Summer and winter tyre recommendations

[effbee584]

Pirrelli Poergay & Winter Tyres

A quote from a review says the following ......

"The Pirelli P6000 Powergy uses a tread compound with a high silica content, which provides reduced fuel consumption and lower noise.
The tyre offers high mileage and even wear and therefore excellent economy.The tread is designed to improve wet grip, but several reviewers, while praising performance in dry conditions, felt that grip in the wet was only average. The Pirelli P6000 Powergy is fit as original equipment on several vehicles made by BMW, Jaguar, Rover and Volvo."


So I doubt they are a bad tyre, its your judgement that counts, if you find they are poor in the wet, then either drive accordingly or change them.
If you find them quiet and do give better economy, it will be a balance.
I would get a good life out of them and then change to Continental Eco 3's, they seem to have good reviews and I find them smooth and quiet which suits me well.
If its snowy and icy, my Merc does not go out, it would not get up the slope on my road anyway, nor would I want to try. My Nissan Micra was treated to set (4 off) of winter tyres (£50 each) last November, replaced by summer tyres at end of March. What a revelation. But winter tyres on the Merc is not going to happen, too many ill-equipped cars and ignorant drivers on the roads in icy weather who will slide into me. In such weather, is your journey really necessary?, fortunately I can say no, if you can't, then order a set of winter tyres for your pride and joy now, a spare set of steel wheels and enjoy the massive increase in traction you will have.
Mytyres.co.uk will supply fitted tyres on steel rimes from about £105 each.

 

[cplnoonoo]

Normally full winter tyres have a higher silica/silicon (correct me on the term lol) which means that the rubber on the tyres stays softer in the colder temperatures supplying a higher grip level. The summer tyres obviously dont have as high a content of this silicon stuff so thats why the rubber goes hard and brittle and gives practically no grip in snow and ice etc.

As the winter tyres have the high silcon levels to keep the rubber soft this will mean that the tyre wears more in warmer temperatures due to it being an excessively soft compound thus giving the recommendation of switching to summer tyres over 7 degrees celcius.

I would assume that the all round tyre would have a middle ground level of this silicon stuff and a tread pattern to deal with rain and small amounts of snow and ice. This would mean that it doesnt have performance on par with dedicated winter tyres or summer tyres. It may wear more in the summer due to the silicon etc but wont have the best grip in winter.

So the tyre will fit its purpose as an "all season tyre" it just wont be the best in each season.

Me myself, i switch to full winters in November and switch back to summers in March as this gives me the best chance of using the car during the snowy weather. Part of this decision is that i now have 2 sets of tyres and only use winters for part of the year so the cost is kind of offset with the reduced running on each set over the year.

 

[Sp!ke]

So the tyre will fit its purpose as an "all season tyre" it just wont be the best in each season.

The point is that it isnt each season is it. The weather changes by the hour as you could fall above or below 7 degrees in this country for 8 months of the year depending on where in the UK you happen to be and the wind direction.

I agree, I wouldnt be putting an a 4 season tyre on a sports car that I was going to be exploring the limits of but for your day to day family saloon then I think it is exactly the right tyre for our climate and will offer the safest all year round solution.

I'm not alone in thinking this either - the tyre manufacturers are now also saying the same thing.

As for increased tyre wear with higher silica content... I cant say that I have experienced this and I've tried running multiple sets of winter tyres through summer with no detrimental effects. The Volvo is on its 3rd year on the same set of winter tyres used year round.

 

[malcolmsmill]

Has anyone had insurer problems?

I told the insurer in writing (registered post) what tyres I have fitted, I know this sounds odd.

Last winter there were a lot of accidents in the snow and ice, resulting in a lot of claims.

Too many insurers refused to pay up because the tyres were not the ones specified by the vehicle manufacturer........ this may be understandable when 20inch ultra low profiles are fitted to a car specified as 12inch 155 non-low profile originals.

BUT most of the rejections were because "Winter" tyres were fitted and thats plain daft.

Some insureres will do ANYTHING not to pay up

 

[Sp!ke]

IIRC, this is a myth.

Can you substantiate this?

 

[wemorgan]

Has anyone had insurer problems?

I believe this report covers it:

BBC News - Insurance companies 'charging more for winter tyres'

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that is a mistake and premiums should not be higher.

The mistake is being blamed on insurance company call centres, where not all staff may be aware of the safety implications.

If anyone is told they do in fact have to pay more when they fit those tyres, they are advised to contact their insurance company's head office directly.

 

[Sp!ke]

Yes, I know that this was reported but following on from this my understanding was that the insurers all refuted this saying this wasnt the case at all - merely a case of poor reporting.

I think it boiled down to people fitting non standard sized wheels or tyres to their cars which did not follow manufacturer recomendations - nothing to do with winter tyres, just sizes.

 

[wemorgan]

Yes, I agree Spike.

 

[Mercy1]

If all-season tyres are eminently suitable for the worst winter conditions and the worst summer conditions, shouldn't all tyres be of this type?
Why are we all buying so called "summer tyres" when most of us only enjoy about four months summer at best??

 

[snoop51]

Has anyone had insurer problems?

I told the insurer in writing (registered post) what tyres I have fitted, I know this sounds odd.

Last winter there were a lot of accidents in the snow and ice, resulting in a lot of claims.

Too many insurers refused to pay up because the tyres were not the ones specified by the vehicle manufacturer........ this may be understandable when 20inch ultra low profiles are fitted to a car specified as 12inch 155 non-low profile originals.

BUT most of the rejections were because "Winter" tyres were fitted and thats plain daft.

Some insureres will do ANYTHING not to pay up

I was with Privilige last winter, rang them to ask about winter tyres prior to fitting wheels and tyres. Were the wheels genuine MB and for how long would they be fitted were the only questions asked, they sent me a new certificate showing winter wheels & tyres fitted and told me to ring them when I was changing them back. No charge.

 

[snoop51]

If all-season tyres are eminently suitable for the worst winter conditions and the worst summer conditions, shouldn't all tyres be of this type?
Why are we all buying so called "summer tyres" when most of us only enjoy about four months summer at best??

I personally believe car manufacturers selling cars in the UK should be fitting All season tyres as standard rather than summer tyres. I think what Spike is trying to say is that for 90% of the time all season tyres are more than suitable for the UK climate in which case I agree with him.

 

[DSM10000]

Many thanks for all of the contributions so far. It has given me a lot to consider.

The Pirelli are not proving to be too bad, certainly a fair amount of road noise but grip seems OK. Is the C class prone to road noise? I may also have sports suspension, not sure how to check?

I know the P6000 is an old tyre in respect of being a known brand name for a long time but I imagine the tread composition and compounds have changed over the years and the name kept for marketing reasons?

Rather annoyingly I have 4 almost new Hankook Ventus Sport tyres on my Saab 9-5 Griffin, it is currently immobile with a faulty auto 'box. The tyres on that are 215/55/W16 so only about 1.7% difference in rolling radius and witihin the generally accepted range of no more than a +/- 2.5% difference. The Hankook worked well on the Saab but a very different car, heavier and much softer in suspension action etc. Not sure it is worth having them changed over but they have only covered 2000 miles!