Winter Tyres - Scotland

gman

gman

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Graham
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Just a thought, but if winter tyres give extra grip during colder conditions and apparently wet conditions (just watched an official test video showing this) then why not use them all year round so you've got excellent grip when it rains? (like it does here all the time).

I'm guessing that they aren't quite as good as summer tyres in the dry, but surely the advantages in the wet pay off more?
 
General Grabber At2`s on the Hilux all year round, superb traction in snow, mud and on wet roads. They get the car wherever I want it to go,all year round.
 
I've previously run a Merc C class on winter tyres and still have them in my garage. In fact, they should have been on my current car by now as they are both 15 inch, whereas my in-between car was 16 inch (the expensive 205/55 like yours). A couple of thoughts for you ......

1) During the really bad snow at the turn of the year 2009/10, the skinny base model tyres of my current car managed through the snow while neighbours with wide tyres had to abandon their cars at the bottom of the hill on the main road.
2) I know people who run winter (really mud & snow) tyres all year, but they don't grip that well on dry roads and I reckon you'll only need to run wide on a bad bend once to think you'd be better off with "normal" tyres from spring to autumn!
 
They are a lot less grippy in the dry as the temperature increases. Definite tendency to lock up under heavy braking.
 
Settle an argument from the pub tonight, are snow tyres also called winter tyres?

A few of is though they were the same thing and a couple of others didn't
 
Winter tyres are just formulated for use in cold conditions: i.e. below +8C.
Above that temperature they're a bit too soft and will wear-out faster than Summer/all-season tyres. They may also 'squirm' a bit more at higher temperatures and not give you a consistent amount of grip.

So: Winter tyres from Oct-April and Summer tyres from April-Oct.

Winter tyres also have more aggressive sipes to deal with mud and snow.
Some Winter tyres have one two or three snowflakes *** to indicate their increasing suitability for use in snow.

In deep or packed snow and ice, use of snow chains may also be required. Use these if you live in mountain or very hilly areas where snow stays on the ground throughout the winter.

I live on the edge of the Sauerland which is a bit like the Lake District (the three dams bombed by 617 Sqn during WW2 are located nearby) and drivers in the Hochsauerland (high-sauerland) use chains more frequently than those of us down here at 350m...it's still a bit hilly here though and without the correct tyres you literally go nowhere.

Two years ago I was still an 'English' driver and stuck with my all-season tyres. I couldn't even get to the end of the road and had to abandon the car until the snow melted two weeks later. Much to the amusement of everyone I know here and much to the annoyance of the people whose driveway I blocked, to whom I had to 'gift' a very expensive malt whisky.
 
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