Winter tyres vol 2
Discussion
blueST said:
I'm with you on this. On long sweeping bends, like you get on slip roads. My winters give a weird sort of springy feeling where the front rear feel like they are squirming around. It's not a loss of grip, just a loss of that planted feeling the summers have. I've got used to it now and for the type of car and driving it doesn't matter.
I got the same effect on my previous set of Winter tyres once the temperatures approached double digits and the roads were a bit damp. Mind you, they were Nordic rated. The current set of Dunlop Wintersport 4Ds are a whole lot better.blueST said:
I'm with you on this. On long sweeping bends, like you get on slip roads. My winters give a weird sort of springy feeling where the front rear feel like they are squirming around. It's not a loss of grip, just a loss of that planted feeling the summers have. I've got used to it now and for the type of car and driving it doesn't matter.
Firstly, I'm not complaining, it's just an observation as I was deliberately pushing the car. I know the limitations of winter tyres- this is the fourth winter I've used them, although it is easy to forget just how much of a difference in feel and outright grip there is when it's mild.
Add the fact it's a square set up rather than staggered won't help matters in stopping the rear wanting to play.
JagXJR said:
They do have a less planted, squirmy feeling to them. Mine feel quite vague at high motorway speeds.
I have All Season's on my Merc and I like them on the motorway - they make the car feel a bit more wafty.I put full winter Michelin Alpins on wife's Honda Jazz as a bit of an experiment - she has no interest in cars or driving, but she stunned me by unprompted commenting on the lack of precision. That could be also be to changing to 65 profile 15" from 55 profile 16" though.
ohtari said:
On monday we had snow, and I struggled to get out of the driveway. Today it was 10 degrees at 7am, how do you win?
I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
Fair enough. If you live on the Lancashire or Cheshire Plains, though, winter tyres are probably ~99.5% unnecessary over a given decade.I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
ohtari said:
On monday we had snow, and I struggled to get out of the driveway. Today it was 10 degrees at 7am, how do you win?
I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
How about 1 winter / 1 summer on each axle? Best of both worlds.I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
Obviously don't put the winters on the same side, otherwise you risk just going round and round in circles...
Lucas Ayde said:
blueST said:
I'm with you on this. On long sweeping bends, like you get on slip roads. My winters give a weird sort of springy feeling where the front rear feel like they are squirming around. It's not a loss of grip, just a loss of that planted feeling the summers have. I've got used to it now and for the type of car and driving it doesn't matter.
I got the same effect on my previous set of Winter tyres once the temperatures approached double digits and the roads were a bit damp. Mind you, they were Nordic rated. The current set of Dunlop Wintersport 4Ds are a whole lot better.FiF said:
Presumably people fit winters because, for one reason, they don't buy into the 'just drive to the conditions' song of the anti winters crowd.
I have winters so I can "drive in the conditions" - they may be a bit of a compromise at times - this week we had snow on Monday and 16 degrees today. With the winters the snow wasn't an issue and they still work today, albeit not as well as a summer tyre. With summers I wouldn't have got anywhere in the snow and would be Ok today. So all round, winters allow driving in any conditions, summers don't. Having said that I currently have a car outside on which I have had to take the front wheels off for some other work, my puzzle is, do the winters go back on (almost certainly not), the summers or the AD08s because it is only two weeks until practice day at Harewood Hillclimb and it will save swapping them again if the weather is good then. Decisions, decisions!
Bill said:
OTOH if conditions didn't justify it at all the thread would be similarly short. I bet there isn't a winter tyre thread in Oman. 
Indeed, Oman probably didn't have one unusually cold, snowy winter 5 years ago (and a shorter cold snap the following year), after a couple of decades of mild ones before things went back to normal again.Bill said:
It's a choice based on personal circumstances and priorities, yours are different to mine and I'm not presumptuous enough to tell you you're wrong so how about extending the same courtesy to me?
Exactly. It's because conditions are on the borderline with so many variables that the thread exists at all. Add in rapidly evolving tyre technology to the mix and people need information to understand the possibilities and make an informed choice to do something or not. If you're in a country where most people do use, or are required to use by legislation, winter tyres then every year the technical motoring press and newspapers will report on the latest tests. The threads will not revolve around whether to use but which equipment to buy.
Meanwhile on here we get the attrition loop where some Laaandoners and Sarferners insist their personal situation is typical for everyone in the western hemisphere. Slight exaggeration obviously.
How much difference is there between a budget Winter and a good one?
I was quite impressed with the budgets, last time I bought one it was £52 (End of season?), cast me £70 each before winter (november-ish).Performed far better in snowy and icy conditions than any Summer I have ever bought.
Is it worth it to pay more, given as the naysayers say that our Winters are not exactly extreme?
I was quite impressed with the budgets, last time I bought one it was £52 (End of season?), cast me £70 each before winter (november-ish).Performed far better in snowy and icy conditions than any Summer I have ever bought.
Is it worth it to pay more, given as the naysayers say that our Winters are not exactly extreme?
JagXJR said:
How much difference is there between a budget Winter and a good one?
I was quite impressed with the budgets, last time I bought one it was £52 (End of season?), cast me £70 each before winter (november-ish).Performed far better in snowy and icy conditions than any Summer I have ever bought.
Is it worth it to pay more, given as the naysayers say that our Winters are not exactly extreme?
IMHO if you are going Winter, go Premium. I'd imagine a budget winter is noticeably worse than a good summer tyre in anything but actual snowmaggedon.I was quite impressed with the budgets, last time I bought one it was £52 (End of season?), cast me £70 each before winter (november-ish).Performed far better in snowy and icy conditions than any Summer I have ever bought.
Is it worth it to pay more, given as the naysayers say that our Winters are not exactly extreme?
I would have thought so too, was all I could afford at the time having just bought the car and needing to put some stuff right that prev owner had left.
Thing is they did grip better than any summer I have ever had (in Winter) and that includes the big names like Pirelli and Continental.
Need some new ones for next Winter, they are down to the 4mm (or whatever they are) markers.
May go up to mid-range and see if they are any better.
Thing is they did grip better than any summer I have ever had (in Winter) and that includes the big names like Pirelli and Continental.
Need some new ones for next Winter, they are down to the 4mm (or whatever they are) markers.
May go up to mid-range and see if they are any better.
Bill said:
It's a choice based on personal circumstances and priorities, yours are different to mine and I'm not presumptuous enough to tell you you're wrong so how about extending the same courtesy to me?
I may be being slightly not serious:MC Bodge said:
ohtari said:
On monday we had snow, and I struggled to get out of the driveway. Today it was 10 degrees at 7am, how do you win?
I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
Fair enough. If you live on the Lancashire or Cheshire Plains, though, winter tyres are probably ~99.5% unnecessary over a given decade.I'm keeping the winters on for the rest of the month at least
As I have said many times, I like Uniroyal Rainsport and Rainexpert depending upon the car (and Michelin Pilot Road 3 on the motorbike), as they suit the mild and wet year-round conditions where I live. There has been only one day this winter with more than a dusting of snow and a handful of frosty days . The car has been fine, even on the dirty back roads.
If a good all-weather alternative becomes available then I might be interested, but I don't need Arctic performance.
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