Tyres... need expert advice.

ozvaldinho

try letting your tyres down to 15 psi. better traction, but don't go on the motorway or drive fast like this.

jaydeeuk1

ozvaldinho wrote: »

try letting your tyres down to 15 psi. better traction, but don't go on the motorway or drive fast like this.

This obviously increases the amount of rubber in contact with road, but other day someone mentioned putting on thinner tyres, and the apparent expert said that this would provide better traction as it will cut through the snow/ice (much like an ice skating boot)

So which is it?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Narrower tyres work better on compacted snow, but really what you want are snow chains, snow socks, or winter tyres.

rsvtoddy

Have a look for Vredestein Quatrac tyres - 'all season' so not as good as proper winter tyres but the all season will be better in the summer.

I change to thinner Continental TS800 wintercontact tyres for the winter and they are amazingly good in this weather.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m4b0s388p12267

babyshoes

TEDDYRUKSPIN wrote: »

I am looking at getting an all-season tyre with the following - [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]185/70 R14 92H.
[/FONT]http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=35492762.110.28307&typ=R-159232&ranzahl=4&Breite=185&Quer=70&Felge=14&weiter=0&Ang_pro_Seite=10&Transport=P&F_F=1&dsco=110&sowigan=GAN
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]
The difference is only the loading capacity, which is actually better.

Do you know if I can do this?
[/FONT]

You can legally use the tyres you have mentioned, if that is what you are asking, as the load rating is better than the recommended tyres - the same goes for the speed code.
However if your current tyres are new and have plenty of tread as you say it may not be the tyres causing trouble, or it could be that the rubber compound is harder and struggles with the cold, in which case you should do some research about the rubber compounds used in the replacement tyres you want to get.

Definitely don't let your tyres down to 15psi as someone suggested though - it is dangerous and illegal and could get you a large fine plus 3 points per tyre if you encounter a cop on a bad day. I would however check your tyre pressures and make sure those are accurate. You can let them down by two or three psi if you really, really want to, but don't go below 10% less than what it should be, coz that's illegal.

Hope that helps!

freezspirit

Sorry to ask a stupid question but for a short distance would putting snow chains help with traction.

exup

freezspirit wrote: »

Sorry to ask a stupid question but for a short distance would putting snow chains help with traction.

on snow yes it would - on tarmac no, have to be careful when the surface inproves.
I have some snow chains for my Fiat for travelling to the alps as it is a legal requirement (on the spot fine if you dont have any).
Also tyres make a difference with my car, as I have a set of wide tyres on alloys and narrow on the standard steel wheels. The wide tyres and low wieght are a pain to drive with in snow - but the narrow ones dig in better.

Markyt

rsvtoddy wrote: »

Have a look for Vredestein Quatrac tyres - 'all season' so not as good as proper winter tyres but the all season will be better in the summer.

I have these on, and they are fantastic. They've got me through 11" of lying snow this week.

farmerboy

exup wrote: »

on snow yes it would - on tarmac no, have to be careful when the surface inproves.
I have some snow chains for my Fiat for travelling to the alps as it is a legal requirement (on the spot fine if you dont have any).
Also tyres make a difference with my car, as I have a set of wide tyres on alloys and narrow on the standard steel wheels. The wide tyres and low wieght are a pain to drive with in snow - but the narrow ones dig in better.

Exactly, to get to our farm the drive has a steep short hill, the wife's focus can't get up at all, but a mate came in his focus and managed ok. Identical cars, both 1.8 diesels, both estates, wife's with alloys and mates with std narrow tyres. He even had a go in the wifes and couldn't make it up the hill. By the way that was on fresh snow, which was then cleared to reveal ice under neath, same results on both surfaces.

AdrianHi

Agree with tyre choice making a big difference here.
I think you might find all season tyres are not going to make enough difference and you really could do with proper winter tyres. Snow tyres are something else again and going a bit too far.
A good tactic is to find the cheapest steel wheels, narrowest that will fit your car and engine size (brake sizes can be bigger with bigger engines sometimes requiring bigger wheels for clearance). Have these fitted with the winter tyres and drive on them November to February. Inital cost might be a bit painfull but remember you can only put wear on one set of tyres at a time and you could sell the steels wheels and winter tyres in future when you change car.
An alternative I've seen recently I like the look of is Snobootz http://www.snobootz.com/ but I have not found a UK supplier yet.