bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

Now that it looks like winter is behind us, what have your experiences been with winter tyres?

The weather wasn't too severe, so did you notice much of a cold temperature improvement?

Did you buy another set of alloys to fit your winter tyres on?

Overall, has it been worth the expenditure?

Will you do it again next winter?

Anything else?

Cheers

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

i fitted some to my z3 and they made a massive improvement i.e i could actually drive the car lol , i bought a cheap set of 16" alloys off ebay and stuck tyres on them , worked out about £300 with the tyres and wheels , i will definately be putting them back on next winter

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

I did the exact same thing with my old bugeye 2 years ago and will be doing the same with the new blob (keeping the OE alloys for winter tyres and then buying a set for summer).

I only run budget winter tyres as in icy conditions I don't find it appropriate to go hooning .
The difference in running winter tyres over summer tyres on ice or snow is like night and day. With winter tyres on ice you can even brake hard and still the car will dig in and stop.

On summer tyres you'll slide and hit stuff (been there - 8mph slide into a kerb ). Yes, AWD is great for being able to get going, but it can't generate more grip in snow on tyres that aren't designed for it.

The winter tyres make the car usable and reliable in bad conditions - I never got stuck once; my neighbour has a BMW 3 series and on the winters he had no problem either - the year before he'd had to leave the car and take his wife's mini as the RWD Beemer was utterly useless and couldn't get up a slight slope.

One thing you need to bear in mind if you do buy some though is that 90% of the rest of people on the road will still likely drive as if they're out on a summer's day, and this is where the trouble lies - even if you can stop and turn without sliding, the chances are that an idiot following you too close or losing control in front of you can still hit you because they don't know how to drive in snow.