Winter tyres, to bother or not ?
Discussion
As a side note - you always fit new tyres to the rear, the existing rear tyres move to the front. In other words, the 'best' tyres go on the back where you need the best traction under heavy braking (where the front's are heavily loaded giving maximum grip, and the rears go lighter giving less grip).
Nigel Worc's said:
Budgets, Mohawk, don't get carried away though, the van has all of 69 bhp.
Well, a Fabia with similar power (albeit petrol) is excellent on Rain Experts in wet, dry, cold etc. (and good in snow). The ditch finders fitted when we bought it were terrible handling in all conditions.Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 23 November 22:34
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
As a side note - you always fit new tyres to the rear, the existing rear tyres move to the front. In other words, the 'best' tyres go on the back where you need the best traction under heavy braking (where the front's are heavily loaded giving maximum grip, and the rears go lighter giving less grip).
I'll have to think about that.On BMW's, where I come from as it were, you always put the new ones on the front, as odd as that may seem, as the setup is so sensitive regarding tyres.
Nigel Worc's said:
I've been trying to read up, it looks like all season tyres aren't worth the effort
Where'd you read that? I can't be arsed going in to it all again but there are several on the market now that are full "mountain and snowflake" marked and are superb all year round but (from personal experience and others on PH) really excel in snow and standing water. We don't even bother running summers any more on our 230bhp AWD V70. Kleber all seasons - wear appears excellent.
Nigel Worc's said:
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
As a side note - you always fit new tyres to the rear, the existing rear tyres move to the front. In other words, the 'best' tyres go on the back where you need the best traction under heavy braking (where the front's are heavily loaded giving maximum grip, and the rears go lighter giving less grip).
I'll have to think about that.On BMW's, where I come from as it were, you always put the new ones on the front, as odd as that may seem, as the setup is so sensitive regarding tyres.
Try reversing the question and ask yourself why you need summer-specific tyres at all when all seasons or winters would do you fine for the whole year. I imagine year round mobility is more important for a work van than achieving the best possible dry weather grip during the warmer months.
xRIEx said:
oldnbold said:
Expensive waste of time.
That's odd - mine cost me nothing this year, or last year.And to add to the oddness, my 'summer' tyres seem to be lasting longer than usual.
If the cars a keeper why wouldnt you run winter rubber?
In August you can pick up winters at sensible money - ie less than the cost of an all round tyre - so put them on a set of steel rims and you're off
Your standard rubber lasts longer and you get all of the (significant) advantages of winter rubber
Coincidentally I changed my wheels over today
xRIEx said:
That's odd - mine cost me nothing this year, or last year.
And to add to the oddness, my 'summer' tyres seem to be lasting longer than usual.
+1 And to add to the oddness, my 'summer' tyres seem to be lasting longer than usual.
I run winters and summers on both my cars, the winters cost less per corner then the summers! The 16" OEM Focus alloys (no tyres) cost me £37 to buy
. I was lucky with the Audi, picked up a set used set of alloys and tyres that had only covered 600miles from fleabay for £600.I have space to store them so no brainer for me.
Nigel Worc's said:
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
As a side note - you always fit new tyres to the rear, the existing rear tyres move to the front. In other words, the 'best' tyres go on the back where you need the best traction under heavy braking (where the front's are heavily loaded giving maximum grip, and the rears go lighter giving less grip).
I'll have to think about that.On BMW's, where I come from as it were, you always put the new ones on the front, as odd as that may seem, as the setup is so sensitive regarding tyres.
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
Nigel Worc's said:
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
As a side note - you always fit new tyres to the rear, the existing rear tyres move to the front. In other words, the 'best' tyres go on the back where you need the best traction under heavy braking (where the front's are heavily loaded giving maximum grip, and the rears go lighter giving less grip).
I'll have to think about that.On BMW's, where I come from as it were, you always put the new ones on the front, as odd as that may seem, as the setup is so sensitive regarding tyres.
Sparkov said:
Try reversing the question and ask yourself why you need summer-specific tyres at all when all seasons or winters would do you fine for the whole year. I imagine year round mobility is more important for a work van than achieving the best possible dry weather grip during the warmer months.
I believe, but I'm open to be wrong, that summer tyres are harder, so last longer, so cost less per mile.gazza285 said:
I've managed 25 years of driving without winter tyres on and I'm not about to change.
Agree with you - I've been on the road for years and never felt the need for them. Mind you, I buy decent tyres in the first place. Lot of fannying about with spare sets of wheels and, in the modern world, type pressure sensors.If you live somewhere (Scotland, Lake District, High Peak) that sees snow regularly then they are helpful. The rest of the time they're pretty pointless in the mild winters we've had recently. And no, unless you drive like a tit in the wrong conditions you'll probably never notice any difference.
gazza285 said:
I've managed 25 years of driving without winter tyres on and I'm not about to change.
I leave winter tyres on all year for same reason.When was the last time we had a real heatwave? 1976?
Winter tyres all year makes more sense than summer tyres, as we never have a proper hot summer in the UK.
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