Poll - Do you use winter tyres?

[saorbust]

I use Autosock. Emergency use only. I only want to get home. If it snows, I don't go out. If it's cold, I stay at home and work from home. The internet is wonderful for that.

I got caught out last year in the cold trying to get up a hill in my car. Had to be pushed since someone stopped half way up, and I had to wait as well.....

So - autosock in the boot for all 4 wheels, at a cost of less than 1 winter tyre.

Works for me.

 

[spy]

I have never used winter tyres before and always managed to get through the winters even though I have owned rear wheel cars for the past 10+ years.

Saying that, last winter has made me re-consider. Had a couple of hairy moments in the 530D and also nearly got stuck on an icy road so this year I will be trying them out

 

[Toff190]

I also think it depends where in the country you live. Last year here in Bournemouth, we had snow for four hours. Do i need Winter tyres......... Dont think so.

 

[312 Sprinter]

That also depends on your location. As a Londoner, most of my car Journeys are around the South East. I reckon we only get a few days a year when it is snowing or even just icy. And as for temperatures, I think that on balance there are more dsya here during the winter where the temperature is higher than 7 degrees, then days that it is below. So on balance, I think I am actually safer driving in the Winter with all-year tyres rather than winter tyres. This is of course different situation for anyone leaving up north, or Scotland, or Shetland...

Interestingly Pirelli have an offer running based on temperature. If anyone has bought 4 Pirelli winter tyres it may be worth registering.

Promotion Info and Registration - Pirelli Tyre UK - Cold Weather Tyre Promotion 2010/2011 - PIRELLI TYRE

 

[rk176]

Voted yes and have used them on alot of cars over the years but dont have a set for the Merc yet.

 

[spy]

Interestingly Pirelli have an offer running based on temperature. If anyone has bought 4 Pirelli winter tyres it may be worth registering.

Promotion Info and Registration - Pirelli Tyre UK - Cold Weather Tyre Promotion 2010/2011 - PIRELLI TYRE

Interesting promotion. Where in the UK are they measuring this temperature - the outer hebrides ?

 

[312 Sprinter]

Interesting promotion. Where in the UK are they measuring this temperature - the outer hebrides ?

It says

"If the average UK daily temperature between 1st January 2011 and 28th February 2011 (inclusive) is seven degrees celcius or higher for more than 30 days (not consecutive), Pirelli will refund 50% of the purchase price of your tyres. The purchase price excludes fitting and any other associated costs.
The temperature records from the Met Office are derived from hourly gridded temperature analyses. For each hour temperature observations from the Met Office network will be used to calculate the current temperature for the UK. The Met Office will calculate the average air temperature over the UK land area for each hour (by averaging the gridded reference points) and then calculate the daily average temperature for the UK. The Met Office will provide this information on a daily basis between 1st January 2011 and 28th February 2011 inclusive. The daily average temperatures will be available online at Experience the Difference - Pirelli Tyre UK - Cold Weather Tyre Promotion 2010/2011 - PIRELLI TYRE. Only this data will be accepted for the purpose of this promotion."

 

[Colin_b]

I use winter tyres, but no on the merc, on a Vauxhall Corsa. They are on their 5th year, which will be their last, they will be at their practical wear limit by spring.

I live in an are where snow can be a problem. They've earned their keep twice in 4 years, plus providing reassurance

 

[Jack Wood]

I used winter tyres for the first time last year on my Cayman after not being able to get anywhere in any of our cars.

This year I have fitted Pirelli WinterSport 240's to the Merc and the winter tyres have gone back on the Cayman too.

 

[lancebond]

so how about all season tyres?

was looking at the pirelli p6 fourseasons, as a best of both worlds solution.

 

[Apial]

All my cars have winter tyres fitted. One of the many reasons is that my route to work takes me through the bottom of a steep sided valley that suffers from prolonged freezing due to a lack of sunshine. Many vehicles become trapped at the bottom of the valley and are unable to escape in either direction due to the 1:8 hills in each direction.

The area also has very poor phone signal reception and the walk to the nearest farm is about 2 miles, so getting a tractor to pull you up is not that easy either.

Unfortunately most drivers don't realise that once they have gone past the point of no-return and start their descent, there will be no way that they will have enough grip to get back up again to the top!

Also the hill is hundreds of yards long and their is only one salt bin on each hill. The bins are usually empty or filled with just salty water as their contents have already been "borrowed" by the locals.


Last year I ran a set of Nokian WR G2s through the whole year. From Oct-April the temperature stayed at 7C or less during my journey times, so apperently I was benefitting from the softer tyre compound for at least 1/2 the year.

When the weather warmed up I still left the tyres on. They did not produce any noticeable adverse effects. In fact in wet weather they were very good at travelling through flooded patches.

After 12 months and 24k miles the front tyres had worn down to 3mm so I have replaced them with another pair . The rear tyres have hardly worn at all.

Interestingly, these tyres have been cheaper to run than the wider lower profile ones that are fitted to the summer wheels. Not only are the tyres cheaper, but fuel economy is 3-4 mpg better too.

 

[Sp!ke]

so how about all season tyres?

was looking at the pirelli p6 fourseasons, as a best of both worlds solution.

I think that this is the future of tyres for our climate.

 

[tagnut]

I'm impressed to see a 50/50 split in the poll.

I Wonder what the figures are for all cars in the UK...

 

[V12]

After living in the Alps i now swear by winter tyres and i keep a spare set of 16" steel rims with winter tyres in the garage
I only purchased the cheapest Nankang winter tyres, but if there is snow or ice about they are a massive improvement over even very expensive "summer" tyres. I think the set cost me £160 or there abouts.

Takes me 30 minutes to change them in the garage at home or 5 minutes if i can make it to work to put the car up on the ramp and even when they only stay on for 2 weeks of the year, they are worth it for the extra safety and security.

I think it's especially important for me to change as my rear tyres are 275/30/19's and the clk isn't the heaviest merc out there.

At the beginning of this year i learnt an important lesson, i thought i would just drive the CLK to work (a couple of town miles) to change the wheels as i was being lazy. Came down my road towards the school crossing and it locked up, esp light flashing like crazy, lifted my foot off the brake but the car was already sideways. Although i'm no Lewis Hamilton i can control a car much better than most and have done plenty of wet drifting on private property. The lesson learnt was that no matter the driver, a RWD merc can be a dangerous weapon in difficult driving conditions

I turned around and took the a class to work which was reassuringly great in the snow.

 

[V12]

This is what happens when an old S600 is left with us when the industrial park is empty

 

[Sp!ke]

Not a customers car I hope?

 

[crockers]

Your wifes 4x4 fitted with summer tyres?


A 4x4 with summer tyres is more dangerous in the snow than a 2WD car with summer tyres.

Is it? Why is that? I use my wife's 4x4 in the bad weather - I think the tyres are all season as they have a lot of cross Sips on them unlike mine.

I imagine that 10-15 years ago the same sort of debate would have been taking place in Germany and right now I suspect the take-up there is over 90%.

[sarcastic mode] Since we now have all this global warming, people in the UK are in increasing numbers choosing to do the same.

Have a friend in Germany - he changes his BMW to winters every year - I think it is a requirement where he lives.

I use Autosock. Emergency use only. I only want to get home. If it snows, I don't go out. If it's cold, I stay at home and work from home. The internet is wonderful for that.

I got caught out last year in the cold trying to get up a hill in my car. Had to be pushed since someone stopped half way up, and I had to wait as well.....

So - autosock in the boot for all 4 wheels, at a cost of less than 1 winter tyre.

Works for me.

Have two in my boot - unused so far in 3 years....

 

[V12]

Nope, my dad's...for some reason he hasn't been so willing to lend me his cars since that video emerged.

 

[V12]

Have a friend in Germany - he changes his BMW to winters every year - I think it is a requirement where he lives.

In Bavaria you have to run winter tyres from October till March IIRC.

We had a little corsa when we lived in Bavaria and it once broke down off the beaten path...probably the worst night of my life, out of mobile phone reception, no heater, -18c showing on the dash. Thank goodness for a generous amount of blankets and chocolate that i always carry in the winter time. The fact that there were 3 of us in the corsa probably kept it quite warm.

It's not just the temperature difference but also the fact that we're an island surrounded by salt water helps a lot to keep our roads clear so i hear.

 

[Charles Morgan]

For good reason - staying with friends near Nuremburg last month it was freezing in the morning, and temperatures in the winter can reach as low as -25c.