The winter tyres poll (Mk2)

[thinfourth2]

Let the moaning commence

[Howard-]

I'm sure they help immensely but I cannot justify the cost of purchasing a second set of wheels and tyres and all the faff of swapping them over and storing them for the sake of literally a day or two where the snow made some roads impassable where I live in Surrey. For the most part, our winters consist of rain, wind, cold, and more rain. Even if I woke up one morning and we'd had six inches of snow and I had some winter wheels stored away in the garage, the chances are I'd just think "fk that" and not bother with them.

Edited by Howard- on Sunday 27th January 10:56

[smartphone hater]

Don't we have enough winter tyre threads already?

[jimmy156]

Cant really vote any one of those, mines a combination of rarely needing them in the south east, happy to stay home if i need too, and not being able to justify the cost because of the other reasons.

[sawman]

Well, despite having some snow about for well over a week, and commuting 300 miles a week, I haven't really missed winter tyres.
When I first got my old merc in november, I looked around for some used winters on steels, but they represented 50% of the cost of my car - new would probably have been double the car cost.

I did pick up some snow socks, but haven't used them yet.

on tuesday I was prevented from getting to the DIY store due to not being able to negotiate the street in our estate (had a day off) but had I been at work it might have been more problematic. Spent an hour or two with a snowshovel instead.

[m44kts]

I bought a pair for each of our vans, we've had a couple of weeks of snow on the ground here, mostly in streets and side roads, I mainly work in peoples houses so being able to drive through snow that has compacted down in a must, otherwise we wouldn't be able to get there, end up cancelling appointments and ultimately losing money.

My van did have some pretty worm Continental Vanco tyres which were useless before Christmas when we had a couple of days of snow, literally, the van wouldn't budge, there was no grip when braking.

I bought a set of Nankang snow tyres and the difference is unreal. Haven't been stuck once, even went looking for really deep snow, place up here called Consett always gets it really bad, loads of abandoned cars, huge snow drifts covering cars at the sides of the road, loads of people stuck yet my van just ploughed on through.

The only thing I would say is that if you're not careful with just snow/winter tyres on the front and summer on the back, if you get too cocky and drive normally, turn into a snowy corner a little too quickly, the fronts will grip but the back end will slide I made full use of that quirk.

[valverguy]

nobody needs them, if you think you do, your a pansy

HTH Mike

[10 Pence Short]

I voted, but would have liked an option of "why do we need another winter tyres thread?"

[andym1603]

Can you not add, Don't need them as I learnt to drive.

[Japveesix]

jimmy156 said:

Cant really vote any one of those, mines a combination of rarely needing them in the south east, happy to stay home if i need too, and not being able to justify the cost because of the other reasons.

This. Multiple choice poll might have been better.

Rarely need them (South West so only ever a few days a year when they're needed), work tends to be cancelled if it's really bad so don't need to drive, car is worth nothing so another £200-300 on tyres is hard to justify and on top of all that I've never atually had any major problems driving on ice/snow in my car. It's just not that bad (granted not tried many steep hills etc).

[thinfourth2]

andym1603 said:

Can you not add, Don't need them as I learnt to drive.

So how would i get up a hill which is so icey a car on summer tyres slides down it will all 4 wheels locked?

I'm genuinely curious to know.

As the road up to ours becomes compacted ice and my parents were staying for a week so left our house to get some shopping and slide to the bottom with all 4 wheels locked and they couldn't get back until i dragged them back up the hill with the landrover

[thinfourth2]

Japveesix said:

This. Multiple choice poll might have been better.

it is now

I think

[SystemParanoia]

I have 4 season Versdien Qudrac 3 on one car and chains for the other... all good here

[andym1603]

thinfourth2 said:

So how would i get up a hill which is so icey a car on summer tyres slides down it will all 4 wheels locked?

I'm genuinely curious to know.

As the road up to ours becomes compacted ice and my parents were staying for a week so left our house to get some shopping and slide to the bottom with all 4 wheels locked and they couldn't get back until i dragged them back up the hill with the landrover

Never had a situation where I have been stuck due to snow or ice. When I said I learnt to drive meant that all this carp about winter tyres never existed and the majority of vehicles were rear wheel drive. Changed days now I suppose.

[thinfourth2]

SystemParanoia said:

I have 4 season Versdien Qudrac 3 on one car and chains for the other... all good here

Actually we have 4wd, winter tyres and chains


We don't live in surrey

[Patrick Bateman]

andym1603 said:

Never had a situation where I have been stuck due to snow or ice. When I said I learnt to drive meant that all this carp about winter tyres never existed and the majority of vehicles were rear wheel drive. Changed days now I suppose.

Good for you. Try not to imply that someone who needs/uses them can't drive.

[thinfourth2]

andym1603 said:

thinfourth2 said:

So how would i get up a hill which is so icey a car on summer tyres slides down it will all 4 wheels locked?

I'm genuinely curious to know.

As the road up to ours becomes compacted ice and my parents were staying for a week so left our house to get some shopping and slide to the bottom with all 4 wheels locked and they couldn't get back until i dragged them back up the hill with the landrover

Never had a situation where I have been stuck due to snow or ice. When I said I learnt to drive meant that all this carp about winter tyres never existed and the majority of vehicles were rear wheel drive. Changed days now I suppose.

So how would you get up a slope that a car slides down with all 4 wheels locked?

[northandy]

andym1603 said:

Never had a situation where I have been stuck due to snow or ice. When I said I learnt to drive meant that all this carp about winter tyres never existed and the majority of vehicles were rear wheel drive. Changed days now I suppose.

And the fact you have a front drive and 4wd in your garage?.

Anyway "back in the day" big tyres were 14 inch and 175 wide. Frankly cars now are hugely over tyred, my 1 series is a perfect example, 140bhp, but 245/35/18 rear tyres and runflats, almost the same width as the 2000 986 s i had which had 255 wide rear tyres and no traction control.

Modern car specs have caused the issue where some parts of the uk would benefit from running winters.

[Badgerboy]

I fitted All Seasons (Quatrac 3s) last year and forgot about them. Works well in both summer and winter, so I don't have to worry about extra sets of wheels and the such. Very much a convenience, but obviously you make a little sacrifice at either end of the spectrum for the flexibility.

I just get in the car and drive it now. Considering most of the driving public don't approach the capabilities of summer tyres, I'm surprised All Seasons are not more popular, especially in this country.

(My S2000 is shod with performance tyres, but then that's a good weather toy)

[Hub]

One morning of snow/ice so far this winter, none last winter, and a current 4 mile commute means I do not need any... if I lived up north I might think differently!