Too soon for winter tyres...?

Lum

proactive wrote: »

wot do you do after winter then take them off and put normal ones on and just store the winter ones in your house til next year?

I'd recommend storing them in a shed or something, otherwise your house might end up smelling of rubber.

Some of the larger tyre fitters offer a "tyre hotel" service if you don't have a shed.

AlexisV

proactive wrote: »

wild i never knew about winter tyres before this thread maybe the government will make them mandatory to bring us in line with other european countries

Doubtful. In a mild winter when it's 8 - 13C they're a complete waste of money. In the last 20 years we've only had about 6 cold winters.

mikey72

AlexisV wrote: »

Doubtful. In a mild winter when it's 8 - 13C they're a complete waste of money. In the last 20 years we've only had about 6 cold winters.

Well it was -1.5C driving home last night, so that's the second year running it's been worth it for me.
I bought them last year, so 100% use so far.

k9387

AlexisV wrote: »

Doubtful. In a mild winter when it's 8 - 13C they're a complete waste of money. In the last 20 years we've only had about 6 cold winters.

Oh really? How about some facts:

It has been cold enough on average November to March every year since measurements were first recorded (with a few exceptions), check out the Central England Temperature at:


http://www.climate-uk.com/provisional.htm

k9387

proactive wrote: »

wild i never knew about winter tyres before this thread maybe the government will make them mandatory to bring us in line with other european countries

From the AA:

Why are winter tyres not compulsory here?



There are several practical and economic reasons:

• many parts of the country never or only rarely experience weather conditions that would justify use of winter tyres
• many drivers choose not to use the car when snow or ice are around
• assuming that the industry could supply tyres in sufficient volume, the overall cost would be prohibitive – estimated at £500/car x 30million cars = £15billion for wheels/tyres plus storage and fitting costs

Although my previous post argues against the their first point somewhat...

From http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/winter-tyres-in-the-uk.html

vaio

mikey72 wrote: »

Well it was -1.5C driving home last night, so that's the second year running it's been worth it for me.
I bought them last year, so 100% use so far.

Yep, that’s the trouble and I suspect why winters aren’t more widely adopted here.

In the UK you can easily have minus temperatures on the drive into work and temperatures in the mid/high teens when you go for lunch and it’s back to minus on the way home.

In much of Europe you can pretty much guarantee you’ll not see any double digit temperatures from now until March

Knackered

I'm going to invest in a set for this winter but unless I buy new wheels too then I'll have to get budget tyres to fit - decent ones are extortionate.

proactive wrote: »

anyway i bet 99.9% of new drivers don't know what winter tyres are why do people want to jump down my throat for asking?

You reckon 99.9% of people wouldn't know that winter tyres are tyres for winter?

andygb

AlexisV wrote: »

Doubtful. In a mild winter when it's 8 - 13C they're a complete waste of money. In the last 20 years we've only had about 6 cold winters.

Think that you are looking at Autumn temperatures there.

cyclonebri1

Jueeeesss, 1 bad winter and you guys are falling all over yourselves to spend mega bucks on winter tyres that may just get used once or twice this/next year:rotfl:

And guess what?, there's still a couple of months of Autumn left yet.

It is too early, they'll be worn out by Christmas if you drive Summer fashion ;)

OK slightly tongue in cheek, but pretty true.

cyclonebri1

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Bit of a new thing , idea imported from the continent in the last few years. Insurance companies only just waking up to the fact fitting them is not a modification they can charge you a bundle for

Nothing could be further from the truth, town and counrty tyres (winter tread), were very common back in the 60/70's and available in all sizes. Remember this was a time when the only off roader actually was a land/range rover, ;)