Police got me - all on tape

[Cheradenine]

Personally, I'm not likely to try winter tyres at the minute, though I do try to encourage my parents to do so.

Think it's a matter of horses for courses; I'm in Bristol, everything is in walking distance if I must, and it doesn't stay that far below the magic 7 deg C for that long so the cost is a disincentive (even £200 is a significant portion of the car's value) plus the inconvenience of changing the tyres when the temp is going to stay over 7 degrees.

Whereas my parents are in Monmouth which is perennially cold and wet and, aside from the A449, only linked by country roads, so there's more of a case to be made.

[Bill_56]

We live at the end of a long unadopted lane, with several steep hills. It ends at a small slope where you join a main A toad. After the heavy snowfall of 2009 many of us became stranded, so I bought winter tyres which solved the problem. Others in the lane have bought 4x4s, which is a hugely more expensive approach, and unlikely to be effective unless they also buy winter tyres.

But I watched one of the 4x4s (without winter tyres I'm guessing) emerge from the lane yesterday. He had no trouble with the hill where he joined the A road, kept going but at a slow speed, straight onto the main road, where he hit the compacted snow and span right across and onto the pavement.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by ian7675

I don't think he has missed the point at all, you can have the greatest tyres and driver aids in the world but if you don't have the skill and knowledge for driving in snow then ultimately a driver will still get stuck.

Isn't that rather stating the obvious? News at 10:00 - Dumb drivers do dumb things.

It is clear that winter tyre technology will be helpful to most drivers, regardless of their skill level.

[WillV70D5]

I have never tried winter tyres, but I can see the obvious benefits and may give them a go at some stage. I'm not arguing against them or saying they're not a good idea.

However, I do think the way they are justified by the "anything under 7 degrees" line is a bit weak. Great in the snow I'm sure, and I obviously have experience of limited grip on normal tyres when it's snowy. But I also have never once thought that I didn't have enough grip in cold weather (below 7 degrees) when on normal tyres. Never. Surely if you're hooning around that much you need to slow down. A good driver automatically adjust their driving style for the conditions without even being aware of the need to do so.

I think the 7 degrees thing is justification for having to lay out for an additioal set of tyres that will hardly ever get used.

So to me, they really only would be of use for a couple of days a year.

[m0bzy]

We went through this discussion last winter I think,I was sceptical then as I am now.A neighbour with an elderly V70 fitted winter tyres last autumn,at not inconsiderable cost ie: four steel wheels and then the covers.I knew he was out in yesterdays snow,so when I met him this morning I asked how the the car performed on the new tyres.I was surprised to be told that the winter tyres were history and he was back on summers,the winters were so low on tread after 8000 miles he had swapped back before the snow.His motoring is mostly motorway,could the higher speed/heat cause the demise of the winter tires?

[WillV70D5]

Originally Posted by jepho

Isn't that rather stating the obvious? News at 10:00 - Dumb drivers do dumb things.

It is clear that winter tyre technology will be helpful to most drivers, regardless of their skill level.

That could also be seen as stating the obvious.

It could also be said that more driving skill and better judgement would be helpful to all drivers, regardless of their tyres.

It's all about the angle you approach the subject from.

[Bernard333]

I have used mainly winter tyres on my V70 for five or six years because they cost less as they are mainly cast offs from rich Germans which sell for around £25 each for a 225/45/17 . There is a whole backstreet industry developed over the past ten years in the UK of importing used winter tyres from Germany , just shows the Germans must have loads of spare cash when they can waste so much but then maybe they are not that daft as we are left with the problem of getting rid of the tyre when its finally worn out .

They do work better in the ice and snow than normal tyres , my V70 is useless with normal tyres in the snow when compared even with a fiesta fitted with normal tyres but with winter tyres it can just about make it up a steep local hill which it would not do with normal tyres . The winter tyres seem to wear out a lot quicker than normal tyres and if the tracking is even slightly out they can wear out in less than 1000 miles and have had this happen a quite a few times so I am careful to make sure there is at least 5 to 6mm tread when I buy them .

[ian7675]

Originally Posted by jepho

Isn't that rather stating the obvious? News at 10:00 - Dumb drivers do dumb things.

It is clear that winter tyre technology will be helpful to most drivers, regardless of their skill level.

Firstly you pointed out we were missing the point and by making our point we are now stating the obvious which you've quite clearly pointed out by....stating the obvious. I don't understand what you're trying to achieve.

[Rustee]

Interesting read on tyre sipes here:

http://www.tirereview.com/article/85..._traction.aspx

[Volvo6]

Interesting article. If one looks at tyres in general in the US the use of siping on just ordinary summer tyres is much more common. In Europe though the fashion these days seems to be to have almost no sipes at all for performance tyres.

I mean look at tyres like the Continental SportContact5s or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 they have no siping on them at all...just very wide channels to get water out. Now they are fantastic tyres and the SportContact is great on the V50; you can get levels of wet and try grip on a good road surface that previous tyres could only dream of. They make the car feel hard and sporty...if you like that sort of thing and give very good road feedback. However they are rubbish in snow. Their large uninterrupted areas of rubber just slide over the surface of ice.