winter or all weather tyres

[Smiley]

I am thinking of putting a set of "winter" tyres on the car in November time. I have seen that there are !all weather" and "winter" tyres. What are the pros and cons - I can guess but it would be a guess so advice would be appreciated.

 

[BTB 500]

Cons are the cost of tyres and fitting, plus space to store another set of wheels/tyres.

Pros are much better grip/traction on snow, and slightly better grip on dry tarmac in cold conditions.

Being a softer compound they will wear a bit quicker than standard tyres when it's not really that cold (most of the time, in most of the UK).

 

[Sp!ke]

In this country unless you've got a second set of wheels, I'd replace the summer tyres for all season M+S tyres.

Full on winter tyres wouldn't get much more than a couple of weeks use per year.

 

[bpsorrel]

If it's any recommendation, I run all weathers (M+S) (Falken) on my car in Russia. They give me respectable performance in dry and wet summer/autumn conditions (although they can get a bit noisy over rough surfaces) and are plenty good enough to tackle Russian snow conditions, often with no salt and just overnight loose snow! Saves me having to store an extra set of tyres also.

 

[rf065]

I am thinking of putting a set of "winter" tyres on the car in November time. I have seen that there are !all weather" and "winter" tyres. What are the pros and cons - I can guess but it would be a guess so advice would be appreciated.

If you decide to go ahead, only buy "cold weather tyres", they will have the snowflake in the mountain symbol on the sidewall & are made of a compound that does not harden with cold and is for use in temperatures below 7C.

I use mine from December until March every year & have used the car after a good 8" of snow without getting stuck.

Why use Cold Weather tyres?

Russ

 

[Smiley]

Thanks guys - as ever fast and good advice on here - but my original post was not clear enough - so here goes...
I have already bought a spare set of wheels and have somewhere to store them (together with the other spare wheels for the other cars ) - and the cost of the tyres is not that bad in the overall scheme of things - so having made the decision that I AM doing this - it is just between the "all weather" tyres and the "winter" tyres - it was the pros and cons between those two options.
I am guessing that the winter tyres are a bit more expensive than the all weathers?, better in the snow and ice, a bit noisier?, wear more quickly?.....any advice much appreciated.

 

[rf065]

so having made the decision that I AM doing this - it is just between the "all weather" tyres and the "winter" tyres - it was the pros and cons between those two options.
I am guessing that the winter tyres are a bit more expensive than the all weathers?, better in the snow and ice, a bit noisier?, wear more quickly?.....any advice much appreciated.

OK, forget all you have heard about noise, low wear rates etc, it means nothing since "cold weather tyres" came into being.

I use Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes, they are as quiet as summer tyres but have twice the grip in cold conditions, not just snow, i.e. below 7C. They also have tremendous wet weather grip & resistance to aquaplaning. I have had mine for a couple of winters now, & they will last at least a couple more. It also means your summer tyres last longer too as they are rested for a few months each year.

All weather tyres are a compromise and are probably only average in more than one type of weather. If you already have spare wheels then a set of summer tyres & cold weather tyres is all you need.

Russ

 

[raymont]

OK, forget all you have heard about noise, low wear rates etc, it means nothing since "cold weather tyres" came into being.

I use Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes, they are as quiet as summer tyres but have twice the grip in cold conditions, not just snow, i.e. below 7C. They also have tremendous wet weather grip & resistance to aquaplaning. I have had mine for a couple of winters now, & they will last at least a couple more. It also means your summer tyres last longer too as they are rested for a few months each year.

All weather tyres are a compromise and are probably only average in more than one type of weather. If you already have spare wheels then a set of summer tyres & cold weather tyres is all you need.

Russ

Seconded.

I have Wintrac Xtremes for winter use and can confirm that they are just as quiet as summer tyres, provide quite startling grip in snow / slush and provide a comfotable ride.

A point to note is that these tyres are considered worn out when 4mm of tread remains, although they start with 10mm compared with most summer tyres which start life with 8mm of tread.

Also, depending on your vehicle / tyre you might find that the speed rating of the tyre is lower.

As stated earlier winter / cold weather tyres are better than summer tyres once the temp drops below about 7 c, and are certainly better tham M and S which, as the name suggests, are a compromise. These tyres have a 'snowflake' to indicate that they are winter / cold weather tyres.

 

[Sp!ke]

As stated earlier winter / cold weather tyres are better than summer tyres once the temp drops below about 7 c, and are certainly better tham M and S which, as the name suggests, are a compromise. These tyres have a 'snowflake' to indicate that they are winter / cold weather tyres.

Not necessarilly, they can also have a mountain symbol.

 

[raymont]

Not necessarilly, they can also have a mountain symbol.

Mine have a snowflake and a mountain!

Check the size of tyre you require by looking in the car's handbook. The size of winter tyre recommended is not always the same as that for a summer tyre.

E.g. for my car summer tyres are 275 55 19 whereas the winter tyre size recommended is 265 55 19.

Wear rate on my winter tyres is probabaly a bit worse than summer tyres but not horribly so. I'll probably get 15 to 20k miles out of them which isn't bad for a heavy car. Summer tyres last a bit longer, but not much.

 

[Smiley]

Seconded.

I have Wintrac Xtremes for winter use and can confirm that they are just as quiet as summer tyres, provide quite startling grip in snow / slush and provide a comfotable ride.

A point to note is that these tyres are considered worn out when 4mm of tread remains, although they start with 10mm compared with most summer tyres which start life with 8mm of tread.

Also, depending on your vehicle / tyre you might find that the speed rating of the tyre is lower.

As stated earlier winter / cold weather tyres are better than summer tyres once the temp drops below about 7 c, and are certainly better tham M and S which, as the name suggests, are a compromise. These tyres have a 'snowflake' to indicate that they are winter / cold weather tyres.

I guess thar once you get down to 4mm they can be used as summer tyres ......

 

[raymont]

I guess thar once you get down to 4mm they can be used as summer tyres ......

Not sure about that, but would almost certainly get you through a police vehicle check or an MOT.

 

[Satch]

If you have a second set of wheels go for winter tyres.

I have Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grips as my winter set and they have proved amazingly stable in very bad autobahn conditions, ploughing through deep snow and just about anything else really.

mytyres.co.uk - Details: Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance 2 225/55 R16 99V XL M+S marking

 

[Shude]

I've been running Pirelli Snowsports all year round since March 2005, not bothered with summer tyres any more unless I decide on some pretty rims to use only in summer.

 

[grober]

From a brief perusal of what's on offer as "all weather " tyres on the mytyres.co.uk site then you are best to go for a "Winter" tyre since with the development of new tyre compounds and tread patterns "winter tyres" in many cases are really "all weather" tyres in they can be run all year and on dry roads. The only type to avoid is the winter tyre which can truly be described as an old fashioned "snow" tyre. This will have a very open blocky tread a bit like an offroad type which will be extremely good in deep snow but with very poor handling characteristics on dry or wet roads due to poor tread contact. I have run winter tyres all year round for many years with little discernible sacrifice to either wear or road holding within sensible limits . Some increase in road noise is to be expected but its not as bad as you might think.

 

[Sp!ke]

I would go one further.

Buy a tyre with a high silica content and a blocky tread pattern (unlike say..Toyo Proxies) and there's likely to be little difference between that and an all season winter tyre other than the marketing.

 

[rf065]

I would go one further.

Buy a tyre with a high silica content and a blocky tread pattern (unlike say..Toyo Proxies) and there's likely to be little difference between that and an all season winter tyre other than the marketing.

Sorry Spike, I don't think that's true.
Apart from the new cold weather compounds, there is the tyre technology involved, the increased number of sipes & the way the tread pattern is designed to throw snow & slush away from the tyre as it revolves, is what gives them more grip. Tyre design is very complex these days.

Russ

 

[Smiley]

I have found Vredestein Snotrac 2 and 3 on the web - but not the Wintrac Extremes. I do rate Vredestein tyres and the snotracs are good value for money - are they the same as the snotracs?

 

[Shude]

I have run winter tyres all year round for many years with little discernible sacrifice to either wear or road holding within sensible limits . Some increase in road noise is to be expected but its not as bad as you might think.

I only seem to light up the ASR warning on loose surfaces or mud/wet grass and I got 45k out of the last set of tyres (worn down to the legal limit during the summer for efficiency ). They are a bit louder than normal tyres but frankly I can live with it.

 

[Sp!ke]

I agree that Snow tyres have much more snipes in the tread than normal tyres but all season M+S tyres much less so, with the high silica tread compound being the key.

>Shude, 45k miles Wow thats impressive, I dont get anywhere near that on normal tyres.