This is on the backroads to Brighton after the M23 was closed in 2010. Wearing my usual Rainsport summer wet weather tyres. Traction control and my left foot worked hard but we made it without a hitch and without 'winters'!

...so much so that we came back out a few hours later to join friends in a Landy and a Landcruiser having fun over snowbound Devil's Dyke. I had to go first to avoid bottoming out in their wheelruts but otherwise the little Furby raised eyebrows and 'ner a Skoda joke was heard! :p

I don't think anyone is saying winter tyres are the only way you will be able to drive, it's just that they let you stop in much shorter distances, you can corner and steer more effectively. Your pictures prove that with the right driving technique you can get through. But when carrying my kid in the car I want to know that I've got the best equipment fitted between me and the road surface. If standard tyres were as flawless as the OP suggests then there wouldn't be so many people moaning about the state of the roads and how it is "impossible" to drive in these conditions. It started last week when my local council was being slated for not having immediately gritted and ploughed every street in the area.

The weekend snow has all gone but the streets were sheet ice this morning. Am I glad I have my winter tyres fitted? Yup. Am I an idiot for buying rubber instead of a remap or a fancy stereo or any number of other mods? Who cares. Choice is good. You buy your mods I'll buy mine

...with the right driving technique you can get through. But when carrying my kid in the car I want to know that I've got the best equipment fitted between me and the road surface.

Totally. My reply was tongue in cheek :p I'd do the same in your situation. Those pics were a few hours of (awesome!) fun but I couldn't do that every day for weeks at a time. I wouldn't have a clutch left for starters!

As I see it, wet-weather tyres will take you anywhere winter tyres can get you if driven well, but at the expense of speed and ultimately safety. Winter tyres will give you a more secure and less labour-intensive drive in severe cold conditions, but aren't a bolt-on cure for a lack of skill and a heavy right foot!

Totally. My reply was tongue in cheek :p I'd do the same in your situation. Those pics were a few hours of (awesome!) fun but I couldn't do that every day for weeks at a time. I wouldn't have a clutch left for starters!

As I see it, wet-weather tyres will take you anywhere winter tyres can get you if driven well, but at the expense of speed and ultimately safety. Winter tyres will give you a more secure and less labour-intensive drive in severe cold conditions, but aren't a bolt-on cure for a lack of skill and a heavy right foot!

LOL good stuff. I think the main culprits are the car makers and their fitting of big fat low profile tyres. The reason we never used to need special winter tyres was the skinny ones we used to have cut through the snow more effectively

"I thought I could manage"

The fact that you're still here, posting that post, means that in actual fact you DID manage, perfectly well. You being from Bingley doesn't reflect the kind of conditions I see in Nottingham, I live virtually on the M1 which I then use for commuting, so the roads are generally pretty well gritted and/or ploughed so not too snowy, just wet and cold which they've been for the last week or so anyway. And in the last week I can count the number of times my car has felt out of control on the fingers of no hands.

"Please don't knock it till you've tried them"? How about the flipside; please don't push them down my throat based on YOUR conditions in YOUR hometown and allow me to make my own decisions on what I buy. You're not my mum

What?

If you dont want them...Dont buy them.

I'm not pushing anything down your throat

Have you tried them?

What make did you have?

Oh...I thought not

Not you specifically, was a cheeky dig at people's attitudes in general, that's why there was a smiley. Like the quote above; "We, the enlightened". Just face facts, they don't suit everybody and I don't feel that I need them. Would I benefit from winter tyres, possibly. Is it a benefit I can't reproduce myself on the roads I drive on just by being a bit more sensible, I don't think it is. There are too many people on car forums at the moment who see winter tyres as a cure for all ailments. Lack of grip, winters will fix that. Crap stopping distances? Not with winter tyres you won't! Late for work? Just fit winters and then you can still do 70mph through the snow!

To read motoring forums this time of year, you'd be forgiven for thinking that winter tyres were made of ground-up unicorn dust and could get you to work at 100mph in the snow while you read your newspaper and receive a Shiatsu massage. Some people just need to tone it down a bit and accept that winter tyres will probably help, but not everyone NEEDS them and in a world where only a fraction of people actually have them then they do nothing to reduce what I see as MY biggest risk on the roads this Christmas, which is other drivers who simply can't drive.

Hmmm

For the first time ever in proper snow ( 6" plus) I had absolute murder last year, I really can't think of the last time we had snow like that before certainly not whilst I have owned the Octy, I think it was down to the width of tyres rather than anything else, yes I managed to get around but got stuck in numerous places which you think any normal person could'nt get stuck, even couldn't get going downhill at some points due to parking in clear spaces which had frozen making it hard work to get back out over the crest of snow, so if the winters make this half as easy as last year then they are worth buying for time saved if nothing else. My job is based on being able to get around back routes which are never clear and this year is far more critical than last owing to me covering other staff, so I am currently looking at £7k plus a week of business.

So whilst I could manage with a shovel and a lot of swearing I thought balls to that and bought 4 cheapo winters at £283 in 205/50/17 on my spare OE rims. They are a little dicey in the warm (10c+) wet, but under7c they arrn't half as bad as I thought they would be. Wet weather is irrelavant really though as I take it easy then on whatever tyres I have, as long as they work in snow that is all that matters.

I gave up on the Octy in the end and dug out the wifes ibiza which was on the drive waiting to be scraped after xmas, I re-insured it for a month and on something like 195/70/13, no problem in that at all skinny cheap tyres which had lots of little grooves as opposed to the uber fat tread on the 452's on mine, which leads me to think that narrow width is as important as tread pattern on 'normal' tyres. I don't like the phrase Summer tyres to me they are just tyres lol.

We don't have the shed ibiza this year and the replacement is rolling on wide 15's so I chucked Good Year all seasons on that so the wife can keep moving to if need be and she can drive xmas day if I fancy a drink

The fella in the tyres place reckons they will serve me well on snow and ice, he ran them on a 225 megane last year and said they were great for job, so like I say that is all that matters to me, and the plus side to my purchase is that the company paid for them after last years debacle.

And all this said, I bet we don't get a wiff down here this year lol, then again a weeks worth and the tyres will be worth the price

Edited 12 December, 201114 yr by Just_Call_Me_Dave
daves finall thought, you know like Jerrys

I assume that was for a set of all four? Which ones did you buy?

x4 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme all approx 5mm tread in 225 45 17

They do say "Ignorance is bliss"

In this case its foolhardy

I thought I could manage on summer tyres until I bought some Winters

30+ years of driving in all conditions

I then bought my first set in 2010

OMG

The difference it makes is amazing

Please dont knock it until youve tried them boys

I agree, the original statement was "discuss" - surely that means more than "don't try to tell me I need them".

Living "up North", I've spent a fair bit on rock salt to keep my driveway usable in winter, with winter tyres this is not necessary, though providing a narrow access route for Postman etc is still needed. With the current winters I seem to experience, fitting winter tyres minimises me finding that I need to "dump" the car on a main route - yes lots of people end up doing that and that just messes up the road clearing and emergancy services movement. My wife just can not get to work in a reasonable time by bus, so if her car cannot get/keep going in severe winter conditions, then she would lose money if she did not get to work, okay we could live or work elsewhere.

In closing, I will also say that generally "we" end up buying tyres that are increasingly "summer only" tyres - without knowing/meaning it - so that also tends to feed the need to thing about doing something about lack of traction in winter.

Now I'm sure that lots of people don't need winter tyres, either because they only use their car if the roads are clear or because they live near their work place, unfortunately not everyone lives where public transport links are good and the winter conditions can be "difficult" - especially when you need to travel when road gritting has not yet begun that day.

In areas where the weather is "traditionaly" grim in winter, local authorities tend to keep the roads in good condition, its mainly in the commuter belts where weather can get grim that most of the problems start, ie hundreds of miles of commuter A and B roads and a local authority that only covers city centre routes!

You can survive without a spare wheel or deicing fluid etc, but for some of us, its handier to have these things, and also use winter tyres during the colder months.

Also, you do tend to find local to me, that mountain bikers and skiers, see fitting winter tyres as being a "must do" - its either that or miss biking/sking when the weather is grim.

In closing, "we" do tend to end up buying "summer only" replacement tyres without knowing/meaning to, so that also can end up feeding the need for some of us to need to think about doing something else about tyres for winter driving.

Edited 12 December, 201114 yr by rum4mo

Check this out then: Shoe Grips

I'm maybe opening another can of worms, but why can't I find sensibly priced ordinary shoes that have "low temperature" material on the soles - instead of that "suitable for mild weather" crappy hard in winter plastic - I don't want to have to wear proper walking boots just to get to work - unless its in feet of snow.

Not you specifically, was a cheeky dig at people's attitudes in general, that's why there was a smiley. Like the quote above; "We, the enlightened". Just face facts, they don't suit everybody and I don't feel that I need them. Would I benefit from winter tyres, possibly. Is it a benefit I can't reproduce myself on the roads I drive on just by being a bit more sensible, I don't think it is. There are too many people on car forums at the moment who see winter tyres as a cure for all ailments. Lack of grip, winters will fix that. Crap stopping distances? Not with winter tyres you won't! Late for work? Just fit winters and then you can still do 70mph through the snow!

To read motoring forums this time of year, you'd be forgiven for thinking that winter tyres were made of ground-up unicorn dust and could get you to work at 100mph in the snow while you read your newspaper and receive a Shiatsu massage. Some people just need to tone it down a bit and accept that winter tyres will probably help, but not everyone NEEDS them and in a world where only a fraction of people actually have them then they do nothing to reduce what I see as MY biggest risk on the roads this Christmas, which is other drivers who simply can't drive.

I'm not sure that logic is mainly true, ie "I've not winter tyres on so lets get going - and some" - I for one, seem to have a greater respect for road conditions and the need to travel when things are grim since using winter tyres. Maybe in the same way that I would not find that I needed to take up knife juggling if I had just bought a great big first aid kit!

absolute idiots who go on about them..

.......in fact, no one i've ever known in my life has ever changed their tyres when it's winter... i only heard baout it when i came on briskoda.

Got them but don't go on about them. Getting a bit tired of the public smugness myself of some on here (Yeti's on winters) who outgrip other cars. I guess it justifies their choice.

No one I've ever known in my life (longer than yours) has ever fitted Turbo Dynamics Hybrid PD150 (MD376), 2.5" Miltek System, Helix Clutch & SMF, Seat Sport FMIC (Forge Hosing), Quaife ATB LSD, KW Variant 3 Coilovers, Mocal Thermostatic Oil Cooler, DevilsOwn Methanol Injection Kit, PD160 Intake, K Sport 330mm 8-pot Brakes, HEL Braided Hoses, Ferodo DS-2500 Pads, Allard EGR Delete, Jabba RARB, Forge Strut Braces, 17" Compomotive MO6 Alloys (Yokohama Parada Spec 2), NewSouth Performance Indigo Gauges, Powerflex/SuperPro Bushes, Cruise Control, Full LED Conversion, Xenon Headlights, Leather Interior, R32 Steering Wheel

, Sony MEX-BT3900U Bluetooth Headunit

Different folk, different strokes.

Get yourself a double din DVD player - the girls will like that!

I'd like to try them, but until I leave uni I have no need to drive in the snow, so shan't bother. I can walk to everywhere I need to, or get a bus to uni. If the buses are running, then how they expect me to commute the 20 miles in I have no idea.

Will most likely try them once I start needing to rely on the car though.

That said, I never got stuck once last year when several other cars were stranded - I did have some tyre/arch clearance issues though with all the ice.

My reason for winter tyres was the overall improvement they give in lower temps. I know they are not snow tyres, the softer rubber and different grip pattern may well make them better on snow and ice than summers but if there is a lot of snow and ice I reckon there may be a need for chains. In scandinavia I am fairly sure that in the winter they have to fit studded tyres, not just winter compounds.

x4 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme all approx 5mm tread in 225 45 17

Ah, so that's £140 each then? I thought you meant £140 for a set of 4 and had found some kind of bargain tyre which I possibly could have been tempted into, but I don't have £600 to spend on something that I don't see the benefits of.

Ah, so that's £140 each then? I thought you meant £140 for a set of 4 and had found some kind of bargain tyre which I possibly could have been tempted into, but I don't have £600 to spend on something that I don't see the benefits of.

I would think he did mean for all 4, winter tyres stop having their full benefits over non winter tyres at 4mm, as that is when the sipes are worn out, you will of course still get the benefit of better rubber for colder roads but will loose the benefit for driving on snow. (this is what the sipes do)

Hmm, so you're suggesting he may have bought part-worns for £140 for the set, but possibly not be getting the full benefit from them due to the wear they've incurred from the previous owner?

Most part worn winter tyres come from Europe (mostly Germany where they have to be fitted by law) they tend to swap them at 5 - 6mm as they know they do not work as well from 4mm so can still get some good money if they sell them to an less informed Brit , they also have more rubber than normal tyres do from new - 8mm+ for winters compared to 7mm.

Take a look on eBay and you will see most of the winters on there are between 4mm and 6mm

I'm feeling doubly enlightened today as I received the winter wheels for the wife's car.

Everyone needs a chill pill. My comment about being enlightened was tongue in cheek.

I agree the winter tyre evangelists are annoying. Like the holier than thou types regards HIDs. I have winters, I like them and they help me get around. Don't care if anyone else has them or not. It's their choice.

I would say that some people balk at the cost of them, without really considering their summer tyres will last much longer as they get a holiday every winter. Over 3 years, I doubt you'll spend anymore on tyres overall but you will have appropriate tyres for the seasons.

And for those of you who say "it won't stop someone else sliding into you"....well, yes, indeed that is true. Having winter tyres has allowed me to accelerate away from a car sliding towards my rear bumper down a hill at least twice. Even if they did hit me, it'll be their insurance policy being pummelled.

I would say that some people balk at the cost of them, without really considering their summer tyres will last much longer as they get a holiday every winter. Over 3 years, I doubt you'll spend anymore on tyres overall but you will have appropriate tyres for the seasons.

Surely there are other costs associated with winter tyres though, both monetary and otherwise? An extra set of rims for example? Or the cost and inconvenience of tyre fitment if you run with your existing set? There's also the hassle of storing a stack of tyres if you don't live in a property with a garage. I agree that if you need them, you need them. I also agree that it should always be down to individual choice, however it does seem a pretty hefty cost to me! I'd need to be living in exceptional UK conditions to justify them as a routine car ownership cost.

Yeah, I'd have to get new rims as I don't know anyone who'll fit tyres that aren't brand new and stickered up (so switching on my TD wheels wouldn't be an option). So that's 4 wheels I'd have to buy. I don't have the original radius seat bolts so I'd need a new set of those from Skoda (probably extortionate), I'd need the tyres, and I'd ideally need better lifting equipment to make changing over easier. Plus as you say, somewhere to store the other wheels, my current spare is in the greenhouse in the back garden as I can't use it (tyre's knackered and I don't have the right bolts, plus two of my tyres are a different size from the spare so I couldn't use the spare on the front anyway). But I'm not going to leave a set of Pro Race wheels out there.

Then 4 tyres, knowing what I now know about the snow performance suffering after 4mm, I dunno whether I'd be happy buying part worns. The eBay listings I was looking at this morning were mostly 4-4.5mm so little to no life in them really (assuming the sellers aren't being optimistic), if I bought winters then I'd want them to do the whole lot, cold, wet and snow. I can get around in the wet on my standard tyres no problem, and winter tyres aren't going to help on ice as they're not studded, so snow is the only real advantage IMO.

There's no denying having a garage makes life easier. I might not ever have tried them if it was too much hassle and that's why I've chosen the steel wheel route so I can change them over myself at short notice. Steel wheels from mytyres work out at around £30 per wheel but they come with tyres mounted, balanced and inflated. I borrow my Father-in-Law's trolley jack and we're pretty slick at the changeovers now!

The main reason I initially tried them out is I have to be able get to work when I'm on-call (I am a surgeon in Scotland) and they have allowed me to do that over the last few years with no drama or fuss. I'd like an Octavia Scout when my Fabia goes in around 2 years - our local Out Of Hours GP service uses them so they'll be able to get me most places in rural Lanarkshire I'd ever need to go.

Good luck with whatever you choose

and winter tyres aren't going to help on ice as they're not studded, so snow is the only real advantage IMO.

You may wish to change your opinion on that as they actually will help on ice as the rubber is designed for ice (and the sipes for snow)

The tyres I've just purchased for my car didnt break the bank £140 + £30 fitting to my OEM wheels and will prolong my summer tyres as they wont be getting used. Very cheap piece of mind if you ask me

Matthew

I assume that was for a set of all four? Which ones did you buy?

My tyres arrived today

£140 for all 4 and all bar 1 is close to 5mm, very chuffed so far. Booked in for fitting on the 21st

The top one is just over 3mm which is going back and a replacement being sent.

They will still offer better traction/stability than my summer tyres on the cold/wet/icy roads but should the snow become as bad as it did last year then it won't make any difference having 8mm or 5mm on my winter tyres as there isn't enough clearance under the car to drive on the roads anyway

The only vehicles getting around were the tractors going to their animals

Matthew

I bought some winter tyres for the first time a month ago and last weekend we had a covering off snow and ice. I had drove on hilly untreated roads in my area and the car went up every hill without slipping, so best money I have spent.

Sick of seeing threads on it....

Not been stuck in 17 years

Nanny culture much ?

Discuss.

Apologies for reviving an old thread, but thought it relevant given the recent spate of snow and half of the country grinding to a halt, and was wondering how you were coping with the snow right now in South Wales?!?

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by Statto