Winter Tyres ??

Mankysteve

I wonder if it has something to do with the increase in MPG aimed at on modern cars. First year I've had winters This winter been so warm its not made much difference but did make a difference when the snow arrived.

Strider590

Mankysteve wrote: »

I wonder if it has something to do with the increase in MPG aimed at on modern cars. First year I've had winters This winter been so warm its not made much difference but did make a difference when the snow arrived.

Modern cars aren't really any more efficient than 30 years ago, sure the engines drink the fuel a bit less, but they're twice as big and weigh twice as much.

A 998cc petrol Austin Metro, 1980 odd, would do near on 50mpg, back in the day the official stats were close to 60mpg. Not many modern small 1L cars that'll do that and I dare say not many of those would keep up with a 1L Metro.

londonTiger

marlot wrote: »

Cars have wider tyres, so less traction in snow. Normal car tyres are worse in snow than they used to be. People don't want to be snowed in. People commute further than they used to.

it hasn't snowed in London for a good 4 years I think. When it does snow it's only for 2-3 days and the whole city grinds to a halt, so no car needed.

thescouselander

Winter tyres are useless in this country unless you're in one of the more remote areas. Down south the average winter temperature doent go below 6 degrees anyway so summer tyres are fine all year round except in the most exceptional circumstances.

They're just a marketing gimmick if you ask me.

AdrianC

Mankysteve wrote: »

I wonder if it has something to do with the increase in MPG aimed at on modern cars.

At one step remove, yes, it does.

All design is a compromise between a bunch of different factors that can't always be made to agree with each other. Modern tyres are very different rubber compounds and tread patterns to tyres from 30yrs ago, giving much higher grip or much lower rolling resistance or better ride given the very low profiles - or a combination of these. These mean that they perform much worse in cold weather - even on dry tarmac - and can be utterly atrocious on snow or ice.

Winter tyres use different compounds and different tread designs to move that compromise - as a result, they can mean the car uses more fuel, the grip in warmer temperatures is lower, or the ride is harsher.

Ironically, budget summer tyres are usually better in those low temperatures and poor conditions, purely because they haven't made those design advances which have led to the compromises. Many budgets are M+S marked, which doesn't mean the same as them being winter, or even all-season, tyres - it just means that there's a certain ratio of groove to block in the tread design, and there are grooves cut clear across the tread.

As ever, it seems that there's those who nay-say the very concept, and those who've tried them and understand the difference.

Scouselander - I used to live a mile off the M25 about six or seven years ago. Changing to winters meant that I could continue to use my normal commuting route through the winters, and not get clogged onto normally slow main routes made virtually stationary at the first sign of poor conditions. It also meant there were times when I could actually use the urban, but ungritted, hill I lived on, about the only 2wd car that could - and I was doing so more easily than most of the 4wd SUVs were, purely because of tyres that were actually suited to the conditions.

turbadiesel

Winter 2009/10 the coldest decemeber in history. I had a full set of winter 175/65/14 continental tyres on my car. The snow was incredible here, the streets were like driving on a sandy beach, the snow was so dry as it was so cold. I live in Scotland. It was regularly -15C and people were skiing to work. One guy came into my work and he'd seen -22C on his car thermometer. Those tyres were truly incredible. I never got stuck once. It was such a harsh winter, I used to start the car leave the heaters on full blast to melt ice on inside of the windscreen! (Even buses here were struggling to start as the diesel was waxing up)

Icicles longer than a school ruler on the bumper of my car! I would then have my breakfast whilst the car was deicing, this and lidl screen wash rated to -60C and I survived the winter. I managed to get to work every day and remember trundling past an a4 quattro with summer tyres on who was bogged down in the snow. I used to get funny looks from so many 4x4 owners who would wonder why their bmws and audi q7's were struggling (20inch sport alloys with summer tyres).

Winter tyres are good. They are excellent. However, i do like the new michelin cross climate tyres. An all season tyre is far superior to a summer tyre, and gives you most (not all) of the benefits of a winter tyre. without having to change the tyres.

Herzlos

I remember that winter; my dad had to borrow my petrol car as his diesel was starting to thicken up. I managed on summer tyres but only just (and I could walk to work anyway), then went to winters as soon as I got a new car.

pgoncalv wrote: »

I was looking into it, but you seem to have to store the old ones yourself?

What most people in the continent do is to have some standard wheels as well...

So if you are planning to use them regularly, you may be better to get two sets of wheels so you do not have to keep swapping the tyres around..

Most tyre fitting places will store them for you (normally in a container out back) for a fee. If you're swapping them regularly it is probably cheaper to get another set of wheels (it costs me £25/swap so £50/year, so I'd need to be keeping the car for quite a while to justify new wheels).

System

turbadiesel wrote: »

Winter 2009/10 the coldest decemeber in history. I had a full set of winter 175/65/14 continental tyres on my car. The snow was incredible here, the streets were like driving on a sandy beach, the snow was so dry as it was so cold. I live in Scotland. It was regularly -15C and people were skiing to work. One guy came into my work and he'd seen -22C on his car thermometer. Those tyres were truly incredible. I never got stuck once. It was such a harsh winter, I used to start the car leave the heaters on full blast to melt ice on inside of the windscreen! (Even buses here were struggling to start as the diesel was waxing up)

Icicles longer than a school ruler on the bumper of my car! I would then have my breakfast whilst the car was deicing, this and lidl screen wash rated to -60C and I survived the winter. I managed to get to work every day and remember trundling past an a4 quattro with summer tyres on who was bogged down in the snow. I used to get funny looks from so many 4x4 owners who would wonder why their bmws and audi q7's were struggling (20inch sport alloys with summer tyres).

Winter tyres are good. They are excellent. However, i do like the new michelin cross climate tyres. An all season tyre is far superior to a summer tyre, and gives you most (not all) of the benefits of a winter tyre. without having to change the tyres.

And no doubt lots of other people (probably the vast majority) also managed to get into work without problems on summer tyres.

AdrianC

You don't need new wheels, of course.
I tend to buy used and scruffy standard rims, either alloys or steels, very cheaply.

Not only does it save the cost of swapping tyres within one winter, but it also reduces the possibility of damage to the tyre bead during fitting/removal.

There's a greater initial cost from buying an extra set of tyres, sure, but that spreads to virtually zero if you're keeping the car any length of time, because you're only wearing them one set at a time. And that extra initial cost is usually lower than the cost of an insurance excess, anyway.

pgoncalv

thescouselander wrote: »

Down south the average winter temperature doent go below 6 degrees anyway so summer tyres are fine all year round except in the most exceptional circumstances.

Agree, the claimed improvement on rain is marginal, with black ice they make no difference, they really are for (deep) snow.

I suspect that, in most cases, if you are worried about snow, it is best value to get new tyres before the winter so that they have a good depth. Yes, the rubber on winter tyres is more suitable and perhaps the thread pattern is better as well but mostly it is the deeper thread that makes the difference.

I often drive to the ski resorts and if I have almost new summer tyres, I usually do not need to bother putting the chains on. If they are a bit worn, I do have to put the chains on.

thescouselander wrote: »

They're just a marketing gimmick if you ask me.

Agree, at least for most of the warm and flat south where snow melts or is cleared quickly at least in the main roads.