Poll - Do you use winter tyres?

[grober]

Many accidents are caused by driver anticipation failure. The driver suddenly finds themselves in a situation outside their "performance envelope". The result= damaged motor car and often damaged driver. Any technology which prevents the driver from getting into such a situation is a good thing. I would cite ABS and ESC and winter tyres among these. The problem with the appreciation of good accident prevention technology is that its effectiveness is not immediately obvious to the driver in so far as the situations its designed to prevent never arise! Sort of "Don't know what [ or who] you are missing" ------but in a good way.

 

[Apial]

Do I care what German motorists think of what we do?
If you don't know, I'll give you a clue. One of the answers is "No"

Well I DO care. It is a national disgrace that the rest of the world are frankly emarrassed by Britains inability to cope with a bit of snow. Airports grind to a halt, trains cancelled/delayed and the national road system grinds to a halt with hundreds of stranded motorists.

Another post on this forum today says that they were held up for hours by just two lorries on the A1(M) that could not get up the hill on the motorway. What kind of hills exist on the motorway for heavens sake?

The root cause of the problem is the acceptance that motorists have no responsibility for ensuring that their vehicles are fit to be out on the road in winter conditions. This view is certainly not the case when it comes to rain otherwise it would be perfectly legal to drive on racing slicks.

 

[supersport]

I have been after changing the tyres for a few weeks but there seems to have been a shortage in the sizes I was looking for, so when these came in stock I got the tyres mail order from camskill, had them fitted a a local tyre place £10 a corner, I know there is a slight increase in hum at 50mph but we will see how it is tomorrow on the M6 going north
supersport

 

[Satch]

Are those General Grabber AT2's?

 

[gIzzE]

I always use winters, loads on ebay for £150 a set that have been used for one ski holiday before the car is swapped and they no longer fit.

Those that have used winters would always use them, it is not until you do use them and realise how good they are will you understand though.

I understand people not putting winters on if they don't want to spend the money, that is fine, but please keep off the road when it is snow covered as you are a liability.
You wouldn't drive round wet roads on bald tyres so why do even worse on summer tyres in snow??

 

[BTB 500]

I understand people not putting winters on if they don't want to spend the money, that is fine, but please keep off the road when it is snow covered as you are a liability.

Presumably the Police, ambulance service, fire service, AA, RAC, etc. (who don't generally use winter tyres) disagree.

 

[bing]

just bought a w124 e500 from switzerland and of course being swiss it came with winter/summer wheels/tyres. It's on winter now which i will use throughout my trips to northern germany in december. whether i will keep switching in the future is another matter as i live in london anyway. i probably will till they reach minimum tread.

 

[gIzzE]

Presumably the Police, ambulance service, fire service, AA, RAC, etc. (who don't generally use winter tyres) disagree.

I don't think they disagree, I think being able to afford then is more like it.


Which ever way you look at it if everyone had to have winters on like in many European countries it would be safer.

I saw 8 accidents today going over to my other shop which is only 35 miles away, and only one was just one car involved, I would bet my house on the cause of the accident not having winter tyres on.

 

[Sp!ke]

Presumably the Police, ambulance service, fire service, AA, RAC, etc. (who don't generally use winter tyres) disagree.

I think the authorities in many European countries would strongly disagree with that view if it is indeed the case. I suspect that the real reason they dont use them is lack of research and/or funding.

There is a reason why this country grinds to a halt when we have bad weather and the reason is we generally dont use winter tyres. I suspect this will change in time - either through legislaton or public opinion.

 

[Pottsy]

Presumably the Police, ambulance service, fire service, AA, RAC, etc. (who don't generally use winter tyres) disagree.

Last year I stopped to see if I could help a copper who was stuck at the bottom of a dip! He then got a demo of how well winter tyres worked as I simply drove up the hill (E220 Auto, no weight in the boot).

I have to drive to work, it is 80 miles each way, and it would be mental to not fit winter tyres. Love 'em!

 

[Pottsy]

I suspect this will change in time - either through legislaton or public opinion.

Or possibly discounts from insurance companies.

 

[Apial]

Presumably the Police, ambulance service, fire service, AA, RAC, etc. (who don't generally use winter tyres) disagree.

You are joking aren't you? If you think they are a good example then how about last year when I saw a Police motorcyclist out on an icy snow packed Wolds road in near white out conditions!

Before I saw it was a Police bike I was going to have him put him in protective custody for his own good.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

At my school the formula is simpler:

M+S + (4x2) =NP too.

Agreed. My C-Class has the same formula.

The reason why supersport had no problem in the snow in his ML previously though was because it has 4x4 and M+S tyres. Great combination for snow!!

 

[grober]

I fear legislation may be the only answer since it only takes one ill-prepared clown to block a road quite effectively. Small lighter emergency vehicles could be fitted with more appropriate tyres which would help then function better in snow and quite possibly muddy fields/lanes all year round at very little extra cost-if any. Larger commercial vehicle [lorry] based emergency vehicles may be different as I'm not sure if the current car winter tyre technology has made inroads into those tyre sizes/type. We have discussed the compulsory requirement for cars to have winter tyres in Germany - what's the legal requirement for large commercial vehicles?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

My first car was a Vauxhall Nova 1.3 SR - small, light, manual, FWD, and skinny tyres - ideal in snow.

My new girlfriend (at the time) lived in a cul-de-sace up a steep hill, and to get home I had to go down the hill, and up another much longer but slightly less steep hill. I could go up and down both with ease but the queue of cars ahead of me couldn't, so I had to turn back, and sleep at the new girfriend's house. Ahem.

I now drive a Mercedes so I make sure my new girlfriends live in flat areas only. Like Lincolnshire. I take a number of precautions though:

1. I have winter tyres fitted.
2. I carry a blanket, flask of hot tea, and chocolate.
3. I only date girls in Lincolnshire as it's miles from Mrs D, so she'll never know.

Joking of course. I only drink coffee.

 

[Dryce]

Last year I stopped to see if I could help a copper who was stuck at the bottom of a dip! He then got a demo of how well winter tyres worked as I simply drove up the hill (E220 Auto, no weight in the boot).

I have to drive to work, it is 80 miles each way, and it would be mental to not fit winter tyres. Love 'em!

Your advantage over the copper was probably as much down to the W212 as tyres.

My W211 slug was near impeccable last winter on ordinary Michelins I put it down to the combination of smooth power delivery from the lowly 2.6 petrol and the electronics.

Contrast between my W211 and SWMBO's SLK230 in these sorts of conditions is night and day.

I'm not saying the winter tyres don't help a bit - but the the electronics are IME / IMO a major factor.

 

[Mcnasty]

does anyone know if the emergency services use winter tyres ?

My local force don't, and that includes the road policing unit. At one point last year during the heavy snow and iced up conditions the whole force was off the road for a period of time as it was deemed too dangerous for anyone to be out and about.

 

[Mcnasty]

Another post on this forum today says that they were held up for hours by just two lorries on the A1(M) that could not get up the hill on the motorway. What kind of hills exist on the motorway for heavens sake?

Jack knifed HGVs have caused mayhem on the trunk routes in Central Scotland today. And why ,when one gets stuck does another try and get past and get bloody well stuck themselves. I think there is a requirement in certain conditions for articulated lorries being confined to lane 1.

 

[gIzzE]

If lorries were never allowed in the 'outside' land the county would flow much better.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

A matter of days after I had my Michelin Alpins fitted I happened to get caught in traffic, sat behind this:

View attachment 21067

Apparently they do it for all purchasers of their tyres, to reassure them it was worth it before they clear their credit card statement!!