Winter Tyres v Summer Tyres

[uksnatcher]

Having had 3 really scary (total loss of traction at very low speed) and several embarassing moments of getting stuck in car parks involving snow and ice in my mondeo over the last 2 winters on good branded (continental sport contact) premium sports summer tyres with 6mm of tread i have told myself i WILL buy some winter tyres this year....this short video has sold them to me, i have ordered some...!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elP_34ltdWI&feature=g-hist

Any views, opinions or experiences gladly welcome... :)

[CRAJ]

Bought a pair for the front of our everyday 206 two years ago and can't recommend them highly enough, absolutely superb in all winter conditions, from damp slimy everday conditions, through rain, ice and especially snow. You will not regret it.

Colin.

[thebrookster]

Two things.

My father bought himself two tyres for his Rover Metro a couple of years ago, when we had the really bad snow falls. His work (night time security at Kielder Reservoir) involves driving to and from work before the snowplough had gone through, and said on several occasions was driving through snow deep enough that the bumper was acting as a plough! He stuck the two winter tyres on the front, on separate rims, and threw the two wheels that had come off into the boot as ballast, but fitted snow chains to these. He then quite happily drove to work, never got stuck once, with the proviso that if the road got bad enough where the back end overtook the front (he said he simply ignored the back end in snow, cause the front had so much grip it towed the back most of the time!) he stopped, jacked the rear of the car up and fitted the two wheels from the boot with chains fitted instead. Saved faffing around with chains, and he could do the swap in a couple of minutes. He swears by winter tyres now.

The other point is tyre width. I had this issue with my old Vectra, in that the biggest problem modern cars have is the tyres are simply too wide for snow or slush, and they skate over the top. I would recommend seeing if you can find a set of steel rims (they tend to be thinner) and get a thinner set of tyres for your car. Thinner tyres and winter compound would mean you should nigh on unstoppable!! (This is also a good reason why Triumphs are so good in snow!)

[Raider]

Personally I have decided not to comment being as I am "in the business".

Having said that, 4 cold weather tyres are going on Mrs R's Peugeot 308 on Saturday ;)

For an official view from my employer see this forum where there's an entire section for "cold weather tyres" - not much going on there though it has to be said

http://motorsport.michelin.co.uk/forum/

[BarryH]

There was a quite a lengthy exchange of views about this last winter.

The majority view was that winter tyres really work but that you should really fit them on all four corners.  The other thing that came out of the chat was that winter tyres start to work when temperatures are 7C or less on dry and wet roads and even more when there is snow.

Personally I started using winter tyres in the 80's on a Mazda 1.6i then three Cavalier 2.0.  I bought a set of steel wheels from a scrap dealer and fitted them then swapped them every winter/spring.  It seemed to guarantee that we wouldn't get any snow in the south of england but were very useful for our skiing trips to Austria.  The Austrian comment I got was forget how good they were at getting you going and think how good they were at stopping.

I don't have any for the Mazda 6 SL I drive so if snows I use the wife's Nissan X Trail.

I would have no hesitation in saying if you can afford them buy them particularly if you live in an area that regularly gets snow.  But be careful, other drivers won't know you have got them fitted and it will give them unfounded confidence to drive as fast as you or think you are a maniac.

[CRAJ]

Just ordered another pair from Camskill to go on the rear of the 206 'this season', I wouldn't be without them over winter now and found the same thing as Brookster's father that with them fitted in heavy snow the front bumper becomes a plough.
Only narrow tyres (by modern standards) on the 206 as well, which does help, if you watch rallying in scandinavia the cars look ridiculous with skinny wheels and huge wide arches, if wider tyres were best in the snow the WRC boys would have them!

Colin.

[thebrookster]

bhuffer wrote:

The majority view was that winter tyres really work but that you should really fit them on all four corners.  The other thing that came out of the chat was that winter tyres start to work when temperatures are 7C or less on dry and wet roads and even more when there is snow.


I would have no hesitation in saying if you can afford them buy them particularly if you live in an area that regularly gets snow.  But be careful, other drivers won't know you have got them fitted and it will give them unfounded confidence to drive as fast as you or think you are a maniac.

I would go the step further actually, and make them mandatory throughout winter.

Only real downside to this approach is that we would never get to use summer tyres in the UK ;)

[tengah spitfire]

Impressive
Also while on the subject of width
Bjorn Walderguard use to use 3" wide tyres with just 15 PSI on his Rally Porsche in the snow.
He told me the narrow tyre cuts through the snow and the lower pressures flexes the tread more so stopping the snow from compacting in the tread, another main cause of traction loss.

[CRAJ]

2353 wrote:

Impressive
Also while on the subject of width
Bjorn Walderguard use to use 3" wide tyres with just 15 PSI on his Rally Porsche in the snow.
He told me the narrow tyre cuts through the snow and the lower pressures flexes the tread more so stopping the snow from compacting in the tread, another main cause of traction loss.

Modern winter tyres have lots of tiny 'sipes' in them which are designed to fill with snow, this snow then sticks to the snow you are travelling on and gives traction. If you try rubbing snowballs together they stick, so this is the principal behind the tyre design now.

Colin.

[GT6 M]

    Quoted from tengah spitfire
    Impressive
    Also while on the subject of width
    Bjorn Walderguard use to use 3" wide tyres with just 15 PSI on his Rally Porsche in the snow.
    He told me the narrow tyre cuts through the snow and the lower pressures flexes the tread more so stopping the snow from compacting in the tread, another main cause of traction loss.


the Trials cars I have a go in, run 5 PSI max,on skinny tyres,
and go where even a 4x4 can go,!!!

M

[Andy Flexney]

Always put them on the TR3 before going on ski holiday. Would never have got there without them.

They also give a comforting feeling when driving up a snow covered Gardena Pass

AndyF

[Velocita Rosso]

AndyF wrote:

Always put them on the TR3 before going on ski holiday. Would never have got there without them.

They also give a comforting feeling when driving up a snow covered Gardena Pass

AndyF

Your TR3 skis.....now thats clever... ;D

[69vitesse]

Most of the traction in snow comes from the tyre shoulders.
Tyres with a nice agressive shoulder bite into the snow and grip, modern road tyres have nice smooth shoulders to cut down road noise just simple won't grip in mud or snow.

El cheapo remounds in an M&S pattern on some cheap steels if your really serious about getting grip.



Grip



No grip

[aar0sc]

Haven't fitted them on the Spitfire before, although last year I had one Mud and Snow tyre on a front wheel that made no noticeable difference...

Once there's more than a dusting I tend not to venture out anyway, we live halfway up a steep hill, and the only way out is uphill. If there's more than an inch or so then the Spit will get stuck, not from it's own doing (or mine) but some prat will have blocked a road by crashing their little fiesta because they were doing 90, and I'll get stuck in a queue going nowhere as it gets snowier and snowier...

Private roads are hilarously good fun in RWD vehicles though, having slid the spit at mad angles at 4mph I then found out that Sherpas can slide very nicely too...

Our Volvo has winter tyres on, they're great, if you don't where them this happens:


Aa

[Mark Hammond]

I can remember those Firestone "Town and Country" tyres my Dad used to fit on his Morris Minor 1000 Traveller, back in the early '60s.  The earliest winter that I remember was 1962/63, that Morris was undefeated with those winter tyres.  Wonder if they're still available.......

M.

[junkuser]

This thread reminds me of when I was in the R.A.N.
Met a Royal Navy officer out here on exchange and he related his experiences whilst previously on a posting to Canada.
He flew to New York and purchased a car to travel to Canada. "Being a proud Englishman, I purchased a new Morris 1100" he said, but he soon ran into trouble being stopped by highway patrolmen and told to get off the expressway if he could not travel any faster.

At the next town he traded the 1100 on a large American car and continued, but when further North he realised he needed winter tyres to handle the Canadian roads in winter, so had some new retreads fitted with appropriate tread pattern.

That night he booked into a motel, parked the car in the open in the snow and plugged in the block heater, so figured he was well set up.

Next morning the car started readily and he let it warm up before attempting to move off but found the car seemed to be stuck so gave it more power.  This resulted in the car moving but he discovered that the retread rubber, from both rear tyres, had remained in the ice.
Not a good idea to park with hot tyres in deep snow, at least with retreads.

[firebobby]

We have a 4x4 which is used all the time when we have snow, I will be looking at a set for my sons mini though

[uksnatcher]

Some great info and stories cheers.....sounds like i should have done this years ago... :B

Arrived today and i can see why they are an alrounder for winter ... (kewl)

I will get them on the car mid November me thinks?

[thebrookster]

Gaz - watch the temperature gauge!! Whilst winter tyres are commonly well known for driving on snow etc, they are also made from a different rubber compound to summer tyres, that give them vastly enhanced grip in cold and wet conditions.

We get the wet pretty much constant anyway, but for cold, it is reckoned anything below 7 degrees Celsius is winter tyre territory, so get em on once you notice your temps dropping down this low. Otherwise, it would be kinda pointless to have the tyres and not use them in the conditions they are designed for  :P :P :P

Cheers,

Phil

[uksnatcher]

Cheers Phil, noted...(ok)

I have also heard they need about 500 mile bedding in for non snow/ice conditions?

[CRAJ]

uksnatcher wrote:

Cheers Phil, noted...(ok)

I have also heard they need about 500 mile bedding in for non snow/ice conditions?

I fitted ours on a tuesday and it snowed on the wednesday night, probably done 30miles tops and they were fine tbh.

If you read reports from the likes of Autotrader they reckon decent winter tyres are not so bad once the weather gets warmer, they wear a little quicker, but if you only fit one type of tyre, as traditionally we Brits do, go for winter tyres.

Colin.

[Sheepy]

The wife has them on her company car, and it's amazing how much difference it makes.  :)

I know in Germany you are not allowed to drive there without winter tyres fitted in the winter.

My dad used to work at a garage/service station many moons ago, before I was a little itch!
They had a guy trade in a Hilman imp, he had just moved from Sweden, he had studded rear tyres fitted, so they had to change the rear tyres for normal ones, but before doing that my dad took it home for a few nights! Said when he accelerated there were lots of sparks flying out the back! The things kids do for fun!

[uksnatcher]

Well we have had some snow and always used good branded sports summer tyres all year round on my modern, this is my first slushy snow test with the winter tyres i fitted in November.
(Having had a near miss with a stationary horse..! in monsoon rain, the tyres have payed for themselves already, superb in the rain. )
I am impressed in the snow to say the least, you can obviously still prevoke wheelspin and lock up with excessive go and stop pedals but are nowere near as unpredictable as the summer tyres.
Next test is pure snow and ice but so far so good.... :)