rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

quoting myself from October. All good so far - not been any snow and only 4 weeks left here before I **** off to NZ for the remainder of the winter.

Money well saved this time I would say.

arumdevil

I'm out in the alps now with the brand new nokians on the legacy (centre and rear LSD) and they're bloody superb! There's loads of snow here and 99% of all the vehicles around are running winter tyres or snow chains and having no trouble for the most part. Some are blatently on crap (for the weather) tyres and are really struggling.

Drove from Chatel to geneva airport and back this morning, half of that journey was in up to 6" of snow on the road, some slushy, some icy, some fresh. I only got slippage when I wanted to on the throttle or if I was a bit too confident with my speed resulting in understeer going into corners (easily fixed by lifting off throttle). Other than that it was solid as a rock.

I'm SOOOO glad I don't have to stop in the cold to put on/take off snow chains.

Ok, the alps is not the UK when it comes to weather, but I noticed a marked difference even in the UK, and the winter is far from over yet, jan and feb could prove to be at least as bad as last year yet. I'm hoping so anyway (sorry)

jh1-2009

With the winter we are having the answer is no.
You will find that those who payed out on winter tyres will argue that they were worth the investment.

StrikE

iTrader: (3)

I bought a full set + 17" alloys for the scooby & a rear set for the van.
If that is all the snow we see then fantastic, if i can't work i don't make money!
It wasn't a case i needed them, i wanted them.

Remember the snow we had late Jan/Feb last year? It could all still happen

wilbo

iTrader: (1)

Plus they will last for next winter and so on. I am still pleased that i invested in a set

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Problem is tyres have a shelf life.

I know summer tyres tend to last about six years before the rubber starts to harden (less on Pirellis - I don't know why, but they do), this notably makes cold/wet grip worse especially when ambient temperatures drop.

Seeing winter tyres are softer more pliable compounds to aid flexing in cold temperature, if these harden from age and lose performance in cold temperatures, then does it not defeat the point?

I suppose the answer lies on how many miles you run them for.

SiPie

30th & 31st Dec I (unusually) had to make 2 x 325 mile round trips, from Kelso (Scottish Borders) ->Highlands.... Had I been on summer tyres, I guess the forester would have still made it ok but doing it on winters made it a total breeze and much faster and less stressfull, through some mental snowy/flooded conditions.

Winters are a bit like car insurance, only worth the premium if you need to claim.

This years new year drama combined with the ability to drive around 'normally' last winter means they've been well worth the premium for me

Had I lived down South, then not worth it so far.... but this winter has got a long long way to go yet.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

We have snow tyres on the X5 now - it is like a fricking limpet now even on icy roads. Excellent investment living in the country with small kids.

Leslie

Well I did not waste any money by buying them. Have not needed anything like that in Sunny Devon but if it does get slippery I will just slow down a bit.

Les

billyray911

iTrader: (4)

Bought a set of Vredstein wintrac extremes last year for the 335.I used them extensively across the country and were fantastic-particularly in Fort William.
I haven't had to put them on this year as its been fine in the Worcester/Midlands area.
I'm glad that I have them,should the weather turn and I'm glad I paid last years prices as they've increased massively,due to demand.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

You will get atleast 4 winters out of a set of winter tyres no problems.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I do about 4000 a year in my main car (I do about 10K per year, but in various cars) - the only one that is AWD though (barring the broken Land Rover).

Assuming I do 2K per year on them and they last 4 winters, then that would mean I'd only get 8000 miles before they are past their prime.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Which part of "atleast 4 winters" did you miss???

we normally have them on for 6 months of the year so they get more use.

jh1-2009

Since when have winters lasted 6 months???

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

You obviously do not live in Southern Germany or you wouldn't be asking such stupid questions.

We normally fit them in November or very early December depending on the weather and take them off at the end of April or early May depending on the weather.

jh1-2009

Funny you should say that as i lived in Cologne for 4 years and the winters were not 6 months.... Do you live in a ski resort?????

SiPie

Mine go on Mid Nov (snowed in Nov 26th 2010, well our neighbours all were ) and come off early April (snowed in April 10th 2010).

Nokian WRG2's and hardly showing any signs of wear at all after circa 6k miles.

Wurzel is spot on, 4 winters out a set easy if your mileage is lowish

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Still trying to justify the £980 outlay on wheels and tyres for my BMW. Come on snow, do your stuff and make me feel smug!

fpan

iTrader: (11)

AWD only helps with traction when you try to start from a standstop, it won't do anything when you are trying to steer on snow/ice.

Winter tyres make a HUGE difference not only in snow/ice but when ambient temperatures fall below 10C where normal summer tyres are too hard to have much grip.

Once you try them you will never drive on summer tyres again in winter

urban

iTrader: (1)

Well, you won't be going anywhere in the BMW without them

pacenote

Got 5 winters out of some Conti Wintercontacts

Replaced them for this year with Nokian WR A3

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I never had a problem on any of our BMWs...this is the 4th BMW we've had in the fold none have ever has winter tyres and none have ever got stuck in over the 14 years of owning them, and like its predacessors the current one was fine last time it snowed, and it came down pretty thick and fast whilst I was out in the sticks during the one weekend.

Knowing how to drive in snow and ice and equally as important, knowing how to manually work a autobox to best suit the conditions and override DSC control whilst still keeping the electronic active diff enabled (basically a virtual-LSD) is the trick on how not to look a fool. Sure winter tyres will help, but its only part of the jigsaw.

arumdevil

Nobody ever needs winter tyres, until they have a bad experience.

One can get away with all sorts of things if one is careful and lucky enough: - drinking alcohol in the streets without being caught by the police; jumping off high walls without breaking your legs; walking on glass without cutting your feet; driving ultra slowly and carefully in icy conditions without crashing your car or killing anyone. etc etc

Keep the alcohol inside and you don't have to worry about the police.
Don't jump off high walls and your risk of breaking your legs is reduced to near zero.
Wear shoes and you won' cut your feet on the glass.
Put winter tyres on your car and your chances or getting stuck, or more importantly losing control of the vehicle are reduced dramatically.

In many cases, you could do the things from the top list and more and get away scott-free, but if you add the safety elements from the bottom list you've got much less chance of something untoward (or much worse) happening.

It's not just about what you can get away with all the time. A car can be a lethal weapon in the wrong circumstances so it's not something to take lightly. Ignoring safety measures puts others at risk too.

I can fit winter tyres to my car, but that's not going to stop someone else who doesn't do so from crashing into me on a slippery road on a cold winter's day (in fact it didn't, and despite my ability to bring my car to a complete stop easily and quickly, I was left with a lot of damage to the front of my car. Things would have been a LOT worse if I also hadn't had winter tyres fitted).

So yes, it's often possible to get away without having the safest possible equipment - and in an ideal world where there are no other road-users or bystanders it can be a lot of fun, but it's still not very responsible or considerate of others around you.

If you can't afford a winter tyre solution - no problem, just don't drive your car in inclement weather (this would include ANY TIME the temperature is below 1°c) and you aren't putting anything/one at considerable additional risk. If you can afford to be off work for indeterminant periods of time this won't be a problem for you. If you can't, a decent set of winter tyres could actually SAVE you money (in otherwise lost earnings). Of course that depends on weather you rely on your car for, or in able to get to work.

fpan

iTrader: (11)

^ Couldn't have said it better.

john banks

You do have to be careful in a Subaru with winter tyres not to drive like a tit though, as you have a boat load more grip on snow than you do ice. Not that I ever drive like a tit.

Frozen mud is also an eye opener.

arumdevil

Absolutely john. Winter tyres are not an excuse to drive recklessly or without extra care in bad weather - they're just another step towards making things as safe and convenient as possible.

However, in an open space with no obstacles (particularly living ones) much fun can be had

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Fitted mine to the scoob last year as RE070's are deadly in the snow and I didnt buy cheap (well 149 quid each) for good (brand new) Pirelli Sottozero W240's 225/45/17.
Anyone who thinks summer tyres are good in snow are deluded, until you try out winter tyres (good ones, not nasty budget crap), you have no understanding of how well they do their job.
Last year a van joining the motorway when it had (and still was) snowing, lying snow was about 1-2 inches thick and mr (blue) van man decided to go across all the lanes, just missing the barrier when he went sideways to try to recover his skid, right in front of me!
He ended up just off the barrier facing towards the hard shoulder, I easily avoided him with the grip I had, and braking in a straight line (no deviation and stopping quicker than other traffic), I avoided a collision with said van.
With summer tyres I would have probably slid into him.

There is alot of benefit to be had from winter tyres, mine were on for nearly 5 months last year

Tony

euan_r

iTrader: (29)

Winters are definatley better by miles.

I wouldnt however dismiss cheap versions tony, my old leggacy always had the cheapest tyres fitted all year round which happened to be m+s. ling longs, sportivas, heroes etc. circa £30 pound mark unfitted iirc. The only times i had to dig it out were continous drifts above bonnet level due to ground clearance. The interspaced ones you could barge through. Very capable car.

Lol at frozen mud pretty much part and parcel of being farmer in northern scotland.

arumdevil

on a subaru cheap M&S tyres might seem fine, but stopping (and going) power will be dramatically better on decent winters. My nokians in 16" size were £85 each so they needn't be extortionate.

However on a FWD or RWD car you will have less luck, don't forget the AWD and LSDs on subarus means you'll rarely actually get 'stuck' even on summer tyres.

SiPie

Up to a point but you may find yourself 'stuck' in a hedge at the bottom of the hill when your summer tyres don't fancy clinging to the snowy road.

After 1 impreza, 1 legacy and 2 Foresters and 14 'Subaru' Scittish winters where I climb or ski up North most years, you would never catch me without winter tyres up here.