Winter tyres vol 2
Discussion
Vanin said:
Unsurprisingly, in the snow, the summer tyre was useless, stopping over 31 metres longer than the best winter tyre in snow braking,
I don't believe that. I've read lots of posts on here and there are people who have been driving years and are as good at driving on snow as they are in the dry.You should test these tyres again using 'propper' drivers!
jshell said:
Vanin said:
This is not the case with normal driving conditions and at motorway speeds the stopping distance between Summer and Winter is the difference between life and death.
Or, and here's a novel thought, people could just drive to the conditions. What about all those on cheapo ditch-finders? ETA - given that the purpose of winter tyres is supposed to be improved road safety why are some people actively looking forward to wintry conditions?
LeoSayer said:
Vanin said:
I cannot see a Winter tyre stopping any quicker on sheet ice.
They do.The jagged edges to the sipes dig into the ice.
Free bit of advice - if you are going skiing and having a hire car, test fit the snow chains in daylight in a covered carpark. They are impossible to fit outside in the dark in a blizzard with no torch and no instructions
blueg33 said:
LeoSayer said:
Vanin said:
I cannot see a Winter tyre stopping any quicker on sheet ice.
They do.The jagged edges to the sipes dig into the ice.
Free bit of advice - if you are going skiing and having a hire car, test fit the snow chains in daylight in a covered carpark. They are impossible to fit outside in the dark in a blizzard with no torch and no instructions
less than half the distance of summers, maybe less with current generation?
After scraping ice from the car windows this morning and seeing only 3 degrees indicated at midday I decided to fit my winter tyres today. The steering is not quite as sharp and the ride seems a little bit softer.
Am going to give the summer wheels and tyres a good clean tomorrow before I put the away.
Am going to give the summer wheels and tyres a good clean tomorrow before I put the away.
blueg33 said:
He's right they do - tried it in the Alps surprisingly good stopping on ice, still needed snow chains on some of the steep bits though.
Free bit of advice - if you are going skiing and having a hire car, test fit the snow chains in daylight in a covered carpark. They are impossible to fit outside in the dark in a blizzard with no torch and no instructions
Free bit of advice - if you are going skiing and having a hire car, test fit the snow chains in daylight in a covered carpark. They are impossible to fit outside in the dark in a blizzard with no torch and no instructions
Are we allowed to use snow socks in lieu of chains these days? In France that is.
tjlees said:
Are we allowed to use snow socks in lieu of chains these days? In France that is.
I fitted the incorrectly in the dark and by the time I had got to the valley and could take them off I had trashed a tyre. Snow socks would be so much easier
Quick opinion chaps if you don't mind.
Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
blueg33 said:
tjlees said:
Are we allowed to use snow socks in lieu of chains these days? In France that is.
I fitted the incorrectly in the dark and by the time I had got to the valley and could take them off I had trashed a tyre. Snow socks would be so much easier
RicksAlfas said:
Quick opinion chaps if you don't mind.
Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
Nokian. Latest 4x4 winter tyre test here: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2014-Autobild...Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
RicksAlfas said:
Quick opinion chaps if you don't mind.
Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
I used Conti 4x4 Contact on my X5 and left them on all year. Which of these would you fancy on a Range Rover Classic?
It only does 1,500 miles a year, but most of it in the winter so I'll be leaving them on all year round. (shoot me now).
All very similar price fitted:
Hankook IceBear
Vredestein Wintrac4 Extreme
Continental CrossContact
Nokian WR-SUV
Bridgestone Blizzak
Thanks!
They're M+S but no snowflake so not true winter tyres but they were great climbing snowy hills and felt utterly stable on dry motorways in the summer. Quiet too.
jon- said:
Nokian. Latest 4x4 winter tyre test here: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2014-Autobild...
Thanks Jon. I don't do any off roading, but would they get me out of a wet Autumn field or leave me embarrassed?ncjones said:
blueg33 said:
tjlees said:
Are we allowed to use snow socks in lieu of chains these days? In France that is.
I fitted the incorrectly in the dark and by the time I had got to the valley and could take them off I had trashed a tyre. Snow socks would be so much easier
Vanin said:
In addition to the results below, Auto Bild included a summer tyre on test for comparison purposes.
Unsurprisingly, in the snow, the summer tyre was useless, stopping over 31 metres longer than the best winter tyre in snow braking, and unable to gain enough traction to even complete the snow handling tests!
Dry testing also presented no surprises, with the summer tyre convincingly besting every winter tyre on test, stopping 4.6 metres shorter than the best winter tyre in dry braking, with a similar advantage in dry handling. The compromises a winter tyre has to make for snow performance means with todays technology, a winter tyre will never outperform a summer tyre during dry braking.
Most interesting was the wet scoring. The summer tyre put on a good show during wet braking, beating fifteen of the winter tyres, and just beaten by the Pirelli winter for second place, but finished ninth in wet handling and was considerably down in the aquaplaning tests too. Unfortunately we don't know what temperatures the wet testing was carried out, but this marks an improvement for winter tyres over previous years.
I think firstly you have to define the type of snow. Driving on fresh snow as opposed to compacted snow makes a huge difference as does the temperature.
England has the worst conditions because the temperatures are around freezing more often than not in Winter. We have a fall of snow which melts, turns to ice overnight and melts again. I cannot see a Winter tyre stopping any quicker on sheet ice.
What this report does show rather alarmingly is that it a Summer tyre will stop over four metres earlier than a Winter tyre in the dry.
People are using Winter tyres all the year round but even if they only have them on for the Winter they will be driving 90% of the time on normal roads.
I would argue that in British intermediate Winter conditions most sensible drivers are going very steadily and giving large margins for error. Collisions are usually minor and more of an inconvenience than a life taker.
This is not the case with normal driving conditions and at motorway speeds the stopping distance between Summer and Winter is the difference between life and death.
Given the effort that Auto Bild go into when testing tyres, why do they not see it relevant to print the make and design of the summer tyre? For all we know, it could be some £300 cut-slick ultra-performance tyre, which also out brakes all the other summer tyres buy 4.6m....or it could be some £30 Vietnamese super-budget tyre....Unsurprisingly, in the snow, the summer tyre was useless, stopping over 31 metres longer than the best winter tyre in snow braking, and unable to gain enough traction to even complete the snow handling tests!
Dry testing also presented no surprises, with the summer tyre convincingly besting every winter tyre on test, stopping 4.6 metres shorter than the best winter tyre in dry braking, with a similar advantage in dry handling. The compromises a winter tyre has to make for snow performance means with todays technology, a winter tyre will never outperform a summer tyre during dry braking.
Most interesting was the wet scoring. The summer tyre put on a good show during wet braking, beating fifteen of the winter tyres, and just beaten by the Pirelli winter for second place, but finished ninth in wet handling and was considerably down in the aquaplaning tests too. Unfortunately we don't know what temperatures the wet testing was carried out, but this marks an improvement for winter tyres over previous years.
I think firstly you have to define the type of snow. Driving on fresh snow as opposed to compacted snow makes a huge difference as does the temperature.
England has the worst conditions because the temperatures are around freezing more often than not in Winter. We have a fall of snow which melts, turns to ice overnight and melts again. I cannot see a Winter tyre stopping any quicker on sheet ice.
What this report does show rather alarmingly is that it a Summer tyre will stop over four metres earlier than a Winter tyre in the dry.
People are using Winter tyres all the year round but even if they only have them on for the Winter they will be driving 90% of the time on normal roads.
I would argue that in British intermediate Winter conditions most sensible drivers are going very steadily and giving large margins for error. Collisions are usually minor and more of an inconvenience than a life taker.
This is not the case with normal driving conditions and at motorway speeds the stopping distance between Summer and Winter is the difference between life and death.
Also, as you say, they don't bother to mention the ambient temps during the dry and wet braking or indeed the temp of the tyres themselves. Whilst I have no doubt that a good summer tyre will perform better than a good winter tyre at higher temps, the Auto Bild results are meaningless.
Surely the proper way to conduct this test would be to take the top 20 summer tyres from 2014 and include them in the tests with all the winter tyres, in a "winter" scenario. Then next summer, take the top 20 Winter tyres from 2014 and include them in the tests with all the summer tyres, in a a "summer" scenario. Then continue this format each year.
I guess the problem is that their idea of "winter" is testing in 6" of snow at -8 in the Alps, making an summer tyre testing redundant. However, i see no reason why they couldn't include "winters" in the their summer test the following year.
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