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Winter tyres... worth the price?
Comments
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Do you need to have all 4 tyres done or can you just have them for the front 20
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Well it's your car and you can do as many as you please.
Two winter tyres are of course better than none, but for the full benefit you ought to have a full set.
If you have a front wheel drive car then it might just be possible to get away with two - but on a rear-wheel drive you really should fit a full set to be able to steer and brake as well as have forward traction.0 -
Perceived wisdom is that just fitting ones pair is not a good idea. Remember that winter tyres don't just aid forward traction and braking, they improve cornering grip as well. just fitting a pair at the front or the rear will mean that, in slippery conditions, one end of the car will have considerably more grip than the other. That isn't good, as the car will have a tendency to want to change ends at inopportune moments.
You would probably get more predictable, and consequently safer, handling, by sticking with summer tyres on all four corners.0 -
No, no - there is only real one solution to always having the correct tyres for the prevailing road conditions.
You have a service crew following along with a van and roof-rack carrying at least 5 sets of wheels equipped with road-legal slicks, intermediates, wets, etc. etc. ........
It worked for Roger Clark .....
And you're an irresponsible risk to road safety if you don't
More seriously, one point that those saying "it lets your summers last longer" need to bear in mind that tyres are far more prone to perishing when they're not used. Read up on manufacturer's recommendations for storage and you may be surprised:
Pressures need to be reduced to around 1 bar, so don't forget to top them up again before refitting.
No oils, greases etc stored in the same room (the volatiles in the air can be harmful),
Humidity must be kept low - if you suffer condensation in your garage it's way too high so you should be running a dehumidifier.
Heat has to be kept low, so if your garage gets too warm yoru tyres will be suffering.
No ozone producing equipment should be in the storage area. Ozone is a tyre killer, and allowing it to concentrate in the store will be very bad for them. So no DIY in the garage with those Xmas power tools, no motorised garage doors, and some forms of fluorescent lighting are out (they can emit UV wavelengths which ionises oxygen). Also, boilers are a risk and you shouldn't run your car engine in the garage because the NOx from the exhaust will form ozone in the presence of VOC (from the oils etc you've stored and the car's exhaust when cold)
Preferably, they should be hung vertically by the rims so that there are no loads except grvity acting on the rubber.
If they're stacked they need to be unstacked, rotated and re-stacked at least 4 weekly.
The same considerations also apply, of course, to the winter tyres while stored through the summer.
If you pay for storage then hopefully the place you're paying will be doing all of the above, but the chances are they'll be sticking them in a forgotten corner back near the compressor and POL store.
Alternatively, of course, you could just throw them in a pile yourself & forget about them for 6 months. Only then you've got a real risk that they'll become structurally unsound long before they wear out so any saving in wear becomes meaningless.
That's not to say that winter tyres are a bad idea but, if people are going to make decisions based on perceived safety then they should be considering all aspects, including that their stored tyres might fail prematurely through lack of use and inadequate storage.0 -
Do you need to have all 4 tyres done or can you just have them for the front 2
You need the full set. Otherwise the car may skid and become more difficult to control if you only have 2 winter tyres fitted to one of the axles.
If you only fit half a set of winter tyres your insurance company won't be happy either. They insist that 4 must be fitted.0 -
Two winter tyres are of course better than none, but for the full benefit you ought to have a full set.
Rubbish. Has to be a full set for safety reasons. Half a set and the car wouldn't even be insured any more.If you have a front wheel drive car then it might just be possible to get away with two
More rubbish.0 -
Rubbish. Has to be a full set for safety reasons. Half a set and the car wouldn't even be insured any more.
Agree that 2 winters is a bad idea (except possibly as the rears on a RWD) because they'd make the car appallingly tail-happy, but you WOULD still be insured.
Inappropriate tyres are firmly in the realm of "condition of the vehicle", which the RTA specifically prohibits insurers from denying cover for. You'd probably be reduced to 3rd party only, and they may well come after you for reimbursement if the tyre combination contributed to an accident, but you WOULD still be insured in law.0 -
Rubbish. Has to be a full set for safety reasons. Half a set and the car wouldn't even be insured any more.
More rubbish.
Thank you for giving us your opinion.
Pity it's rubbish though.
You should see my local Postie's van.
I'd better tell him tomorrow that it's not insured.
I defy you to show evidence to back up your ideas.
Edit - just to be clear - You course you're better to fit a full set of 4 - but that doesn't mean you can't fit a pair without affecting your insurance.0 -
geordie_ben wrote: »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
My car on good winter tyres won't climb out of our really steep drive if the snow is deeper than 6"... (well it will if the snow is fresh) yes i am too lazy to clear 40ft of drive at 03.30..;) when i leave for work.
Our 4x4 on normal tyres will climb out in the same conditions without the slightest slippage so i take that when needed.
My previous 4x4 on winter tyres would go anywhere you wanted.
Unless you've gone and fitted cheap Chinese tat to your Skoda i really wouldn't bother too much unless you venture out into the dales and mountains when its blizzard conditions.0 -
You see cars round London all the time that are clearly driven on a budget and no attention to tyres other than more than 1.8mm.
I have seen many cars with one or two winter tyres.
More scary is they are usually minicabs at the cheaper end of the market, or at least in East London they seem to be.
Very common to see four different tyres on each corner, all of which have different tread depths
Have even seen some vehicles involved in RTC's that when I have had a look at them afterwards they have odd sizes aswell.
Have mentioned this to plod, not Traffic Plod and they have said their powers are limited to 1.8mm and obvious tyre damage.
I suspect the answer would be different from Traffic especially if they are a qualified vehicle examiner with the power to prohibit use.
Sadly they are rare and need to be called out unless you are lucky.
Honestly there are much more dangerous things than a well maintained car driven properly having winter tyres on only the driven axle
If you ever watch Ice Road Truckers you will see that they only run snow chains on the driven wheels and even then it always seemed to just be the outside pair.
Snow socks instructions to the London Ambulance Service back in 09 was to run the snow socks on the driven wheels only and only the outside tyres at the rear of Ambulances.
Never heard of it being illegal to only have winters on one axle.
Perhaps not best practice but not illegal
Not having your tyre pressure spot on is not best practice but legal
There are many things that seem stupid that are unfortunately legal
Wether the Police might consider one set of winters a contributing factor in an accident is something else if you over steered with winters only on the front
With winters on the driven wheels you will get traction to get you home which is surely the point?0
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