10 vehicles on a short journey stuck at the foot of small inclines in very icy conditions and all causing traffic chaos. Every one was either a BMW or a Merc.

IMO I don't care if folk are trying to get to their work. Choose to have a nice luxury sporty car for the summer then sort something out for the winter when the vehicle is less than ideal. One or two days of snow a year in the milder areas of the UK is irrelevent, that does not excuse the problems caused with stuck vehicles because they are either ill equiped to deal with the conditions or the driver is incompetent in the snow. If that is the case, then stay off the roads. Think about one of your relatives living along a single track road who is suddenly in need of medical assistance and can't get it because some tw*t has his vehicle stuck.

In 2001 when the Scottish Borders were shut off from the north and south for about 3 days with the heavy snow and drifts, I was coming along a B class road and saw a supermarket artic lorry on a bend jammed solid with no traction. I could not believe he had tried to take this road. I drove up onto the verge to get past and 2 miles down the road I came across the 2 mountain rescue vehicles heading towards me. I waved them down and told them they would not get the bigger of their vehicles past. They went mental! And their comment was, how the hell will the 4x4 ambulance get by if needs be. At least the good folk of Coldstream would have had fresh mild afetr the lorry got out..... in a couple of days.
 
yes!
Or if you can't drive in snow stay or are likely to get stuck they should stay at home!

the number of idiots who blocked my street trying to get their BMW/Merc/Alfa/Toyota/Kia/Freelander (yes! it happened!) up the road in stuipd skinny low profile summer tyres with no concept of how to drive.......



I should have been charging a tenner a time to pull the morons out!

I run Nokian WRG2's on a Audi
Awesome in snow and wet, second set I have had and I left this set on all year
no significant wear over normal tyres, I do about 15k miles a years mostly city and country road, some motorway

best thing I have bought for this car

Skinny and low profile tend not to go together. However in snow and ice skinny tyres are better than wide tyres as the have greater pressure on the surface and more 'bite', just look at the winter rally cars.
 
Yes we have to use them by law, from 15 Nov til one week after Easter,excepting local conditions. Studless winter tyres can one use when you will. The lack of winter tyres in an accident in winter time will never be in your favour insurance wise over here. The tyre maker don't recommend using the studless variety (with softer rubber compound) all year round due to the inferior wet braking ablilities over regular "summer tyres". They will also wear quicker, it is recommended over here that tyres are replaced every 3 years seen as they rubber hardens and is theoretically less efficient.
 
When We inherited the kangoo the original tyres had cracked -10 years old with just 15,000 miles. I put winter tyres on it and they stayed on all year -fantastic grip and in the bad winters you could stop going uphill on Edinburgh steep cobbled roads that were sheet ice and then set off again.

On the Audi -it's a Quattro no issues withe standard tyres in terms of traction in snow, but stopping distances too much for my liking. Tyres were getting a bit worn so asset of Michelin winter tyres are now on it. I have no concerns at all especially in the wet/ ice etc.

i used to have a golf gti and fed up with front scrabbling in the wet every time I put my foot down on a roundabout etc or getting stuck if I parked on grass verges. So I put a set of winter tyres on instead.

If you don't to bother with winter tyres do at least bother with a set of chains or snow socks. With chains you have no issues whatsoever.

Chains, or snow socks to be honest should be standard equipment especially with HGVs - all the roads will be shut with jackknifed lorries that could recover themselves with a set of chains and this solve the misery of blocked motorways. There is no need for the country to grind to halt for 20 cm of snow, when £40 worth of kit for each vehicle would solve the problem.
 
Just wondered as the snow has hit the UK how many SD members use a spare set of wheels set up just for winter use with low hysteris rubber (winter) tyres as we do here in Germany, By law I must add.
They function better in grip and braking distance up to plus 7 degrees Celcius I am reliably informed.
Martin

Hi Martin.

As a nation, the majority of people in the UK are unprepared for snowy conditions - when they happen. Winter tyres would help without question, but there is also a fundamental lack of knowledge & skill for driving in winter / snowy conditions. In addition, automatic gearboxes on rear wheel drive models - where auto cannot be taken out, is a nightmare, as they just spin up all the time... Not having winter tyres just makes it worse... and as mentioned by others they always seem to be BMW`s, Mercs etc.

Winter driving is a skill without doubt, and too many are unprepared for even basic journeys. I have Grabber ATs on my L200, and switch them to a spare set of road tyres for the summer months - LOL... if we get any !!!

All the best.

Neil.
 
Better half's 900cc Yaris had Snowprox tyres - fantastic and just switched to Continental Conti winter something or others - great again. In mild snow and on icy roads a far better drive than the 4Runner with ATs on. They maker a huge difference and are well worth considering by responsible drivers.

They aren't snow tyres though, they are Winter Tyres - if average temps are below 7C they will give much better grip - regardless of it actually snowing/ being icy.

I agree about issues with other road users - everytime I've been snow/ice stuck on a public road it is down to some idiot driving with brain switched off - the growing mindset seems to be that you just go as fast as you can until something goes wrong then blame someone else.

Trouble is that with the human mindset being what it seems to be these days, and certainly the way the UK seems determined to head - is that if they were made mandatory we'd be no safer - as every pratt would just drive faster still. Common sense and responsibility for self are very unfashionable traits these days it seems.

Snow/Ice driving these days terrifies me - and the only reason is the actions of what seem to be the majority of other drivers these days.

But for individuals I would heartily recommend them.
 
At below 7 degrees they shorten your braking distance by a considerable distance which might be your daughter that is then not killed by a runaway vehicle it is your real responsibility as a citizen to the other roadusers around you.
You know it makes good sense.
Martin
 
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I don't swap my tyres when it snows, I just swap the whole car. It's easier and you get to look really smug.

Odd how people hate 4x4s (proper ones) then when it snows they all want one - esepcially when you pull them out of the ditch, or off their own drive.

Thinner tyres definitely better. But surprsingly I have found in proper snow an AT type pattern works much better than a mud terrain.

Chris
 
I've had winter tyres on my old Mk3 Golf for a couple of years now just to get about our farm tracks as it was cheaper than another 4x4. Started with some second hand Michelin M&S's on the front that were fantastic in the mud & snow but dangerous in the wet...! combined with some winter van tyres from the breakers on the back. I've replaced the fronts with some winter van tyres (only remoulds) that are much better in the wet and still very good in the white stuff.

We also have a 4x4 that lives in MT's that are not exactly snow rated as they don't have the very fine wiggly lines in the tread that good snow tyres tend to have. The extra weight of the 4x4 is a liability round here and I prefer to use the 2wd golf of possible if I'm sticking ;) to the roads. Also got chains just in case it all goes pear shaped!
 
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