When to put the winters on?

[fabes]

As the title asks.....

When I bought the CLK 2 years ago, it needed new rears (fronts were only a thousand or so miles old)

Long story short, I ended up with an offer from Hankook to buy winter tyres from them and get the fronts for free.

As I had crashed my last MB in the snow 6 years before , I thought why not
I do travel 'oop north' for business a few times over the winter and it does sit below 7c when I'm mostly driving my car (going to work at 7am most mornings) and as I have them, it would be rude not to (It's £50 to swap them over)

But at the moment, the sunny south coast is still above 10c.....
Lazy Sunday morning thinking (and seeing reports not the coldest winter in 5 years descending on us)

 

[exvolvoman]

Mine are already on, here in mid Wales you never know what weather to expect. Probably a bit too soon going by the temperatures at the moment but it can be very wet here. I'm lucky enough to be able to fit tyres myself and have a spare set of alloys so cost is not a factor, except for balancing. Now in the process of refurbishing summer wheels and putting on a new set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3 for next year.
Personally if I were you, I would put winters on now, better than getting caught out by a sudden change in the weather.

 

[grober]

I can understand your dilemma bearing in mind your location but remember daily temperatures are an average and locally dependent on weather station location Weather and temperature averages for Southampton, United Kingdom Winter as a season can be a bit skewed as residual summer heat seems delay the onset of lower temperatures in autumn but also winter delays temperature rise in the spring. Several things to consider. If you have two sets of tyres then the ones not being worn are those off the car- put on the winters and your summers are not being worn. The myth that still remains from the old snow tyre days that they just melt of the wheels [ suffer accelerated wear] at elevated temperatures dates back to when they were made of extremely soft rubber in attempt to gain more grip. With the advent of newer tread technology-- siping and silicon tread compound this "accelerated wear" is reduced to a level that's simply not a factor. Tread depth I hear folks say- recommendation for winters min depth is 4mm for summers 3mm -- factor in that winter tyres usually come with 1-2mm extra tread depth from new and you find your tyre wear "envelope" is basically the same its just the depth limits have changed slightly. SO---- If you got em change em NOW.

 

[ruffday]

Put them on now. I know they work best below 7 degrees but they also work fine in 20 degrees.
I run a company car and knew I would be changing cars with a different size wheel so ran the winters all through to July with no issues and they handled just fine. To be honest lasted longer than I thought they would.

 

[Red C220]

Mine went on two weeks ago.

 

[Druk]

Mine are going on tomorrow or Tues. The only down-side is the winters (Nokian) are slightly noisier than the summers...Michelin. I've got a spare set of alloys with them fitted and the local tyre place changes the four for £20. Not worth me getting my hands dirty for.

 

[wu56Shoozz]

They should be on around now and stay on to the end of March at least.. especially up here in Scotland where you can still get snow into late April/May.. had that at a classic car show the week before the event and thought it was going to be canceled.. then on the week it happened, summer suddenly arrived and it was 24 degrees on the day..don't worry about them going outside the temp range as they will be fine.. some manufacturers say that you can "Leave them on all year" and that is a genuine winter tyre and not cross season..

 

[Red C220]

Mine are going on tomorrow or Tues. The only down-side is the winters (Nokian) are slightly noisier than the summers...Michelin. I've got a spare set of alloys with them fitted and the local tyre place changes the four for £20. Not worth me getting my hands dirty for.

I also noticed more tyre roar the moment they were fitted (Pirelli sotto zeros).

I'd been umming and ahhing about buying a second set of rims for summer, I was browsing eBay the week I was due to change getting ideas and came across a set of identical Genuine Audi 19" S6 alloys to those fitted to my car, 20 minutes from home for £499. Bargain, so I bought them same day and had the winters fitted to them. They didn't even need a refurb, just a couple of tiny marks on two of the wheels, which I may as well not bother with for winters.

 

[Dutchbenz]

Fitted mine this week, also because weather is unpredictible here (Netherlands).
On steel rims, they tend to spray a lot of salt here and I want my shiny alloys to stay shiny, plus, when parking in snow I sometimes chafe a kerb.
Another reason is that we are only an hour away from the German border so we often go there for a weekend. When you are involved in an accident over there without running wintertires, you are always the blame.
Tony.

 

[fabes]

Next Saturday is my next opportunity unless I WFH one day.....

Watch the heatwave commence......

Cheers

 

[paul73mt]

Haven't fitted mine yet but when i picked my car up from having its service the service man was telling me he keeps his on all year round (he's had them on for 2 years now )

 

[Martin 1]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

 

[Wolfie1]

Up here in scotland i put mine on last week

 

[Martin 1]

Well if you will live north of the arctic circle - - - -

 

[Petrol Pete]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

I thought the same thing when I saw the OP lives in Southampton, that's practically a tropical location in the UK. OP goes oop North now and again but IMHO winter tyres might be a bit of overkill. I wonder if you pick up a rental car in Aberdeen today would it have winter tyres fitted as standard ?

 

[rf065]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

How do you slow down when you cannot get off your driveway? In fact, if winters are just a marketing ploy, how come my ABS & traction control don't come on when it snows?

Russ

 

[Mercy Me]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

Can't say I agree with that!

I put on a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s on a couple of weeks and now the weather is starting to cool down, the difference is very noticeable, particularly in the wet. You don't have to be driving fast to notice the difference!

 

[CaptainChaos]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

I realise I'm probably wasting my time, but I'll have a go anyway.

First off, the UK is quite a big place with different geography and weather patterns. One size does not fit all!

A long time ago everyday tyres were narrow, high profile and open tread. Think 175/70/13 Goodyear NCTs on a Capri or Cortina. These tyres could cope with most things all year round. Today a modern shopping box has got wide and low 215/50/17 tyres with a super eco tread pattern for increased fuel and CO2 efficiency. Combine this with less gritting from councils and the inability of many motorists to see past the end of their bonnet and we end up with more accidents and more delays than we used to get. This is why the "back in my day we never bothered" argument doesn't wash. It's not comparing like for like.

Modern winter tyres offer a chance for the enlightened motorist to avoid the problems above and keep moving safely even in a high powered RWD car. It isn't a question of speeding around like a lunatic in adverse conditions. It's a question of being able to stop and steer safely. I can assure you sliding down a hill with the ABS pumping away and actually speeding up is a frightening experience and one I would not wish on anyone. I had to use the kerb to slow down - one knackered wheel and tyre later I did manage to stop. I've used winter tyres ever since!

The new generation "All Season" tyres are probably the best tyre for the majority of non-performance related cars and you can leave them on all year round. Some Fiat and Peugeots have them as standard.

One last thing - studded tyres are illegal for use in the UK so don't go for those.

 

[Neiltodd]

Leave mine on all year on the rest of the cars once the oem tyres need changing, not quite as good in the wet during summer as normal tyres but otherwise ok

 

[grober]

I really don't want to upset anyone, but winter tyres in the UK are a complete waste of time and money ! They're a marketing ploy by the manufacturers, standard tyres, or in extremis, studded tyres. If it's icy, or snowing, SLOW DOWN ! !

What folks don't seem to grasp is that its not just a "tread pattern" thing its to do with the temperature profile of a particular type of tyre compound where high silicon content tyres perform better at lower temperatures [sub + 7 degrees C being the magic number always quoted ] While acknowledging the geographical latitude arguement there is also an altitude and night and day arguement to be made in terms of what road temperature the average motorist is likely to experience.
I find it slightly puzzling that folks that watch Formula 1 where constant references are made as to the importance of tread compound and getting the tyres into their best performance temperature zone that the concept of a tread compond that works better at lower tempertures is so foreign.