General Which winter tyres are people going for
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General Which winter tyres are people going for
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This debate will go on for ever. I see exactly what Rob and 306maxi are saying, its proven due to the tyre materials, having said that, in all my years of driving and riding motorbikes, I have never used winter rubber.
I just drive to the conditions, if anything it makes me more wary and aware of the road limitations and my own, god forgive me for standing on the same side of the fence as Draigflag but I cant honestly imagine the need for winter rubber, even knowing that the all weather tyres wont be as sticky at sub 7 degrees....
But fair play to those who do it, it does make sense but not for me... I couldnt justify the space for 4 wheels and tyres for half a year degrading in the garage. If ever I did, the winter rubber would HAVE to be on alloys... more expense... and TBH I dont recall getting into any "out of control" situations with my all year round budget rubber.
I'll close the door on my way out...
I just drive to the conditions, if anything it makes me more wary and aware of the road limitations and my own, god forgive me for standing on the same side of the fence as Draigflag but I cant honestly imagine the need for winter rubber, even knowing that the all weather tyres wont be as sticky at sub 7 degrees....
But fair play to those who do it, it does make sense but not for me... I couldnt justify the space for 4 wheels and tyres for half a year degrading in the garage. If ever I did, the winter rubber would HAVE to be on alloys... more expense... and TBH I dont recall getting into any "out of control" situations with my all year round budget rubber.
I'll close the door on my way out...
Fair enough and I respect thatThis debate will go on for ever. I see exactly what Rob and 306maxi are saying, its proven due to the tyre materials, having said that, in all my years of driving and riding motorbikes, I have never used winter rubber.
I just drive to the conditions, if anything it makes me more wary and aware of the road limitations and my own, god forgive me for standing on the same side of the fence as Draigflag but I cant honestly imagine the need for winter rubber, even knowing that the all weather tyres wont be as sticky at sub 7 degrees....
But fair play to those who do it, it does make sense but not for me... I couldnt justify the space for 4 wheels and tyres for half a year degrading in the garage. If ever I did, the winter rubber would HAVE to be on alloys... more expense... and TBH I dont recall getting into any "out of control" situations with my all year round budget rubber.
I'll close the door on my way out...
It's people who tell you that there's no advantage or that summer tyres are just fine in winter. At least you understand that they're not "fine" and you drive accordingly. That I respect very much
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Just out of curiosity do they do winter rubber for bikes?
Well thats the thing see... none of my bike buddies ever even talked about it....
To be honest the point which has been missed is that the amount of tread is likely to have more of an affect. New summer tyres will be better than worn winter tyres (i.e only 2-3mm tread) in winter.
It's a balance of a number of factors, winter tyres are not the holy grail of safety. It also depends on the weather, even during winter.
It's a balance of a number of factors, winter tyres are not the holy grail of safety. It also depends on the weather, even during winter.
alfatastic
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I was just pointing out that the people (tyre sales people at that) where using stats to try and prove something that they don't prove at all, infact slightly disprove.well done for demonstrating how to split a hair
6 months = half a year
48% = half, near as dammit
Since 98% of my driving in the Fiat is done in the very urban surounds of a big city which has much higher road temps anyway, and no reason to exceed 30mph, I feel for me winter tyres would be overkill, and since the garage is somewhat full (including 5 steel Alfa wheels whcih don't fit the fiat), I'll stick to driving carefully and in the snow just get the bus or walk (which can often be quicker than any powered transport after the sudden downpour of snow as last winter proved yet again. I walked the 6 miles home in 1.5 hours, people in cars and buses where taking over 5 hours to get home, in gridlock conditions where people randomly abandon cars, blocking roads, no vehical can get past anyway
)
Why do people insist on treating them as snow tyres when they're WINTER tyres?I was just pointing out that the people (tyre sales people at that) where using stats to try and prove something that they don't prove at all, infact slightly disprove.
Since 98% of my driving in the Fiat is done in the very urban surounds of a big city which has much higher road temps anyway, and no reason to exceed 30mph, I feel for me winter tyres would be overkill, and since the garage is somewhat full (including 5 steel Alfa wheels whcih don't fit the fiat), I'll stick to driving carefully and in the snow just get the bus or walk (which can often be quicker than any powered transport after the sudden downpour of snow as last winter proved yet again. I walked the 6 miles home in 1.5 hours, people in cars and buses where taking over 5 hours to get home, in gridlock conditions where people randomly abandon cars, blocking roads, no vehical can get past anyway
:bang: some people just won't be educated
alfatastic
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I actually meant that the road temperature in the city is never low enough to really require special tyres and if they aren't for snow why would I need them unless I go cross country, where the roads are colder.:worship:
That's the biggest load of rubbish ever. Yes cities are islands of heat but in the winter they're not that much warmer than country areas.
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Even in da big cities road temperatures drop below 7degrees...
This isnt a Snow tyres debate... its a Winter tyres debate, I get the rationale totally but some seem to be really struggling with the concept.
In some countries it is ILLEGAL to NOT have winter tyres on after a certain date & before another date...
correctamundo...here in the Fatherland my winter wheels must be fitted by October the first
I know obviously the conditions are different compared to the UK but do you feel that winter tyres give you a lot more grip on those days when it's cold?
yes i do,i've driven with winter wheels for many years now,before it became law about 2\3 years ago.I swear by them.
Yes I know I'm bringing an old thread back to life but with good reason.
Was talking to a friend on MSN tonight who works for one of the big tyre brands as a tyre tester.
He kindly logged into the companies servers via VPN and had a look at the test results for winter tyres in 175/65 R14 flavour.
Here are the results as per their testing
Tyres which just aren't worth buying
Pirelli Snowcontrol - Crap grip in the wet. About 10% down overall on top tyres
Michelin Alpin - Same as above but is more durable
Goodyear UG7 - Highly reccomended
Dunlop SP winter response - Highly reccomended
Vredestein (not sure if it was a Snowtrac 2 or 3) - Highly reccomended - Slightly better than Goodyears and Dunlops
Continental Wintercontact - Better wet grip than the Vredestein but not as good in terms of tyre life.
So two choices really which are both perfectly good and as near to equal as you like. Conti gives a bit more outright grip and the Vredestein is still up there with it but will last a bit longer. Goodyear and Dunlop aren't bad choices either tbh.
Do bear in mind that this testing is specifically for the 175/65 R14 size of tyre so results may differ in different sizes
Lucky bugger. Tomorrow he gets to drive a modified BMW in the wet with brand new 245/55 R18's on the front and barely legal 265/55 R18's on the back all with the aim of seeing whether it aquaplanes or spins the rear wheels up first. Life is so hard when you're a tyre tester.
Was talking to a friend on MSN tonight who works for one of the big tyre brands as a tyre tester.
He kindly logged into the companies servers via VPN and had a look at the test results for winter tyres in 175/65 R14 flavour.
Here are the results as per their testing
Tyres which just aren't worth buying
Pirelli Snowcontrol - Crap grip in the wet. About 10% down overall on top tyres
Michelin Alpin - Same as above but is more durable
Goodyear UG7 - Highly reccomended
Dunlop SP winter response - Highly reccomended
Vredestein (not sure if it was a Snowtrac 2 or 3) - Highly reccomended - Slightly better than Goodyears and Dunlops
Continental Wintercontact - Better wet grip than the Vredestein but not as good in terms of tyre life.
So two choices really which are both perfectly good and as near to equal as you like. Conti gives a bit more outright grip and the Vredestein is still up there with it but will last a bit longer. Goodyear and Dunlop aren't bad choices either tbh.
Do bear in mind that this testing is specifically for the 175/65 R14 size of tyre so results may differ in different sizes
Lucky bugger. Tomorrow he gets to drive a modified BMW in the wet with brand new 245/55 R18's on the front and barely legal 265/55 R18's on the back all with the aim of seeing whether it aquaplanes or spins the rear wheels up first. Life is so hard when you're a tyre tester.
Test results from tirecompanies themselfs...????
I don't trust those results at all...!!!
Independent sources like www.adac.de or www.autobild.de ( look for "(winter) reifen test" is what I trust far more...!!
I don't trust those results at all...!!!
Independent sources like www.adac.de or www.autobild.de ( look for "(winter) reifen test" is what I trust far more...!!
Peter, this is the companies own internal benchmarks, what they use themselves to compare themselves against the competition and decide what changes they need to make to the next generation of tyres. They have no interest in fooling themselves as it only means that they will fall behind the competition. It's not in their interests to lie to themselves
I've had a look at the Adac tests and the top 4 are exactly the same as what I have listed so make of that what you will
http://www1.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/175_65_R14T/default.asp
As you can see in those German (no speed limit) tire tests, is that Pirelli IS a very good overal tire, sommer and winter.
I'm a Pirelli adapt for years, use them on all of my four cars and two motorbikes, I just feel there's ( almost...) no other tire for an Italian car or motorbike.
(Just imagine a new Ferrari on f.i. Vredestein tires.......)
I'm a Pirelli adapt for years, use them on all of my four cars and two motorbikes, I just feel there's ( almost...) no other tire for an Italian car or motorbike.
(Just imagine a new Ferrari on f.i. Vredestein tires.......)
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OP
OP
This year I am going for 285/70 x 16s in a Goodrich AT pattern and compound.
Cheers
SPD
Cheers
SPD
