Snowpocalypse now

neilmcl

colino wrote: »

kitting out these cars at a £1k each for a handful of days of "entertaining" travel doesn't make sense.

Again you miss the point of winter wheels, not surprising you "struggle" to see their benefit.

colino

Thanks Neil, being less polite, wasting £1k per car on a few days (two this winter) when driving was anything other than normal for the usual Scottish Winter is entirely pointless.

neilmcl

colino wrote: »

Thanks Neil, being less polite, wasting £1k per car on a few days (two this winter) when driving was anything other than normal for the usual Scottish Winter is entirely pointless.

OK, just to go over this one last time and then I'll let it go. Winter tyres are so called because they're beneficial for the entire winter, NOT JUST WHEN IT SNOWS!

It's a proven fact that they're are better in design, safety and performance than summer tyres when the temperatures reach below 7C, which on average are the temperatures we see in Britain throughout the winter (not just on a "few days").

You may well be OK with your summer tyres up til now and thankfully have never required the extra grip and stopping distances that winter tyres can provide but nobody can foresee the future so just on that very rare occurrence where you're put in a situation where you need that extra bit of grip you might be suddenly realise they're not so pointless after all and maybe not such a waste of money. I really hope that you're never in that situation btw.

redux

It's a pity that car would cost £1000 for a set of winter tyres. I spent £120.

Lum

I paid £60 a corner for my winters and £20 for a set of 16" alloys off eBay to put them on. For comparison I pay £125 a corner for my summer tyres.

They go on the car when the temperature drops in December, they come off when it raises again in Februrary or March.

For those 3 months I am putting wear on a set of cheaper tyres, saving me money! I am also enjoying better grip and shorter stopping distances, even on cold dry snow-free days, than I would get on my summer tyres. As a result I'm less likely to have an accident, which also saves me money.

neilmcl

Spent about £60 each for mine and while they're in use I'm extending the life of my summers, so in pure economic terms they're hardly a waste of money.

vaio

maybe if winter tyres were more widespread then the "ladies who lunch" wouldn't be blocking hills.

happybiker

Winter tyres also provide better grip on wet roads than summer tyres do. Maybe there's a case for running on them 9 months a year in the UK?

Lum

happybiker wrote: »

Winter tyres also provide better grip on wet roads than summer tyres do. Maybe there's a case for running on them 9 months a year in the UK?

That depends on which tyres you compare. I run Eagle F1 GSD3s which are very very good in the wet.

But yes some of the UK-spec winter tyres (e.g. Nokian WR-G2) are pretty damn good even in the warmer seasons. They will wear very fast in the hotter temperatures though.