Should winter tyres be mandatory in the UK ?

Should winter tyres be mandatory ?

  • Yes

    Votes: 41 39.8%
  • No

    Votes: 62 60.2%

  • Total voters
    103
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Why is it that thread after thread the people who clearly have least knowledge or experience of winter tyres argue against them so strongly.
It's almost like there's a forum full of tyre dealers with shops brimmed with summer tyres that needs shifting?

It's like debating with rainman on groundhog day around here at the moment.
 
I'm in no way arguing against them - actually going to look at a W126 300SE for sale locally , the main attraction being the set of steel wheels fitted to it (asking price for the whole car which has been lying about 2 years is £200 - hopefully I can break it , then weigh in what's left to recover most of that or even make a profit) .

Once I have the wheels , I'll look at getting an appropriate set of winter tyres for my 500 since I reckon bad winters are a way of life for two or three months of every year hereabouts .

I still stand by my last post , which is in no way contradictory .
 
I'm not saying you were...actually yours are some of the most balanced posts in the thread
 
Well thats like the kettle calling the pot black. You say a "proper" tyre is fitted to the LR Defender, but its definately not a winter tyre. Your evidence is flawed.

Whilst on the matter, the M+S marking is not a reliable indicator to show that a tyre is any good on snow and ice. The only standardised indicator is the snowflake and mountain symbol. This indicates that the tyre has been tested to perform on snow and ice, but the bar is set relatively low to pass.

Thus although the nokian WR G2 has the symbol, Nokian only describe it as an "all season" tyre and I have seen it rated as only a 1 star (poor) for its performance as a winter tyre.

So far I have not been stuck this winter, and this is due in the majority to having snow and ice tyres fitted. I am confident to drive through 18-24" depth of snow and small drifts of up to 48", even up a 1:8 hill.

These condition far exceed what many motorists will become stranded at.

To conclude, I assume you must have enjoyed my link to the winter tyre tests and can now see the benefits, the very real benefits, that winter tyres have over "all season" and "summer " tyres as you have not responded negatively (yet).


Once and for all I have no opinions on winter tyres v summer tyres. I think in some circumstances winter tyres may offer an advantage. Farmers who use Defenders have substantial tyres fitted regardless of what LR put in their leaflets because they know their vehicles are going to be used in snow,mud, ice off road. The emergency response vehicles by and large were fitted with the same tyres in Scotland in the past few weeks (or do you think Mountain Rescue use slicks?) and they also struggled in the conditions. I therefore view it as unlikely that the average car driven by the average driver would have gained much advantage when fitting the average made down to a price winter tyre in these circumstances. But for someone to say without a shred of evidence that winter tyres would have avoided all the problems of the past few weeks is frankly stupid.
 
OBut for someone to say without a shred of evidence that winter tyres would have avoided all the problems of the past few weeks is frankly stupid.


The fact that my rear wheel drive CLK with large section tyres (staggered wheel set up) can progress through the 30cm of snow which fell on monday and then turned to ice, passing front wheel drive cars and an Audi Quattro which had no traction, not forgetting countless abandoned vehicles.

The roads round here resembled a war zone and had to be seen to be believed. I can drive into my estate and park on the driveway when neighbours were getting towed in off the main road by a Land Rover, and yet according to you I have no evidence that winter tyres would have made a difference? You are absolutely barking mad pipmk! :wallbash::wallbash::wallbash:

Russ
 
I've just looked at my car and at my recent experience of the really bad conditions we endured.

My rear tyres are sub 3mm of tread (265 wide profile) yet I managed where others failed.

New boots for me soon and a set of steel rims / winters to get me out in conditions that I took a loan of my daughter's VW Golf as I deemed it a tad risky for the Mercedes.

A lot of the recent heartache on the roads is due to poor driver training and acceptance of the conditions coupled with very poor equipment.

Most FWD cars I saw trapped had wide, low profile tyres fitted with good tread. Look great, drive crap in poor conditions if not driven with a light foot.

My dad is an ex-army driving instructor and always advocated 'delicate feet and hands' when I was learning all those years ago. Never a truer word spoken ......
 
Once and for all I have no opinions on winter tyres v summer tyres. I think in some circumstances winter tyres may offer an advantage.

I intend to remain open minded on the subject until I have tried them for myself . As soon as I can get a set of steel wheels for my car (hopefully very soon) , and can afford to buy the tyres , I'll get a set to be ready for next year .



Farmers who use Defenders have substantial tyres fitted regardless of what LR put in their leaflets because they know their vehicles are going to be used in snow,mud, ice off road. The emergency response vehicles by and large were fitted with the same tyres in Scotland in the past few weeks (or do you think Mountain Rescue use slicks?).

Not neccessarily .

I can't speak for the other emergency services , but the Land Rover 110 I had for a couple of years just had 'standard' tyres as supplied from the factory , as do the Ford Rangers , Nissan Pathfinders etc that we have in the fleet . I have never had any brigade vehicle taken in for tyre changes when the seasons change - in the current economic climate , I doubt any service could afford it either .

This was the vehicle as I ran it a couple of years ago
DSC_2500.jpg

DSC_2503.jpg
 
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Most 4WD off roaders have M+S markings on the tyres, but what they don't tell you is that the only requirement for a tyre to qualify for a M+S marking is that 25% of the tread must be open. That is the only criteria the tyre has to pass. Whether it has traction in snow & ice is not measured.

The modern winter tyre is really called a cold weather tyre and as well as M+S, it will have the snowflake in the mountain symbol. This tells you that the tyre has passed tests to qualify for extreme snow and ice conditions. As well as using different compounds for the tread to remain flexible at temperatures below 7C, the tread pattern will be heavily siped and shaped to get rid of slush, snow & standing water and provide adequate traction too.

Having 4WD in itself is no guarantee that it will get through anything, if fitted with winter tyres though, it would be pretty much unstoppable during the last week.

Russ
 
Sorry, camerafodder, it seems that I can only click the 'Thanks' buttton once...
 
OK,Ok.
I learned to drive at the Adam and Eve School (slogan-if you don't pass we refund your original sin!) during the last ice age. In 1922 I drove up Ben Nevis in my Stanley Steamer, powered by dried male cow droppings and the claims of MB Club members (when mixed together they were indistinguishable) on bald inner tubes only to find my farmer neighbour at the top, having done it in reverse.

You were lucky Obidiah.Tell 'em today and they won't believe you!

No doubt someone will now cap this
 

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