Not sure if it has been mentioned on this or another winter tyre thread

But isn't the relevance of winter tyres today more so because of the wide low profile tyres that even a modest saloon car has theses days

Maybe back in the day, with generally narrower tyres - which seemed to have way more tread depth anyway than these modern "slick" type tread patterns

(Presumably a side effect of this is that they can sell them more often)

Cars felt more "connected" in these winters conditions (or probably truer the disparity between warm dry weather performance and cold weather performance was no so great)

Ps I do not have winter tyres on any of my cars

 

Really? You threw the first cheeky comment, all I did was return the favour.

 

I reckon you're spot on there.
When even a little diesel saloon comes with 18s/19s and 245++ tyres, you know that fashion has triumphed over function.

 

To be fair though, your mother probably drives like a *****. And for most people (who do all drive like pussies) the downsides of Winter tyres are not particularly obvious and therefore not even noticed.
I previously fitted some (Bridgestone A001s, so a quality brand) to my last van and it felt like I was running around on blancmange all the time. I took them off and gave them to a mate who put them on his missus' Civic. No complaints from them about the handling.
Most tests show that a quality Summer tyre (eg Eagle F1 Assymetric 2) outperforms Winter tyres IN THE WET (and certainly in the dry) until temps get close to zero (not the 7 degrees always mentioned, although that is probably relevant if comparing to some crappy Kumho or LingLong whatever).

However, my front tyres are shot, so I have decided to take this opportunity for Winter tyre test no.2 and have ordered some Yokohama V902's. Yokohamas usually have stiffer sidewalls than most, which I hope is the case here. I spend a fair proportion of my driving sliding around corners in all weathers and the tyres coming off are Eagle F1s, so for anyone who cares I'll let you know how the V902's compare. The roads around here have very unpredictable grip this time of year which should accentuate the differences.

 

It was 902s that gave me so many issues, I sent them back (after a long battle)...

 

Oh dear.

Too late now, makes it more interesting. Perhaps.

 

To save me searching, what car were they on and what exactly did you find?

 

What some people seem to be forgetting is that winter tyres are most certainly NOT a 'get out of jail free' card.

When you have them fitted you need to drive to the road conditions. If it's quite mild then they won't be as good as top notch summer tyres. They work best when it's cold, wet, icy or snowy. That's what they're designed for.

 

2006 335d SE Touring so 17" 225/45 all round.
The back end was all over the place, traction was lit constantly (it hardly ever lit with normal tyres); however the lowest temp we saw was 3 degrees. We gave them plenty of miles to bed them in.

 

This is a hugely subjective topic. There's unlikely to be consensus on this. My own experience suggests winter tyres are effective at low/subzero temps.
A few of us had a little run out over the Dales yesterday. Amongst the cars were a couple of BMWs. Quote of the day was from JB in the 1 series 'bloody Scoobies holding me up!'
He was on winter tyres and experienced in driving in icy conditions. Some of the Scoobies struggled at times including me.

 

I'll be putting them on a 1.9CDTi Astra Van that's currently 'claiming' to have 200BHP and 400Ft/Lbs. I've also fitted a Whiteline ARB (adjustable) to the rear. FWD unlike yours, which might make a difference. Tyre size is 215/45/17 so similar to yours.

 

 

They might be okay; hard to say.
The BM was circa 300bhp/430lbs-ft.

 

Yet the test done by Auto Express/RAC shows winter tyres braking a fair bit better than standard tyres in the wet at a temperature of 5.9 degrees C, but then again what do they know. A couple of over inflated egos on Scoobynet always know better.

 

What on earth have egos got to do with it?

 

Great pic, love the camouflaged Imprezza's

 

He's an idiot, so who cares?

Anyhow, for the Auto Bild Winter tyre test they begin by taking 50 Winter tyres and brake testing them in the wet from 50mph. The top 20 then go on to the full test. An 'unidentified' Summer tyre was put in for comparison, and its stopping distance was equal to the best Winter tyre.
I expect the Summer tyre was something like a Continental Sport Contact 5 or the like rather than a LingLong. And had the test been done at 20 degrees then no doubt the Summer tyre would have won comfortably. In the snow the Summer tyre was predictably a bit rubbish. But what is also worth noting is that the performance of the cheaper Winter tyres in the wet and dry testing was much worse than the Summer tyre irrespective of temperature. They only worked in the snow.

 

The test I saw (Evo I think) used the Sport Contact 5s too. Auto Bild is well regarded so I tend to take notice of their results.

 

I thought of this thread whilst reading about the travel chaos in the French ski resorts.

Lots of drivers getting stuck.

 

No chains, no going up the mountain regardless of tyres. Police checking at tolls etc.

 

Finally. Something that matches my real life experiences.

I've been ignoring this thread recently because thus far its been a black/white Winter/Summer argument. I don't see it like that.

You see, I take delivery of tyres via the likes of mytyres for customers to have them fitted to their cars. I have never criticised anyone for fitting winters at this time of year.


However what I see is streams and streams of people buying the cheapest winter tyre they can find online. The problem is they are SHYTE!!!! Maybe they fair better when directly compared to a cheap summer tyre. But this is not always the case - I'm getting people coming in new and newish high value cars still wearing their OEM spec tyres and fitting them with the cheapest nastiest winter tyre the retailers sell online - I don't even have the ability to advise them of the error in judgement for the sakes of a few quid.

Yeah, when it snows they'll probably be ok. But currently, even today, its just cold and damp. And thats the conditions where these cheap winter tyres DO NOT perform!!


Furthermore I'd like to see how summer tyres work in tests when they have been heated through normal driving. I personally note that after less than 15mins of driving at 30mph is enough to raise a summer tyre's temperature by about 15 degrees ABOVE ambient, drive further or faster and tread temperatures get even higher. I'd like to see if grip tests in cold wet condition compare anything to like what I experience.

 

Says Scoobynet's second biggest homophobic fcukwit!

Why take real world experiences over the machinations of your miniscule intellectual capacity to construct a logical argument over anything eh?

Hope you crash and kill yourself driving like a ******* t1t in the snow.

 

Bought some winter tyres for my oe 16" rims but the wheels are in my mates body shop for paint. With the Falkens fitted it feels ok with various middle diff but compared to my Navara with Cooper AT's fitted its not as good. Braking on ice and snow in the nav is surefooted but I slide easily in the Impreza.

 

Ye gods, I'm outa here.

 

No worries Ali, me too! It's not worth it frankly! Armchair experts all over the place these days.

 

Was a real hoot. Although a little scary at times.

 

Is it time for your medication review yet?

 

lol, it's not winter tyres you lot need it's some of these.

 

I must admit, I have never factored in the shyte Chinese ditchfinders. Anyone who uses them deserves all they get whether they be summer or winter tyres.

Bloody things should be banned from sale, they take budget tyres to a whole new (miserable) low

 

There are new tire tests every year here in Scandinavia and pretty much all of those Asian tires do pretty poor and some are even rated dangerous. They seem to do OK for one single part of the test, for example snow grip but usually poor in other parts.

As of winter tires beeing more dangerous than summer tires, it's sounds quite ridiculous. Even my studded Nokian tires are rated to 180 km/h. Yes they are bit softer than summer tires but really do you think that you can drive as hard during the winter season?