Ultrasonic

The first option. No point throwing away perfectly good tyres.

I should perhaps add that I agree with you here, and no I don't regularly find myself doing emergency stops! I've triggered the ABS in my car once in the three years I have had it, and I freely admit that this occasion was not an example of good driving on my part. I view good tyres as an important safety feature of a car, like ABS, or even airbags. I hope never to have to take full advantage of them, but in case I do I want tyres capable of stopping me as quicky as possible. This was a reason that I bought winter tyres. I also view good wet and dry braking test results as the best guide I have for general longitudinal grip performance, but I accept this is a slightly different argument.

I was just responding to a specific point from Stuarted. Of course the benefit of winter tyres is not restricted to snow and ice, I wouldn't have bought any otherwise . I take braking distance performance as a guide of longitudinal grip under all circumstances, which i think is entirely reasonable. I see no reason why all braking will not be better, not just maximal braking. (Please explain if you know otherwise.) It also tells me about traction for acceleration as well as braking. What I really took from that video though was the extent to which winter tyres are sub-optimal relative to summer tyres even in the wet at relatively mild temperatures. The difference in the dry (which it is most of the time) is also relevant and will likely be greater (in % terms). Oh, and not sure why I started saying 10%, the difference in the test was 14%. The trouble is, it is incredibly hard for you to assess this accurately. I could similarly say that since swapping to my summer tyres my car feels like it grips much better (it does) but this is purely subjective, and I can't in all honesty say it is not a placebo effect. That's why tests like the one I linked to are useful. I also note that in the video the female presenter said she thought that the winter tyres stopped quicker, presumably because she expected them to. This thread also highlights the weather variations across the UK - it's 16°C here today, and nice and sunny .

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This may be obvious, but wind chill is irrelevant for tyres. Humans feel wind chill, innanimate objects don't. See e.g.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill

Right now, for me, the likelihood of needing to stop quickly far exceeds the chance of struggling to get home on ice or snow, hence the switch. When choosing between different summer tyres I consider a 10% difference in stopping distance to be significant and so would buy the better ones. Others may of course not consider this a large enough difference to care. In practice it comes down to whether anything you want to avoid is in that final 10%. I bought winter tyres for safety. At the point that they are no longer the safer option then switching back is the sensble plan. For me this seems to be about now. If I did a lot of driving at 3am, or lived in Scotland, it probably wouldn't be.

For the best source of info on tyre performance have a look here: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/ Not so much for the customer reviews but for the more objective tests carried out by the likes of ADAC. Not sure what tyre size the OP is after? But for economy and safety I'd probably be choosing between Dunlop Sport BluResponse and Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance. To buy, check out prices at http://www.f1autocentres.co.uk, they're often cheaper than the like of blackcircles and mytyres for common tyre sizes.

This will never happen if you always fit new tyres to the rear though. When a set of front tyres needs replacing, the previously new rear tyres get moved to the front, so they spend part of their life on the back an part on the front. This is what I do. New tyres should go on the rear. To add to the comments above, have a look at the video here: http://www.etyres.co.uk/flashmovies/new-tyres-rear-etyres.htm

I look at it this way. The issues with summer tyres on the lateral grip test I have never experieneced, whereas braking quickly in a straight line I have. Also, no matter how good the driver, having tyres that enable you to stop quicker will always be safer. To be honest I don't think there is any argument over the fact that summer tyres are safer at 10°C, what surprised me when I first came across that video was how big the difference was, even in the wet. What matters right now of course is what temperatures are like on average. This will determine whether winter or summer tyres are best overall.

Yes, but on a surface acknowlwedged to be more like an icy road than a wet road. Obviously different people will take different views, but for me I think the straight line braking test is likely to be more representative of situations I'd likely face.

If you mean in terms of driving defensively so as to avoid the need for a full emergency stop then I'm with you, but in cars with ABS there isn't really any skill involved in stopping optimally in a straight line (as in the test). Presumably they compared new (well, hopefully run in) winter and summer tyres so I don't really understand your objection. The Michelin Primacy HP summer tyres they tested also don't have stand out performance in the wet to start with. The difference also isn't small (7.1 m or 14%). I have no reason to doubt that the summer tyres now on my car would stop me quicker than the winters I took off in a comparable test. I'm not in any way saying everyone should be changing tyres, just explaining why I thought it was the right decision for me. (Temps today: 10°C to work, 12°C coming home.)

I've decided to be properly sad and keep a log of the temperatures when I'm driving over the next few weeks to see how it pans out. I was definitely on the right tyres today though: 8°C driving to work and 9.5°C driving home. Have you done much research into winter tyre performance in warmer weather? I'd be reluctant to run winter tyres all year round myself, due to tests like the wet braking test at 10°C in this video: Although I have read tyre manufacturers suggesting winters all year round is better than summers. It's the fact that I think on balance I'd be safer on my summer tyres at the moment that has made me switch back. Time will tell if I've made the right decision.

Must admit I didn't realise there had been snow as far south as York recently!

Should winter decide to eventually show up I'll change back, but easily more than half of my driving recently has been at 7°C or above so I figure that on balance I'd be better off on my summer tyres. I don't leave for work till about 8:30 and I haven't had to worry about frost for some time now. Let's see if I end up regretting my decision...

Had a day off work today so took advantage of the sunshine to swap back to my summer tyres. If there is a blizard next week it's my fault Although maybe most people have already made the switch?