Winter tyres... worth the price?

geordie_ben

I've never had them or used them before

Are winter tyres worth the price and hassle?

I live in the city and drive a Skoda Octavia 4x4

Avoriaz

Winter tyres? :eek:

You're a Geordie, you should be bloody ashamed of yourself.

Next thing you will be asking if you should wear more than a t-shirt when you go outside in the snow.

GolfBravo

Think about the "extra cost" of winter tyres this way: during winter months your regular summer tyres are really taking a hammering, they wear out very quickly, the thread may start to crumble/perish, and they are easier to puncture in winter than winter tyres. So when the winter tyres are on, your summer tyres take a winter break, and last much longer.

So the cost of winter tyres is almost £0, with the exception of tyre swaps or optional extra rims. It's sort of like bringing the purchase of the next new tyre set forward.

Re: winter tyre vs summer tyre grip in winter? No comparision.

Is it worth it for you? I don't know, it depends on how much you need to drive safely in winter.

fivetide

I can't see the cost being zero. As you say - either swaps (deffo needed so £40 right there if you know somwhere that'll do it at £10 a corner) or extra wheels. plus storage, plus the fact you need to swap them back again as in normal weather they are very fuel inefficient.

Don't get me wrong, I've had winter tyres but I don't think they are a miracle cure that everyone says.

I ride a motorbike all year. there are no winter tyres. What their is, is a contact patch with the road of about 2" if you are lucky and a possible 140bhp being put through it. Traction control is in the form of the right hand and a good deal of commonsense.

Personally, if the car needed tyres at this time of year, I would consider it but if it didn't, I wouldn't go out of my way to make the change. I say this having run rwd cars on 'normal' tyres and being in Scotland where it isn't exactly tropical with no issues for the last four years.

Iceweasel

fivetide wrote: »

I can't see the cost being zero. As you say - either swaps (deffo needed so £40 right there if you know somwhere that'll do it at £10 a corner) or extra wheels. plus storage, plus the fact you need to swap them back again as in normal weather they are very fuel inefficient.

Don't get me wrong, I've had winter tyres but I don't think they are a miracle cure that everyone says.

I ride a motorbike all year. there are no winter tyres. What their is, is a contact patch with the road of about 2" if you are lucky and a possible 140bhp being put through it. Traction control is in the form of the right hand and a good deal of commonsense.

Personally, if the car needed tyres at this time of year, I would consider it but if it didn't, I wouldn't go out of my way to make the change. I say this having run rwd cars on 'normal' tyres and being in Scotland where it isn't exactly tropical with no issues for the last four years.

There are no winter tyres???????

See here:

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&Cookie=froogle&details=Ordern&typ=MOTO-R-247571&ranzahl=4&nichtweiter=1&pk_campaign=froogle&wt_ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Eco%2Euk%2Faclk%3Fsa%3Dl%26ai%3DCM_4aiV6LUtnqDO_V7AbJxIDABMWGxYMElbrdqW3hyNiw0wEIBRACKAVQ8O2L2Pn_____AWC7zsqD3AqgAcyD9-4DyAEHqQJ1Qgb3pay2PqoEJE_QBjUWUGtsuloyETJ6N4s99qEJOKifIxXmBmvwfUgA_iF1osAFBaAGJoAHq_GcApAHAeASiobQovqdyfhT%26sig%3DAOD64_1P5xlb6XKGD1ZX7xSFk6inDRScxQ%26ctype%3D5%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dmotorcycle%2Bwinter%2Btyres%26ved%3D0CDUQwg8%26adurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eadtraxx%2Ede%2Fwo%2FWebObjects%2Edll%2FVisitTracker%2Ewoa%2Fwa%2Ftrack%253Fid%253D16173356%2526target%253Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eadtraxx%2Ede%2Fwo%2FWebObjects%2Edll%2FVisitTracker%2Ewoa%2Fwa%2Ftrack%25253Fid%25253D14895192%252526unencodedDeep%25253D1%252526deep%25253DMOTO-R-247571&ID=froogle&wt_t=1384865520000

DigForVictory

I've read another forum which said winter tyres may help in some situations on snow & ice (although not as much as further training) but are manna from Heaven in the wet.
So, slightly depends on how you drive, idiot ratio when you drive etc!

britblue

I ride a Honda Fireblade all year round with sports tyres - came out this morning & back roads had ice on them - as above mentioned , with careful use of right hand i didn't lose traction once

The best safety aid to winter driving isn't winter tyres (although they can assist safe driving) it's a careful & alert Rider/driver

fivetide

Iceweasel wrote: »

There are no winter tyres???????

See here:

Correct. There are no winter tyres.

That isn't going to fit on a FireBlade. Nice try but again, I've managed for ten years without them.

Iceweasel

Well GolfBravo did say almost zero.

My calculation goes like this.

Buy a set of 2nd hand or re-furbed alloys. Mine cost £300.

I use the winter tyres for 6 months of the year - changing them over when the clocks change and I don't want the look of my car spoiled by having crappy old or black steel wheels.

I bought a set of state of the art winter tyres for £500.

Forget the cost of the tyres as you are not using the summer tyres.

No change over costs twice a year and no wear&tear/damage to the summer alloys. £10 a wheel x 4 = £40 x 2 = £80
The winter tyres should last at least 3 years so that's a saving of £240 perhaps £320 if they last 4 years.

If I change car and the winter alloys don't fit then I can sell them on eBay.

So nearly zero cost.

But of course I have to store tham and at any given time I won 8 wheels so I have money tied up.

But how much does even a little bump over the winter cost?

Or lost earnings?

For me it's a no brainer.

neilmcl

I'll give you an idea regarding cost:

2 winters ago a bought a spare set of used OEM alloys and a new set of winter tyres. A few weeks back I sold them on for pretty much the same price I paid for them originally. Whilst they were being driven on the summer tyres got a break and pretty much doubled their useful life. So for me, cost was never a issue other than having the spare cash upfront to fund the original purchase.

Now as far as "hassle" was concerned, I stored them in my garage (although was offered to have them stored at the tyre fitters) and had a trip down the the fitters twice a year to swap the wheels over for the small sum of £10 in total. Hardly that much trouble.

agrinnall

Anyone who rubbishes winter tyres hasn't used them when the appropriate conditions apply. The snow and ice has arrived here now, and will be around for much of the next few months. While there is still the odd day when I can't get along my track to the road it happens far less often now I use winter tyres.

And I agree with GolfBravo that the cost is not far off zero, I have a set of winter tyres on steel rims so there is no cost to swap them (although I did pay out £30 for a trolley jack to make the job easier) and as a bonus my alloys are not exposed to the corrosive effects of road treatment measures.