Falken 452s are not exactly the best tyre in the world I grant you, but nether are they the worst. I wouldn't lump them in with the 'utter crap' group The newer 453s are getting pretty good reviews, but they are quite pricey compared to the 452s.

 

Its the cheap crap that has the most profit in it.

I don't like selling them and do try to advise, but there are always customers who are always insistant on the cheapest of the cheap, and if we didn't supply to those customers they would just go to where they can get them. Its tough enough trying compete/price match with the big franchises as it is.

 

I can't see this happening anytime soon when money is tight for a lot of people.
I considered buying some this year for the van as I use it in all weathers, but to get 4 tyres that I would find acceptable in 215/45/17 the cost was around £500 and then there is the hassle of changing them or the extra cost of a second set of wheels.
And all for a limited number of days where I can just drive slower and allow more room. Serious ice is the only real risk if more care is taken.
Winter tyres may work better than Summer tyres below 7 degrees but Summer tyres don't suddenly stop working at a certain temperature.
I have tried some cheaper Winter/All-season tyres on my previous van and frankly I would rather use Summer tyres. What Ali-B has said is the truth, in that whatever tyres you buy if they are cheap there is a reason for it. They are garbage. You can get away with cheap Summer tyres as they usually just slide a bit more and screech like crazy which probably makes some people who use them feel like they are fairly handy behind the wheel.
Cheap Winter tyres are just plain dangerous as they give people a false sense of security. The saving grace is that most people using cheap tyres get away with it because they drive so slow in the first place.

 

I put 4 Nokian WR A3's, been on since November and I cannot fault them. All in with steel wheels £500 ish.

Got to use them today up hills and down hills held well and no slide in slush. It is less than my excess so no-brainer and saves the summer tyres.

 

I had some cheap winter tyres a couple if years ago and they are much better than re070 in this weather. Put them on every December till march and really think it was a good move. Just don't try buying them this time if year as prices are higher.

 

I'm sure they are very good in the snow. Hell of an extra expense if you dont have any snow though, and it is never guaranteed.

I don't think it is necessary to make them a legal requirement. Its not that difficult to cope with snow with adequate care.

Les

 

I agree. I've been driving since 1987 and have managed fine without winter tyres.

Nik

 

Ignorance is bliss!

The next time it snows hard here I will issue a little challenge to all the doubters... if you think summer/standard tyres are so great you can come here and see if you can make it 200 yds off the main road to my house. A tenner plus your petrol money says you don't make it AWD or not.

On Thursday when it snowed hard and started to freeze my car was the only one on my road and of course purely coincidentally it is the only one with winter tyres! Oh and it's FWD!

 

As said never had a problem since 1987

Priced winter tyres for my car and they were nearly £200 a corner so I think I'll continue as I have done for the last twenty odd years.

Nik

 

Seems you have memory issues then:

From 2005:



PS it wouldn't have had those issues with winter tyres

 

Having driven a BMW today with 4 winter tyres fitted they do make a real difference, (at a hell of an expense for something that I honestly feel only feel the benefit on when its snows, so in the UK not that much really )- which is probably the massive sticking point (no pun intended) of winter tyres.
Like others have said I have managed 19 years without them, but F1_fan I will happily take your challenge up - ps I will be driving my shogun though

Richard

 

LOL, that's cheating. Mind you my mate couldn't get up here two years ago without locking the hubs on his Mind you that year no one could get up here winter tyres or not. It was like a bloody ice rink!

 

You need to get a life, stalker alert

Yes the Subaru squirmed but I never got stuck or failed to get anywhere and at no point was it worth my while shelling out on another set of tyres.

Now jog on......

 

It's called the search funtion you muppet. You are so typical of the majority of posters on here. All mouth!

 

Jog on.....

 

£720 for winter tyres from black circles, I'll give it a miss

 

Fulda are German, and a subsidiary of Goodyear, using their older tread designs and compounds

 

Another thought, if by some miracle that we all did have to have winter tyres (but I doubt this V much as apart from the costs and the fact that t would be unenforceable - as previously mentioned, and the massive amounts the insurance companies would lose through making money on accident repairs etc), Would it mean that the people that would normally not drive when it snow would suddenly be on the roads ?
Added to those that would automatically think that with winter tyres cant crash etc. Would accident rates go down - NO I don't think so.

Richard

 

I have seen the threads are read as far as they are better then normal tyres in winter but tbh I have never really had a need for them. When it snows I carry a shovel, boots etc so havn't really needed to look into them. - I drive sensibly and haven't had to drive far.
Above was the first time I've read / heard that they can be used all year but will wear out quicker etc.

 

Good point.

 

I'll take you up on that!




I'll just sand the Snow Prox moulding off my tyres first though.

 

Why would it be unenforceable? It's no more unenforceable than road tax or insurance.

It's just a case of looking at the tires marking to see what markings it carries, they manage it all over Europe why not here?

 

It snows sightly a week a year, get over it. I know people from EE who put winter tyres on in October through habit (and smugness) but seeing as we don't get the freezing temperatures or 4 months of deep snow we can swallow summer tyres through our warm wet winter. At the worst get people to carry snow socks and make a rule that BMW and Merc drivers are not allowed to leave the house when it snows unless they have winter tyres on as it is always some c*nt in a German car who gets stuck.

 

It would be as enforceable as the ban on using mobile phones whilst driving.
Face it, how many patrol cars do you see these days?

Nik

 

Cost of my excess is the same as my winter tyres and wheels from Mytyres, no brainier.

Remember if a government can tax daylight (window tax) they can enforce winter tyres, revenue generator.

 

Winter tyres mandatory in the UK, oh that's a coffee on the screen moment!
I know winter is getting somewhat worse in the UK. I've noticed that the UK gets worse winters than us (Canada - Toronto area specifically), certainly last year was mild here and not so in the UK (South East, between London and Hastings). However, winter tyres mandatory? Really?

They are NOT mandatory in Ontario, which is a bloody big place, and it can get rather nasty in certain places. They ARE mandatory in Quebec however (Province to the east of Toronto) and I can see why, it's a very large province and they do get hit HARD by winter. Between December 15th and March 15th, you are required to run winter tires if your car is registered in Quebec. Fines are between $200 - $300, not sure if that is a one off fine, probably per instance though.

Being blunt, if Ontario isn't implementing this then I don't see why the UK has to, apart from some type of money grab from the government, or whomever is suggesting this should be done.

Who is going to enforce it? Are the little jobsworths that are Traffic Wardens going to look at the tires when you are parked and give you a ticket if you don't have winters on?

I've driven in some pretty nasty conditions, all without winter tyres and I've not had a problem of getting stuck, nor stopping, perhaps that is because I'm driving at a slower speed. All this "Stops X feet less when travelling at 60" is interesting, as in very severe conditions, you're a complete ***** if you're driving anywhere near what the speed limit for the road is. I vividly remember driving at 10 - 20 kph for about 20 km due to very poor conditions, the majority of people - ie; sane individuals - were doing the same. There were of course some ****** (guess the car make of most of them ) who seemed to think we were all to slow and were tear arsing down the roads, and then wondering why the police pulled them over. Morons.

 

It's impressive what Pete can stir up.........

 

At the end of the day there is no law and it's personal choice so each to their own, be happy

 

Exactly

 

So true