WhiskyDisco wrote:

I bought a Jap import Celica once and discovered that it would lock up and perform a four wheel skid across the road when braking at anything over 40 miles per hour. I took it to a tyre shop and was told that it was running on very hard compound winter tyres - that was the reason for the somewhat skittish behaviour in the height of summer.

Are these tyres winter tyres?

Winter/cold weather tyres have a soft compound (high silica content) which affords grip and braking performance at temperatures 7 C and below.

I'd suggest that who ever told you that was talking