Winter tyres vol 2

[Smokehead]

In my subjective experience in the cold wet months in Scotland, All Season or Winter tyres stay put on standing water a lot better than summers and at higher speeds.

[Pica-Pica]

ATM said:

I'm sure I heard somewhere that England has the wettest weather of all of Europe and yet we buy more convertibles. If that's true then I'd guess we have more crashes due to standing water too. I got caught out in a slight dip between a left and a right. I think water was running into the road from the verge but I can't be sure. I went into the services to wait for the truck and some lads working there told me that it happens a lot there. I did well to keep the car facing forward. The front was fine...

I am sure NI, West Wales, and (West) Scotland has more rain than England, not sure about convertibles though!

[Kolbenkopp]

Mr Tidy said:

Looks like I need to avoid MK7 Golf missiles on compromise tyres though.

Oops, sorry what I posted was not clear at all -- A3 near Frankfurt, Germany -- not Portsmouth Road. The speed limits in UK are a bit annoying, but that would be rude/dangerous, especially as a guest with limited knowledge of the roads.

Albeit I'm still sure that in the conditions, at the time I had that anchor throwing moment, the CC+ was better than say a Michelin A5. I've done my share of Autobahn driving with full on winters, and I'm 100% sure the breaking distances in the dry / light damp are longer and the feel is less good and confidence inspiring.

The PSS that go on in summer are on another level (warm day) obviously. With the Golf so light on rear axle, almost feels like doing a 'stoppy' .

Apologies again for the previous confusing post.

[Kolbenkopp]

ATM said:

I fell for all this chat about summer tyres being as good or better at wet braking than full winter tyres and held off swapping over. Then I did this last weekend. So now I'm kicking myself as the winter setup would probably have dealt with standing water much better - that's a guess though clearly.

Ach scheixxe, that does not look nice. Main thing is that no one got hurt though. Damage looks fairly manageable, if expensive ("Zuffenhausen Tax") to fix?

[paulwirral]

Gibonz said:

Folks,

Whats your thoughts on running 2 winters on the back of a RWD car?

Where I live gets the snow quite bad, but only a handful of times a year, so it's just to ensure the car wont get stranded


Cheers

I've done it loads of times back in the day , treat them as a way to not get stuck in snow on the driven wheels and you'll be fine . Assume because you've got grip on snow and forget about the fronts and your risking an accident. Think of a tractor, they are purely for grip and getting you out of a situation.
All of the videos on the tinterweb are sponsored by tyre firms invariably employing professional drivers to highlight the dangers and sell you 4 tyres .
I've just put winters on my rwd car and I did put them on all 4 wheels , it's infinitely better in all conditions over the colder period but as I said , I've put them on the driven wheels only before and I drove to the conditions and kept in mind the winter tyres were there only to help during snowy conditions.
I'm sure I'll get stick for posting my actual real life driving experiences over the years of winters on the driven wheels , not something mojo the tyre monkey told me in the pub , but drive appropriately to the conditions and you'll be ok .

[Kolbenkopp]

paulwirral said:

I'm sure I'll get stick for posting my actual real life driving experiences over the years of winters on the driven wheels, not something mojo the tyre monkey told me in the pub , but drive appropriately to the conditions and you'll be ok .

Nah I think that's a perfectly reasonable statement -- but driven to conditions -- everything is fine, no? And in the grand scheme of things, what is the true cost of doing the front wheels as well? You'll spread the wear over 2 sets and in total less time spent swapping stuff around.

[paulwirral]

Kolbenkopp said:

paulwirral said:

I'm sure I'll get stick for posting my actual real life driving experiences over the years of winters on the driven wheels, not something mojo the tyre monkey told me in the pub , but drive appropriately to the conditions and you'll be ok .

Nah I think that's a perfectly reasonable statement -- but driven to conditions -- everything is fine, no? And in the grand scheme of things, what is the true cost of doing the front wheels as well? You'll spread the wear over 2 sets and in total less time spent swapping stuff around.

I thank you for your answer , it's appreciated as last time I posted similar a guy replied saying I would die wrapped around a lamppost in a fire ball , he'd only owned 2 fwd cars according to his profile , I'd have been surprised if he'd ever driven on actual snow , never mind snow tyres , especially seeing he was in the Manchester region.
However I do realise some people don't want the financial commitment of 4 tyres or seperate wheels and tyres to swap , maybe being on short term pcp agreements or similar. In honesty over the past 15 years I can only remember twice getting stuck in snow , and both times were in the same street I live in , once was my wife and once was my neighbour reversing into our drives .

[Mr Tidy]

Kolbenkopp said:

Oops, sorry what I posted was not clear at all -- A3 near Frankfurt, Germany -- not Portsmouth Road. The speed limits in UK are a bit annoying, but that would be rude/dangerous, especially as a guest with limited knowledge of the roads.

Albeit I'm still sure that in the conditions, at the time I had that anchor throwing moment, the CC+ was better than say a Michelin A5. I've done my share of Autobahn driving with full on winters, and I'm 100% sure the breaking distances in the dry / light damp are longer and the feel is less good and confidence inspiring.

The PSS that go on in summer are on another level (warm day) obviously. With the Golf so light on rear axle, almost feels like doing a 'stoppy' .

Apologies again for the previous confusing post.

No problem - the speed limits in the UK are indeed "a bit annoying". But at least most of the UK A3 doesn't have speed cameras!

I put Michelin Alpin tyres on my BMW E46 for 3 winters, but it never snowed!

Then in February I got a BMW E91 that had Bridgestone Blizzak winters, which was handy when the Beast from the East landed.

And that really made me appreciate winter tyres.

[Bill]

I've had mismatched tyres front and rear, although not winters, just ditchfinders. It understeered horribly in the wet so I swapped them to the rear.

Which was hilarious for a while.

You'll probably be ok, I was, but it hardly makes for stable handling.

[anonymous-user]

Smokehead said:

In my subjective experience in the cold wet months in Scotland, All Season or Winter tyres stay put on standing water a lot better than summers and at higher speeds.

I concur, though I am a little further south. I recently drove in some properly horrendous rain at around 4 degrees - the kind where your wipers are going as fast as possible and are just about clearing the screen - and not a single hairy moment. Driving cautiously of course, but still making progress at 60 odd. In fact the car is just completely planted on all seasons year round. I've been in -10 all the way up to +39 degrees on them.

I have had 4 Falken AS200 Euro All Seasons on my Yeti since August 2017 and I've covered nearly 15000 miles on them. They're my first all season experience but I had winters on my S2000 a few years back for half the year. The Falkens completely bossed the snow and ice last winter and then this summer we drove 2000+ miles around France in some pretty high temps - up to 40 degrees on the Spanish border and on average ~30 degrees. I seriously considered swapping to summer tyres before this trip, but in the end I decided to give it a go. If they were shagged by the end of the trip then I'd have my answer, and a new set of tyres isn't a big deal. Amazingly they still have 6-7mm of tread on them after 15000 miles and that 2 week road trip. I am just bowled over by them in all aspects. Especially as they are Falken and not considered to be the best performing all season tyre. They offer great control and feedback as well, even in very hot weather. At this time of year when it's wet and cold, they are quite incredible.

After this experience of all seasons I can't see a reason for most people NOT to be on all seasons year round in the UK. Obviously summer tyres have their applications for certain cars and certain temperatures, but for the majority of people I now see little point in fitting summers. Especially as lots of people pick their tyres on price alone - something that terrifies me...

[Barchettaman]

Mr Tidy said:

To be fair most proper winter tyres would probably have performed better than compromise CCs at 2 degrees....

Looks like I need to avoid MK7 Golf missiles on compromise tyres though.

To dismiss all-season tyres as a compromise tyre is disingenious.

Any tyre choice is an inherent compromise. It could well be that AS tyres are the most appropriate tyre for a given set of conditions.

[monthefish]

paulwirral said:

Gibonz said:

Folks,

Whats your thoughts on running 2 winters on the back of a RWD car?

Where I live gets the snow quite bad, but only a handful of times a year, so it's just to ensure the car wont get stranded


Cheers

I've done it loads of times back in the day , treat them as a way to not get stuck in snow on the driven wheels and you'll be fine . Assume because you've got grip on snow and forget about the fronts and your risking an accident. Think of a tractor, they are purely for grip and getting you out of a situation.

^^^This.

(Think of it as a snow-sock situation)

[popeyewhite]

Gibonz said:

Folks,

Whats your thoughts on running 2 winters on the back of a RWD car?

Where I live gets the snow quite bad, but only a handful of times a year, so it's just to ensure the car wont get stranded


Cheers

Very silly. Unless absolutely crawling as soon as you go round a corner on snow the front will push wide.

Edited by popeyewhite on Friday 21st December 11:56

[A900ss]

monthefish said:

paulwirral said:

Gibonz said:

Folks,

Whats your thoughts on running 2 winters on the back of a RWD car?

Where I live gets the snow quite bad, but only a handful of times a year, so it's just to ensure the car wont get stranded


Cheers

I've done it loads of times back in the day , treat them as a way to not get stuck in snow on the driven wheels and you'll be fine . Assume because you've got grip on snow and forget about the fronts and your risking an accident. Think of a tractor, they are purely for grip and getting you out of a situation.

^^^This.

(Think of it as a snow-sock situation)

Why not just buy snow socks then for the ‘emergency situation’? £30 and on and off in minutes.

Fitting rear winter tyres to a vehicle is more costly and more permanent. It will also make the vehicle very unbablanced front/rear grip.

If you don’t/can’t pay for a set of winters, just use snow socks to get you out of your drive.

[monthefish]

A900ss said:

monthefish said:

paulwirral said:

Gibonz said:

Folks,

Whats your thoughts on running 2 winters on the back of a RWD car?

Where I live gets the snow quite bad, but only a handful of times a year, so it's just to ensure the car wont get stranded


Cheers

I've done it loads of times back in the day , treat them as a way to not get stuck in snow on the driven wheels and you'll be fine . Assume because you've got grip on snow and forget about the fronts and your risking an accident. Think of a tractor, they are purely for grip and getting you out of a situation.

^^^This.

(Think of it as a snow-sock situation)

Why not just buy snow socks then for the ‘emergency situation’? £30 and on and off in minutes.

...and wear out in minutes too, and only really suitable for full-on deep snow.

[A900ss]

monthefish said:

...and wear out in minutes too, and only really suitable for full-on deep snow.

You just have used different snow socks to me....

Used on snow (any depth) and I never wore a pair out as they are for low speed, get out of drive use only.

I use winters now as I regularly travel to the alps but for people who do get stuck as they have bad driveways or a short drive through an estate to get to a main road (and then remove the socks), they are food pieces of emergency kit and far more sensible than a mix of winters and summers that you drive on all the time.

[Cold]

Well now, that's disappointing.

[RichardM5]

Should be repairable if you did not drive on it while flat.

[Cold]

RichardM5 said:

Should be repairable if you did not drive on it while flat.

Noticed it this evening while it still had 20psi in it. Reinflated and am now just hoping someone local and trustworthy (needsanewtyremate) will be open this side of Christmas.

[ATM]

Winters on the bus today