Should winter tyres be made compulsory in the UK?
Poll: Should winter tyres be made compulsory in the UK?
Total Members Polled: 486
Discussion
MGJohn said:
Tallbut Buxomly said:
900 t-r i think they should be compulsory if temperatures drop below 5 degrees daily and if there is a possibility of snow or ice. My plan is to keep a set of winter tyres to hand and watch the weather reports.
If it looks like its going to maybe snow or simply drop to around 5 degrees and below ill put the winter tyres on for however long is needed till the temp picks up again as the safety benefits are worth it imho and i cant stand this sitting around doing nothing or getting held up due to a few inches of snow nonsense.
Not much good if the weather changes when you're 200 miles from those tyres back home in your garage... The Law of Sod will always apply ..If it looks like its going to maybe snow or simply drop to around 5 degrees and below ill put the winter tyres on for however long is needed till the temp picks up again as the safety benefits are worth it imho and i cant stand this sitting around doing nothing or getting held up due to a few inches of snow nonsense.
Only in the UK.
.
I have found a set of tyres without wheels for a fairly reasonable amount so am going to have my summers taken off the car and winter put on and the summer tyres can go into storage for now. When weather turns good i will swap back or when i source a set of wheels to put summer tyres on i will swap back when appropriate.
Kinda peeved though as found a set of wheels (same as on my car now) with snow tyres for sale on ebay but misread the auction ending date and it ended before i could put a proper bid on.
Went for NO.
Never had a problem getting the Impreza around on summer tyres in the seven years I have had it. My wife's BMW has stayed on the drive when the road is icy as it is a bugger to reverse back onto the drive (our road does not get gritted). Last Feb? I drove it back all the way up the M20 from Folkestone in a snow storm that dropped 4 - 6 inches in places without any real problems. If we did not have the Impreza to get around in I might just consider some winter tyres for the BMW, then again it might be cheaper to buy a few sacks of salt for the drive and some snow socks just in case it got stuck on a hill.
Never had a problem getting the Impreza around on summer tyres in the seven years I have had it. My wife's BMW has stayed on the drive when the road is icy as it is a bugger to reverse back onto the drive (our road does not get gritted). Last Feb? I drove it back all the way up the M20 from Folkestone in a snow storm that dropped 4 - 6 inches in places without any real problems. If we did not have the Impreza to get around in I might just consider some winter tyres for the BMW, then again it might be cheaper to buy a few sacks of salt for the drive and some snow socks just in case it got stuck on a hill.
Beyond Rational said:
Has anyone had any insurance problems with fitting winter tyres with a speed rating lower that their summer ones?
The car handbook says only "do not exceed the speed rating of winter tyres fitted".
How would it be an insurance issue?The car handbook says only "do not exceed the speed rating of winter tyres fitted".
The speed rating of most winter tyres is "H" (210kph as my GoodYear Ultra Grip 7+'s are), and there are there are "V" rating (240kph), versions too. Unless things have drastically changed in the last two weeks since I left England, the speed limit in the UK is 70mph (or about 112kph).
It's simple science and common sense then. Just don't exceed 210kph (or 130mph for those in the UK).
In answer to the original question - No...
Although they'd help on the one or two days we have too much snow to drive in during a normal year (or maybe or one or two every three - four years in the South of England), they don't grip as well on dry tarmac, which is still what you get 98% of the time.
I drove up to Coventry from Hampshire on Wednesday and back yesterday - Other than the quite thick snow near home on the way to the motorway, which required a bit of care, the roads were just wet (M40 outside lane hasn't been used, so I just kept to the inside two, like everyone else) - Winter tyres are fine if you want to use them and essential if you live somewhere where you get heavy snow for a month a year, but to suggest we make them compulsory because we've had a few days this year where it was hard to drive is an over-reaction.
The problem around my area before Christmas was sheet ice, not snow, so we'd need studded tyres in deepest Hampshire!
M.
Although they'd help on the one or two days we have too much snow to drive in during a normal year (or maybe or one or two every three - four years in the South of England), they don't grip as well on dry tarmac, which is still what you get 98% of the time.
I drove up to Coventry from Hampshire on Wednesday and back yesterday - Other than the quite thick snow near home on the way to the motorway, which required a bit of care, the roads were just wet (M40 outside lane hasn't been used, so I just kept to the inside two, like everyone else) - Winter tyres are fine if you want to use them and essential if you live somewhere where you get heavy snow for a month a year, but to suggest we make them compulsory because we've had a few days this year where it was hard to drive is an over-reaction.
The problem around my area before Christmas was sheet ice, not snow, so we'd need studded tyres in deepest Hampshire!
M.
What I don't understand is those who say no due to cost, you can only use one set of tyres at a time so where is the additional cost other than the initial expenditure?
Not sure it should be compulsory for all vehicles but goodness knows how you legislate to distinguish between a 50bhp FWD Fiesta on skinny rubber and (as I have) a mid-engined, RWD Boxster which isn't going to be pleasant in proper snow regardless of tyres.
Not sure it should be compulsory for all vehicles but goodness knows how you legislate to distinguish between a 50bhp FWD Fiesta on skinny rubber and (as I have) a mid-engined, RWD Boxster which isn't going to be pleasant in proper snow regardless of tyres.
This is instructive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM
No mention of temperature, but it's clearly above zero and wet. Tell me with a straight face that winter tyres show an unacceptable loss of performance above zero degress, and are only for snow!!!!
Final thought. I've never met anyone who's tried winter tyres and not gone wow, or ever for a second questioned whether they were worth fitting in the UK, even in snow free winters. People try them, they then don't look back. Over the past few years, I've managed to convince a number of members of my car's owners' group to try them and the conclusions have been universally positive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM
No mention of temperature, but it's clearly above zero and wet. Tell me with a straight face that winter tyres show an unacceptable loss of performance above zero degress, and are only for snow!!!!
Final thought. I've never met anyone who's tried winter tyres and not gone wow, or ever for a second questioned whether they were worth fitting in the UK, even in snow free winters. People try them, they then don't look back. Over the past few years, I've managed to convince a number of members of my car's owners' group to try them and the conclusions have been universally positive.
OnTheRoof96 said:
kambites said:
I've tried them and decided they're a complete waste of money unless it's icy or snowy and not necessary even then, in the UK.
Congratulations, you're the first I've met! Out of curiosity, what tyres (summer/winter) were you on?I should add that I think winter tyres are brilliant. I just don't think they're necessary for someone with my driving patterns - yes they may have a bit more grip than summer tyres in cold but not freezing weather, but not enough for me to feel it's worth the degradation in handling from fitting the wrong width and compound tyres. We get so little snow and ice in Hampshire (and crucially there are so few hills) that I just don't think it's worth the cost.
Edited by kambites on Monday 11th January 11:17
OnTheRoof96 said:
This is instructive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM
No mention of temperature, but it's clearly above zero and wet. Tell me with a straight face that winter tyres show an unacceptable loss of performance above zero degress, and are only for snow!!!!
Final thought. I've never met anyone who's tried winter tyres and not gone wow, or ever for a second questioned whether they were worth fitting in the UK, even in snow free winters. People try them, they then don't look back. Over the past few years, I've managed to convince a number of members of my car's owners' group to try them and the conclusions have been universally positive.
Well done for trying to educate people, you might have saved a few car panels this winter! As we can tell from the amount of threads on pistonheads (and traffic to my site) there's been a MUCH larger interest in winter tyres this year than previous years so at least people are aware they exist. Give it a few more years and perhaps some of the dis-information spread about them will start to fade and we might see even more people with 2 sets of tyres.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM
No mention of temperature, but it's clearly above zero and wet. Tell me with a straight face that winter tyres show an unacceptable loss of performance above zero degress, and are only for snow!!!!
Final thought. I've never met anyone who's tried winter tyres and not gone wow, or ever for a second questioned whether they were worth fitting in the UK, even in snow free winters. People try them, they then don't look back. Over the past few years, I've managed to convince a number of members of my car's owners' group to try them and the conclusions have been universally positive.
Oh, and here's a nice video just to prove they work on snow too
kambites said:
Beyond Rational said:
I guess you also get a traction benefit from the weight distribution of your Lotus as well.
Yes, although 225 section tyres in an 800kg car are never going to be great on snow. OnTheRoof96 said:
kambites said:
Beyond Rational said:
I guess you also get a traction benefit from the weight distribution of your Lotus as well.
Yes, although 225 section tyres in an 800kg car are never going to be great on snow. OnTheRoof96 said:
kambites said:
I've tried them and decided they're a complete waste of money unless it's icy or snowy and not necessary even then, in the UK.
Congratulations, you're the first I've met! Out of curiosity, what tyres (summer/winter) were you on?I have had a hire car - Opel Astra thingy, driven a Volvo V70 and a VW Passat. A friend of mine in Finland always had the perennial decision of going for studded or winter tyres. Always went studded but decided to go winter one year. Obviously crashed his car within days and swore never to do that again. But we did have a big discussion about it and decided to test things with some friends and a big car park. A couple of VW's, one with winter and one with studded and a V70 with winter tyres. The studded tyres did have a traction advantage but I struggled to tell the difference, but then I am not a Finn and not used to the conditions. The Finn's on the other hand had long discussions about the fact that studded was superior and the winters were rubbish. But take that with a pinch of salt though....
What I can say though is that there is a massive difference though. You need to be quite aggressive to lose traction in comparison with normal summer tyres and braking isn't so critical if you leave it a little later than you would normally in snow. I was VERY impressed really. But I have to agree with the other comments though, yes its pretty extreme at the moment, but this is NORMAL in Scandinavia and as a result winter tyres are the way forward. This time next week most of the snow will be gone and it will be back to normal I am sure.
What I do think is a good idea though, get a spare set of wheels and winter tyres for your car (typically cheap as you don't need alloys) and keep them in your garage. Crack them out when it snows and jobs a good 'un. That's what most other places who have bad snow but no legislation on enforced winter tyres do.
What amuses me the most is all this talk of snow......
Yes, winter tyres offer a massive advantage in snowy conditions over summer or all-season tyres, but they are not specific to snow only.
Even when the snow disappears, they offer a good advantage in the lower temperatures and in the wet.....
tbh the Scaninavians are the wrong people to ask about the relative merits of studded winter vs studless winter unless it is in their own climatic conditions and individual circumstances.
Even within a single country Sweden the relative merits of studded vs studless changes from area to area and individual needs and circumstances.
What further increases the complication is that the performance gap between the two is narrowing in many conditions, eg many studded winters now also incorporate some of the design features of studless.
Studded will always win out over studless in conditions of smooth sheet ice / or compacted smooth and polished snow, ie similar to sheet ice. Likewise studless will always win over studded when used on clear tarmac, wet / dry.
It's as I've said before, there is no single "this is best" answer to this, taken at a national, regional, local level, even between the few houses comprising a single postcode. It all comes down to individual needs and circumstances, the correct answer for me, is not correct for my neighbour, and that is not correct for the next guy along. Doesn't mean to say I'm right and they're wrong or vice versa.
What it needs is for people to be able to make an informed decision using common sense.
Thus we are indeed screwed.
Post script, I believe however there is a sector of UK society which needs to take a cold hard look at itself and proven lack of ability to get around and deal with these conditions. They have to get some spine and get a grip, literally in all the ways that that can be interpreted.
Even within a single country Sweden the relative merits of studded vs studless changes from area to area and individual needs and circumstances.
What further increases the complication is that the performance gap between the two is narrowing in many conditions, eg many studded winters now also incorporate some of the design features of studless.
Studded will always win out over studless in conditions of smooth sheet ice / or compacted smooth and polished snow, ie similar to sheet ice. Likewise studless will always win over studded when used on clear tarmac, wet / dry.
It's as I've said before, there is no single "this is best" answer to this, taken at a national, regional, local level, even between the few houses comprising a single postcode. It all comes down to individual needs and circumstances, the correct answer for me, is not correct for my neighbour, and that is not correct for the next guy along. Doesn't mean to say I'm right and they're wrong or vice versa.
What it needs is for people to be able to make an informed decision using common sense.
Thus we are indeed screwed.
Post script, I believe however there is a sector of UK society which needs to take a cold hard look at itself and proven lack of ability to get around and deal with these conditions. They have to get some spine and get a grip, literally in all the ways that that can be interpreted.
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