Winter tyres in Europe at this time of year?!

Winter tyres in Europe at this time of year?!

Author
Discussion

Pet Troll

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

177 months

Thursday 4th December 2014
quotequote all
We are planning a trip down through France into Italy next week and coming back via Switzerland. As far as I can tell in all the countries we will be going in winter tyres are only 'advised' rather than required. (Swiss required chain to be carried).

I have some winter tyres I can put on the car, the only reason I don't want to is the ones I have are marked M & S but feel VERY soft compound, so doing a lot of miles on tarmac rather than snow seems like it will wear them out very quickly, especially if there are any twisties.

We aren't planning on going over any passes in Switzerland as I assume they will all be shut, but will the less elevated roads be likely to have snow or not? Is there any way to get a Euro weather forecast?

cptsideways

13,535 posts

251 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
Goodle french weather map wink


There's a cold snap this week coming, snow for various bits of France & esp higher up over the Alps. I would this time of year, but I'm on the boat on my way to Tignes as we speak.

Pet Troll

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

177 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
Hmm, sounds like I should probably fit them, I'm just worried about them being too soft and wearing out (they're new) before we get back due to all the non-snowy driving.

I am mega busy before we go away but might see if I can fit them tomorrow and see how they cope on a couple of 50 mile trips over the weekend.

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
Pet Troll said:
Hmm, sounds like I should probably fit them, I'm just worried about them being too soft and wearing out (they're new) before we get back due to all the non-snowy driving.

I am mega busy before we go away but might see if I can fit them tomorrow and see how they cope on a couple of 50 mile trips over the weekend.
They are a different compound of rubber and designed to be flexible at much lower temperatures (i.e. about the same as a tyre sat in a shed), which will explain the difference. They'll be absolutely fine, and even in the weather we're due to have this weekend you'll probably get more grip than you would with summer tyres.

Pet Troll

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

177 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
davepoth said:
They are a different compound of rubber and designed to be flexible at much lower temperatures (i.e. about the same as a tyre sat in a shed), which will explain the difference. They'll be absolutely fine, and even in the weather we're due to have this weekend you'll probably get more grip than you would with summer tyres.
Thanks for the advice, they are currently sat on top of the dishwasher in the kitchen and at room temperature they are so soft and squidgy it has just worried me a little that any slightly exuberant driving will result in instantly shredded tyres.

The alternative is to go with what is on the car at the moment which is hankook 'something or others' with about 5mm of tread. If the Hankooks are all weathers (I'll check tomorrow) should I stick to them?


Edited by Pet Troll on Friday 5th December 00:32

Adenauer

18,564 posts

235 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
No brainer, put them on, PT.

They are far more effective than normal tyres at anything below 7°c, and we're hovering around 1 - 2°c at the moment here in Germany. The roads aren't only icy at the moment, they are also smeary/dirty. I wouldn't fancy driving here, let alone Switzerland on summer tyres at the moment.

RedWhiteMonkey

6,806 posts

181 months

Friday 5th December 2014
quotequote all
I live in South West Germany. We have to have winter tyres on by law here, but visitors don't. They really do make a difference though so if you're going anywhere that is going to be below 7c its worth thinking about, if you're going where there will be snow and ice its a no-brainer.

Pet Troll

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

177 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
I was hoping to get them put on today to have a trial driving them in non- freezing conditions to see how they fare but sadly I didn't get a chance, been no stop all day. I'm busy all day tomorrow so it will have to be Sunday morning that I fit them as we are planning on catching the tunnel in the evening.

I've come to the conclusion that if they do wear extremely fast on the non-cold sections of the trip then I can buy another set of winters out there and still have my current tyres to come home to so no big deal.

NNH

1,515 posts

131 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
I usually put on my winter tyres around now, and leave them till late March. I've put about 20000 miles on them in the last 5 winters, and they're still in good shape. This has included motorway trips from London to Scotland, and from Philadelphia to Boston (same tyres, which moved with me from the US to the UK).
You should be fine, and they're honestly much grippier than summer tyres once the temperature is much below 10C.

Marcellus

7,111 posts

218 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
They wont wear that fast OP.

If you're doing more than 10,000 of really spirited driving then you might need to start thinking about wear but if not the additional wear is barely noticable but in "colder" and " wetter" months the additional grip is.

RedWhiteMonkey

6,806 posts

181 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
Yes, they don't wear out that fast. We have summer and winter tyres that are used in rotation over here. The winter ones have done two and a bit winters now and are still fine.

eyebeebe

2,962 posts

232 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
They aren't compulsory in Switzerland, but (and this may only be for residents, but I think it applies to everyone) if you have an accident at this time of year and having summer tyres is deemed a contributing factor you can be prosecuted. As others have said they make a massive difference below 7 degrees. The outright performance isn't as good as summer tyres on a warm dry road, but it is far better than summer tyres in the cold.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
What make are your M and S? I used a set of Hankook W300s over 4 winters, doing about 18000 miles total, including leaving them on all year in 2012 when it was very wet, on a Passat CC. The cars gone now, the tyres are in my garage loft with 4mm or so of tread still left on them.

I wouldn't have any concerns about driving on them anywhere in Europe at this time of the year.


Bluebarge

4,519 posts

177 months

Monday 8th December 2014
quotequote all
My experience is that they don't wear any faster than summer tyres. The only circumstances where they might experience faster wear (and then nothing dramatic) is if you rag them on warm roads in the summer.

I wouldn't recommend spirited driving on twisties in the winter, especially if heading into the mountains - there is still plenty of scope for ice on the road and having an "off" on a mountain road can be a life-shortening event.

sneijder

5,221 posts

233 months

Monday 8th December 2014
quotequote all
Norway here, I do a one hour commute on a snow free motorway. I'm on my third winter with the same ones, as mentioned, the squidgyness is the whole point.

They do start off with a very deep tread though, check the wear indicators as they are higher than normal tyres.

iva cosworth

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 8th December 2014
quotequote all
Signs as you come out of Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy have 15th October on them for chains or winters.

Not sure if advisory or compulsory.

Did this trip last weekend and it was wet and quite warm.

Pet Troll

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

177 months

Friday 19th December 2014
quotequote all
Time to update as I'm back from this little jaunt.

I probably didn't need the winter tyres as it 95% of the trip was above 7 degrees. However I wanted to see how good they were on snow so whilst in Switzerland I made sure to drive up towards the Furka pass (which was closed) and did some driving on snow covered roads, I was amazed at how good the tyres were, it wasn't far off driving on a wet road. Excellent braking performance.

I didn't want to mention the make of tyres before going for fear of being ridiculed but having seen how well they perform I am happy to admit that they are 'no name' retreads that cost me £130 delivered for a set of 4. They were perfectly fine in the warmer driving, even with plenty of spirited driving on the twisties and have only work about 1mm over 3000 miles.

Overall I am very impressed!