It occurred to me this morning, as I drove to work in the chilly March rain, that the winter tyres season has passed again, again I've not bought any and again I've not even missed them, let alone regretted going without. There's been frost, of course, and even a little snow, but the one bit of slither I've experienced was caused by my error in selecting 4 instead of 3 on one of my routine hill descents and consequently being 5mph over ideal cornering speed at the bottom; the ESP tidied up for me and all was well, just as it would have been in July.
So has anyone here been on winter rubber for the first time? And has anyone got somewhere they wouldn't otherwise have got, or got out of a situation that would have defeated my Primacy 3s?
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OFFS, never mind the goddamn rubber. It's hailed and sleeted here in the last 24 hours, but you'd have had to be pretty idiotic to get into trouble in it. Nothing wrong with the tyres on the jalopy, all-purpose no doubt but who gives a damn?
I topped mine up today at 34psi all round and they hardly needed doing after a week or more, just one of the back ones took a few seconds, 15 perhaps, before the machine started squeaking.
Our drive is the real problem. You have to know the exact line through the puddles and potholes, and it isn't the obvious line. Even if you take the right line it's best to go quite slowly. We really need one of those desert-racer 4wd things that can bound over any terrain without killing the occupants. Meanwhile, au ralenti. I quite like it actually.
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Winter over, maybe south of civilisation. It has been snowing here today, I have not been out of the range of my central heating but Mrs ON has done a 30 mile round trip on an assortment of wet / slushy / snow covered roads. She returned intact and with a dirty undamaged car, and all done on "shock, horror", summer tyres !
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 3 Mar 15 at 19:18
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Towards the end of summer here, although its still in the 30s during the day.
But the snows will start in the mountains, in May probably. And then I'll be trying to find tyres which work for sun and 28 degrees around here, 6-18ft of snow & 0 degrees an hour away, and occasional, yet torrential, rain in between. That's having spent the last two and a half months in the sun at, and on, the beach.
So I don't bother and just drive with the same tyres all the year around. Chains occasionally.
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It does seem to have been an easy winter for driving. Not even many frosts. One advantage of being semi-retired is if the weather looks unpleasant then I can go back to bed and wait for the local pub to open. It's better than Judge Judy or the Jeremy Kyle show.
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I'm glad I have my expensive Michelin Alpin tyres. Now it all boils down to where you live in the UK, but after a full days walk in the Lakes last Sunday, and snowing heavily late afternoon, I may well have had to pay for B & B that night without them. I would have had a go in 'normal' tyres, but would have chanced sliding off the road. As plenty did. A neighbour spent 4 hours getting home in his new Golf, a journey which normally takes 35 mins. It was only a 40 mile trip, but my normal route was closed because of snow, and when I did get home, three car loads of people had to spend Sunday night in my local because the roads were impassable.
Still lots of snow in my garden tonight, and the hills are covered. Warming up soon according to the forecast.
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I did the winter tyre thing with the BM, but the winter when it was shod with them was pretty mild. I did this winter with the Volvo on summer tyres and it was fine down here in the south, but I would consider fitting winter tyres another time. I have snow-socks just in case and they were fab on the BMW the first year I needed them.
There are lots of drainage issues on the roads on my commute, with some areas prone to a bit of water across the roads which then freezes, especially on some tricky corners. I have seen a number of smashed up cars on their sides in hedges over this past winter, and it's not over yet.
4 cars badly damaged that I saw just this morning, including a Range Rover on it's side in a bunch of small trees. They grit the road, but it gets washed away.
I know where and when to take it steady, but some people either do not drive according to the conditions, or they don't know the road and get caught-out...
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Fitting, or more accurately engaging, a winter brain is just as, if not more important.
(My Children )
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Wed 4 Mar 15 at 13:51
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This conjures up an awful vision of brains being swapped over every spring and autumn by the lads in Slowfit with their tyre levers....
Last edited by: Avant on Wed 4 Mar 15 at 14:02
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...as close to a brain as some of them will ever get.
};---)
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Well I took the winters off the van today and put the standard tyres back on. I have had good use out of them this winter, as I have for the last 10 years that I have been using them. But that has included at least one skiing trip each year.
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Have you had the same set for ten years?
Unless you live in the Highlands or deepest Wales, or live out in the sticks I dont see the point of two sets of tyres & rims. Many of my customers, when I was in trade, lived in remote hamlets & farms in rural N Yorks and I offered a delivery service ( at a cost) so fitted my VW Syncro with winter tyres. It gave me a definite edge over my competitors, and that kind of service resulted in loyal customers.
With the BM I needed new tyres, and living at an altitude of 600ft, off a country land at the top of a short steep hill, all weather tyres were a suitable choice. Leave em on all year.
And whatever car I get next, I shall probably do the same once the time comes to change.
And winter is not over yet in my neck of the woods. Only a degree above freezing tonight.
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Living at over 1000' we could leave the winters on all year. Might change them in late May, as we have a set of summers stored in the tyre hotel. The average temperature was 9.24C in 2014, which was quite high (?) compared with 2013 @ 7.95C.
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If we keep her Qashqai for another year or so, it'll need tyres all round probably in the Autumn this year.
I might, for the hell of it, put winters on it then, or at least some all seasons just to see if it makes any useful or noticeable difference. It has a habit of understeering like a pig at the best of times. If you drive it with any enthusiasm that is.
I've not found the Merc to be compromised by its summer footwear but coincidentally it's been getting fresh rubber more or less for Christmas each year as a complete timing coincidence. I feel that having plenty of tread depth even on a summer compound probably helps.
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>>And winter is not over yet in my neck of the woods.>>
I was on the M61 driving from Preston to Chorley yesterday morning and the journey involved driving through a blizzard.....
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Might go for Falken Euroall AS200 tyres next as they get good reviews in winter and summer rather than being not very good at either.
www.tyrepress.com/2014/11/falken-says-euroall-as200-a-sensible-uk-alternative-to-pricey-winter-tyres/
Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Sun 8 Mar 15 at 14:54
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>> Falken Euroall AS200 tyres
I'll bear them in mind for the next snorting monster I own. Should be OK for ride comfort. Steel wheels too I think, ideally.
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I bought 4 x Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme to support the Dutchie economy, just before the blizzards hit the UK.
Didn't get stuck once all through winter ... only had a few flakes of the white stuff in Cornwall though, but that's beside the point.
Good looking tyre, they are. Developed in partnership with Giugiaro Design, so, ideal for anyone who has a rubber fetish.
:}
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In October last year I put 4 new Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres on the Soarer. Quite simply the best tyre I've had on any car, ever.
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>> Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres.
>> Quite simply the best tyre I've had on any car, ever.
I think I preferred the RS2 over the RS3. Although both the RS2 and RS3 offered equal amounts of grip in the wet and dry, the RS3 wear rate was far worse than the RS2. The only thing in the RS3's favour is that it's not a directional tyre.
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Anyone else thinking of lipstick and a pig?
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>> >> Nope. Just you!
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>> +2
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Another winter over - Armel Coussine
