MX-5 on ice: Pic of the Week
Winter tyres are brilliantly effective - even on a frozen sea, as our man found out...
We all know that a good set of tyres can transform a car. They’re the sole point of contact with the tarmac and fitting a performance car with budget rubber is akin to providing Mo Farah with a pair of Crocs for his next marathon. It’s a silly and stupid thing to do, yet so many people in the wider world do it. However, while we might look down on such behaviour from our ivory enthusiast tower, there is an additional layer of tyre-buying aristocracy which views everyone as near criminal. These people fit winter tyres to their cars.
Anyone who’s driven a car with winters in cold climates – even temperatures as ‘moderate’ as six or seven degrees – will likely have noticed the vast improvement in consistency and dependency provided by the rubber. Yes, the sidewalls are floppy and steering feel can suffer as a result, but running summer tyres all year, as lots of us do, is seen by some as a risky alternative.
Such a discussion never arises in the nations of the Arctic Circle, where winter rubber is mandatory as the harsh winter sets in. Drivers there are not fooled by the promise of traction from a summer tyre’d SUV; they’re often far happier to equip their conventional car with tyres appropriate for the season. And, as yesterday’s MX-5 Arctic Drive feature showed, even the most seemingly inappropriate car can go pretty far off piste with the right pair of boots.
This week’s Pic of the Week is therefore dedicated to just that, as it features Dafydd exploring breathtaking Arctic landscape in his winter’d Mazda. Throw in a stunning sunset and we think it deserving of desktop backgrounds the world over. Help yourself…
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