Winter tyres vol 2

[Fox-]

After no snow at all all winter, I figured I was leaving it fairly late so took the winter wheels off the Mini on Friday.

It's snowed the last 2 days...

[Smokehead]

Another good month for All Seasons...

[anonymous-user]

nickfrog said:

Winters have been the optimum tyre in SE England in the past few weeks. They're really great, even further into northern France, they've been great for the climate and the conditions when commuting there. They remove a decent layer of uncertainty, particularly on a decently pokey RWD car with an open diff. I'd have survived on summers but I can't see any downfalls to winters. I also got to use the work's pool new X5 on summers which wasn't as sorted.

Strange
I've been driving in the SE for 35+ years & have never had winter tyres.
Once my journey home took an hour longer. Once I worked from home due to the snow. Waste of time around here IMHO

[andyps]

Could have done with my winter tyres for the journey home from the office today. So could the four cars involved in collisions within the same 100 yard stretch.

[Sheepshanks]

nickfrog said:

I also got to use the work's pool new X5 on summers which wasn't as sorted.

Blimey - what kind of firm has a new X5 as the pool car?

[Sheepshanks]

Smokehead said:

Another good month for All Seasons...

In the cold/wet/sleety stuff we've had for the last couple of days I must say the All Season's on my Merc inspire a lot of confidence.

[eztiger328]

Decided to stick some Michelin Cross Climates on the front of my Golf a couple of months ago. Yesterday evening driving home I was caught in a torrential hail storm that in the space of 5 mins left about an inch of hail / snow on the road. The Cross Climates were excellent and felt exactly the same as the Alpin 5 winter tyres I have in the garage for my BMW. If you don't have space to store winter tyres then I highly recommend the Cross Climates as an alternative!

[ModernAndy]

Glad I still have the winters on the car. This was taken last night.

[nickfrog]

Jimboka said:

nickfrog said:

Winters have been the optimum tyre in SE England in the past few weeks. They're really great, even further into northern France, they've been great for the climate and the conditions when commuting there. They remove a decent layer of uncertainty, particularly on a decently pokey RWD car with an open diff. I'd have survived on summers but I can't see any downfalls to winters. I also got to use the work's pool new X5 on summers which wasn't as sorted.

Strange
I've been driving in the SE for 35+ years & have never had winter tyres.
Once my journey home took an hour longer. Once I worked from home due to the snow. Waste of time around here IMHO

I can totally see why you would think they are a waste of time if you've never tried them. I agree they waste 45mn twice a year swapping the wheels but that's the only downside, including cost, as abundantly explained in this thread. In a non-binary world, not having them doesn't mean you will implode if you stick to summers but you can't really have an opinion about them if you haven't tried them, by definition. The geographical location is quite irrelevant : I drive on stty, greasy, b-roads every day, including in the -2 to 2 deg range this winter. Winter tyres have added a significant amount of lat grip and traction compared to Pilot Supersports that were new yet rock hard at that temp : it really is a fact, not an opinion. Could I have driven drastically more conservatively on summers to probably not even conserve the same margin of safety ? Yes. Do I want to ? No. Nothing strange there, you'll agree.

Edited by nickfrog on Friday 29th April 13:15

[Parabola]

Girlfriends VW Polo needs new tyres. (185/60 R14)

Was thinking of putting some all season tyres on.

Any recommendations?

[johnwilliams77]

Parabola said:

Girlfriends VW Polo needs new tyres. (185/60 R14)

Was thinking of putting some all season tyres on.

Any recommendations?

Put winters on. If you put decent ones on you wont notice much worse performance in summer.

[BrownBottle]

Can't say I agree, my Michelin Alpin's felt like marshmallows when I tried leaving them on

[johnwilliams77]

BrownBottle said:

Can't say I agree, my Michelin Alpin's felt like marshmallows when I tried leaving them on

My good years have been fine

[rsbmw]

Michelin crossclimate is the default all season answer

[Parabola]

Initial thoughts were these...

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?s_p=Maxx...


I'll look for the Michelins now.

[Parabola]

rsbmw said:

Michelin crossclimate is the default all season answer

Ordered, thanks! Girlfriend is more pleased with the 783 Tesco clubcard points she got than the excellent tyre reviews, but at least everyone is happy!

Edited by Parabola on Wednesday 17th August 20:30

[jon-]

Parabola said:

rsbmw said:

Michelin crossclimate is the default all season answer

Ordered, thanks! Girlfriend is more pleased with the 783 Tesco clubcard points she got than the excellent tyre reviews, but at least everyone is happy!

Edited by Parabola on Wednesday 17th August 20:30

You made the correct choice if you're going down the all season route and don't live in the highlands.

[gizlaroc]

I am running Vredastein Wintracs all year round on my E350 estate and on my C320cdi estate.

They are not the sort of car where I need the ultimate in road handling. And to be fair, they handle and feel so much nicer than the Continental Sports that were on there anyway.

[untakenname]

My tyres tread below 2mm and I'm wondering if it's worth putting another set of summers on (Federal 595 RSR's) as we realistically have only another month or two before the weather turns poor again, would now be a good time to pick up a pair of winters due to low demand meaning lower prices?

I've just been checking gigatyres and openeo and annoyingly due to the Brexit prices have gone up by £20 per corner compared to my last set

[jon-]

gizlaroc said:

I am running Vredastein Wintracs all year round on my E350 estate and on my C320cdi estate.

They are not the sort of car where I need the ultimate in road handling. And to be fair, they handle and feel so much nicer than the Continental Sports that were on there anyway.

But you're giving away 20% dry braking.

20% dry braking is way too much for me, given you're probably only gaining around 5% wet braking between 4c and freezing.