Proper Winter Tyres. Urgent advice Required!

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Hi, I work in the tyre industry and i can honestly tell you that winter tyres are absolutely no gimmick. Very basically they are full of silica compared to a none winter tyre so come up to operating temperature very quickly, they have tread sypes (little zigzag cuts through tread blocks) which massively increase traction in snow. However, as previously said, they are absolutely no better than any other kind of tyre on sheet ice. The only tyre for traction on ice is a studded tyre.
 
cybermorph666 said:
Hi, I work in the tyre industry and i can honestly tell you that winter tyres are absolutely no gimmick. Very basically they are full of silica compared to a none winter tyre so come up to operating temperature very quickly, they have tread sypes (little zigzag cuts through tread blocks) which massively increase traction in snow. However, as previously said, they are absolutely no better than any other kind of tyre on sheet ice. The only tyre for traction on ice is a studded tyre.
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Except you fit em in the winter and we might get oo three weeks of snow at a push four. Any advance on that up Scotland way??

And aparently you can stop real quick just like on tarmac on a hot sunny summer day :mad: Have ya seen the friggin advert :rolleyes:

Sorry there's no fit and forget solution or excuse to drive like a dick just cos your in a 4x4 and or got winter tyres on and dont tell me 80% of the folk who buy em dont do that cos they damn well do :(
 
Bromsgrove Defender said:
Except you fit em in the winter and we might get oo three weeks of snow at a push four. Any advance on that up Scotland way??

And aparently you can stop real quick just like on tarmac on a hot sunny summer day :mad: Have ya seen the friggin advert :rolleyes:

Sorry there's no fit and forget solution or excuse to drive like a dick just cos your in a 4x4 and or got winter tyres on and dont tell me 80% of the folk who buy em dont do that cos they damn well do :(
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I very much doubt we even get a solid 3 weeks of snow a year... and yes your totally right about peoples crazy belief that once fitted you can drive as you would with normal tyres in the summer, totally misleading advert, but they do without doubt perform better in the winter than your summer tyres.
 
cybermorph666 said:
I very much doubt we even get a solid 3 weeks of snow a year... and yes your totally right about peoples crazy belief that once fitted you can drive as you would with normal tyres in the summer, totally misleading advert, but they do without doubt perform better in the winter than your summer tyres.
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Only when driven by someone who dosn't expect them to perform beyond their capabilities ;)
 
Bromsgrove Defender said:
Only when driven by someone who dosn't expect them to perform beyond their capabilities ;)
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I still think you're missing the point, you drive within your vehicles capabilities.
Say you have a BMW on summer tyres, you'd be all over the place at walking pace, you drive past them in a Defender with A/Ts at 20 mph, does that make you irresponsible to be driving 4 times faster than them?
Now you're overtaken by a Fiesta with winter tyres doing 30 mph, are they irresponsible? They could still stop quicker than you even though they going faster.

I've driven to the Alps many times, a couple of times with snow on the road the whole way, passed hundreds of people struggling with summer tyres. It's not viable to run chains for hundreds of miles, so they end up crawling along, yet with the extra grip of winter tyres you can drive relatively normally albeit a lot slower than normal motorway speeds.

You mentioned cost previously, apart from the initial cost it doesn't cost any more to be safe, you're only wearing one set at a time after all. Buy your winter tyres in the spring/ summer when deals are to be had.
 
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Spyderman said:
I still think you're missing the point, you drive within your vehicles capabilities.
Say you have a BMW on summer tyres, you'd be all over the place at walking pace, you drive past them in a Defender with A/Ts at 20 mph, does that make you irresponsible to be driving 4 times faster than them?
Now you're overtaken by a Fiesta with winter tyres doing 30 mph, are they irresponsible? They could still stop quicker than you even though they going faster.

I've driven to the Alps many times, a couple of times with snow on the road the whole way, passed hundreds of people struggling with summer tyres. It's not viable to run chains for hundreds of miles, so they end up crawling along, yet with the extra grip of winter tyres you can drive relatively normally albeit a lot slower than normal motorway speeds.

You mentioned cost previously, apart from the initial cost it doesn't cost any more to be safe, you're only wearing one set at a time after all. Buy your winter tyres in the spring/ summer when deals are to be had.
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Yes absolutely spot on. I drove to courcheval in alps last year in a Lexus LS400 v8 with winter tyres and all be it slowly I made constant progress in snow and got there without any fuss.
 
cybermorph666 said:
Yes absolutely spot on. I drove to courcheval in alps last year in a Lexus LS400 v8 with winter tyres and all be it slowly I made constant progress in snow and got there without any fuss.
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Our Postman here in the French countryside drives a Renault Kangoo with snow tires. He goes any where a 4X4 would go in the snow. And he doesn't hang about.
I collected the mother in-law in my Defender, she had been snowed in for several days. There was several inches of snow. The only tire marks in the snow were from the postman who managed to get up there without any problems.
 
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No :p I saw the title first time round, had a look but it all seemed civil so I got bored reading and gave up, then I come back to 8 pages worth of crap and page 2 filled with stroppy noob being stroppy :rolleyes:
 
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