Winter tires

[TW]Fox;19851046 said:
I thought the -18's we saw were mostly overnight and were record breaking temperatures - hardly par for the course.
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It was regularly around the -18c mark in the daytime, yeah. It was really, really cold. I actually remember it getting to about -12c afterwards and thinking that it felt warm!

Manchester's terrain is great for trapping weather like that.
 
Up in Northumberland the winter just gone,from around the middle of November till the middle of January I can remember the temperature hardley getting above-2 and for around three weeks there was about a foot and a half of snow on the ground
 
I'll probably invest in a couple of snow chains for winter, purely because i have to drive across two big banks on the way to / from work every day and it was 'fun' in a FWD car last year if you know what i mean.
 
fadetoblack said:
Having lived and drove in Germany for 3 years and few Slovenia winters too.
I love laughing at how this country nearly comes to a stand still with a splash off snow?
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It comes to a standstill as no one has tyres that can cope with snow.

Some summer tyres are better than others in low temps too. Bridgestones are rubbish when it gets cold :(
 
From my experience winter tyres are very useful out in the sticks where people use country roads to get to/from places. If you're in a metropolitan area where cars driving over the road melts the snow/ice then I don't see much of a point in having winter tyres.
 
The standstill in the snow is nothing to do with appropriate tyres, it's the small percentage of special morons who mash the throttle pedal and are thus forced to abandon their 1.2 Citroen Saxo in the middle of the M6. While I trundle past on summer 205/55R16s.
 
I have winter tyres for the Polo here. As you enetr the business park OCUK is located on their is a very steep downhill section.

I just remember leaving work one night where at least 3 other staff members couldnt get up the hill any faster than around 2mph because of wheelspin. That was a Zetec S fiesta X reg, and Audi A3 05 plate and some 306 derv.

I lol'ed as I sailed past in the Polo.
 
[TW]Fox;19851117 said:
What? You live in Birmingham not Calgary, its not going to get so cold your tyres will get damaged!
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Lol indeed, it's making me laugh somewhat aswell ...the last winter in Calgary had even the Canadian's moaning, the snow came in October and didn't totally clear up until early May ...I remember my uncle phoning one evening ..something like April 29th or so ..late April anyway and he said they still had snow ...which to be fair is unusual even by Calgary standards.

So you were looking at a good 6 months of heavy snow ...where -20c is considered a reasonably mild day -35c is a properly cold day.

The streets are cleared around the city but the snow bank was so high on my uncles front lawn he struggled to see out of the window ...well see anything other than the side of a snowbank anyway.

The 'harsh' winters of Northern England and Wales aren't even remotely comparable.

I do think winter tyres may be advisable if you live somewhere like Lum does though, as dealing with a lot of ungritted hills is difficult with many cars and damn near impossible with some (assuming you really do have to go out).

I got well and truly stranded with the Jag last year, I couldn't even get off the drive for about 4 days ...but I was able to work from home to an extent anyway ..and I was by no means the only one but most people with fwd cars with narrower tyres (which I now have) didn't have anywhere near the same problems I did, they just needed a bit of snow driving education and to be really careful. For most people, me included (although I live in a hilly area, actually a serious of valleys which seem rather good at keeping bad weather around for longer here) winter tyres aren't really necessary, not for the amount of time we actually get stuck for, which last year ...had I had a fwd car like I do now, wouldn't have been at all.

Harsh Cumbria winters my **** :p
 
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While this topic is hot talk (as it always is when it pops up :p) I was wondering if some winter tyres would benifit me on my commute which is 25miles B/back roads and 10 miles dual carriage way( dont need to worry about the d.c.)

Basically I leave about 7.20 and I'm more worried about ice than snow, at which point, at that time in the morning along 25miles of most likely ungritted roads could prove quite dodgy. Im not going to go the whole hog i think for full winter tyres (205 R16 45) but i need a good winter/rain/ice tyre that will cope with the cold temps and more importantly icey roads? What would be the suggestions of the masses? Have a 182, how do the premium brands

Conti premium c 2
Mitchelin PS3
Bridgestone ER300
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx

Rate in terms of performing well in winter conditions (snow ignored as won't be around for long, might just buy some snow socks for those few weeks).

I literally know nothing about tyres suited for the cold winter and inputs for me(and lots of other hatch back owners out there :D) would be appreciated!
 
Last winter, i was driving a mondeo in the snow, my commute was 30 miles back then, again about 12 miles on dual carriage way and the rest was A / B roads, with one large bank, the only part that worried me was the bank (500m down and the same back up with a bend in the middle). I managed fine in the snow - just, as you have to slow for the bend at the bottom of the bank then accelerate to go up, i found myself playing a lot with the throttle last year trying to find the balance between progress and spinning the wheels and / or sliding off the road. This year, i'm in a RWD car, on the same bank and another not as bad one, i'm not looking forward to it this year with it being my first experience with RWD hence i'll be buying snow chains as opposed to full on snow tyres. It'll only be 2/3 weeks of snow again hopefully.
 
wez130 said:
Last winter, i was driving a mondeo in the snow, my commute was 30 miles back then, again about 12 miles on dual carriage way and the rest was A / B roads, with one large bank, the only part that worried me was the bank (500m down and the same back up with a bend in the middle). I managed fine in the snow - just, as you have to slow for the bend at the bottom of the bank then accelerate to go up, i found myself playing a lot with the throttle last year trying to find the balance between progress and spinning the wheels and / or sliding off the road. This year, i'm in a RWD car, on the same bank and another not as bad one, i'm not looking forward to it this year with it being my first experience with RWD hence i'll be buying snow chains as opposed to full on snow tyres. It'll only be 2/3 weeks of snow again hopefully.
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You are aware you can only only use snow chains on actual snow and must remove them as soon as you reach tarmac?
 
[TW]Fox;19863670 said:
You are aware you can only only use snow chains on actual snow and must remove them as soon as you reach tarmac?
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Yes, i'd only use the chains to get me up the banks if i don't feel confident enough, driving on the flat in snow doesn't bother me :)
 
daelo said:
I literally know nothing about tyres suited for the cold winter and inputs for me(and lots of other hatch back owners out there :D) would be appreciated!
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I would go for the Nokian WR-G2. They are quite cheap and are designed for climates like the UK. They are still awesome in the snow, though probably not as good as full-on snow tyres, but I can also vouch for their performance in the cold (both dry and wet) and on ice.

I know I bang on about them a fair bit in these threads, but they really are good. here's my review from last year to save me going over it all again.
 
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