I was wondering when people who have winter (cold weather) tyres are planning on putting them on their cars?

I'm in west Yorkshire and now that the temperatures are routinely falling below 7*c I'm going to fit mine.

... below 7*c I'm going to fit mine.

+1; with all the standing water and squidgy leaves on roads, perfect time to change

I've fitted mine today. The summer Conti SC3s were noticeably less grippy lat week in the low morning/evening temperatures.

I'm hoping for a White winter to test these babys out!

Mine will not be fitted until the end of the month - at least, nothing to do with the temperatures, purely down to the fact it's not here yet

I'm in west Yorkshire and now that the temperatures are routinely falling below 7*c I'm going to fit mine.

Pretty spot on, when it is regularly lower than 7 degrees when YOU actually drive the car is the right time .

I'm hoping for a White winter to test these babys out!

Be careful what you wish for!

Do not put the wintertires on before the temperatures are below zero on a regular basis or be prepared to adjust your driving style.

Wintertires use a much softer compound that is designed to reach optimum perfomance at sub-zero temperatures. With higher temperatures the rubber will be much more flexible and will thus change the handling of the car for the worst. No problem if you take that into account, big problem if you drive with wintertires in warm weather and expect the car to handle as responsive as usual :no:

This is a general rule for new/ fresh wintertires. Over the years the compound wil harden, making them perform worse in sub-zero temperatures. When you use studs/spikes beware that the spikes/studs are not a good indicator for the rate of ware of the tire. meaning, you can have a lot of sharp studs/spikes left on the tire after a couple of years, but the compound of the tire can have hardened to such a degree that it will be wise to buy new ones.

Lastly it is generally advisable to spray down your wintertires with a (commercially available) solution of paint-thinner or rubbing alcohol etc that dissolves the brake dust and the asphalt/tarmac residue that the tires pick up. Especially in changing weatherconditions where the roads ar intermittantly covered with snow/ice, followed by periodes where the tarmac is "bare".

The accumulating residue mentioned above makes your wintertires very slippery when the snow returns after a period with warmer weather.

Edited 14 November, 201015 yr by Doc Watchtower

Do not put the wintertires on before the temperatures are below zero on a regular basis or be prepared to adjust your driving style.

Wintertires use a much softer compound that is designed to reach optimum perfomance at sub-zero temperatures. With higher temperatures the rubber will be much more flexible and will thus change the handling of the car for the worst. No problem if you take that into account, big problem if you drive with wintertires in warm weather and expect the car to handle as responsive as usual :no:

This is a general rule for new/ fresh wintertires. Over the years the compound wil harden, making them perform worse in sub-zero temperatures. When you use studs/spikes beware that the spikes/studs are not a good indicator for the rate of ware of the tire. meaning, you can have a lot of sharp studs/spikes left on the tire after a couple of years, but the compound of the tire can have hardened to such a degree that it will be wise to buy new ones.

Lastly it is generally advisable to spray down your wintertires with a (commercially available) solution of paint-thinner or rubbing alcohol etc that dissolves the brake dust and the asphalt/tarmac residue that the tires pick up. Especially in changing weatherconditions where the roads ar intermittantly covered with snow/ice, followed by periodes where the tarmac is "bare".

The accumulating residue mentioned above makes your wintertires very slippery when the snow returns after a period with warmer weather.

Not true I'm afraid :wonder:

Winter Tyres are effective below 7C

... and we here in the UK, aint allowed spikes... :no:

Which winter tyres would you recommend? Do you change you wheels too, or just swap the tyres over? I read that Volvo are now offering to "store" your summer and winter tyres at the dealers, so you can just call in at the start and end of the winter and get them to swap them over, sounds like a good idea for those with no storage.

Do not put the wintertires on before the temperatures are below zero on a regular basis or be prepared to adjust your driving style.

Wintertires use a much softer compound that is designed to reach optimum perfomance at sub-zero temperatures. With higher temperatures the rubber will be much more flexible and will thus change the handling of the car for the worst. No problem if you take that into account, big problem if you drive with wintertires in warm weather and expect the car to handle as responsive as usual :no:

I very much disagree on several points in this post. WInter tyres are more effective than 'summer' rubber from around 6 degrees and lower...

... I was sitting quite happily at 120mph on my winter tyres two weeks ago and the car felt as stable as it does on the wider performance tyres. The temperatures were around 12 degrees also so not ideal. Turn in is slightly softer (probably just down to the taller, more flexible side walls) but overall Im totally impressed by the lack of compromise these winter tyres bring.

I very much disagree on several points in this post. WInter tyres are more effective than 'summer' rubber from around 6 degrees and lower...

... I was sitting quite happily at 120mph on my winter tyres two weeks ago and the car felt as stable as it does on the wider performance tyres. The temperatures were around 12 degrees also so not ideal. Turn in is slightly softer (probably just down to the taller, more flexible side walls) but overall Im totally impressed by the lack of compromise these winter tyres bring.

Me too..They are far better than I imagined

Which winter tyres would you recommend? Do you change you wheels too, or just swap the tyres over? I read that Volvo are now offering to "store" your summer and winter tyres at the dealers, so you can just call in at the start and end of the winter and get them to swap them over, sounds like a good idea for those with no storage.

I've got Vredestine Wintrac Xtreme's to go onto my Superb - they are fitted onto 18" alloy's (Genuine Skoda wheels) but this is not the way to do it, in the opinion of the broader forum. - but it does look MUCH better than 16" steel wheels! (plus i have a 4x4)

(I've got these on 16" rims on my Wife's Kia Cee'd - they proved excellent last year with our north-east weather. - i never once had to rescue her in the 4x4, unlike previous years, even though the north-east had really bad snow-fall.)

coming down to 16" wheels, allows for a tyre that is not as wide (only by 20mm tho) but this is also a cheaper tyre.

companies such as MyTyres.co.uk will supply steel wheels with winter tyres pre-fitted - the wheels are around £25 ea which is going to prove significantly cheaper than changing over tyres / wheets twice a year (iro £10 ea x4 x2)

for the 1st year, we've fitted winter tyres to my old's Kia Sportage (fitted Nankang Snow SV-2) they are a cheaper tyre by far, but reviews are ok. We're yet to see what they are really like, as they were only fitted yesterday.

Al.

Fitted Continental T 810s winter tyres on 18 inch alloys by Kwik Fit. Were a bit noisier to start with but now fine. Regularly driving big miles and best in West Yorkshire and noticed better grip early in the morning.