(dons hard hat) Winter tyres.......

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

Don't forget your chains go on the rear wheels of your FWD car for extra control!

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Winter tyres are all about maintaining grip in cold conditions...on cleared roads as well as snowy/icy ones. It's a bout temperature not snow cover on the road.

The rubber compounds used remain "sticky" (very technical term) at much lower temperatures than normal tyres. This means that you retain grip on the road in the lower temperatures you would expect to encounter when driving to the Alps.

If you tell your insurance company that you are now driving on winter tyres they shouldn't change your premium although it is, technically, a modification.

Also...invest in decent winter tyres from a well known brand. Think of them as a complete change of tyres that you will need to rely on and buy the best that you can afford. I looked at budget tyres for our S-Max then realised that a 1500 mile journey with the family over mountain roads wasn't somethign that I fancied doing on cheap, rubbish tyres. So we got decent ones which are now in the garage awaiting their next outing...probably going on in November for the winter.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

if i change from michelin to goodyear do i need to inform insurance co? of course not likewise winter tyres that conform to the car manufacturers specifications dont need to be reported.

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Wish someone would tell the Dutch about the advantages of winter tyres..

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

After all it is free

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The ombudsman would NEVER come down on the side of the insurance company in a case where a motorist changed their tyres for tyres that are correct spec for the car and where the object of the exercise is to become safer. Putting winter tyres on is simply not "a modification" in the same way that changing the engine management chip or fitting a sports exhaust or uprating the suspension is a mod. That said, if concerned it's a quick phone call or email to make them aware but, if it came to it, the insurance co would not win the day. I haven't bothered tell my insuance co.

snow reports

I'm just going on the AA's information here, they claim that some insurers do not see it this way:

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/winter-tyres-in-the-uk.html

Don't misrepresent me here, I am not claiming this is even an issue I have come across, my insurer was fine with it and my lay-persons view is that it would be insane to class this as a modification. Despite what your link says (which I did read thanks), the AA still report (2 weeks later) that this is an issue so it is worth being aware of it I think.

You know it makes sense.

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

sah, otherwise you would need to tell your insurance company even if you changed brand of tyre from that originally spec'd with the car - because they all have different characteristics.

A snowHead

So ........... who doesn't fit headlamp deflectors/masks when driving abroad. I'm assuming not doing so would make the car not road legal and therefore void the insurance.

A snowHead

When I spoke to a friend who is runs a tyre business, his words were "it's dangly bits." but then qualified it, saying that you don't have to tell the insurance company if the tyres are fitted to wheels which are appropriate for the vehicle - look in the manual or at the sticker (normally inside the door sill, it'll give the pressures and tyre information for a series of sized wheels which would've been available for the vehicle as standard. as long as the wheels are within those parameters then you'll be ok. So sticking a winter tyre around a 14 or 15" steel wheel is alright if it's in the vehicles spec, but you're on shakey ground if you wrap one around some 22" blingbling monstrosety.

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

And what about a roof box? Is that a modification? Makes the vehicle less stable in a cross wind perhaps.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Copied from BBC website and if you read it, it is only idiots in call centres making the wrong decision.

Insurance companies 'charging more for winter tyres'
By Brian Milligan Business reporter, BBC News
Normal car tyre in the snow In Germany snow tyres have been compulsory since 4 December for the winter
Continue reading the main story
Related stories

Drivers 'should prepare for snow'
How to drive in snow and icy weather
Ambulances given new 'snow socks'

Some motorists who fit winter tyres to their car to cope with snow are being charged higher insurance premiums, it has been claimed.

AA Insurance Services says some people have been told to pay up to 20% more.

Winter tyres should be much safer in the snow, but some insurers have been counting them as a modification to the manufacturer's specifications.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that is a mistake and premiums should not be higher.

The AA's Ian Crowder said in some cases insurers were even refusing to offer cover if winter tyres were fitted.

The mistake is being blamed on insurance company call centres, where not all staff may be aware of the safety implications.
Popular

Over the last few weeks of wintry weather, winter, or snow tyres, have proved more popular than ever before.

One supplier, Kwik Fit, says it has already sold 50,000 of them this year, compared with 2,000 last year.

And it is warning that many retailers have now sold out of the standard sizes.

The tyres provide improved performance on snow and ice.

Once the temperature falls below seven degrees Celsius, standard tyres tend to harden up, reducing their grip.

But winter tyres contain a higher proportion of natural rubber and silica, which keeps them more pliable in cold weather.

In tests conducted by the British Tyre Manufacturers Association, a car braking at 60mph in wet conditions has a five metre shorter braking distance if it has winter tyres fitted.
Expensive

Should winter tyres be compulsory?
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

We very much recommend that there should be a debate on this in the UK”

Clare Simpson RoadSafe

"There's a very, very, strong argument that people in the UK should fit winter tyres for the four to five months of the autumn and winter," says Clare Simpson, of the RoadSafe organisation.

Many other European countries have legislation that compels motorists to fit winter tyres in certain conditions.

They include Austria, parts of Germany and countries in Scandinavia.

But in practice, having a set of winter tyres means having a separate set of wheels, which can be expensive.

BMW told the BBC that prices for its smallest car, a One Series, would start at £600.

And you have to have somewhere to store the wheels as well.

Nevertheless Clare Simpson believes we should be thinking about legislation.

"We very much recommend that there should be a debate on this in the UK," she says.
Mistake

Even so, some call centre staff appear to have been telling customers that winter tyres require higher premiums.

Insurance companies may have been treating the tyres as a modification to the manufacturer's specifications.

The ABI said providing tyres are fitted by a reputable garage, and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, motorists should not be charged a higher premium.

"The confusion may be through call centres, where that information is not getting through," says Malcolm Tarling, of the ABI.

"The fitting of winter tyres should not affect the risk," he insists.

If anyone is told they do in fact have to pay more when they fit those tyres, they are advised to contact their insurance company's head office directly.

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

Hmmm, all this talk of winter tyres (which I have so don't need to ask about) gives me another thought. If winter tyres give you an increase in performance during the cold, if not actually snow or icy) months. Does that put you at greater risk of a rear end shunt when as an example you brake heavilly and stop significantly faster than the summer tyre shod car behind you.. Whilst common sense clearly says the driver behind should have left enough room to stop, how did they actually know the braking performance of your car is better than theirs due to you having winter tyres?

After all it is free

well would you adam and eve it, just had a blow out with my winter tyres on, bit of a panic as I thought it would be impossible to get to get one now, so a huge big up to www.tyremen.co.uk Vredestein Snowtrac 3 ordered and will be with me Weds, panic over the guy there even had my records from last year.

As a note they have good stock on this tyre mine are 195x60xR15

livetoski, excellent. That's my size. I must go and measure the tread on my tyres.

I think you make a good point about stopping distance but then you won't do an "emergency" stop using the full power of your tyres unless you really have to, will you? If you, in turn, have left a good distance between you and the vehicle in front, you will be able to stop at a more sedate pace. wink

Now if that blowout had happened on a French (or Swiss I think) road on a Sunday, and you only had a poxy can of hair spray or a "spacemaker" spare, you could have been held up for a long time!

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pam w, I chucked away the "spacesaver" spare on my car.
Bought a spare rim on ebay and fitted a spare tyre that is the match of the other 4 winter tyres on my car.

The joke is that the cavity under the floor of the boot fits a full rim and spare perfectly well.....so what "space" was the "spacesaver" actually saving?

cran

snow reports

I recently bought a car, from a Frenchman, who supplied it with a set of 2 (used) Winter Tyres. Clearly this guy had spent a couple of winters with these on the drive wheels, and normal tyres at the rear.

So just to add to the catalogue of stupid questions asked by idiots on this and over 9000 other threads, does anyone think I should a) buy 2 more as similar to the ones I've got as I can find, or b) bin/sell these and buy a matching set of 4 new ones?

The only other question I really have on this topic is: has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

You know it makes sense.

Depends on the age and depth of tread left on the winter tyres. If they are over 5 years old http://www.ehow.com/how_4466129_determine-tires-age.html and/or haven't got more than 5mm tread depth I'd go for 4 new ones. Put the tyres with the least wear on the back.

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

paulio, Our neighbour in French France only puts winter tyres on the front of his Peuoeot 205 but he is an ESF instructor and thus is a God.
Mere mortals need snow tyres on all 4 otherwise you end up with lots of grip at one end but not the other.....

A snowHead

Drive wheels only is not in question here. I won't be doing that.

A snowHead

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

paulio, but please just say you were seriously considering it, then we can post up pics of cars in ditches and some with lamp posts through them etc.

Help!!

(dons hard hat) Winter tyres.......

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