Was 7c yesterday morning in Liverpool. Made me think I need to remind my Dad to fit his winters soon.

Just as an aside i did a quick "around the office" and not one person was remotely interested in winter tyres.

Stock response was "it doesn't snow enough" to be worth it.

I suspect there is a severe misunderstanding of what they are actually for and how various tyre types behave under different conditions.

Even the guys with fleet vehicles said they wouldn't be interested and some of them do serious miles.

Just as an aside i did a quick "around the office" and not one person was remotely interested in winter tyres.

Stock response was "it doesn't snow enough" to be worth it.

I suspect there is a severe misunderstanding of what they are actually for and how various tyre types behave under different conditions.

Even the guys with fleet vehicles said they wouldn't be interested and some of them do serious miles.

how about, "would you go out in the winter with flip flops on?" and see how many of them thnk the same footwear is appropriate regardless of weather conditions?

That is the crux of it. Summer rubber goes rock hard below 7 degrees and thus it is like driving with glass for wheels as the rubber is hard. Winter rubber on the other hand does not go hard below 7 degrees so rain, sun, snow or whatever they stay soft and thus grippy.

I actually mention the temperature as well. I also note that from experience at -16C winter tyres work very well, which was on a mix of surfaces from dry roads to deep snow.

And while the performance of a summer tyre does deteriorate below 7C, they don't go 'rock' hard and are as compromised as a winter tyre is above 7C. Given the average daytime air temperatures rarely drop significantly below 7C in this part of the UK (South West) for me the cost/benefit of buying winter tyres is questionable.

Edited 16 September, 201114 yr by HKPhooey

I actually mention the temperature as well. I also note that from experience at -16C winter tyres work very well, which was on a mix of surfaces from dry roads to deep snow.

And while the performance of a summer tyre does deteriorate below 7C, they don't go 'rock' hard and are as compromised as a winter tyre is above 7C. Given the average daytime air temperatures rarely drop significantly below 7C in this part of the UK (South West) for me the cost/benefit of buying winter tyres is questionable.

ah well now that does make sense, here (SE of Scotland) it is rarely above 7 degrees for a lot of the year so it makes much more sense. It was minus 18 here earlier this year and barely warmer than minus 10 for about a week or so at one point.

I actually mention the temperature as well. I also note that from experience at -16C winter tyres work very well, which was on a mix of surfaces from dry roads to deep snow.

And while the performance of a summer tyre does deteriorate below 7C, they don't go 'rock' hard and are as compromised as a winter tyre is above 7C. Given the average daytime air temperatures rarely drop significantly below 7C in this part of the UK (South West) for me the cost/benefit of buying winter tyres is questionable.

I was talking to Continental tyres recently, and they said that you are better off with winters in summer than summers in winter. The winters take slightly longer to stop in the summer, but the summers take forever in comparison to the winters to stop/go round corners in the winter, whether it is dry/wet/icy/snowy when temps drop below 7 degs. So their recommendation was that if you could only afford one set/no storage facility the winters all year round was the safest solution.

I was talking to Continental tyres recently, and they said that you are better off with winters in summer than summers in winter. The winters take slightly longer to stop in the summer, but the summers take forever in comparison to the winters to stop/go round corners in the winter, whether it is dry/wet/icy/snowy when temps drop below 7 degs. So their recommendation was that if you could only afford one set/no storage facility the winters all year round was the safest solution.

With no axe to grind, might I ask if it's better, if only one set of wheels is the option, to do as is recommended here by Conti, and use winters all year round ....or use, say, Goodyear Vector or Vredestein Quatrac All Seasons which are both marked 'M&S' as well as both having the 'SNOW' symbol?

Given the option, recently, on a different car, I came very close to going for Michelin Alpin winters for all year round use - but ultimately went for the Goodyear All Seasons. Having already got one set of spare wheels in the garage, I didn't fancy a second set as well, and the mileage will be low on this car. And they weren't too expensive at about £70 x 4 (fitted).

EDIT....Just realised this is really a SNOWSOCK thread, and I'm adding to it's deviation to another winter tyre thread - sorry!

Edited 16 September, 201114 yr by oldstan

While we are on the subject of winter tyres... On a different thread somebody recommended Hankook 215/60R 16 99H XL ICEPT W310 winter tyres from Camskill at £75.60.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m96b0s1631p61804/HANKOOK_TYRES_WINTER_SNOW_CAR_HANKOOK_W310_ICEPT_HANKOOK_W_310_-_215_60R16_99H_XL_TL_

I ordered four of them on Tuesday & they arrived on Thursday. Although recommended for the Yeti, My wife's Peugeot 807 is also this size and being an MPV requires Extra load tyres. My point is that if you look at the tyres, they have asymmetric tread and have an 'inside' and an 'outside', both clearly marked. However when you look at the tread pattern, it looks 'directional' - which of course you can't have both; so when fitted, one front & one rear on the same side will be going (what appears)in the wrong direction... Any thoughts?

Another point: with two sets of tyres (8 off) they are going to last longer in time. Two of the Hankooks' were dated 2010 & two 2011. The latest thinking is that tyres have a time life of 6 years!

I have already bought from Skodaspares 4 x winter tyres and steel rims (£700) (Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW-3 205/60 R16) for my SM, which was due mid December now maybe January 2012...

If they are directional it will say so and have an arrow pointing the way it has to be fitted.

Tyre life seems to be stated as 5 years on most of the caravanning sites.

I was talking to Continental tyres recently, and they said that you are better off with winters in summer than summers in winter. The winters take slightly longer to stop in the summer, but the summers take forever in comparison to the winters to stop/go round corners in the winter, whether it is dry/wet/icy/snowy when temps drop below 7 degs. So their recommendation was that if you could only afford one set/no storage facility the winters all year round was the safest solution.

I don't really disagree with that, but with the soft winter compound, anyone using them through summer will have an alarming wear rate.

I've driven on winter tyres a number of times, mainly in Canada and the Czech Republic, in temperatures as low as -16C, and they do indeed work very well.

But given the infrequency and nature of heavy snow fall in this part of the UK I struggle to justify spending £1,000 on a set of winter tyres and wheels for a car that I'll keep for 3 years - especially as the daytime temperatures rarely drop below freezing.

The Autosocks cost me £50, and so far have never left me stranded, in either my Mazda or my Wife's Yeti.

The Autososcks was invented here in Norway, by a guy who lives just around the bend and up the hill from where I live. The story is that he had this big English Lady who he loved more than anything else, but she hated Norwegian winterroads, or rather ; hills, so he invented the socks in order to bring her home.

Her name was by the way: Jaguar and she was born in the early 60's. The Jag could not use snowchains so he had to find something else.

I do not know if its true or just a nice story.

Anyway, the last few years the Autosocks have been very much refined and the current versions are much better than the earlier, but still this is an emergancy thing, not for usual roaduse.

One thing is to get out of a snow drift in very slow speed, another thing is to drive, to corner, to brake when driving 50 miles an hour, then you need proper winter tyres.

I don't really disagree with that, but with the soft winter compound, anyone using them through summer will have an alarming wear rate.

Which is exactly why Continental would advise you to use them all year: they can then sell you new tyres, every year instead of every two or three! No denying they will be better in summer than summers in winter but still not a clever thing to do if you pay for your own tyres.

One of the recent tests that tested both types found a summer tyre giving you something like only 40% of it's performance in winter and a winter tyre giving you 95% of its performance in summer...