RE: Winter tyres comp: PHers report back

RE: Winter tyres comp: PHers report back

Author
Discussion

SkinnyP

1,420 posts

150 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
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Had to defrost the windscreen 3 times last year...

I've bought a set of alloys and winter tyre for my Porsche which weren't cheap, and as satisfactory as it would be to munch through snow it’s probably for the best that it just stays warms and wet – less chance of idiots collecting you.


Root Ginger

37 posts

220 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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I keep Winters on all year round on our family car. Being called Winter tyres really is misleading as they are more like "cool and wet weather" tyres. All the manufacturers now recommend that Winter tyres are fitted in the UK, if only one type of tyre is going to be fitted, as the benefits outweigh the negatives with our weather and cooler temperatures.

I have found them to be slightly less precise but that's about it. There really is very little difference. For reference I have Goodyear Ultragrip 8's fitted. I chose these as they come high in tests but have lower noise rating than others.

SEAN 46

102 posts

176 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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+ 1 for running winters all year. On a low powered car driven normally they work all year even in 30 degree heat and I've tested this theory for the last 4 years. Plus you can drive past stuck cars if it does snow like we did last year in the Lake district!
I've noticed a lot of cars in Germany (nurburgring ) run winters all year as well.
Some folk will never accept this but they probably still believe the world is flat lol!

jon-

16,511 posts

217 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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SEAN 46 said:
+ 1 for running winters all year. On a low powered car driven normally they work all year even in 30 degree heat and I've tested this theory for the last 4 years. Plus you can drive past stuck cars if it does snow like we did last year in the Lake district!
I've noticed a lot of cars in Germany (nurburgring ) run winters all year as well.
Some folk will never accept this but they probably still believe the world is flat lol!
There's an even smarter option...

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2014-All-Seas...

Or to call them by another name, wet optimised winter tyres!

Nigel_O

Original Poster:

2,897 posts

220 months

Wednesday 14th January 2015
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AT LAST! - an opportunity to give Dunlop some feedback on the winter tyres they very kindly gave to ten luck winners last year (followed by the mildest winter for decades....)

We had a couple of inches of snow just before Christmas, which I managed to get a drive in before it all disappeared a day later.

However, this morning there was a much worse (better?) snowfall in some parts of the midlands, so I got to have a proper experiment with the Dunlop winters

Result? - after many, many years of surviving winter on summer tyres, I'm astounded at how much more grip there is. Sure, I expected the car to offer some improvement, but not to the degree I experienced on the commute this morning.

Driving down B roads with a full covering of snow, I was having to give it some serious throttle to get the TC light to flicker, and the grip around the corners was other-worldly. I even tried an emergency stop on snow from about 35mph - ABS kicked in, but the car stopped true and straight in very short order. I know that on the summers, I'd have taken two or three times the distance, maybe more

yes, they are not as precise in the dry, which I expected and they are definitely noisy in the wet (hissing noise on the throttle, which I guess is the sipes opening and closing)

I originally thought that winters were an expensive luxury, but I've worked out that they probably aren't costing me much more, because the summers are lasting at least 50% longer.

I've even gone to the extent of buying a second set of wheels for the Alfa so that I don't have to pay KwikFit to swap them over twice a year

Any other competition winners had a play today?

AnotherGareth

214 posts

175 months

Wednesday 14th January 2015
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Root Ginger said:
All the manufacturers now recommend that Winter tyres are fitted in the UK, if only one type of tyre is going to be fitted, as the benefits outweigh the negatives with our weather and cooler temperatures.
You mean all the manufacturers that don't make all-season tyres ... (such as Continental)

r129sl

9,518 posts

204 months

Thursday 15th January 2015
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I've just bought winter tyres for all year round use on my new Mercedes 190. The difference between summer and winter tyres in winter is stark. Whereas in summer, in a low-power car, driven with enthusiasm but well within the limits of grip and vision, I cannot honestly tell any difference at all between summer and winter tyres.