General Which winter tyres are people going for

[rallycinq]

This year I put all season tyres of OE size on my standard alloys.

I may put bigger alloys on in the height of summer, if I am in this country.

Cheers

SPD

 

[306maxi]

Well I've ordered some Snowtrac 3's today. Down in London till Wednesday though so by then the snow will all be gone I'm sure!

 

[rallycinq]

Well I've ordered some Snowtrac 3's today. Down in London till Wednesday though so by then the snow will all be gone I'm sure!

The Quatracs have been superb in snow and work brilliantly on ice. Are you sure you need the Snotracs?

Cheers

SPD

 

[306maxi]

The Quatracs have been superb in snow and work brilliantly on ice. Are you sure you need the Snotracs?

Cheers

SPD

Well Quatracs are an all weather tyre (albeit one that's good in winter) and snowtracs are just going to be that bit better.

 

[YouKnowWho]

Well you can do what I did and just buy a used set of steel rims and just got a can of spraypaint and gave them a few coats. Put wheelcoveres on them and to the outside world they look like the car came with them I got mine for about £40 off ebay though I did have to drive to pick them up.

OR you could use http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/skw.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=76732425.110.13949&s_p=Steel_wheels and they'll send you. HELLCAT YOU *&^%

Steel wheel plus Snowtrac3 for £80 a corner. Not too bad.

Do you happen to know whether I can then pop the hub caps across or do I need to buy new ones. There isn't a picture of the steelies on the mytyres site

Thanks

 

[Zakt]

winter tyres are a waste of time - they won't stop a single person from crashing into you!

 

[Hellcat]

winter tyres are a waste of time - they won't stop a single person from crashing into you!

They might if you can get out of their way!

 

[YouKnowWho]

winter tyres are a waste of time - they won't stop a single person from crashing into you!

Riiiighht ... so are seatbelts, Airbags, ABS ... Need I go on?

 

[Zakt]

Riiiighht ... so are seatbelts, Airbags, ABS ... Need I go on?

Irrelevant comment - the vast majority of vehicles are not fitted with winter tyres.

 

[Hellcat]

Was ABS worth it in 1990 when the Tempra could be bought with ABS? Most other cars didn't have ABS, hell there will still have been plenty of cars with all round drums!

 

[rallycinq]

Irrelevant comment - the vast majority of vehicles are not fitted with winter tyres.

But they should be. Too many people in this country not prepared to do their bit to help.

Cheers

SPD

 

[YouKnowWho]

Irrelevant comment - the vast majority of vehicles are not fitted with winter tyres.

How do you think things change? one person does it, then others realise it was a good idea and follow.

 

[Zakt]

How do you think things change? one person does it, then others realise it was a good idea and follow.

Do you think it's enforcable though? We always hear of people driving along with illegally bald tyres - if the 1.7mm rule isn't adhered to how could one expect a winter-tyre rule to be enforced?
Also, tyres gradually harden with time in any case, causing a significant reduction in performance even in ideal conditions. Do you think this year's winter tyres will still be in as good condition next year, or the year after that? Would you favour an age-related tyre rule too, where all tyres must be less than, say, 5 years old? I guess this could be checked at MOT examinations, but I can't see it being hugely popular.
And I have 5 cars and an RV (with 6 tyres) in my household - I don't really fancy forking out for 22 winter tyres, and would rather not have to store the remaining 22 summer tyres somewhere too!

 

[RobW]

Do you think it's enforcable though? We always hear of people driving along with illegally bald tyres - if the 1.7mm rule isn't adhered to how could one expect a winter-tyre rule to be enforced?
Also, tyres gradually harden with time in any case, causing a significant reduction in performance even in ideal conditions. Do you think this year's winter tyres will still be in as good condition next year, or the year after that? Would you favour an age-related tyre rule too, where all tyres must be less than, say, 5 years old? I guess this could be checked at MOT examinations, but I can't see it being hugely popular.
And I have 5 cars and an RV (with 6 tyres) in my household - I don't really fancy forking out for 22 winter tyres, and would rather not have to store the remaining 22 summer tyres somewhere too!

yes winter tyres are mandatory in Germany and Canada

 

[Zakt]

yes winter tyres are mandatory in Germany and Canada

I'm aware of that, but do you think people would happily do it here, with our far more temperate climate? I don't think that policy would convince me to vote for a particular party!

 

[Mark Elvin]

Do you think it's enforcable though? We always hear of people driving along with illegally bald tyres - if the 1.7mm rule isn't adhered to how could one expect a winter-tyre rule to be enforced?!

I replace mine at 3mm, there is a noticable difference in performance in wet condition after about 3mm.

 

[DraigFlag87]

I replace mine at 3mm, there is a noticable difference in performance in wet condition after about 3mm.

3mm? That's only half way through! The Toyo's i have are almost down to 1.6 mm, but i was surprised how well they perform in the wet, crap in the snow/ice but still grip in the wet. Guess it's the tread pattern...

 

[RobW]

I'm aware of that, but do you think people would happily do it here, with our far more temperate climate? I don't think that policy would convince me to vote for a particular party!

maybe not happily but once they had seen the benefits they would be convinced, i drove my company car today for the first time in a week and even though most of the snow has gone on the untreated areas it had hardly any grip and my anus was twitching all the way in to work

 

[YouKnowWho]

Do you think it's enforcable though? We always hear of people driving along with illegally bald tyres - if the 1.7mm rule isn't adhered to how could one expect a winter-tyre rule to be enforced?
Also, tyres gradually harden with time in any case, causing a significant reduction in performance even in ideal conditions. Do you think this year's winter tyres will still be in as good condition next year, or the year after that? Would you favour an age-related tyre rule too, where all tyres must be less than, say, 5 years old? I guess this could be checked at MOT examinations, but I can't see it being hugely popular.
And I have 5 cars and an RV (with 6 tyres) in my household - I don't really fancy forking out for 22 winter tyres, and would rather not have to store the remaining 22 summer tyres somewhere too!

Yes it can be enforced if required. Popularity is secondary to safety. People did not like having to put on seatbeats when they were released.

Tyres already have a best before life of approx. 4 years

Your household is not typical, 99% of households do not need 5 cars and a RV with 6 tyres. Maybe you could store your 22 tyres in your RV?

 

[Zakt]

Yes it can be enforced if required. Popularity is secondary to safety. People did not like having to put on seatbeats when they were released.

Tyres already have a best before life of approx. 4 years

Your household is not typical, 99% of households do not need 5 cars and a RV with 6 tyres. Maybe you could store your 22 tyres in your RV?

The "best before" date is just that though. It doesn't require a driver to change the tyres until they are visibly damaged or worn out. I've read articles calling for a "use by" date to be introduced which, in fairness, I think is a good idea as it could be picked up easily at MOT tests. I'd be a bit reluctant to tell police officers that one of their duties is to go looking at the sidewalls of vehicles in order to prosecute motorists who do not have the appropriate season's tyre, rather than go out catching "real crooks" (as people will often say)