Other Winter tyres: how to choose the right ones
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Or blocking the road in front of you
markomate2
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Nicely presented but I wish they would do the test drives "blind". No tester wants to admit that cheap tyres may work better or the same as posh tyres.
Also the close up shots of the tyres were not of winter tread tyres.
But as always this time of year, the old "do Winter tyres work" reports from Auto Express etc come up...again.
Why do they bother? Of course Winter tyres work, the question is are they worth the investment in you live in the south of UK?
A few years ago after a few extra days of snow, it looked like the ball was rolling on Winter tyres, then two mild Winters later and no one was talking about them!
Personally, I use Nokians or Vredestein all season and leave them on all year.
Mark
Also the close up shots of the tyres were not of winter tread tyres.
But as always this time of year, the old "do Winter tyres work" reports from Auto Express etc come up...again.
Why do they bother? Of course Winter tyres work, the question is are they worth the investment in you live in the south of UK?
A few years ago after a few extra days of snow, it looked like the ball was rolling on Winter tyres, then two mild Winters later and no one was talking about them!
Personally, I use Nokians or Vredestein all season and leave them on all year.
Mark
Winter tyres are more use on your Astra or Focus, during the winter. I have a set for my wife's BMW convertible, just in case see decides to use it in snow.
For a Freelander owner, winter tyres are less important. I consider it better practice to have 1 decent set of premium M/S rated all terrain tyres, instead of a set of budget summers and a second set winters clogging up the garage. My Discovery is shod with Pirelli Scorpion ATR tyres. These will get a Land Rover pretty much anywhere in any condition.
For a Freelander owner, winter tyres are less important. I consider it better practice to have 1 decent set of premium M/S rated all terrain tyres, instead of a set of budget summers and a second set winters clogging up the garage. My Discovery is shod with Pirelli Scorpion ATR tyres. These will get a Land Rover pretty much anywhere in any condition.
mikescuba
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Next weekend I will be switching all our vehicles onto snow tires. Have to wait till the average temp drops below 9c otherwise they wear out quicker. We do it every year. Makes a big difference here; Once you have snow tires on it's business as normal. The guy who owned my Defender before slid off the road into a ditch in the snow. The local postmen in his Renault Kango with snow tires offered him a tow . I should add we live in France in the Rhone Alps region. The postmen go everywhere in their vans. It always amazes me.
mikescuba
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I have Nokians on my wife's Auris and I have to say they are good but not as good as the Michelin Alpine; But then they are not the same price. If I lived in the UK I would stick with the Nokians, but here in the Rhone Alps we have what you would consider in the UK a bad winter every winter. And being in the mountains you can turn a corner up a mountain and find yourself back in the snow line. Last winter I was driving along and the GPS directed me through what was supposed to be a 16 minute short cut. No signs of snow till I followed the short cut then drove into a blizzard. Several inches falling, it was 02:30 No one else mad enough to be out on a mountain pass at that time of night. Not even the snow ploughs were out.
NoDosh
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For all those who believe they don't need winter tyres on a 4x4, consider how your brakes and steering work...... does having 4 driven wheels make your tyres stick to the road better when braking or cornering?
(spoiler: The answer is no)
(spoiler: The answer is no)
Low Gear = Avoids the need to brake which is half of the problem when driving in snow.
Low Gear = Avoids the need to accelerate as aggressively which is 1/3 of the problem when driving away in snow.
A regular 4x4 tread would brake better and corner better than a non 4x4 tread.. i.e a car.
I do see what you are getting at but for cars the winter tyres media is so much propaganda a lot of the time.
Winter tyres have a lot more of an aggressive tread than a normal car tyre... as well as being made of materials which deal well in cooler temperatures.
But when you see a diagram ;
CAR====================================================STOP For summer tyres
CAR=====================STOP For winter tyres
You think... Crikey that is a difference, then you read the small print below the flaming big propoganda'istic image
Summer tyres stopping 115 metres
Winter tyres stopping 131 metres
NoDosh
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Pray you aren't stood in the 16 meters
markomate2
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Girlfriends got Alpines on her Mazda 6. Shes been driving through our long winters (Estonia) for years and rates them.
A front wheel drive car with Winter tyres will usually out perform a 4x4 on Summers, but not always, some 4x4 systems seem better at coping with snow.
My D2 did very well in the snow in Scotland this year, on General Grabber AT,s
Eric, Winter tyres arent always more aggressive, just different compound and lots of "sipes"
Mark
A front wheel drive car with Winter tyres will usually out perform a 4x4 on Summers, but not always, some 4x4 systems seem better at coping with snow.
My D2 did very well in the snow in Scotland this year, on General Grabber AT,s
Eric, Winter tyres arent always more aggressive, just different compound and lots of "sipes"
Mark
West Slope Rover
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For driving in snow:
All season tyres are better than highway tyres.
Snow tyres are better than all season tyres.
Snow tyres with studs are better than snow tyres without them.
Then on to chains.
End of lesson.
All season tyres are better than highway tyres.
Snow tyres are better than all season tyres.
Snow tyres with studs are better than snow tyres without them.
Then on to chains.
End of lesson.
Thor1950
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2" of snow shuts them down , them blizzards are terrible
West Slope Rover
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You must be honest, Thor. 2" of the right kind of snow packed down to ice on the road can be treacherous. Around here , the early season wet stuff is the worst, which I'm assuming is much like the snow they receive.2" of snow shuts them down , them blizzards are terrible
Giantswood
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Just put a set of Michelin Cross Climates on my Passat, having read some favorable reports, and so far am pretty impressed.
and drinking bleach wont always kill you.... Winter tyres are designed for winter conditions, which are more often than not WET.. I am sorry but they are most of the time more aggressive than normal tyres. SIPES are the cut across the tread which are for one reason to make them more aggressive and allow water away.
West Slope Rover
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I think we call that Silly String here.
Seriously though, I'd not heard of the stuff until now. I can't imagine the greenies will approve of it. It's made of the life blood of pine trees!
mikescuba
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Snow tread,
All season tread.
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