Member Since: 05 Sep 2006
Location: Hradec Kralove
Posts: 1095
Winter tyres are recommended when the average day temperature goes under 8°C. Even on a dry road, they will perform better than all-round or summer tyres when turning and/or braking.
Don't look at the cost of the tyres as an expense. It is only an investment. Money which is not available on your account anymore. When you are driving your winter tyres, your summer tyres are not worn, meaning that they will last longer. The only real cost is the changing of the tyres on the rims + balancing and (most irritating) the hassle and time loss involved. That is why I invested in another 4 wheels...
So calculate how much time of the year you drive under 8°C and decide if this is woth the cost, time and hassle of changing tyres on your wheels.
By the way, winter tyres have better traction on snow due to narrow cracks/spaces (1to 2mm - going from left to right) between the rubber blocks. I guess most of the all-round tyres in the UK will have them. Grabber AT2 or typical summer tyres don't.Some people get by
With a little understanding
Some people get by
With a whole lot more
I don�t know
Why you gotta be so undemanding
Last edited by captain_sugar on 7th Jan 2009 2:46 pm. Edited 1 time in total
7th Jan 2009 2:39 pm
captain_sugar
Member Since: 05 Sep 2006
Location: Hradec Kralove
Posts: 1095
ad15 wrote:
well put bffarrar... having lived in the mountains for years it never ceases to amaze me that we could get a couple of feet of snow and life would just carry on as usual, yet when back in the uk if the temp drops to anywhere near 0' or anything vaguely resembling white was around the common british drivers ability or lack of goes completely out the window.
last winter i happily drove a 2 FWD VW transporter for 30 miles on the autobahn in nearly a foot of fresh without incident. no other cars piled up on the side of the road, everyone jsut going about their business, it was very early in the morning too so no plows or gritters.
yet only 10 days ago driving from cornwall to bristol we hit a bit of a hail storm, in the space of 10 mins and 2 miles there were no less than 6 cars crashed and 2 cars went past me at over 100mph.......
Fully agree, having lived in Belgium and in Czech... Therefor I consider the choice of winter tyres or not a matter of safety priority and not a matter of keeping moving on the snow. Even a 4x2 can get around on snow.Some people get by
With a little understanding
Some people get by
With a whole lot more
I don�t know
Why you gotta be so undemanding
7th Jan 2009 2:43 pm
Popelka
Member Since: 31 May 2008
Location: Praha (Prague)
Posts: 2430
ad15 wrote:
yet only 10 days ago driving from cornwall to bristol we hit a bit of a hail storm, in the space of 10 mins and 2 miles there were no less than 6 cars crashed and 2 cars went past me at over 100mph.......
Now isnt that the main point, at the end of the day tyres can only help, but if the driver isnt driving to the conditions then will happen.
I needed a taxi from Brno to Praha and it was near blizzard conditions. the driver was crossing himself (as in praying) and nearly every other car that over took us was in the ditch a few miles further on.
what I didnt know at the time was the taxi had very poor tyres (bold), however we made Praha.
8th Jan 2009 4:53 am
tcbw
Member Since: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Kirkkonummi
Posts: 16
Duncster wrote:
I think the difference is snow offers more traction than ice - you are just not going to get any traction in ice unless you have studs or chains.
I
That's not quite the case; with proper winter tyres, you will get traction on ice or compacted snow. The sipes spread out under the weight of the car and 'grab' the ice to give traction; this is because of the tyre pattern, and the rubber compound: silica rubber and canola oil, which doesn't freeze in low temps.
We're running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R SUV (non-studded) friction tyres on the D3 and it works a treat, even without resorting to snow mode on the transmission.
Have a look at the English language parts of the Nokian tyres website; www.nokiantyres.comson of less tech-literate 2007 LRD3 owner (unmodified 'arctic frost' TDV6 HSE auto)
19th Feb 2009 10:12 am
tcbw
Member Since: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Kirkkonummi
Posts: 16
DSL wrote:
How do snow tyres compare with MTRs, esp on ice??? I know the Crosier peeps use MTRs and can just leave my MTRs on but I have a set of 18"ers doing nowt that I could put proper winters on, Unfortunately I live on a slight slope that the council do not ever grit, getting out can be a bit hairy (down hill), getting back can be even more interesting.
If you've got a spare set of rims and you've got trouble with your hill in winter; I'd get some proper winter tyres fitted. Vredestein seem to be readily available in the UK, but I'd also consider Nokian - there are plenty of threads in the forums.son of less tech-literate 2007 LRD3 owner (unmodified 'arctic frost' TDV6 HSE auto)
19th Feb 2009 10:17 am
wvlenthe
Member Since: 07 Jan 2009
Location: Arnhem
Posts: 1967
Quote:
Just for info but here in Germany it is not law that you must use/have winter tyres, although they say you must use tyres that suit the conditions Whistle so work that one out
So has anyone worked that out yet? What do Germans do?
I live about 10 min drive from the German border, people from here go fuelling up in Germany, but no-one seems sure about the obligation for winter tyres in Germany. What is 'suiting the conditions' when a white blanket covers everything then?
Regards,
WiljoD3 V8 HSE Auto in Zermatt silver - driveway version gone but not forgotten, only the living room cupboard version remains
19th Feb 2009 8:23 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72801
Here's an update on using the MTRs during the snowy cold snap here in N Scotland. Absolutely no problems driving on fresh deep snow, up to 12" deep, compacted snow, icy refrozen slush (snow melted by the grit then froze as slush in -18c temps), also great in the slush when frozen. Though the conditions only lasted one week it was a good taste of how the MTRs behaved in the snow & ice. For the UK (and me) it's not worth the cost (£1000 for 5) of winter tyres when I have 6 MTRs in the shed. Found grip was great on steepish hills and when towing our neighbour up the hill to his garage.
Our normal 19" Wranglers (i.e. not MTR) were surprisingly competent when we had snow in January, considering the Goodyear site doesn't rate them much (they are marked M+S though )
It stayed below -5 for a week or so, and one morning was still at -14 when I dropped our daughter at school after driving on 3cm ice quite a lot of the way. The D3 behaved very well, even if you wouldn't want to do many emergency stops! The best thing was that it was always predictable, and when I tried (in safe conditions, honest ) to get it out of shape, it almost recovered itself!
20th Feb 2009 6:07 pm
ad15
Member Since: 14 Dec 2008
Location: up that tree
Posts: 4866
as soon as i get my new baby, i'll be hunting for a spare set of rims to put some good winter treads on, means i'll get many more miles out of the summer tyres and likewise with the winter, a very good way of absorbing tyre cost. i reckon that they're one of those things that until you've tried them, you don't fully apreciate them,
FYI, if you rent a car on the continent that is in a location prone to snowfall, ie munich, austria etc then chances are they will have winter tyres on them, have a look if you do and then try a few emergency stops etc to see what you think...
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will happen.
)
) to get it out of shape, it almost recovered itself!
