And it was one of the recommendations of the review of the winter of 2010 conducted by the Scottish Government, no idea if am Polis have acted on it though

+1 for winter tyres. I aint no Ayrton Senna, and big enough to admit it. Frankly the difference between winters and normal summer tyres is knowing you have traction to get up hills, let alone small inclines, and won't go skating off on the first RAB. Summer tyres are just a lottery.

I have tried them, didn't notice a difference.

None of the emergency services fit them as standard over the winter and manage (I spent most of today in a 530 estate with summer tyres on it and didn't crash once despite doing 100mph+).

Money would be better spent on driver training IMO.

I'm not sure that's the most responsible approach. If all goods vehicles and buses were fitted with winter tyres, then the motorways and town centres wouldnt get gridlocked so easily. No amount of driver skill is going to provide grip where it doesn't exist.

Every F1 driver would change their tyres!

They know how different tyres can be.

And for the stubborn, just try them under colder conditions (especially if the car is originally on high speed tyres. Not the 1.0 Fiesta of the 80ies).

Even on a Quattro a world of difference

Metblackrat I assume you are either a police pursuit driver or not in the UK.

Where we live if you were driving at that speed today you would have crashed winters or no winters.

You could have driven closer to the speed limit on winters safely and doubt you would have moved without.

Oh we live 6 miles south of Guildford on the top of a hill

A hot topic in this cold weather! My two penn'orth:

Practical issues :- save your alloys from the salt - you only wear one set of tyres at once so no overall increase in running costs - proven better performance below 7C in poor conditions - less chance of getting stuck or not being able to climb gradients, even in fairly light snow.

Opinions :- They are a driver aid like ABS, ESP etc, one more thing that might keep you out of a ditch when ones superior driving skills are just not enough no matter how good a driver you are, or think you are, everyone can make a mistake - most of the 'safe' driving on most roads by most people is because they are salted. Many winter accidents occur when drivers are caught out by sudden downfalls, as mentioned earlier 1 cm of snow causes chaos.

Disadvantages :- The only downside is having to pay for a second set of rims and tyres and storing them.

I can understand the 'I don't need them' approach. We are all individuals with our own thoughts, priorities and circumstances.

I'm sold on them, my wife had one shot in mine with winters on and she's sold on them too so both cars now run them every winter.

It is all about better braking and cornering in cold and wet weather, with or without snow.

What I don't understand is the 'They're a waste of time and don't work any better than 'normal' tyres' that crops up from time to time. Sure you're a master driver and survived, great, you're clearly brilliant - but it could have been even easier. Ultimately the tyres are a different compound with different tread patterns. F1, WRC, All Motorsport and Serious Offroading all major on the right tyres for the job. Ultimately whether the best driver in the world, or a numpty you cannot escape the laws of physics!

Identical vehicles, controlled environment, identical manouveres. It cannot be diputed!!

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by Niall

A hot topic in this cold weather! My two penn'orth:

Practical issues :- save your alloys from the salt - you only wear one set of tyres at once so no overall increase in running costs - proven better performance below 7C in poor conditions - less chance of getting stuck or not being able to climb gradients, even in fairly light snow.

Opinions :- They are a driver aid like ABS, ESP etc, one more thing that might keep you out of a ditch when ones superior driving skills are just not enough no matter how good a driver you are, or think you are, everyone can make a mistake - most of the 'safe' driving on most roads by most people is because they are salted. Many winter accidents occur when drivers are caught out by sudden downfalls, as mentioned earlier 1 cm of snow causes chaos.

Disadvantages :- The only downside is having to pay for a second set of rims and tyres and storing them.

This man speaks sense. I had them on my Octy, steel rims with goodyears ultragrips, I paid close to £600 for them and I used them for 2 winters before selling them on for just under £300. I now have an S4 and even though the alloys (18" needed) and tyres cost me £1200 I see them as a good investment which over the ownership of my car will not cost me any more than if I had left the standard 19" alloys on.

They're good, a reverse parrallel park up hill on compacted snow in my rear wheel drive took 2 or 3 attempts with a bit of wheelspin and the car shifting to one side on normal tyres, on winters in the same conditions, in first time with no drama. Drove an Octavia diesel today, thought it was never going to stop with the ABS and normal tyres.

Metblackrat I assume you are either a police pursuit driver or not in the UK.

Where we live if you were driving at that speed today you would have crashed winters or no winters.

You could have driven closer to the speed limit on winters safely and doubt you would have moved without.

Oh we live 6 miles south of Guildford on the top of a hill

I am the former and spent most of the day between J13 and J16 of the M25!

used ours today for the first time as Tesco were unable to deliver (no panic buying, just our weekly shop), so we drove down to them, car park was empty and loads of roads closed, but we had great fun.

I have tried them, didn't notice a difference.

None of the emergency services fit them as standard over the winter and manage (I spent most of today in a 530 estate with summer tyres on it and didn't crash once despite doing 100mph+).

Money would be better spent on driver training IMO.

Wrong, We work on East midlands Ambulance services Fast response vehicles who run Octavia scouts and they are all fitted with winter tyres.

I am the former and spent most of the day between J13 and J16 of the M25!

I know this is a public forum, and you're of duty, and at the end of the day entitled to your opinion as anyone else, but given your posting as a pursuit driver for the plod then I'm surprised you're not encouraging folk to be more sensible! I totally agree driver training, but hey anything to help the non car types who struggle in the dry let alone snow would be appreciated by the rest of us!

Drove onto my drive this evening on Avon Ice Touring ST 205/55 R16. No slipling, no traction control.

On michelin energies I would have had to park 1/2 a mile away on the main road (for the car to be splattered by ploughts and gritters) and walk 1/2 mile uphill. The contis before that as supplied by the factory were also useless in the snow.

Totally converted.

A few times after breaking I had to let off as the cars behind would have hit me. Different driving style looking in the rear mirror much more than usual (and I check it a lot).

Everyone's allowed to be wrong

(Curse you, mobile phone delay, I was replying to an earlier post!)

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by Yearofthegoat

An example of the difference us Octavia with winters, neighbour with golf with summer tyres

Same slope similar chassis, they have narrower high profile tyres which are better in the snow.

We drive up slope with no dramas, they give up

A huge differencedifference

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by solwood

Whereas if they were made compulsory like in Germany etc the road wouldn’t get blocked in the first place.

25km traffic jams on virtually every autobahn when it started snowing here a week or so ago; over confident drivers driving too fast without leaving big enough gaps for braking causes accidents too!

However, as stated elsewhere HGVs and buses rarely block the roads here in winter.

Well, this is my second winter that I've put winters on my Octavia, and today was the first time I drove in real snow on them. I can't agree with the folk on here who say they see no difference over summer tyres. The grip was tremendous, and I noticed a couple of times that whereas drivers in front were moving away from traffic lights and sliding sideways towards the kerb, my Octy wasn't -- not only was it pulling away and gripping in a straight line, it actually felt like it wanted to go where I pointed it without any hint of sliding.

I was truly surprised at just how sure-footed it felt.

I'm running 195/65x15 winters on steel rims from an Octy Classic in place of 205/55x16 summers on the standard Elegance Vega alloys

Mike

Told you it was worth it Mike - imagine getting up the hills near me without winters on!

2010 in Aachen in a Mazda Premacy fitted with Michelin Energy savers, 4 days continuos snow with 14 inches falling in one night, it was downright scary. The day we came home It took four people to move the car from its parking space. Now the Mazda has been replaced with a Yeti fitted with Michelin Alpins, it's like driving on rails (no I'm not stuck in a rut) no problems stopping, starting, cornering or climbing hills, I should have done it years ago.

I can understand the 'I don't need them' approach. We are all individuals with our own thoughts, priorities and circumstances.

I'm sold on them, my wife had one shot in mine with winters on and she's sold on them too so both cars now run them every winter.

It is all about better braking and cornering in cold and wet weather, with or without snow.

What I don't understand is the 'They're a waste of time and don't work any better than 'normal' tyres' that crops up from time to time. Sure you're a master driver and survived, great, you're clearly brilliant - but it could have been even easier. Ultimately the tyres are a different compound with different tread patterns. F1, WRC, All Motorsport and Serious Offroading all major on the right tyres for the job. Ultimately whether the best driver in the world, or a numpty you cannot escape the laws of physics!

Identical vehicles, controlled environment, identical manouveres. It cannot be diputed!!

All naysayers should watch this. End of debate.

Would make no sense to make it compulsory that everyone should have winters, some parts of the country don't experience severe winter weather. So winter tyres would just be an expensive waste of time to them.

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Yet again a pointless comment made by someone who obviously doesn't understand winter tyres. They are far superior in colder , wet conditions not just if there is snow or ice.

25km traffic jams on virtually every autobahn when it started snowing here a week or so ago; over confident drivers driving too fast without leaving big enough gaps for braking causes accidents too!

However, as stated elsewhere HGVs and buses rarely block the roads here in winter.

so the key point is HGV / Buses on winters dont block roads. Means the rest of us can carry on.

Yet again a pointless comment made by someone who obviously doesn't understand winter tyres. They are far superior in colder , wet conditions not just if there is snow or ice.

I believe I am allowed my own opinion, winter tyres would prove no benefit to me at all, I have tried them before and all I felt was more traction at startup but not much on the bends, and as my miles are done on the A9 where you are at a constant speed of around 60mph, I won't be doing much stop starting.

So get off your high horse.

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Our summer tyres are perfectly fine during winter and do not wear at all.

Stored in the garage while we use winter tyres for both of our cars, a Fabia and a Mondeo.

I believe I am allowed my own opinion, winter tyres would prove no benefit to me at all, I have tried them before and all I felt was more traction at startup but not much on the bends, and as my miles are done on the A9 where you are at a constant speed of around 60mph, I won't be doing much stop starting.

So get off your high horse.

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no offence, just hope you're never following me on the A9