Winter Tyres

[essIII]

otolith said:

Put the winters on the (front wheel drive, stbox, etc) Saab today. Bought second hand on steels, second winter on them and still absolutely loads of tread. Meanwhile the Goodyear F1As will be safely wintering in the shed. Costs fk all, car performs optimally all year round.

Exactly. The real cost of winters is nothing. It's not as if both sets of tyres can wear at the same time, and if you buy 2nd hand wheels the depreciation will be negligible. So even if they're just good rather than necessary, if it doesn't cost you anything, why wouldn't you want to be on the optimum rubber all year round?

[goldblum]

essIII said:

So even if they're just good rather than necessary,

If they're unnecessary how can they be good?

essIII said:

if it doesn't cost you anything, why wouldn't you want to be on the optimum rubber all year round?

If you're on winters and the average temp is above 7c you're not on optimum rubber, are you?

[Craigie]

Anyone any experience of Sailun Ice Blazer tyres? They are a budget brand but totally mixed reviews on the web, most of which are from Canada.

Some suggest that they are great for snow, but maybe not that great for just British winters of snow, slush, cold and rain. Others slate them.

Anyone got UK experience with them?

[Bluebarge]

goldblum said:

If you're on winters and the average temp is above 7c you're not on optimum rubber, are you?

It's not the average temp, it's the temperature of the road surface. The temps quoted on weather forecasts are for a height of 5 feet above the ground, which is where your average human will be assessing how cold it is. Temperatures at ground level will generally be a couple of degrees colder.

Also, there is no magic cut-off above 7c where summer tyres automatically outperform winters - the difference in performance will be progressive, and extremely marginal in "mild" UK winters.

But then, I suspect you knew that.

[DaineseMan]

I'm finding that the winters are still much better for shedding water, regardless of the road temperature

[madbadger]

Bluebarge said:

goldblum said:

If you're on winters and the average temp is above 7c you're not on optimum rubber, are you?

It's not the average temp, it's the temperature of the road surface. The temps quoted on weather forecasts are for a height of 5 feet above the ground, which is where your average human will be assessing how cold it is. Temperatures at ground level will generally be a couple of degrees colder.

Also, there is no magic cut-off above 7c where summer tyres automatically outperform winters - the difference in performance will be progressive, and extremely marginal in "mild" UK winters.

But then, I suspect you knew that.

And average temperature at 7:00 in the morning when I drive to work is generally lower than the average daily temperature.

[tamore]

jesus, is bill murray the star of this thread?

[page3]

goldblum said:

It's the fact you put bother to put steels on a fking stbox FWD Audi - which probably is OK in poor conditions anyway - and then boast about how little money they cost. Probably worth more than the car but hey - you've got winters on.

Well I've put winters plus steels on my fwd Audi and they've been great on these cold 2 deg c mornings and far better at 10 degrees than the continental sp5's they have replaced.

I think something like the Audi, especially with DSG is the perfect car to benefit from winters.

[JagXJR]

Gtom said:

I put some gt radial winterpro's on the ladies fiesta yesterday. No doubt at all that they aren't the best I could have fitted but she has only done 14k in the past 5 years in her previous car and doesn't go above 60mph so I think they will do fine.

As has already been asked but not really answered, what are people's opinions of running two different pairs of tyres (fwd if that matters). Again I'm doing low miles, maybe 50/week.

Thought I had answered it here

JagXJR said:

What car, FWD or Rear?

I am a firm believer in having 4 matching tyres as then the handling characteristics of the tyres will be the same, instead of different tyres doing different things. I personally think this makes more difference than cheap tyres over premium brands.

That does not mean to say that cheap tyres are a good idea over more expensive ones, just that all four corners will behave (technically as tread depth is also a factor) in a similar way.

Am running different on mine, Winters on front and summers on rear (4WD) but only until next payday when the rears will then match the fronts. Hope this helps.

[HustleRussell]

goldblum said:

essIII said:

So even if they're just good rather than necessary,

If they're unnecessary how can they be good?

Are you really so hard of thinking that you don't know the difference between 'necessary' and 'beneficial'?

[goldblum]

Bluebarge said:

goldblum said:

If you're on winters and the average temp is above 7c you're not on optimum rubber, are you?

It's not the average temp, it's the temperature of the road surface. The temps quoted on weather forecasts are for a height of 5 feet above the ground, which is where your average human will be assessing how cold it is. Temperatures at ground level will generally be a couple of degrees colder.

Early evening the road surface will retain any daytime heat, won't it?

Bluebarge said:

Also, there is no magic cut-off above 7c where summer tyres automatically outperform winters - the difference in performance will be progressive, and extremely marginal in "mild" UK winters.

As it will with summers.

But then, I suspect you didn't think of that.

[dern]

Are you two married?

[goldblum]

dern said:

Are you two married?

He's not been seeing you as well has he?

[tenohfive]

goldblum said:

Bluebarge said:

Also, there is no magic cut-off above 7c where summer tyres automatically outperform winters - the difference in performance will be progressive, and extremely marginal in "mild" UK winters.

As it will with summers.

But then, I suspect you didn't think of that.

No, there is a magic cut off point with summers. It's called snow.

[Olf]

Goldblum - you need to be on a thread about rubber, but not this one.

[FiF]

tamore said:

jesus, is bill murray the star of this thread?

All we need is a poster called Punxsutawney Phil and it really will be Groundhog Day.

Edited by FiF on Monday 18th November 16:47

[Bluebarge]

dern said:

Are you two married?

No, I've only just met him and he's not my type - he's all yours my friend.

[goldblum]

tenohfive said:

goldblum said:

Bluebarge said:

Also, there is no magic cut-off above 7c where summer tyres automatically outperform winters - the difference in performance will be progressive, and extremely marginal in "mild" UK winters.

As it will with summers.

But then, I suspect you didn't think of that.

No, there is a magic cut off point with summers. It's called snow.

No, the world doesn't come to an end if you drive with summer's on for a couple of days in snow Grandma.

[HustleRussell]

goldblum said:

No, the world doesn't come to an end if you drive with summer's on for a couple of days in snow Grandma.

That's true. Let's all sign on to the internet and swear at the fools fitting winter tyres to their cars!

[Munter]

goldblum said:

No, the world doesn't come to an end if you drive with summer's on for a couple of days in snow Grandma.

Presumably Gold you drive around on budget summer tyres? If not. How do you justify buying better tyres for summer use, but when winter comes, change your mind so that having a better tyre/more grip is of no interest at all?