Anyone drove on Germany autobahn in winter?

[stevehg]

No its not. read the quote above (I emphasized the clues in anticipation of responses as yours)

Appears to be a bit of a childish response. If you'd already done your research why bother posting? As you have looked into it, you are aware of the frost wording. As such it would be practically impossible to drive in winter in Germany and ensure that you won't have frost.

It's therefore obvious that if you drive on summers in winter in Germany you will risk getting the fine if caught, and double the fine if you caused an issue by your actions.

 

[maxima]

And remember about ice blitz, very dangerous

What is it?

 

[dan1502]

I remember being picked up from Hamburg and being very unnerved at the speed of traffic on the Autobahn and of the friend of ours who was driving in slushy conditions that would have brought UK traffic to a crawl until I remembered they all had winter tyres. I have since driven over there with winter tyres (my mother is law's car and hire cars) and wouldn't be without them. If everyone else has them and the weather changes I wouldn't want to be the one without under any circumstances.

 

[flango]

All you ever need to know about tyre regulations in Germany

Polizei Rheinland-Pfalz - Reifencheck

 

[markjay]

I remember being picked up from Hamburg and being very unnerved at the speed of traffic on the Autobahn and of the friend of ours who was driving in slushy conditions that would have brought UK traffic to a crawl until I remembered they all had winter tyres. I have since driven over there with winter tyres (my mother is law's car and hire cars) and wouldn't be without them. If everyone else has them and the weather changes I wouldn't want to be the one without under any circumstances.

I drove on German autobahns some years years ago and vividly remember cars passing me on the outer lane at some speed in spite of very heavy rain and fog. Unnerving indeed.

 

[Meldrew2]

I wouldn't want to be the one without under any circumstances.

My ML is no good in snow or slush, and I am sure that it is the standard tyres that are the weak point. I'm not rushing to get winter tyres, though, as being on the coast we hardly get more than acouple of days' smow in a year. Looks like other countries ( and other parts of UK) have quite different weather.

 

[219]

It always amuses me that when people refer to winter tyres , they assume that , by implication , all others are 'summer' tyres .

 

[Vlad]

As an aside, I'm not sure if driving standards have changed in Germany, but there was a time when lane discipline on Autobahns was second to none and high speeds were dealt with professionally and safely.

Having just returned from a journey from the South or Germany to the North, the driving standards were Shi*e in the extreme. Same as last year.

Travelling in a line of traffic at 90mph with drivers so close up your backside that you couldn't see their numberplates and with 10 cars in front of me, its not as if they were going to get very far if I happened to be dawdling in the outer lane, which I wasn't.

Cars travelling at 100+ with barely a length between the cars

Not surprisingly when it goes wrong it goes very very wrong, as evidenced by the 13km jam we got stuck in due to a high speed multiple pile up and a couple of deaths. Apparently its becoming par for the course when speaking with some German friends.

Interestingly in all of my time in Germany I didn't see much in the way of exotica, as you often see here in the UK. Saw maybe 4 Porsche's, only one of which was a 911 (and that was stuck in the crash barriers, having lost it on a wet autobahn corner), not many AMG's, or M3's etc etc.....mainly turbodiesels being flogged at top wack.

Back in the UK, I saw two Lambo's, countless Porsche's, big AMG's, M3's, Astons etc etc

 

[pimpdriver]

My ML is no good in snow or slush, and I am sure that it is the standard tyres that are the weak point. I'm not rushing to get winter tyres, though, as being on the coast we hardly get more than acouple of days' smow in a year. Looks like other countries ( and other parts of UK) have quite different weather.

Always makes me laugh how people equate winter tyres with "snow tyres". Winter tyres are better below 7C. Fact.

It always amuses me that when people refer to winter tyres , they assume that , by implication , all others are 'summer' tyres .

Other tyres can be all season tyres, which if they have the "mountain snowflake" symbol are rated as winter tyres too. Eg Vredestein Quatrac3, Quatrac5, and the Vredestein Comtrac All-Season. I am fitting 16" Nokian All Weather Plus on my W210 in the next few days to replace the 18" AMG alloys on summer tyres.

 

[DSM10000]

Always makes me laugh how people equate winter tyres with "snow tyres". Winter tyres are better below 7C. Fact.

Care to share your source of independent and corroborated facts?

There are reviews (non manufacturer lead) that show "Winter tyres" only outperforming conventional rubber compounds below 2 Degrees C.

 

[pimpdriver]

Care to share your source of independent and corroborated facts?

There are reviews (non manufacturer lead) that show "Winter tyres" only outperforming conventional rubber compounds below 2 Degrees C.

No. WIthout getting into a google search to back up my wild claims.

I fit winter tyres in October ish and take off in April ish (or all season with snowflake symbol all year round). And am happy with my choice.

But this is an interesting and well balance article which talks about the typical british apathy.

Are winter tyres worth the cost? | Money | The Guardian

 

[V12]

I fit winter tyres in October ish and take off in April ish (or all season with snowflake symbol all year round). And am happy with my choice.
]

Good for you. In the sunny south here I could probably utilise winter tyres for a couple of weeks of the year during a typical winter so hardly worth the hassle. I do have a set of winter tyres/wheels in my garage but I haven't needed to fit them to my car during the winters of 2012 and 2013. The continental summer tyres fitted to my car still grip extremely well down to around 0 degrees. Just because winter tyres start outperforming summer ones at 2 degrees doesn't mean that the summer tyres drop off a cliff in terms of performance below 2 degrees...especially if you drive like lewis Hamilton and keep the tyres warm

 

[DSM10000]

No. WIthout getting into a google search to back up my wild claims.

I fit winter tyres in October ish and take off in April ish (or all season with snowflake symbol all year round). And am happy with my choice.

But this is an interesting and well balance article which talks about the typical british apathy.

Are winter tyres worth the cost? | Money | The Guardian

With respect a Google search is hardly independent or corroborated. You stated your opinion as fact so I was assuming you had evidence that backed that up.

The article you kindly linked to was big on supposition, opinion and assumption but no actual data to prove anything.

If you feel happier and safer fitting tyres such as those you support then that is fine and your choice but it is not "fact"

 

[pimpdriver]

There will not be a definitive test on every tyre on the market today so this thread is going nowhere.

It is "generally accepted" that winter tyres are better below 7C, or it could be a big tyre manufacturer conspiracy.

Or, by tens of thousands of driving on winter tyres, they have a less greasy feel than similar quality summer tyres.

So you are correct. I don't have hard evidence to back up my factual claims. So you win.

 

[DSM10000]

There will not be a definitive test on every tyre on the market today so this thread is going nowhere.

It is "generally accepted" that winter tyres are better below 7C, or it could be a big tyre manufacturer conspiracy.

Or, by tens of thousands of driving on winter tyres, they have a less greasy feel than similar quality summer tyres.

So you are correct. I don't have hard evidence to back up my factual claims. So you win.

It is not a question of "winning" but if you claim something to be a "fact" then it is not unreasonable to have that backed up by evidence.

Terms like "generally accepted" (by whom?) is just a symptom of people believing what they see written .

 

[pimpdriver]

Ok. Where are the independent tests that show summer tyres are as good as winter tyres down to 2C?

 

[DSM10000]

Ok. Where are the independent tests that show summer tyres are as good as winter tyres down to 2C?

Hardly the point, I did not claim any facts, I merely said that there were contradictory reports regarding the effectiveness of tyre compounds at different temperatures.

There are a lot of threads on this forum going back years regarding winter tyres, search the forum and read them. and then form your opinion or not, your choice.

I am not interested in arguing with you on semantics, if you are happy with your choice and belief with regard to tyres then that is fine.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

I have drove for many years all over Germany on business in all seasons...always in hire cars, hire companies recommended winter tyres from 1st Nov until end of Mar (winter clock change)...my company always paid the extra due to safety protocol....
What I can say in German winter months I remember landing at Hanover which sometimes would have a sprinkle of snow on the ground...within an hour of traveling east I was into 1-2Mtrs of blizzard snow and down to 1 lane on the autobahn....the Germans are very good at making sure at least 1 lane is clear....safety first I would always use winter tyres in the German winter months...

 

[pimpdriver]

Actually the BTMA said something similar, on dry roads at 5C, summer tyres stop quicker than winter tyres.

Referred to here:
Tyres: cold weather or standard? - Fleet News

But as you say, it is up to each of us to form our own opinions.

I would prefer to have winter rated tyres fitted, so if it does rain below 5C, or 7C or whatever, I have done my best to reduce my risks to ALARP.

 

[DSM10000]

See here for some balanced arguments:http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/whee...os-putting-winter-tyres-winter-2014-15-a.html