Do I have to fit 4 winter tyres?

[DonkeyApple]

roadman said:

A winter Tyre topic already!!!

Indeed. Although, it would be more logical for these discussions to be about 'Summer Tyres' as 'winter' conditions dominate the British year, so technically we would be fitting summer tyres around June for a couple of months and than back onto the standard tyres for the rest of the year.

[bga]

A while back I had winters on the front and standard on the back. I'm still alive thought it would make driving in the snow "interesting".

It was only for a couple of months as one of the rears got a big hole in it and I had to wait for the Nokians to come back in stock.

[Podie]

doogz said:

Podie said:

I know first hand of someone who fitted winters to the front and left the standard tyres on the rear (car in question was a 4x4 Skoda Yeti). Braked going round a corner (not a great plan anyway) and the rear end just slid off the road.


Still, each to their own - but I'd rather have 4 winter tyres.

Well, yeah. They could have been on 4 matching tyres and that could still have ended just as badly. Good tyres doesn't outweigh bad driving.

Completely agree, but with 4 winters they probably would have got away with it.

[jon-]

Podie said:

doogz said:

Podie said:

I know first hand of someone who fitted winters to the front and left the standard tyres on the rear (car in question was a 4x4 Skoda Yeti). Braked going round a corner (not a great plan anyway) and the rear end just slid off the road.


Still, each to their own - but I'd rather have 4 winter tyres.

Well, yeah. They could have been on 4 matching tyres and that could still have ended just as badly. Good tyres doesn't outweigh bad driving.

Completely agree, but with 4 winters they probably would have got away with it.

And with 4 summers they'd have likely entered the bend at a lower speed, and if they had touched the brakes it would have been easier to recover the more likely resulting understeer.

[mikecassie]

I did it to my FWD A4 a few years ago. It was fine when driven sensibly. I did once turn in too quick at a junction, a small amount of oversteer was all that happened. But I do have a full set of winter tyres on the replacement to the A4.
Totally up to the OP but there's worse things he could do.

[Podie]

jon- said:

Podie said:

doogz said:

Podie said:

I know first hand of someone who fitted winters to the front and left the standard tyres on the rear (car in question was a 4x4 Skoda Yeti). Braked going round a corner (not a great plan anyway) and the rear end just slid off the road.


Still, each to their own - but I'd rather have 4 winter tyres.

Well, yeah. They could have been on 4 matching tyres and that could still have ended just as badly. Good tyres doesn't outweigh bad driving.

Completely agree, but with 4 winters they probably would have got away with it.

And with 4 summers they'd have likely entered the bend at a lower speed, and if they had touched the brakes it would have been easier to recover the more likely resulting understeer.

You think someone who brakes hard mid-bend in snow is the sort to recover from any kind of slide?

[NRS]

jon- said:

And with 4 summers they'd have likely entered the bend at a lower speed, and if they had touched the brakes it would have been easier to recover the more likely resulting understeer.

If you've driven with winter tyres you would know they would need to be a lot slower entering the corner to have the equivalent level of grip (not saying you haven't, but living in Norway you see a massive difference between the two).

Podie said:

You think someone who brakes hard mid-bend in snow is the sort to recover from any kind of slide?

It didn't say braked hard. It could just have easily been a small adjustment.

[Podie]

NRS said:

Podie said:

You think someone who brakes hard mid-bend in snow is the sort to recover from any kind of slide?

It didn't say braked hard. It could just have easily been a small adjustment.

Nothing like clutching at straws...

[NRS]

Podie said:

NRS said:

Podie said:

You think someone who brakes hard mid-bend in snow is the sort to recover from any kind of slide?

It didn't say braked hard. It could just have easily been a small adjustment.

Nothing like clutching at straws...

Not really. I have an MX-5 and have on a number of times adjusted the speed a little on a corner. Obviously you don't aim to shed lots of speed off there, but it's no problem doing it a bit with winter tyres on most types of snow. How many times have I crashed? None. How long a winter with snow do I have? 6 months a year. There are a few types of snow you shouldn't brake at all on a corner, but most types you can do so.

It could have been they are an idiot, but not necessarily. It's like the "too much money and no talent" that everyone uses when a supercar is crashed, despite knowing nothing of the situation.

Edited by NRS on Monday 29th July 18:33