Fitting Winter tyres this weekend
Fitting Winter tyres this weekend
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Discussion

Hereward

Original Poster:

4,657 posts

246 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
I've bought a set of Kumho Winter tyres on a spare set of wheels and will be fitting them to my commuter hack this weekend. The forecast for next week looks chilly, so now's a good time to start.

Anyone else doing the same?

Haven't tried them before so will be interested to see if I can feel a difference. Sod's Law means I'll probably crash the car this Winter...

eldar

24,066 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
I've got a set for my trusty Meriva. Usually fit them around the end of November and remove them 1st week of April, which seems about right for Cumbria.

Don't fit them until it gets to around 7c or colder, they wear quite quickly if too warm.....

belleair302

6,977 posts

223 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Why more people don't do this is beyond me. They work very well in rain, on damp roads and in frosty weather....not just snow and ice. A wise moveif you live in Northern Ireland, Northern England, Scotland and possibly North Wales.

carmonk

7,910 posts

203 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
I don't do it because it never snows here and is never icy. It used to snow but winter now is pretty much the same as summer except with less greenery.

Hereward

Original Poster:

4,657 posts

246 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
eldar said:
...Don't fit them until it gets to around 7c or colder, they wear quite quickly if too warm.....
I imagined the wear rate would be quite high because the compound does seem very soft - I assume it's a more "oily" rubber than that found in normal tyres?

The car only does 5 miles a day, at 7am and 7pm-ish, so the ambient temp. would likely be in single figures at these times until March, especially on the morning drive.

V8_GWA

139 posts

268 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Got into the habit of doing this when I lived in Germany. Have a cheap set of steel rims and some winter tyres. Probably chuck them on in the next couple of weeks and keep them there until Mar or so. I'm sure they are intended for when the average ambient is below 10 Celcius if I remember correctly.

Seeing as I have them, it seems a good way to save wear and tear on the decent alloys and tyres, and if it stops an accident just once they will have more than paid for themselves!


eldar

24,066 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Hereward said:
eldar said:
...Don't fit them until it gets to around 7c or colder, they wear quite quickly if too warm.....
I imagined the wear rate would be quite high because the compound does seem very soft - I assume it's a more "oily" rubber than that found in normal tyres?

The car only does 5 miles a day, at 7am and 7pm-ish, so the ambient temp. would likely be in single figures at these times until March, especially on the morning drive.
No problem, then. They appear to wear at about 3x normal tyres (mine will last this year, the 3rd year, so about 10k miles).

The compound feels softer, to my non-scientific finger. I use them as I live at the top of a hill that is prone to frost, ice and snow, and they are a lot cheaper than a 4x4. They seem to work, in that I haven't got stuck, even on snowy fell roads, assuming you use common sense.

hcanning

4,964 posts

218 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Don't see the point in this country, the weather is never severe enough to warrant it. In certain countries where you're guaranteed snow from December through to March it might be worthwhile but for a bit of frost and rain, decent tyres can deal with this fine if you drive appropriately.

Marcellus

7,189 posts

235 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
mine are in the garage ready to be installed late november

john2443

6,447 posts

227 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Hereward said:
I've bought a set of Kumho Winter tyres on a spare set of wheels and will be fitting them to my commuter hack this weekend. The forecast for next week looks chilly, so now's a good time to start.

Anyone else doing the same?

Haven't tried them before so will be interested to see if I can feel a difference. Sod's Law means I'll probably crash the car this Winter...
Errr, in Surrey and London, why?confused

Seems like a lot of bother for nothing!

Alfa_75_Steve

7,489 posts

216 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
They're cheap and nasty budget winter tyres.

They'll be worse than a set of branded 'summer' tyres.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times winter tyres would have been helpful in the UK and for the last 3 years I have spent a lot of my time driving around mid Wales.

eldar

24,066 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
hcanning said:
Don't see the point in this country, the weather is never severe enough to warrant it. In certain countries where you're guaranteed snow from December through to March it might be worthwhile but for a bit of frost and rain, decent tyres can deal with this fine if you drive appropriately.
It still snows oop northsmile

hobbiniho

109 posts

207 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
eldar said:
Don't fit them until it gets to around 7c or colder, they wear quite quickly if too warm.....
jesus that means that i would need winter tyres almost all of the year i do have goodyear hydragrips mainly because it rains a hell of a lot in shetland and i feel that compared to the snow tyrer i had on they are a lot better in the pissing rain especially in my beemer

wildoliver

9,166 posts

232 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Nothing wrong with Kumhos.

MonkeyHanger

9,261 posts

258 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
eldar said:
It still snows oop northsmile
It might do over in your neck of the woods but we're lucky if we see a week's worth of snow in total across the Winter months here.

carmonk

7,910 posts

203 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
eldar said:
hcanning said:
Don't see the point in this country, the weather is never severe enough to warrant it. In certain countries where you're guaranteed snow from December through to March it might be worthwhile but for a bit of frost and rain, decent tyres can deal with this fine if you drive appropriately.
It still snows oop northsmile
Maybe way oop North, but there's only been one decent snowfall in 13 years on the W coast of Cumbria, and none at all except a dusting for 5 years in N Lancs!

andy-xr

13,204 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
Thats because you're too close to the sea smile

I'm due to pick up a new set of wheels/tyres to goon over winter. Nothing special re brand, but they'll replace the 888's during the more wintry months

Hereward

Original Poster:

4,657 posts

246 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
quotequote all
john2443 said:
Hereward said:
I've bought a set of Kumho Winter tyres on a spare set of wheels and will be fitting them to my commuter hack this weekend. The forecast for next week looks chilly, so now's a good time to start.

Anyone else doing the same?

Haven't tried them before so will be interested to see if I can feel a difference. Sod's Law means I'll probably crash the car this Winter...
Errr, in Surrey and London, why?confused

Seems like a lot of bother for nothing!
Doing it mainly out of curiosity, but the road down from my village does see some quite spectacular car write-offs in Winter due to the negative camber on a couple of bends. I think the danger will be complacency - thinking I can go faster because I've got "better" tyres.

It should only take 40mins or so to swap the wheels over.

heyuk

2,506 posts

206 months

Thursday 23rd October 2008
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I have a bmw 120d on original runflats... anyone suggest a decent winter tyre?

dcb

5,987 posts

281 months

Friday 24th October 2008
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belleair302 said:
Why more people don't do this is beyond me. They work very well in rain, on damp roads and in frosty weather....not just snow and ice. A wise moveif you live in Northern Ireland, Northern England, Scotland and possibly North Wales.
+1

We'd all be paying less in insurance if a few more folks fitted
winter tyres in the winter.

Fewer car crashes etc