Winter Tyres

A snowHead

Does anyone use these on a "normal" car here in the UK, and if they do, what happens if you use them through the year. These are not the stud tyres, just the tyres described as winter tyres on websites.

Thanks

A snowHead

chrisb, We have one car that has had its 'Winter Tyres' on now for 2 years due to laziness. It does not appear to have done any harm .. although I would have suspected that they are not as efficient in warm operating temperatures (South of France) but no evidence of that. They are noisier than the summer tyres and my brain tells me less smooth. They do not appear to have suffered excessive wear but that doesnt really make sense.

Mileage does not seem to be any worse or better .. but it isnt really recorded.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

chrisb, winter tires are designed for use in colder conditions and are likely to have less performance in warmer conditions, but that much I suspect you knew. Like Agenterre, I have in the past failed to get round to changing them in summer (that's an admission not a recommendation!), I suspect it probably has three outcomes, it will wear out the softer winter tires more quickly, they will have less control than harder tires in warmer conditions (which could of course be quite an issue) and they may be less fuel efficient. There may also be insurance implications I suspect, but do not know!

You need to Login to know who's really who.

thanks the makes sense, so what about the "all season tyre". Is there such a thing?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

nozawaonsen, I know .. my experience, and probably my conclusion, is illogical. I notice a much bigger difference when (incorrectly) using summer Tyres in winter rather than the converse.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

I have just (1 hour ago) collected a set of spare wheels, now mounted with the winter tyres for our Ford KA.
On the lookout for a set of 16" wheels for our Subaru Legacy (with winter tyres it is a flippin tractor!)

Spare wheels save a lot of hassle with the tyre swapping (and cost too by year 2)

I believe Swiss Post and some other large companies run all year on winter tyres as they have calculated it saves money in the long run not having to change. The slight loss of summer performance (longer braking distance and greater wear) is much, much less than the gain in winter.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

welshskier, And in the UK the summers are usually wet anyhow Laughing

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I run snow tyres all year round (technically M+S mud & snow tyres).

They are absolutely amazing in the snow, far better than chains, going over the pass into Chamonix I left all the 4x4s standing in my Ford Focus.
They are cheaper than normal decent tyres.
There is a bit more road noise, and a slight decrease in fuel economy.

The alternatice is buying another set of wheels. You can't keep putting tyres on & off wheels, it damages the side walls.

Can't remember the spelling ... Vredestien Wintrac Extreme ... brilliant

snow reports

Alan McGregor, Vredestein Wintrac Extreme are very good Winter Tyres, not Snow Tyres. Snow tyres are exactly that, Snow tyres, they're not designed for tarmac use, if used on tarmac they wear extremely quickly.

No winter, or snow tyres are better than chains in terms of traction. Having them often alleviates the need to fit chains.

great info. thanks. My wife's car needs new tyres anyway so with the wetter colder weather and her complaints about poor road handling in the wet I will have a look at your suggestions.

You know it makes sense.

chrisb,
You might want to look at this that was posted by thefatcontroller earlier this year :-

Not to me but genuine letter from MD of Vredestein this week. Better to speak to the manufacturers rather than be a d*ckhead and label people child killers without facts

11th February 2010

Dear XXXX

Following our discussions and investigations on the question of ‘cold weather’ tyres being used during the summer months, I am pleased to confirm the following, which has been qualified by our technical department.

Vredestein gives the safety aspects of our tyres top priority. We have developed a wide range of tyres to offer optimal grip in every conceivable circumstance. That is why our award winning cold weather tyres are an excellent choice for the colder months of the year (average temperature below 7 Celsius), as is our summer tyre during the summer period.

If a customer chooses to run cold weather tyres all year round, there are no dangers in doing so. In fact, we would prefer customers driving with cold weather tyres throughout the whole year versus driving with summer tyres throughout the whole year.

Cold weather tyres during colder months of the year provide improved traction and braking distances can be significantly shorter compared to a summer tyre in the same conditions. Dedicated summer tyres, in summer conditions, perform slightly better than cold weather tyres. However, the difference in winter will be much greater in favour of using a dedicated cold weather application.

This makes the situation clear for everyone concerned and should resolve any misunderstanding.

Yours sincerely
Vredestein (UK) Ltd

Stuart M Jackson
Managing Director

and this bit from me :-

Well done. I can add to that my personal experience of running 4 cars, 1 van, 1 4x4 and 2 trucks on winter tyres all year in the UK and France for the last 7 years. There is'nt a wear problem, there is a very slight noise increase in the cars, there is a slight handling difference in the cars (different but not necessarily worse in my opinion), wet weather performance is definetly better and if you ever go on a muddy field you can generally drive past all the rest of the wildly spinning masses without a problem.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

skitow, Lets face it... in perfect dry summer conditions we gererally don't have a problem with stopping distances or skidding. In heavy rain when a lot of accidents happen I'd much rather be on winter tyres.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Can anyone recommend some good value winter tyres. I'm looking for 265/45/20 in size. I've had a look online for the Vredestien, and they are about £200 each (ouch!)

Any other suggestions Puzzled

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

monotokpoint, Last winter I got Vredestein Snowtrac 3 from Camskill Tyres for about £65. But I just googled it and they seem to have little stock at the moment. Maybe it's a bit early - but if you haven't tried them, send them an email. I found their service very good and they replied promptly to emails.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

and the tyres were terrific - much better than my previous Michelin Alpin.

After all it is free

Cool thanks Pam, will have a look there Smile

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Or I could fit tiny wheels on the 4X4! Very Happy

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Not such a daft solution.

If this really is for winter use then you'd probably be better off with narrower tyres and rims anyway as this will give you better grip in snow - as well as better fuel economy. You'll need to juggle the sizes to make sure you end up with the same outer diameter but that's easy to do using the online calculator about 2/3 of the way down this page:
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html
There's loads of other useful info there too.

Oh, and don't forget to tell your insurance company too 'cos this will be non-standard equipment and may invalidate your insurance unless you pay more. Remarkably, the same may apply if you just fit winter tyres to your standard rims!

snow reports

i think its different speed ratings on winter tyres that the insurance tosspots will be concerned with, which is a total con, so worth trying to keep to the same speed rating as your "policy"/standard tyres (anytime you change tyres in fact)

monotokpoint, if you're running a 4x4, consider going to a proper AT tyre - (can be) cheaper, harderwearing and terrific in the snow (i stuck a new set on mine at the start of last years epic Scottich winter and was rescuing cars all over the shop - think i was the only car in my estate to be able to get in or out for weeks). for the rest of the year they've worked fine too - a bit wary taking a greasy roundabout at speed but other that that fine. The difference in the snow was remarkable, my 4x4 was decent with standard all-weather road tyres, but the AT's have mad it pretty much unstoppable - the only time the snow affected me was when it was so deep as to beach the vehicle Shocked

(i run General Grabber AT2, google "tyre and go"). I managed to get them in a slighty detuned version (not quite the full on "off-road" AT version - slightly shallower thread), that kept the same speed rating as my stock tyre so didnt have to stump up anything extra to the insurers (and it also didnt have any redneck white lettering on the sidewall!)

I know loads of folk up here who run winter tyres all year round, in fact one guy i know runs winters on skinnier steel rims in the winter and another set of winters on his standard alloys rest of the year - so much does he trust the winters in general wet weather year round.
cheers

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I got Cooper tyres from mytyres last year they are the best I have had and I have had 4 sets ........I think.....keep changing cars.....and minibusses !!!!!!!!

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Spyderman, i got waffle boards for just such times, havent had to use them yet as have always managed to just power my self free/through as you did (that's more fun too as you learned!), but they'll be stashed in the boot again this winter.

oh, and there's only one thing more common that white letters on the outside - white letters on the inside!! Laughing

What's your Landy setup? been trying to talk myself into some mods on the jeep (a lift being the most desirable), but aint quite there yet. A bit more clearance and it truly would be unstoppable

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Sorry, rarely drop in but someone brought this thread to my attention. I run Vredesteins all year round. Just changed my first set out and had got 35k miles out of them. I bought 255/55/19's about 4 months ago when Camskill had them at £115 each, now if you can get them they are £160 each Toofy Grin

Each to their own but I am willing to bet that most people can only afford to run one set of tyres and is it safer to run Winter tyres all year round than Summer tyres in Winter? As the letter above shows, Vredestein themselves see no issue with running the Wintrac extremes all year round.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

We have Vredestein's for our Berlingo (nice car inside and to drive, horrid from the outside!) which go on in November and come off some time in May.

OH reckons that in three years he would get through two sets of tyres so having one winter and one ordinary/summer it balances out.

At the moment they go into the garage who swap them over - when we had a Freelander we had an extra pair of steel rims which the winter tyres stayed on and OH did the changing himself. But he has said if only one set at a time he would be quite happy keeping the winters on the whole year round.

But for our car they would not be anywhere near £160 - he says

After all it is free

i think the price hike and availability is a hangover from last winter

The only disadvantage I can see with my winter tyres is that they can only be used for speeds up to 210Km/H

It's a problem!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Help!!

Winter Tyres

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions