Winter Tyre Test Video

OddballJamie

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

It is still extremely low profile, and would still lead to damaged rims.

It may do, but doesn't stop the car manufacturers putting them on the cars.

There's a big difference between 73.5mm and 30mm.

Ultrasonic

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

You have it all mixed up.

The reason summer tyres work better on warm dry roads is because they have more surface area in contact with the road. Winter tyres have less surface area so that water can be dispersed more effectively.

Winter tyres are a softer compound that summer tyres, so that the rubber will still stay supple when it is cold.

If summer tyres used the same compounds as winter tyres, then they would give incredible levels of grip in the dry, but would wear out very quickly. And they would have a higher rolling resistance, which would make fuel economy worse.

My original point was that summer tyres were safer than winter tyres if you are driving on a wet road in summer. Here are results of a second test, demonstrating that this is true:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Summer-VS-Winter-tyres-Warm-weather-performance.htm

Your point about the rubber of winter tyres being grippier in summer than summer tyre rubber is an interesting one, and not something I've thought about before. What you say makes sense though.

King_Nothing

Just to answer people's queries, I need 19" wheels (or a specific set of 18" wheels and spacers) to clear my aftermarket brakes at the front. As such 235/35 19 tyres that I would go with cost at least £200 a corner, and only drop by about £50 for 18".

Jamie_Carter

Ultrasonic wrote: »

My original point was that summer tyres were safer than winter tyres if you are driving on a wet road in summer. Here are results of a second test, demonstrating that this is true:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Summer-VS-Winter-tyres-Warm-weather-performance.htm

Your point about the rubber of winter tyres being grippier in summer than summer tyre rubber is an interesting one, and not something I've thought about before. What you say makes sense though.

It would probably depend on the amount of standing water. Winter tyres have more grooves, including on some models, very small grooves through the rubber blocks (that summer tyres don't have). These actually make the blocks in the tread move about more, and create heat. So I should think that in torrential rain in summer, the winter tyres would probably still out perform summer tyres.

Jamie_Carter

King_Nothing wrote: »

Just to answer people's queries, I need 19" wheels (or a specific set of 18" wheels and spacers) to clear my aftermarket brakes at the front. As such 235/35 19 tyres that I would go with cost at least £200 a corner, and only drop by about £50 for 18".

What if you used narrower, smaller diameter steel wheels, possibly with spacers, for your winter tyres? Narrower tyres work better in snow anyway.

Ultrasonic

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

It would probably depend on the amount of standing water. Winter tyres have more grooves, including on some models, very small grooves through the rubber blocks (that summer tyres don't have). These actually make the blocks in the tread move about more, and create heat. So I should think that in torrential rain in summer, the winter tyres would probably still out perform summer tyres.

Are you able to provide any evidence of winter tyres outperforming summer tyres at summer temperatures? What you say might be true.

Where I come from with this is that I believe it is a common misconception that 'all season' tyres are a safer option in the summer if the weather turns bad, and this is s justification for their use. Whereas as far as I can tell fitting these reduces saftey virtually all of the time in the UK. I know your initial comment was a little throwaway, and nobody is suggesting using winter tyres year-round, but it is an extension of the all season argument.

Ultrasonic

Is fitting different wheels (as opposed to tyres) for winter a modification that needs to be reported to insurance companies? I'm guessing it is. Logically this should be a modification that insurance companies 'like' but does anyone have any experience of this?

kirkofski

Its sometimes cheaper to pick up a set of alloys on Ebay/Gumtree than it is to buy steelies. I found that as Vauxhall charge a fortune for a spare wheel on their new cars, its pushed up the price of second hand steel wheels/tyres.

I bought a set of 15" Corsa SXi alloys(same as what's on my 2005 Corsa) on ebay for £85, all with good tyres. I sold 2 wheels for £25 each and was left with the best two wheels/tyres with 7mm tread left and it only cost me £35.

I bought 2 x Uniroyal MS66's(£105 delivered) from http://www.camskill.co.uk/ and will be swapping the tyres over in December.

As someone else said, I'm actually quite looking forward to the winter to see how they perform in the snow.

Jamie_Carter

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Are you able to provide any evidence of winter tyres outperforming summer tyres at summer temperatures? What you say might be true.

Where I come from with this is that I believe it is a common misconception that 'all season' tyres are a safer option in the summer if the weather turns bad, and this is s justification for their use. Whereas as far as I can tell fitting these reduces saftey virtually all of the time in the UK. I know your initial comment was a little throwaway, and nobody is suggesting using winter tyres year-round, but it is an extension of the all season argument.

All season tyres are a waste of money. They are just a compromise between summer and winter tyres. They aren't much better than summer tyres in winter conditions.

Jamie_Carter

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Is fitting different wheels (as opposed to tyres) for winter a modification that needs to be reported to insurance companies? I'm guessing it is. Logically this should be a modification that insurance companies 'like' but does anyone have any experience of this?

It would be interesting to find out. But I should think that as long as they come within the recommended range for the particular vehicle, then there should be no reason to inform them. But that's just my opinion.