Winter tyres in action, for the doubters.

[dozypillock]

How to drive the Ring in the snow - BBC Top Gear

Neil

 

[markjay]

Yes, winter tyres are great in the snow.

 

[grober]

Yes, winter tyres are great in the snow.

And ice---- and the wet ---and at low temperatures in the dry. Notice the narrow rear tyres also. I always find it slightly strange when people who are obviously dedicated petrolheads are prepared to blythely talk about "Hamilton had to change on to full wets from intermediates on lap 14" then dismiss winter tyres are some sort of uneccessary "affectation or fad " as if they were talking of a different phenomenon other than tyre technology . There is always their fall back position that its a hard to justify expense of course --- this from guys who are driving a Mercedes-Benz.

 

[jotter22]

Winter tyres or not thats just outright dangerous!..
good fun though i bet

Tony.

 

[Mr Kripling]

I wasn't aware there were people who doubted the efficacy of winter tyres, just the cost/benefit ratio of having them in the UK.

 

[ChrisA]

Totally agree Graeme

Winters at under 4deg Celsius really come into their own in all conditions as I have the experience of using them, and summer tyres, in Europe especially Denmark, Germany and surrounding countries where it does get very cold and very white!

I also agree on the ownership of Mercedes and that a decent set of winter tyres cost less than a years Insurance but provides that protection when/if required.

Dependant on driver ability as always

 

[whitenemesis]

Winters tyres work very well on slushy roads too!!

[YOUTUBE]cGoH1WXXzkE[/YOUTUBE]

As well as deep snow The speeds attained are scary!

[YOUTUBE]ebmTYJe4R20[/YOUTUBE]

Then add in electric drive and all the driver aids that it brings! Fascinating watching the torque vectoring in action.. Note the degree of driver steering input.

[YOUTUBE]EAxFgf5Mpc0[/YOUTUBE]

 

[whitenemesis]

................

I also agree on the ownership of Mercedes and that a decent set of winter tyres cost less than a years Insurance but provides that protection when/if required.

...........................

Can you find me a set of decent winter tyres (suitable for my CLS) at less than £192?

 

[markjay]

I wasn't aware there were people who doubted the efficacy of winter tyres, just the cost/benefit ratio of having them in the UK.

I live on London. We rarely get very low temperatures here, and it only snows once or twice a year. Icey road is not really an issue on main routes either.

Never had winter tyre on my London car and never had any issues.

But then I don't drive for a living and I simply don't use the car on the odd bad weather day.

However, when driving in the continent in winter I would not even consider a car without winter tyres.... same in Scotland.

 

[flying haggis]

But there is NOT some total numpty who has lost it coming the other way (make it more interesting though.........)

 

[ChrisA]

Can you find me a set of decent winter tyres (suitable for my CLS) at less than £192?

WTF!! I need your Insurance Broker

Cheap enough though for piece of mind.....although might not look to good on your car

http://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/hankook/winter-i-cept-w605/155-55-r14-69q-49909

 

[ChrisA]

Winter tyres or not thats just outright dangerous!..
good fun though i bet

Tony.

Tony

Crossing the road at 23:00hrs after leaving the pub is dangerous but we still do it

Race track, Race car, Race tyres, Racing driver Instructor, No other road users.......

Probably safer than the A1 on a sunday afternoon

 

[whitenemesis]

WTF!! I need your Insurance Broker

Cheap enough though for piece of mind.....although might not look to good on your car

Tyre Hankook Winter I Cept W605 155/55 R14 69Q (*), Closeout sale - Tyre Leader

Direct Line Mind you mine is stock..

I need 245/40/18 Can be bought cheaply enough (even main brands such as Pirelli) when compared with the summer rubber.

 

[ChrisA]

Direct Line Mind you mine is stock..

I need 245/40/18 Can be bought cheaply enough (even main brands such as Pirelli) when compared with the summer rubber.

bingo :bannana:

Tyre Hifly HF212 245/40 R18 97H XL - Tyre Leader

 

[Dryce]

Notice the narrow rear tyres also.

So more than just the compound and tread at work ...

I have winters fitted.

But I wouldn't advocate that they are of much benefit to the majority of drivers.

 

[Mr Kripling]

However, when driving in the continent in winter I would not even consider a car without winter tyres.... same in Scotland.

I've been fitting winter tyres for about 7 years, mostly as a result of driving to go skiing each year. Like you, I don't need a car during the week so if I wasn't going skiing I probably wouldn't bother. I suppose it's summed up by having winter tyres on both VWs but not bothering with the CL

 

[BTB 500]

And ice---- and the wet ---and at low temperatures in the dry. Notice the narrow rear tyres also. I always find it slightly strange when people who are obviously dedicated petrolheads are prepared to blythely talk about "Hamilton had to change on to full wets from intermediates on lap 14" then dismiss winter tyres are some sort of uneccessary "affectation or fad " as if they were talking of a different phenomenon other than tyre technology . There is always their fall back position that its a hard to justify expense of course --- this from guys who are driving a Mercedes-Benz.

There's no doubt whatsoever that winter tyres are miles better on snow.

But if you look at the objective tests the benefits in the wet are less clear cut at normal UK winter temperatures (in the south anyway). And in the dry (when you are typically going to be driving fastest) braking distances are signficantly greater with winters - this was from the What Car? test

Our dry test measured braking from 62mph. The temperature during the test averaged 5.5C, yet the summer tyres stopped our Volkswagen Golf test car earlier – in an average of 37.9 metres. The winter tyres took an average of 5.8 metres longer to pull up, and even the worst of the summer tyres – the Nankang Ultra Sport NS-2 – outperformed the best winter tyre, the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 830.

It’s clear that winter tyres don’t always offer better stopping performance in sub-7C conditions.

Too many people just blindly believe the magic 7C figure that's usually quoted. IIRC Continental stated that 2C was the point where their winter tyres started to show a benefit over summer ones.

Last time I checked the Police don't fit winter tyres to their traffic or even patrol cars throughout the UK (happy to be corrected if this is no longer the case). I'm pretty sure they'd be obliged to (on HSE grounds) if there was hard evidence that normal tyres were significantly less safe in our normal winter conditions.

 

[automaniaman]

Still not convinced for the need for them in this country, mine handles perfectly well, when driven to the prevailing conditions.
In the event of severe weather, common sense dictates it stays in the garage....

 

[ChrisA]

There's no doubt whatsoever that winter tyres are miles better on snow.

Last time I checked the Police don't fit winter tyres to their traffic or even patrol cars throughout the UK (happy to be corrected if this is no longer the case). I'm pretty sure they'd be obliged to (on HSE grounds) if there was hard evidence that normal tyres were significantly less safe in our normal winter conditions.

Quoted from Fleet news....

"Goodyear Dunlop saw demand for its winter tyres from Police forces across the UK increase by nearly 30% from 2012 to 2013.

The increase indicates a rising appetite for more reliable and predictable performance during winter months according to Kiran Panchal, Goodyear Dunlop fleet key account manager."

 

[BTB 500]

Quoted from Fleet news....

Unfortunately that doesn't really help ... it's just marketing drivel from a manufacturer promoting their products. For example if the Police across the whole UK bought just 30 winter tyres from them one year then the next year bought 38 that would be an "increase in demand of nearly 30%", even though in reality they'd sold hardly any.

I assume the Police in parts of Scotland etc. where snow is more common would use winter tyres ... the real question is whether they (or any other large fleet operators) fit them as a matter of course elsewhere in the UK.