Winter Wheels fitted

[SuffolkBoy]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.


Have you phoned your insurance to tell them you are winter front and summer rear.

What a moronic idea!

I can't believe that any professional tyre fitting company would agree to fitting winter tyres to the front axle only.

If the S90 doesn't believe the advice given by Forum Members on the danger of doing what he thinks is safe, perhaps he should read an article on the Michelin website http://www.michelin.co.uk/winter/how...yres-do-i-need

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by S90

My insurance doesn't dictate I tell them when fitting winter tyres, sorry to disappoint you!

And there is no conclusive advice on not fitting them to just the drive wheels. Stop being a dick!

S90 please don't drive your car setup like this. In wintery conditions you will have an imbalance of grip, more at the front, less at the back, before you know it you'll ease off into a corner, you fronts will turn in and your rears will go sideways, before you know it your rear passenger will be your front passengers and all with have gone very wrong.

:wq

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by SuffolkBoy

I can't believe that any professional tyre fitting company would agree to fitting winter tyres to the front axle only.

If the S90 doesn't believe the advice given by Forum Members on the danger of doing what he thinks is safe, perhaps he should read an article on the Michelin website http://www.michelin.co.uk/winter/how...yres-do-i-need

Probably find he fitted them himself

[Haldex]

Originally Posted by Crockers

I think thats the same video I put up. Its a very strong case.

I'm trying to understand the mentality of someone who buys a £40k+ car, one that lauds safety and then puts himself and his family at risk to save £300 - £400 pounds. Which isnt a saving as the winters on the rear would save wear on his summers.

Then has the audacity call someone who points out his stupidity a "dick".

A strange world.

I see £100K+ cars on completely bald tires regularly.. Different folks- different strokes..

[MaDProFF]

@Haldex.

I think it is lack of knowledge, people who do not check their own tyres.

People who do not care, and to lazy to get anything done about it until the last minute, or get stopped by police, or other people tell them.

People who think that they are better drivers than the grip between the road and a bald tyre.

I find it amusing how some people who especially drive in the winter on some really dangerous roads daily, turn around and say I cannot afford a set of winter tyres, but quite happy to have 6 holidays a year.

[Garryboy]

ATs euromaster had some cracking deals on on 235/60/18 Michelin all season tyres worked out at £110 a corner and a free Alexa.

All season tyres in my eyes are perfect for our (Scotland) road conditions due to the amount of rain we have through the year and the days we have snow, slush ect. The main bonus is not having to swap between summer and all aout winter tyres.

[Deman77]

Depreciation of the car - if you can afford that you can afford the winter rubber. A set of tyres is like half a month of depreciation of a new xc90 and it’s not like they are a complete throw away extra cost. Your summers are resting and will last longer. People who go with a full wheel set I understand - that is seriously dear and unnecessary but an extra set of rubber and two swaps a year changes your ownership costs by a fraction and impact on safety is unlike any other safety feature that exists on a modern car.

Journalists have a lot to answer for - just about every winter tyre article talks about a possibility of getting away with no winters at all in milder parts of the country. And again this myth about going with smaller and narrower wheels being safer for winter tyres - people price it up as a wheel set then go - nah i’ll just get by.

[I Feel Old]

I'm confused about the apparent conclusion in this thread that winter tyres are a necessity and that no one can possibly make it through a winter without them.

How did we all get on before this modern trend to change tyres twice a year?

The cynic in me can't help but think there's a very heavy dose of marketing behind the fashion.

[Deman77]

It’s not entirely necessary but unless you are a nutjob you will adjust your driving very significantly if you are on poor grip tyres as you watch them lose grip. That means everyone who is on the appropriate tyres has to wait for you going at lower speed, breaking sooner and pulling away slowly or even being stuck on uphill. So in the world where it’s just you and all you give up is a bit of your time and some extra effort to adjust to poor conditions you can view it as a gimmick. but you are on public roads and if the public is on the appropriate tyres and has to wait for just you who is oh so cynical and doesn’t believe the hype and can just adopt you are kind of forcing your way onto everyone else. A bit like people who let one out on the crowded train when their only consideration is whether they themselves can hold the breath long enough for it to dissipate and they also wonder if the smell is as bad as people make it out to be.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by I Feel Old

I'm confused about the apparent conclusion in this thread that winter tyres are a necessity and that no one can possibly make it through a winter without them.

How did we all get on before this modern trend to change tyres twice a year?

The cynic in me can't help but think there's a very heavy dose of marketing behind the fashion.

I do understand your point.

We have one car we own and one that we lease. The owned one has winters the lease one not. I could never get the lease company to agree to them. I drive it all year round and just take appropriate care. If we have plenty of snow then I will take the V60 with it's winter boots.

My theory is that as technology has progressed over the past 30 years we have demanded more and more from our tyres. More grip, less noise, better fuel consumption. Meanwhile fashion has pushed us into wider and wider tyres. My 1997 V70 T5 had 205.50.16s which were considered sporty tyres back then. Now 20inch tyres are really not uncommon. You will get tyres on an XC90 now which you could have had on a Ferrari 20 years ago.

So the combination of compounds to deliver everything that we want, plus the trend for wider and wider tyres has reduced winter performance. Plus of course driving skill is lower now as we have lots of electronics which get us out of dealing with under or over steer.

When the snow or ice comes drivers ard therefore less well prepared to deal with a skid, plus of course our roads are so much busier to any issues cause so much more chaos.

Winter tyres were always pretty common on mainland Europe but as you rightly point out we kind of resisted in the UK.

So as all the above has happened, we have looked to Europe and seen that winter tyres work well there and started to adopt. And of course the tyre manufacturers are more than happy to sell more tyres so they have helped the trend.

Finally dont forget that alot of the feedback on here is negative to 2 winters and 2 summers on a car. There is little evidence but I believe this is far worse that just driving carefully on 4 summers....