Winter tyres?

mikey72

mrbadexample wrote: »

Well, as it happens, I had been considering 4 for that reason. Guess it depends on how much I can get them for.

4 are better than 2, without a doubt. But 2 are better than none.
Depends on how you drive on snow normally, if you drive fast enough to slide, you'll still slide the back out. If you don't normally, you'll notice the improvement in traction and steering over summer tyres on the front.
By comparison, snow chains are usually only fitted to the front wheels if it's a front wheel drive, it's suggested that a set are put on the front if it's rwd, to aid steering and braking, but no one ever puts a set on the back of a fwd

sunshinetours

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I have a Mazda MX5 RWD, just wondering what make of winter tyres best suit this car?


At the moment, I'm struggling reversing mainly as the wheels are just spinning with no grip on the road.

Size will be the key and whether you are getting new wheels or just swapping existing tyres. Any reputable brand winter tyre will assist your traction in these sort of conditons.
The only issue on tests of some of the cheaper Asian imprts is how they perform in wet or dry conditions (which lets face it for most of us is the predominant condition Dec to March)

There must be some MX5 forums online as they are pretty much cult type cars these days so maybe google for that and see what other owners are fitting

PS reversing in a RWD car can be tricky in these conditions even with winter tyres. The only time I got semi stuck this morning was trying to reverse in a snow filled car park - going forwards was fine

For me stopping and steering and how "planted" the car feels is the biggest change (5 series BMW for reference)

wuckfit

mikey72 wrote: »

4 are better than 2, without a doubt. But 2 are better than none.
Depends on how you drive on snow normally, if you drive fast enough to slide, you'll still slide the back out. If you don't normally, you'll notice the improvement in traction and steering over summer tyres on the front.
By comparison, snow chains are usually only fitted to the front wheels if it's a front wheel drive, it's suggested that a set are put on the front if it's rwd, to aid steering and braking, but no one ever puts a set on the back of a fwd

No, 2 are far worse than none. with two on the front you will swap ends under braking on ice. because the rears will lose grip much quicker. four summer tyres will slide, but at least you'll still be pointing the right way.
It's simple laws of physics.

Snow chains are only for gaining traction, not braking.

mikey72

wuckfit wrote: »

No, 2 are far worse than none. with two on the front you will swap ends under braking on ice. because the rears will lose grip much quicker. four summer tyres will slide, but at least you'll still be pointing the right way.
It's simple laws of physics.

Snow chains are only for gaining traction, not braking.

Any one of the four summer tyres will slide first, followed by the other three, at least with two winter tyres you'll have some control, even if the back is twitchy, unlike a four wheel slide with no hope of recovery.

I think you might well find you need traction for braking tbh.

wuckfit

mikey72 wrote: »

Any one of the four summer tyres will slide first, followed by the other three, at least with two winter tyres you'll have some control, even if the back is twitchy, unlike a four wheel slide with no hope of recovery.

I think you might well find you need traction for braking tbh.

with winters on the front only, the back will not just be 'twitchy' but if you have to brake with any force at all, then the fronts will grip and the rears won't, meaning that the back end will step out completely and you'll go into a spin. with summers, all four will have roughly equal levels of grip and the car will remain facing roughly the right way. With summer tyres you can at least predict the way the car will handle. with 2 winters on the front and summers on the back, you can't.
2 winters is far more dangerous than none. It's simple physics.
If you don't believe me, try it and see.

Snow chains are meant for short distances only, in any case.

nanker

Have to agree with wuckfit here. I have driven with only 2 winter tyres and have found it an improvement right up until i span. I have a full set now and feel much safer.

In hindsight, I think it is safer to have no winter tyres than just a pair.

mikey72

wuckfit wrote: »

with winters on the front only, the back will not just be 'twitchy' but if you have to brake with any force at all, then the fronts will grip and the rears won't, meaning that the back end will step out completely and you'll go into a spin. with summers, all four will have roughly equal levels of grip and the car will remain facing roughly the right way. With summer tyres you can at least predict the way the car will handle. with 2 winters on the front and summers on the back, you can't.
2 winters is far more dangerous than none. It's simple physics.
If you don't believe me, try it and see.

Snow chains are meant for short distances only, in any case.

Snow chains are meant for snow, you can drive a short distance in europe in winter then take them off if you want to. Or stick to the entire journey on snow in them, I know which I'd do.
Simple physics means if you stamp on the brakes on summer tyres the car will slide, however if you put a combination of ice, snow, grit, tyres, camber, weight distribution, and direction, it'll slide on the tyre that locks up first, or breaks free first, then simple physics gets replaced by complex physics. If you're bored, watch a few on youtube, rarely does a car slide in a straight predictable line when they go.
I suggest you don't stamp on the brakes though in the first place.
At for two, yes, I've tried it. Much, much better than none. Not overly twitchy, not stepping out at all, abs takes over on the front, as even with two winter tyres on, they always lock up first. (when you stamp on the brakes in tesco's)
Not as good as four.

mikey72

nanker wrote: »

Have to agree with wuckfit here. I have driven with only 2 winter tyres and have found it an improvement right up until i span. I have a full set now and feel much safer.

In hindsight, I think it is safer to have no winter tyres than just a pair.

So you reckon you would have stopped in a straight line, and faster, on summer tyres, or negotiated the bend without difficulty on summer tyres?

flyingscotno1

I have to say Mikey I'm in agreement here with the others, 2 winter tyres would be difficult to drive and control at times.

Better than summer tyres depends on the situation- yes there would be advantages but if the front has grip the rear doesn't at bends...

Just buy 4!

mikey72

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

I have to say Mikey I'm in agreement here with the others, 2 winter tyres would be difficult to drive and control at times.

Better than summer tyres depends on the situation- yes there would be advantages but if the front has grip the rear doesn't at bends...

Just buy 4!

Fair enough, I'll bow out.
Just a final post though.
If the front has better grip at bends and the rear has the same as normal, you can go round the bend, as most accidents on snow are caused by loss of steering, or loss of braking, until you finally get the one where you can get the back to spin out.
But having grip at the front doesn't make the back any worse, it won't slide any sooner, if it was going to lose grip on that corner, it was always going to lose grip. The fact the front didn't lose grip first as well doesn't appear to be a disadvantage to me. Unless a four wheel slide is better than a two.

Same with heavy braking, if you brake and mange to slide all four wheels, you won't stop. If you manage to brake on the two front ones, you may stop. The back may or may not step out. I'd rather drive carefully and have the chance to stop, than know at least I'll hit something head on because I can't stop. The front always lock on snow on my summer tyres if I try hard enough. They lock on two winter tyres before the back on normal tyres if I try as well. So it's not going to spin because of tyres.

However, if it's better to have equally poor grip, the theory that at least you'll go off front first (possibly) on the first bend, that you may have got round on two winter tyres, or that your front will slide a lot sooner, doesn't seem a better option.

I suppose if you fit two, and you believe you're now invincible, and drive like it's a summers day, yes, you will have an accident. If you drive like you're on snow, two are much better than none.
I will agree it could be safer as you'll also get stuck at the bottom of hills a lot faster, so the chances of driving are fewer.

I do agree though 4 are better than 2.