So who's preparing for winter this year?

jon.bda · 23 Sep 2011 at 19:53

I'll make a point of leaving the car running with the heater on for a bit before i leave for work...cd player skips otherwise...

shimy182 · 23 Sep 2011 at 20:06

Where do you all change your tyres ?

Most place I'v approached tend to charge 10 pounds onwards, forgot how much I paid for my last 2 but im fairly sure the savings were very minimal compared to tyre shoopers etc...

Fuzz · 23 Sep 2011 at 20:24

shimy182 said:
Where do you all change your tyres ?

Most place I'v approached tend to charge 10 pounds onwards, forgot how much I paid for my last 2 but im fairly sure the savings were very minimal compared to tyre shoopers etc...

If you buy your winter tyres and have them put on an older set of steelies you'll only have to pay for that once. (until they wear out of course)

Me... I fit them myself

ZG002 · 23 Sep 2011 at 20:26

I've got it sorted, The Swift will sit there stuck and I will steal my sisters Yaris and the missus Micra (it's a right beast in the snow)

alexisonfire · 23 Sep 2011 at 20:29

paradigm said:
Or to put it another way, you have prepared by living on the south coast. It's not our fault you live in a snowless dump

I live on the south coast and got 10 inches of snow last winter

Clarkey · 23 Sep 2011 at 21:00

ZG002 said:
I've got it sorted, The Swift will sit there stuck and I will steal my sisters Yaris and the missus Micra (it's a right beast in the snow)

I can imagine that one FWD supermini is going to be totally different to another :confused:

Rich_L · 23 Sep 2011 at 21:01

Yup I have a hoodie in the back now for when it drops below 60f

[TW]Fox · 23 Sep 2011 at 21:04

FakeSnake said:
I am about to pick up another car for the winter, something 4x4 will do nicely
my range rover was epic in the snow last year.

In a way I kinda wish we did have the climate to justify everyones OTT preperation for winter. It would be so cool if the snow turned up October every year and didn't go away until April.

But you know us Brits - we like to pretend everything is a drama so out come the specially purchased 4wd vehicles for those 10 days a year where there are inches of snow on the ground, whilst countries with proper winters fall about laughing whilst we sit around telling stories of our harsh winters where once the A38 had some snow on it for an entire 3 hours before it got cleared

The fact that snow is such a huge news item demonstrates quite clearly what a rare event it is over the course of an average British winter.

You don't see 'SNOW COULD BE COMING SOON' headlines on the local press in northern Canada.

FakeSnake · 23 Sep 2011 at 21:51

[TW]Fox;20138065 said:
In a way I kinda wish we did have the climate to justify everyones OTT preperation for winter. It would be so cool if the snow turned up October every year and didn't go away until April.

But you know us Brits - we like to pretend everything is a drama so out come the specially purchased 4wd vehicles for those 10 days a year where there are inches of snow on the ground, whilst countries with proper winters fall about laughing whilst we sit around telling stories of our harsh winters where once the A38 had some snow on it for an entire 3 hours before it got cleared

The fact that snow is such a huge news item demonstrates quite clearly what a rare event it is over the course of an average British winter.

You don't see 'SNOW COULD BE COMING SOON' headlines on the local press in northern Canada.

dont worry mate, i will be using the car for other things! saves me driving the tractor to work.. cos that DOES pee people off!!!

Where I live, if last year happened again, i would have no chance without a 4x4 to get where i need to go..

ZG002 · 23 Sep 2011 at 22:36

Clarkey said:
I can imagine that one FWD supermini is going to be totally different to another

The swift (sport) wouldn't go anywhere last year, It's got Eagle F1's on and is seriously bad in the snow, I went out once and got stuck at lights and slight inclines etc, People getting upset with me the lot. Never actually driven anything as bad before :confused:

Micra just don't get stuck tbh.

Berger · 23 Sep 2011 at 22:39

Didn't have a problem last year in my 306, reasonable lightweight FWD with reasonable amount of power.

Drive sensible and no worrys, didn't get stuck in that or my work van.

Wizardskills · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:16

I was fine last year in my C30, however that may be different now that I have a Z4. I can't really see the point in getting some winter tyres for it though.

Fuzz · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:26

I see the continued assumption these are just for "The snows"
Yes of course they do make a damn sight better job of travelling over the white stuff than normal summer tyres, but the UK seem uneducated to the fact that in the ****y cold weather these winter tyres are much better than your current summer ones.
Everyone bangs on about getting the best grip possible in the summer and massive debates ensue over which is the current "leader"...

Why is this not the same in winter?
Why are you not slathering over the differences in the same way?
It's just as relevant now as it is when it's fine, warm and dry surely?

dessimpson · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:31

^^Couldn't agree more

I'm sticking the EVO in the garage for the winter and I'm going to use the little pug 106.
The pug is due tyres soon so may as well get winter ones.

[TW]Fox · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:32

Scubascorpion said:
UK seem uneducated to the fact that in the ****y cold weather these winter tyres are much better than your current summer ones.

Please prove this.

And by 'prove' I don't mean post a nondescript graph with 'Summer Tyre' on it. I want you to prove to me that winter tyres are much better than my current summer ones when it's not snowing and is merely wet and cold.

Scania · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:34

I'll be using the same "summer" tyres on both car & truck.

Princey · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:38

R420LA6X2/4MNA, would snow tyres matter much when you have that much pressure bearing down on then? Genuine question.

Scania · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:43

Princey said:
R420LA6X2/4MNA, would snow tyres matter much when you have that much pressure bearing down on then? Genuine question.

If anything, the weight seems to compact the snow and then, the truck tends to spin on the subsequently compacted snow! I imagine winter tyres on an HGV must make a major difference....

The trouble with a softer compound (which I assume winter tyres are) & the weight HGV's run at the "scrub" would shred them very very quickly......

I think chains are the way to go with an HGV & snow.

As long as you keep the rig moving, they are surprisingly good in snow, stop & your shafted.

NickXX · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:49

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
If anything, the weight seems to compact the snow and then, the truck tends to spin on the subsequently compacted snow! I imagine winter tyres on an HGV must make a major difference....

The trouble with a softer compound (which I assume winter tyres are) & the weight HGV's run at the "scrub" would shred them very very quickly......

I think chains are the way to go with an HGV & snow.

As long as you keep the rig moving, they are surprisingly good in snow, stop & your shafted.

I remember a dumper truck going up a steep country lane in the snow a few years back. It drove up with no issues whatsoever.

I followed it up in my 330d, and was very, very lucky to make it up to the top of the hill as the car was really struggling with traction and I was quickly losing momentum.

The weight of HGVs really seems to give them a big advantage in winter conditions.

Fuzz · 23 Sep 2011 at 23:52

[TW]Fox;20139150 said:
Please prove this.

And by 'prove' I don't mean post a nondescript graph with 'Summer Tyre' on it. I want you to prove to me that winter tyres are much better than my current summer ones when it's not snowing and is merely wet and cold.

2011 Winter Tyre Buying Guide
Due to two unusually harsh winters, interest in winter, or cold weather tyres has never been higher in the UK. The benefits are now being understood - while winter tyres naturally work wonders in snow, they also work extremely well any time the average temperature is below 7c, often out performing summer tyres even in the dry. During early morning commutes, where the road temperature is around freezing they can offer noticeable more grip than a summer tyre in the same conditions, allowing you to make progress safely, and can stop over 5 meters shorter than the equivalent summer tyre from 62mph.

Tirerack tested the Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 winter tyre against the Bridgestone RE050A ultra high performance summer tyre in icy conditions. From just 10mph the winter tyre stopped in 6.4 metres, while the summer tyre needed more than twice the distance to stop at over 14 metres.

For the UK climate a winter tyres wet performance is more important than the snow performance, with wet braking being the top priority.

At near freezing temperatures the Dunlop and Continental winter tyres out performed the summer tyre during the wet braking test.

Proving once again that winter tyres aren't noisy fuel guzzlers, four of the six winter tyres had a lower rolling resistance than the summer tyre while two of the winter tyres were actually quieter than the summer counter part.

Auto Express have done a great job highlighting the importance of winter tyres to the UK public. Auto Express thoroughly recommend winter tyres for the UK climate thanks to the increased safety they bring.

when the temperature fell to 5 °C the performance of the summer tyre fell off markebly – much more than the winter tyre. Although it still retained an edge over the winter tyre on dry roads it performed much worse on wet roads. The conclusion is that when it is cold and wet, but not necessarily icy, winter tyres perform better.