Discussion
swiveleyedgit said:
I've had those Avons on various cars over the last 10 or 12 years and never had a problem with them. That includes innumerable trips across France in atrocious weather on skiing trips and what have you. Also left them on a couple of cars all year round and am still here to tell the tale. I must drive like an old woman.
I had avon ice tourers on my diesel clio. In deep snow and cold the car was unstoppable and ploughed through stuff youd never dream of getting through. However in the dry it was....... unstopable.. as in they just gave way under braking or cornering. A terrible tyre that i vowed not to go back too. This year i went for falken (somethings) that have been very competant in the dry and so far havn't had a najor test in the snow. jon- said:
RenOHH said:
December is looking warm. Worried this stack of wheels next me with Nokian winters will be a step back from the Bridgestones I have on now. Oh what to do.
Wait until it gets colder. Put them on. Simple 
I know there's different ways of presenting data, but this graph shows the number of 'air frost' days, and as you can see they are mostly in Dec, Jan, & Feb which ties in with average temp charts that show the same three months having the lowest average temps (usually of approx 5 degrees). So simply put them on those months each year, and on average, you will get it right!
Has this been posted yet ?
Video from tyre manufacturer to make the case for winter tyres.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/...
Video from tyre manufacturer to make the case for winter tyres.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/...
OnistOssifer said:
First morning of ice on the road, today. Must say the Dunlops fared really well - summer tyred cars were slipping and spinning the whole way through the estate. The i30 didn't even think about spinning, and even braking was totally uneventful.
Dunlop WinterResponce2 seem to be a very good choice for white-goods commuting cars like the i30.
Where in the UK was this?. I've never owned winter tyres & not slipped and slipped down my road in 30+ years motoring. Must be a lot of idiot drivers there if it's true..Dunlop WinterResponce2 seem to be a very good choice for white-goods commuting cars like the i30.
Ennoch said:
I'm certainly pretty inclined to agree with the recently voiced dissatisfaction over the performance of Avon IceTouring's. Having used Bridgestone Blizzak's and a succession of Continental WinterContact's I ended up at the end of last winter with a set of these as my Conti's were really getting close to being useless. As it happened, we didn't get any more snow, I sold the old car and lent the Cooper WeatherMaster Snow's to a friend (same tyre, different name). He put a few thousand miles on them as he literally couldn't get his car off the drive if there was too much frost, let alone snow.
Roll forward to this winter and they're on the Scoob, and I'm blown away by just how terrible they are in the conditions so far. Granted, I think in the deeper snow they'll probably perform very well, but on the c5deg greasy roads at the moment they're like driving on banana skins. Understeer, oversteer, sudden snap out & instability under braking. You name the fault, they have it. Compared to decent tyres such as the Blizzak's & WinterContact's they just don't perform well enough to be considered a credible tyre as the bias seems to be focused too much on snow and not icy/greasy conditions, and the online reviews from Canada would seem to support this as their conditions do not really compare with ours.
As Avon have basically rebadged a US winter/snow tyre rather than developed a true 'Euro Winter' they've cheaped out. I can only imagine that a lot of the online UK-centric reviews written for these are from people who either don't drive particularly briskly, or who have never driven a winter tyre before so are obviously going to be blown away by the summer vs winter difference. Winter tyres can be awesome, and contrary to popular belief it's also possible for them to not fall off a performance cliff if it's above seven degrees. Sadly, the Avon/Cooper's don't succeed here and instead turn what was a perfectly tractable road into a drifty mess. I'm so sorely disappointed by the performance that a pair of TS850's were ordered this morning to replace them asap.
They do have different tread patterns :Roll forward to this winter and they're on the Scoob, and I'm blown away by just how terrible they are in the conditions so far. Granted, I think in the deeper snow they'll probably perform very well, but on the c5deg greasy roads at the moment they're like driving on banana skins. Understeer, oversteer, sudden snap out & instability under braking. You name the fault, they have it. Compared to decent tyres such as the Blizzak's & WinterContact's they just don't perform well enough to be considered a credible tyre as the bias seems to be focused too much on snow and not icy/greasy conditions, and the online reviews from Canada would seem to support this as their conditions do not really compare with ours.
As Avon have basically rebadged a US winter/snow tyre rather than developed a true 'Euro Winter' they've cheaped out. I can only imagine that a lot of the online UK-centric reviews written for these are from people who either don't drive particularly briskly, or who have never driven a winter tyre before so are obviously going to be blown away by the summer vs winter difference. Winter tyres can be awesome, and contrary to popular belief it's also possible for them to not fall off a performance cliff if it's above seven degrees. Sadly, the Avon/Cooper's don't succeed here and instead turn what was a perfectly tractable road into a drifty mess. I'm so sorely disappointed by the performance that a pair of TS850's were ordered this morning to replace them asap.
http://www.coopertire.co.uk/tyres/high-performance...
http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/car/ice-touring-st
Sure they are the same tyre?
The Coopers are made at the Avon factory in Melksham. I fitted a set to my car (FWD petrol turbo Vectra) recently and I've no complaints in 'normal' driving conditions so far.
Quick question - where's the best place in the UK to get Nordic tyres rather than just regular winters? Looking at the usual sites and nowhere seems to do 'em.
(Slight correction, looks like Oponeo are the only option. Anywhere else?)
(Slight correction, looks like Oponeo are the only option. Anywhere else?)
Edited by ImpossiblyDaft on Wednesday 4th December 23:55
Not had any TC light up on mine (Dunlop WinterSports) so far this winter, even under foot flat to the floor acceleration. They have definitely been better in that respect than my summer tyres (Michelin PS3) which I could easily get TC light up with during winter, even when it wasn't actually icy/snowy.
ImpossiblyDaft said:
I'm looking for some studless Nordic tyres for a trip up there. So Nokian Hakkapeliitta or something along those lines.
Nokians are probably the easiest to find, what size?If it's a road trip from the UK, on balance I'd probably consider euro winter tyres and chains for backup, though I know nothing of your plans so shouldn't really comment!
ImpossiblyDaft said:
I'm looking for some studless Nordic tyres for a trip up there. So Nokian Hakkapeliitta or something along those lines.
Just to state the (less) obvious, have you tried www.nordictyres.co.uk ? Official UK importers of Nokian Tyres, they wont stock the Hakka's but should be able to get a set easy enough for you.
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