Its only a bit of snow

[Dum-Dum]

Was enjoying that, where's the opposition gone?

Probably into the central reservation (again) because he didnt have winter tyres.

[Jonny b]

Prada spec2's were my tyres in the snow ha ha!! f*cking fun ill say that lol!

Would buy winter tyres but don't do enough mileage in the s16 to justify!

Just use the landrover instead

[C.A.R.]

Well if you guys think you need them then fair play, I can see the attraction of having more grip for a few days of the year when it's slippery out. Personally I can't afford such a luxury and the fact that I have never needed them kind of speaks for itself, they would be a terrible investment.

If we suddenly experience snow bad enough to justify them here in Hertfordshire then I'll eat my pubes...

[Kezzieboy]

I'm with CAR tbh (scary thought). Winter tyres are wonderful, I'm sure, but the expense and hassle don't really seem worth it for our weather, I run rainsports as they're as good a compromise as any, fantastic in the wet, pretty good in the dry, and as with CAR I have no problem driving in snow, you just drive slower, brilliant eh? Plus, surely snow tyres are no good for hooning around in empty snow filled car-parks if they're as good as you say they are?!

[Niall]

Well if you guys think you need them then fair play, I can see the attraction of having more grip for a few days of the year when it's slippery out. Personally I can't afford such a luxury and the fact that I have never needed them kind of speaks for itself, they would be a terrible investment.

If we suddenly experience snow bad enough to justify them here in Hertfordshire then I'll eat my pubes...

CAR thats like saying i dont need car insurance because i will never crash?! I cant predict the future! Having winter tyres on for the few slippy days (which isnt just a few. probably 1/3 of a year!) may be the difference between hitting the back of a focus or not or even worse, running over a kid or not!

[C.A.R.]

But dude, seriously.

It's a 1-ton fwd hatchback, with skinny tyres. Quite possibly the best tool for slippery weather.

It's all about driving slower and anticipating the situation ahead.

If you had a RWD sportscar with fat rubber I could just about understand it in this country, until then I'll just view it as pointlessness.

When I skidded to a halt the other day it was on a very remote B-road which had not seen much traffic and I knew the ice was there! From less than 10mph to nothing took me a distance of about 5 meters to stop, triggering the ABS for a split moment. I never once thought I was going to bin it.

[Niall]

I think your missing the point a bit. Yes, i could slam my brakes on and happily control a slide to a stop. problem is though as you should be aware, stopping distances are greatly increased with bad weather. So on a quite road with no one about, you can slam your brakes on and slide to a stop? Great. What happens when your driving down a wet residential road at say 20 and a kid runs out from behind a car in front of you? You slam the brakes on and slide to a halt or do you hit the kid? The difference could be in the tyres you have on the car! Problem is, we have wet slippy weather for probably 1/3 of the year. Yes you could say that you drive to the conditions and any good driver will but no matter how good you are, you can always be put into an emergency situation where you might not be able to stop in time regardless of driving to the conditions or not.

Its all about reducing the risk. Getting up in the morning is a risk to an extent and we always take risks in every aspect of life but the more you can reduce those, the safer you and others will be!

[Dum-Dum]

Well if you guys think you need them then fair play, I can see the attraction of having more grip for a few days of the year when it's slippery out. Personally I can't afford such a luxury and the fact that I have never needed them kind of speaks for itself, they would be a terrible investment.

If we suddenly experience snow bad enough to justify them here in Hertfordshire then I'll eat my pubes...

Have you read any one elses reply in this thread?

Its not just more grip on a few days its more grip for 3-6 MONTHS

Also as for cost your not gonna be wearing out your summer tyres while using winter ones so theyll last longer giving you a saving that is the offset by having winter tyres.

Have a look on ebay (BIM theyer expensive as its just snowed) 195/55R15 winter tyres are sensible prices.

4 Bridgstone winter tyres £90 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-1955515-Brid...2a28f42226

4 Cheap winter tyres £60 and close enough you could collect them. - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195-55-15-part...3cce5261bb

4 BRAND NEW one £143 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4X-tyres-miche...3ccb038fa2


So if you go for part worns were talking £10 a month or less.

Ask yourself this though mate, If your out driving next winter on your perfectly legal all weather tyres at a speed perfectly within the speed limit with your nipper in her baby seat and get hit a patch if black ice you didnt see or some snow thats slippyer than you expected and you slide gracefully sideways into a lamp post and injure your own flesh and blood or worse how would you feel? Would you curse yourself being too tight for a tenner a month until next winter? Would you kick yourself for not taking sound advice from people that are trying to help you? Would you ever forgive yourself?

Accidents happen, everyone makes misjudgments and you arent as good a driver as you think you are. Having a bit of a safety net is always nice.

I'm with CAR tbh (scary thought). Winter tyres are wonderful, I'm sure, but the expense and hassle don't really seem worth it for our weather, I run rainsports as they're as good a compromise as any, fantastic in the wet, pretty good in the dry, and as with CAR I have no problem driving in snow, you just drive slower, brilliant eh? Plus, surely snow tyres are no good for hooning around in empty snow filled car-parks if they're as good as you say they are?!

Hassle? What changing a set of wheels twice a year, yeah thats hardly hassle, I can change a 306 wheel in less than a minute, several people on this forum have witnessed this.

As for cost it wont cost you any extra long term as in the winter when your running on winter tyres your not wearing out your all weather tyres on your summer wheels. You go from doing a set of tyres every 2 years to doing 2 sets of tyres in 4 years.

[Piggy]

hassle?! haha!

would you not swap your wheels round once a year anyway?!?

balancing needs checking once a year too at least

expense...its no more expensive.

Shop around in the summer ...
I got the picasso 15" wheels with brand new unused Verd's winter tyres all for £150!!
I got a set of 4 for my wifes 106 part worn with 5mm tread for £45 posted...set of steels for 20quid...job done.
And they have lasted 3winters so far and still have 3mm tread...
this is while my summer wheels/tyres arent being worn.

common sense.
get some

[Poodle]

If you two genuinely think you have no difficulty about driving in the snow on normal tyres, then all i can assume is that you have no understanding of what the car is doing underneath you and are numb to inputs from the floor, pedals and steering. And this argument about expense and hassle is dafts, they cost no more than normal tyres. My set cost me £52 a corner for a budget set, and that was before they were widespread, so they were marketed and priced as a specialist item. With regards to hassle, is changing a set of wheels twice a year really that much of an issue?

Well if you guys think you need them then fair play, I can see the attraction of having more grip for a few days of the year when it's slippery out. Personally I can't afford such a luxury and the fact that I have never needed them kind of speaks for itself, they would be a terrible investment.

If we suddenly experience snow bad enough to justify them here in Hertfordshire then I'll eat my pubes...

You're not even reading these posts are you? OR, is it just that you enjoy playing devils advocate, but can't form a cohesive and consistent argument? OR do you realise you've lost, but don't have the sense to back down gracefully...? Lol jus' sayin'... A couple of posts ago you admitted they were preferable in wet AND cold weather (another misconception, it's actually wet OR cold weather), now you're back to insisting they're only any use in the snow... Do keep up dear.

It's not a luxury, you end up saving money due to the better rate of wear. My winter tyres have done at least 10k - probably closer to 12/3k - and have got another couple of thousand in them yet, despite being thrashed to f*ck most of the time. I'd say that's a fairly good rate of wear myself, especially since they cost me no more than a normal set of all weather tyres.

It's a 1-ton fwd hatchback, with skinny tyres. Quite possibly the best tool for slippery weather.

Um, you know basic physics? You know, grip being a product of contact area and frictional value etc...? Also, on a sort-of-related note, have you ever heard of something called confirmational bias?

[Daniel-mcgowan]

Three years ago there was really bad snow where I am. It was that bad that the police were stuck in there station and so where the council. However, I was out in my dturbo and had no problems got about great and I had the roads to myself basically no winter tyres needed at all!

[Slam Wagon]

The point they are making isnt that these are needed but they are recomended. Like regularly checking your oil so you engine is lubed, sure you will be fine with less but eventually you will have a problem, same with winter tyres and the grip you get.

[Poodle]

Haha you're much better at expressing arguments in readable terms than I am. Got the nail on the head, in some regards it's just another aspect of preventative maintenance.

[Slam Wagon]

It made sense to me, just hope its makes sense to everyone else. You can get by without them yes, but if you can afford it then its a sound investment. I know long term the cost doesnt equate to anything but still and extra £100-200 at the start of winter might not be possible for some people. When does everyone fit their winter tyres?

[Piggy]

I buy in summer when they are super cheap...

I look ahead at the weather reports...usually get them all pressure checked and balanced at beginning of October...and as soon as forecast is for temps to be less than 10degrees for extended days then I pop em on.

I had them on last week in October '12 and have still got them on...
temps up to 7 during day next mon-wed but dip again to 1/2/3degrees later in week...so they wont be off till well into march I think

[TomLum]

The new fifth gear episode has a feature on tyre performance in the wet and the part worn winter tyres At a 40mph emergency brake test they stop 13 meters before the factory fitted continental rubber! Very good example of the benifits of using winter tyres.

[Piggy]

need we say more