You may wish to take your head out of the sand and research your info before making such bold statements, the following video should prove to even you that winter tyres make a huge difference on ice:

I notice that the cars that failed to turn had their wheels locked - that's not the way to turn on ice. Once you have braked hard enough to lock the wheels you cannot expect to change the direction of travel.

Unless you try some for yourself it seems your mind is set. Please be careful.

Having now run winters since late 09, I would not consider modern summer tyres again for this part of the year. The ability to keep going in the worst of weather and the considerable improvement in safety is well worth the effort of changing to winter pattern in late October, early November.

Would also recommened ticking that ESP box if your ordering a new car; hit black ice on a tight bend in the wife's very light weight Fabia TSI the other week, combination of the winters and the ESP working together kept me on the straight and narrow. Oh and no I was not driving at speed, more tiptoeing as I know how dangerous that road can be.

Modern summer tyres bear no comparison to the tyres say of the early eighties, the move to economy/environmental considerations, has completely changed the compounds and tread patterns.

My two-penneth anyway,

TP

Modern summer tyres bear no comparison to the tyres say of the early eighties, the move to economy/environmental considerations, has completely changed the compounds and tread patterns.

Exactly. And it is interesting to note that the AA, and other authorities, have (i) recommended the use of winter tyres in conditions below 7 degrees C and (ii) said that if you are going to use one tyre all year round, then better that should be a winter rather than a summer tyre.

Norry, to put it bluntly, I don't think you quite get it!

Winter tyres are for use when the temperature is below about 7 degrees. The fact that unfortunately many people call them snow tyres has confused many. They are correctly described as WINTER tyres.

And I'm sorry but the fact that you have been driving for 55 years proves nothing. Even 20 years ago tyre and vehicle technology was way behind compared to now. My first "sporty" car ran on 165/70 x 13 tyres, and they were considered extreme. Now even granny's shopping car has wider tyres, simply because it has 2 or 3 times the power we had then.

Winter tyres are there for a simple reason, they have been proved to be safer. Not just be the experts but by many thousands of the general driving public all over Europe.

Exactly. And it is interesting to note that the AA, and other authorities, have (i) recommended the use of winter tyres in conditions below 7 degrees C and (ii) said that if you are going to use one tyre all year round, then better that should be a winter rather than a summer tyre.

That is also what Continental told me when I talked to them many months ago.

This is my first winter on winter tyres, have them on both our cars, I would not be without them now and we have been fairly snow free so far (how disappointing). I would say that in normal conditions my braking distance has increased, not sure if this is this is the car but more probably the tyres.

I notice that the cars that failed to turn had their wheels locked - that's not the way to turn on ice. Once you have braked hard enough to lock the wheels you cannot expect to change the direction of travel.

But if you look closely enough you will see, that they keep turning when the car is hitting the cones. What happens after that is rather irrelevant since the car already left its intended track.

Norry, to put it bluntly, I don't think you quite get it!

Winter tyres are for use when the temperature is below about 7 degrees. The fact that unfortunately many people call them snow tyres has confused many. They are correctly described as WINTER tyres.

And I'm sorry but the fact that you have been driving for 55 years proves nothing. Even 20 years ago tyre and vehicle technology was way behind compared to now. My first "sporty" car ran on 165/70 x 13 tyres, and they were considered extreme. Now even granny's shopping car has wider tyres, simply because it has 2 or 3 times the power we had then.

Winter tyres are there for a simple reason, they have been proved to be safer. Not just be the experts but by many thousands of the general driving public all over Europe.

+1

Agreed Graham

We're going over old ground of course. I am a total convert to winter tyres having kerbed both my N/S alloys last winter on compacted snow whilst taking avoiding action at slow speed to avoid a head on collision with an oncoming out of control car just 100yds from my home. It proved instantly that a 4x4 is no safer than any other car when you are trying to stop in slippery conditions.

Modern summer tyres are designed with longitudinal groves to clear water away from the tyre's footprint. Tyres of 20+ years ago cleared the water by having transverse groves that pumped the water away sideways. This also allowed them to grip far better in wintery conditions than a modern summer tyre can ever do.

Don't knock winter tyres until you've tried them. As many people have said here, the transformation is almost unbelievable.

Edited 11 February, 201214 yr by speedsport

Well, I don't know of a single person that has switched to winter tyres this time of year and prefers their summer rubber! Nuff said! Have to say though, it's also interesting to note the differences between different winter tyres on the car (just to confuse the whole subject even more) im finding these Michelin Alpin A4's far less compromised on noise and handling than the previous Continental made winter rubber. All round they are truly excellent.

im finding these Michelin Alpin A4's far less compromised on noise and handling than the previous Continental made winter rubber. All round they are truly excellent.

Agreed, can't fault the Alpins for noise or grip in wet / dry conditions, don't know about snow performance yet, too warm in Cornwall

Prefer the ride to the 17" Dunlops.

Agreed, can't fault the Alpins for noise or grip in wet / dry conditions, don't know about snow performance yet, too warm in Cornwall

Prefer the ride to the 17" Dunlops.

Ooooo, trust me, they are VERY good in snow also...

Ooooo, trust me, they are VERY good in snow also...

Hope I get the opportunity to try them myself before the the end of the winter.

Thanks to the excellent advice from this forum, I have now purchased and fitted a set of Winter Tyres on new steel wheels. I don't want to fit plastic trims but would appreciate some recommendations as to the best way to cover the wheel centres or the area where the wheel nuts are.

Thanks in anticipation.

Peter

Thanks to the excellent advice from this forum, I have now purchased and fitted a set of Winter Tyres on new steel wheels. I don't want to fit plastic trims but would appreciate some recommendations as to the best way to cover the wheel centres or the area where the wheel nuts are.

Thanks in anticipation.

Peter

VW Caddy trims are the ones Peter. Either the flush type that cover the entire wheel centre, or the "spider" type that covers just the hub centre and a leg to each wheel nut. Both are available in black plastic. Look at any British Gas VW Caddy van to see what they look like, or find Johann's excellent photos on an earlier thread here. Some photos of my Yet with flush Caddy caps on silver steels there too.

The Flush ones are about £8 each + VAT, the "Spider" ones slightly cheaper last time I looked, though they occasionally turn up on eBay. Don't be tempted to buy VW T5 caps, they are the wrong size to grip the wheel nuts & will fall off!

And welcome to the Yeti Forum, Peter. Do have a scroll through old posts when you have time, there's a wealth of info here about all aspects of Snow Monster (Yeti) ownership!

John H

Edited 13 February, 201214 yr by speedsport

Thanks to the excellent advice from this forum, I have now purchased and fitted a set of Winter Tyres on new steel wheels. I don't want to fit plastic trims but would appreciate some recommendations as to the best way to cover the wheel centres or the area where the wheel nuts are.

Thanks in anticipation.

Peter

Johann you're on mate!

Seriously if you do as Johann suggest --a Google search on the Briskoda site you will find a lotof info about wheel centre covers

Edited 13 February, 201214 yr by yetiscot

"Funny thing is I am getting better fuel economy with my winter tyres on than with the summers. I fitted them in mid October, but they are in their element now."

Me too, second year running so not a fluke, (up from 39-40mpg to 42-45mpg same journeys*) and its not due to running slower in snow because we've hardly had any, just low temperatures.

* 1.2 TSI DSG, not diesel.

Fred

Me too, second year running so not a fluke, (up from 39-40mpg to 42-45mpg same journeys*) and its not due to running slower in snow because we've hardly had any, just low temperatures.

Some of that (although by no means all unless you have a strange wheel/tyre combination) will actually be due to the smaller circumference of your winter wheels/tyres set - so the car actually thinks it has gone further when it hasn't !

Really? Why didn't I think of that...

Some of that (although by no means all unless you have a strange wheel/tyre combination) will actually be due to the smaller circumference of your winter wheels/tyres set - so the car actually thinks it has gone further when it hasn't !

Absolutely.

Checking the speed with a GPS with the winter tyres on and it's 10% out as opposed to the normal 5% with the standard wheels/tyres. Measuring distance with the GPS also bears this out, odometer reads high as well.

Some of that (although by no means all unless you have a strange wheel/tyre combination) will actually be due to the smaller circumference of your winter wheels/tyres set - so the car actually thinks it has gone further when it hasn't !

There are a number of possible contributory factors to your better fuel consumption with winter tyres e.g.

Difference in rolling radius

Lower resistance as the tread blocks are softer and more pliable

Lighter weight of steel wheels & narrower tyres

More dense cold air making engine more 'efficient'

plus probably a couple more that don't spring to mind right now.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, in my experience my fuel consumption is worse by 1 - 2mpg with 'winter tyres'.

My winter tyres are larger slightly than my winter ones, so I should get less mpg, but I don't. I don't drive any different with them, apart from slower when there is snow on the ground. :lol:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Winter larger than winter; that's novel!

Winter larger than winter; that's novel!

Thats what happens when you write it in bed upside down.........without my reading glasses on...

So, I meant my winters are larger than my summers......which should give less mpg, but according to my stats on spritmonitor, my winters are giving me the best economy.

Thats what happens when you write it in bed upside down.........without my reading glasses on...

So, I meant my winters are larger than my summers......which should give less mpg, but according to my stats on spritmonitor, my winters are giving me the best economy.

So if your winters are larger shouldn't they actually give you 'better' consumption? Less rotations per mile? Do correct me if I'm wrong.

I've rechecked my Spiritmonitor and, without doing a full detailed analysis, it looks like I'm actually getting about the same consumption winter vs. summer (my winters are slightly smaller, but are on heavier wheels).