Winter tyres

[Ian Podmore]

Winter tyres on just 1 axle can't be a good idea and I would think you would be in trouble with insurance.

[clansman]

Swapped the tin tops tyres over the other day ......anything from 7 deg down you should have a winter type tyre fitted they recon!! I've used Vredestiens Wintracs on my last  3 cars and never got stuck in any snow .....awesome tyre 

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

Fitted mine last Friday

But if it's feet deep you can't beat chains

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Winter tyres on just 1 axle can't be a good idea and I would think you would be in trouble with insurance.

not sure about the insurance implications but you'd certainly be in trouble as soon as you reached a corner the difference in grip between the two axles if mixing tyre types would be considerable and could lead to some interesting handling characteristics.

I suffered a rear blowout on one of my winter tyres a couple of weeks back so put the summer tyres back on the rear for a few of days till i could source a replacement tyre. On a wet road the front gripped as expected but I simply had no confidence in the rear end or feeling of what it may or maynot be about to do

[clansman]

not sure about the insurance implications but you'd certainly be in trouble as soon as you reached a corner the difference in grip between the two axles if mixing tyre types would be considerable and could lead to some interesting handling characteristics.

I suffered a rear blowout on one of my winter tyres a couple of weeks back so put the summer tyres back on the rear for a few of days till i could source a replacement tyre. On a wet road the front gripped as expected but I simply had no confidence in the rear end or feeling of what it may or maynot be about to do

 

 

My previous 2 estates I only had winter tyres on the front as they were front wheel drive and never had any issues re handling. The rears basically only followed where the front went. But have had to fit all 4 this time as standard wheels are 19" and trying to get a winter tyre to suit was nigh impossible so came down a size and fitted 18" with new wheels. Last year both times I got back in the UK from work the heaven's dumped all the white stuff it had and I sailed through anything it had. 

[JeffC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aahMDAr0ksM

[cast iron]

Dont confuse Winter tyres with Snow tyres. Snow tyres tend to be knobbly, and in some countries have studs, Winter tyres are more akin to a road pattern but are made of a different grade of rubber that "grips" at much lower temperatures, and subsequently have a higher wear rate, Great for most winter driving conditions and no real need to keep swapping them during the winter as you would with snow tyres.

[Dommo]

I've been running winters on my discovery all year. They'll need replacing after this winter - will probably replace them with winters again. They were fine in the snow, obviously. I've not been troubled for grip in the summer either, but then it's not driven like that!

[Speed Freak]

I am by no means knowledgeable on winter tyres, but from using them for the past 10 years, I think vredestein are awesome for grip- they are however a very soft compound and don't last long; but for performance I found them very good- and that was on a civic type r which sends nigh on 200ps through front wheels!

My personal favorite is the bridgestone blizzak- last a bit longer, and feel pretty good; but as they are slightly harder, they are a tad noisier than the vred's. Not too expensive too.

 

just my opinion mind

[peet]

Blizzaks are superb! Had them on my LOWERED Mk1 Golf caddy. Towed 1 van and a 4x4 outta ditches and was the only car that used the unploughed lane of the M23!

[windy]

Yep, vote for winters here.

Plenty of ice and greasy wet muddy roads where I've been this weekend to test them out  

[It Almost Looks Like A Car]

So where is best place to get some? been internetting but prices seem all over the place

 

i'm after some 205/55R16 91V, Bridgestone Blizzak LM32 and a set black alloys to go with them.

 

Any links gratefully accepted!!

[windy]

Oponeo

[clansman]

mytyres .co.uk is where I get mine (Vredesteins) from got the alloys from fleabay.

[Buzz Billsberry]

Winter tyres on just 1 axle can't be a good idea and I would think you would be in trouble with insurance.

Who said fit them on one axle?( it never said it in the video) and more to the point why would you fit them to just one axle? It's a no brainer.

Winter tyres had just come into vogue when I worked for Pirelli (2005) and it was all the usual crap "it's just another way of ripping the motorist off" but as mentioned the difference in performance is measurable...cold wet days they are perfect the main thing they give is feel and confidence in everyday driving but it's under braking is where they score. If was running the Tamora in the winter I would definitely use winter tyres.

As JC mentioned the real danger out there are the tight gits running on cheap budget summer or normal tyres. These are such a poor performing Tyres in the wet cold conditions of winter I would rather use slicks or a descent set of quality tyres on 1mm of tread.

Buzz