I ordered a set of wheels and winter tyres for the wife's Jazz on Sunday. I see that price online this evening (Tuesday) has gone up £30. This is from mytyres.
I reckon if anyone else is thinking of getting winter tyres you'd be well advised to get a move on.
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One could always save a fortune by sticking with the tyres that came with the car,
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>>One could always save a fortune by sticking with the tyres that came with the car<<
Sticking ... doesn't that word come from the same verb as stuck - as in snow??
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Skill beats tyres every time, if the snow is too deep you go nowhere, whatever tyres.
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Perhaps it's got something to do with the: 'Is your vehicle ready for the winter?' messages on the electronic motorway signs.
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Some of us have to get work over the hills, some of us work for private sector employers where it's turn up or take holiday, some of us have worn out the tyres that came with the car - several times over :-), some of us have winter tyres on order (Marangoni Meteo at only £55 each). I was going to buy some Toyo Snow Proxes but they have shot up by 30% in he last few weeks.
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And most of you are going to get stuck behind other drivers who cant get over the hills.
Waste of money
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Just had mine delivered yesterday from Germany for my Ford Mondeo.I got 16" alloy wheels with the tyres already on and balanced so i only have to jack the car up and change them over.After sliding around last year i thought i'd give them a try!.Bring on the winter!
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...who cant get over the hills...
Over the hills?
Most modern cars can't get over the camber in the road.
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>> Most modern cars can't get over the camber in the road.
>>
>>
>>
Do you mean most modern drivers can't get their cars over the camber in the road?
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...Do you mean most modern drivers can't get their cars over the camber in the road?...
No, I mean most posters on this forum know exactly what I mean.
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>> And most of you are going to get stuck behind other drivers who cant get over the hills.
Hardly. Last year I towed the UPS van up the hill, so clearing the road and getting him back to delivering the christmas parcels.
I also came to the rescue of some neighbours who were taking their sickly child to the hospital on a sledge (suspected meningitis)
I'd rather be mobile.
Last edited by: Tigger on Tue 11 Oct 11 at 21:16
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...Last year I towed the UPS van up the hill, so clearing the road and getting him back to delivering the christmas parcels...
Very public spirited.
Hope you'll be as kind if you come across a stranded Focus cabriolet (blue, 09 reg).
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>> >> And most of you are going to get stuck behind other drivers who cant
>> get over the hills.
>>
>> Hardly. Last year I towed the UPS van up the hill, so clearing the road
>> and getting him back to delivering the christmas parcels.
next year, when you are behind the stuck UPS van, you are going nowhere.
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Nah, last year I just waited till they were all stuck on the M8/M9 then drove back across country and got home quicker than I normally do... no money wasted the tyres on it are shot anyway, and the winters were cheaper than the summers, oddly. Perhaps they're carp!
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Winter tyres in ours as the summer ones are crap in the snow, wife works in a public service that requires 24/7 attendance - otherwise we'd stock up the freezer and stay at home.
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"Winter tyre prices going up...."
Could that be down to inflation?
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How do you know we will even get snow?
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>> How do you know we will even get snow?
>>
Some of us have hedged our bets with the all-season jobs :-)
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I'd like to revive this thread in February/March and see who's had the most success (or failure) with their tyre choice through the freezing weather.
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i could, if you wish, post a video of me coping on NON winter tyres in heavy snow on the M25.
proof of a waste of money,
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>> i could, if you wish, post a video of me coping on NON winter tyres
>> in heavy snow on the M25.
>>
>> proof of a waste of money,
>>
I think you're missing the point. It's not the fresh snow that defeats summer tyres but the frozen ruts and stretches of sheet ice that follow the fresh snow. The M25 probably gets cleared and salted fairly often.
Mrs. H and I know how to get around in the snow, having been brought up on a variety of RWD cars over the years but once a few cars had slithered past in the snow and the ruts had frozen outside our yard last year, I couldn't leave on the Michelin Energys without hacking my way through with a spade. I had to step aside as Mrs H's Nankang-shod C3 bounced out onto the road and disappeared off to work. She parks in Darlington's uncleared residential streets and reported passing a 4x4 which had slithered off the road, unable to cope with the ice. She also reported having a choice of parking places implying others were unable to reach them.
Waste of money? Maybe, but I don't think fresh snow is the real problem here.
Taking Zero on? Pass me the hard hat someone ...
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perhaps you could ask the wife for driving lessons? ;P
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>> perhaps you could ask the wife for driving lessons? ;P
>>
Don't need to ask. Mrs H's unsolicited advice on all manner of things is readily available :)
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>> How do you know we will even get snow?
Where I live, we ALWAYS get snow :(
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 11 Oct 11 at 21:35
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And I will be laughing at all the drivers crashing as they insist on driving, although last time I did that I ended up in A&E with a broken elbow :P.
I am dreading the snow so much, if I had the money I would sail of to Australia for a three months to escape it.
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Good grief. You'd only worry about the boat sinking.
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I'm sure my car will be great in the snow on 18" wheel - not :-) And I'll regret not getting the dealer to reorder the car with the missing heated windscreen. At least it's got heated seats to keep me warm when (a) I'm stuck and (b) for when the windscreen needs to defrost.
The auxiliary heater option sounds useful (it's not an option in the UK). You can warm the car remotely and even set it to come on in advance with a timer for particular days etc.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 11 Oct 11 at 22:42
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I'm with Zero on this.
Remember a couple of years ago? An artic got stuck on an icy uphill section of the M11 around Stansted. A second artic tried to get round it. The two of them blocked the carriageway. Hundreds (if not thousands) of cars were stranded behind them.
I'm not having a dig at Pat, ignoramuses drive all sorts of vehicles.
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One of our cars has a set of winter tyres awaiting the 3rd years fitment, the other summer only. The stay-at-home car in winter is set to be sold soon, or it would also be given winters. Wouldn't cost any more as the summers would be spared mileage. I've driven in ice and snow many times, including rwd Transits, but summer tyres don't have enough grip to get up a mild slope, when iced over. Perhaps their compound has altered to a more warm-weather bias, as winter tyres become more the norm in Europe?
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Quite glad those old retired Ebenezers won't be spending out on winter tyres.
Hope it's a really hard winter too, should keep them out of our way for weeks on end, we'll get some work done if they're not stuck in the way.
:-)
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I really cannot believe that with all the technology around these days, tyre manufacturers are not capable of developing a tyre that is able to grip on ice and on dry, warm roads as well.
...but they never will while people are happy to pay out double for 2 sets of tyres for one vehicle.
Brilliant marketing ploy:)
Pat
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>>>I really cannot believe that with all the technology around these days, tyre manufacturers are not capable of developing a tyre that is able to grip on ice and on dry, warm roads as well.
They have... they're called all-season tyres and (like Manatee) we've had them on the C3 for the past 10mths. Through the summer thay are effectively the same as a normal tyre (unless you are a track racer of course) and when winter comes they grip so well allowing an extra margin of safety and the ability to drive round those that are stuck.
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In that case they should be mandatory OE fitted to all vehicles.
>>ability to drive round those that are stuck. <<
That's assuming they are stuck neatly in a straight line on a road wide enough:)
Sod's law says...
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 12 Oct 11 at 07:33
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>>>should be mandatory OE fitted to all vehicles.
Perhaps you'd think but we're still allowed to buy Chinese ditchfinders with no wet road grip so they haven't even applied proper standards to normal tyres.
>>>assuming they are stuck neatly in a straight line on a road wide enough
Folks who don't have or approve of winter/all-season tyres tend to say this but on the mixed local rural, main and town roads we've used over the past 30+yrs we've found by and large winter/all-season tyres, a car with superior ability or a proper 4x4 have always given us a massive advantage in making progress.
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Conversely the last time I was stuck in snow was in a mini in the 70's when I lived at Launde and couldn't get through because of the depth of the snow, so I went home on the old Fergie instead:)
In a lorry it was on packed ice in our yard, while trying to reverse under a loaded trailer, but that will always happen.
Pat
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As gb suggests - the naysayers tend to be retired.
The physical limits of transmitting torque to the road are far higher with all-season/snow tyres than summer rubber.
There is no magic at play.
I absolutely agree about driving skill/ability being a huge factor, but for some unknown reason my Forester (on non-snowflaked M&S Geolanders) was driving up 1-in-6 snow covered gradients that our FRV (despite traction control on or off) had zero chance of navigating last year.
The CRV on non-snowflaked M&S Michelin tyres the previous year managed somewhat between the 2 cars - very good on flat, ok but not as stable uphills.
Must've been 'skill' I guess. Nothing to do with tyres/driven wheels/etc.
Snow tyres are substantially inferior to summer tyres in warm weather however - this really needs more publicity than it appears to receive.
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Driving skill is a minor factor, in my view.
No grip equals no go, doesn't matter how skilled the driver.
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I can see the benefit in certain cases:
-you live out in the wilds, as some here do, and may have to travel little-used roads in wintry conditions;
-you have a job or other responsibility that requires guaranteed mobility.
But for those of us who live in populated areas, and who work in the please-yourself commercial sector rather than what Cliff stigmatized yesterday as the 'supported economy', it makes more sense to stay at home in the worst weather and leave the roads to those whose use of them benefits others.
Even last winter, the most severe for 30 years, I estimate there were at most 15 days when the weather kept me from driving. But on those days, given that my journey to work involves a steep descent and a steep climb in the first three miles, I suspect winter tyres would only have got me further from home before getting stuck behind a stranded vehicle. Much better to stay at home and fire up the VPN.
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Bad weather tends to paralyse the courts because a full cast of characters is needed for the show to go on.
Case's can't go ahead because the judge is snowed in at his country mansion, or the prison van's got stuck so there's no punter, or the barrister's car won't start, or the prosecutor has fallen over and broken his leg, etc, etc.
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As previously mentioned, have put all seasons on missus' Beetle to hopefully see her to work and back but with the stipulation that it is just to get her some grip if the weather gets bad, its not a licence to go snow ploughing.
And that is one of my concerns, we have seen over the last few years all the ones who got 4x4s and when the snow came,diidn't have a clue how to drive them and thought they were invincible.
I hope, there are not lots of people now thinking that as long as I get winter tyres, then I can carry on driving like I normally do because the tyres will deal with all eventualities.
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Where I live we get serious snow and temperatures consistently below -20C in winter. My 530d feels like it would go up the side of a house in cold weather on its Goodyear winter tyres. In warmer weather though there is noticeably grip and noticeably higher wear coupled with higher road noise compared to the summer tyres (also Goodyear).
The rubber compounds used for summer and winter tyres are very different as are the tread patterns. Summer tyres use hard rubber and are designed for grip in higher ambient temperatures and to effectively disperse water. Winter tyres use softer rubber and have profiles designed not to get clogged with snow. All weather tyres are a mixture of both and are a compromise, though I am considering them for my wife's car (when we finally decide what to buy) as she only does about 5,000km per year pottering around town.
Only used snow chains once in very deep snow where there was a mandatory snow chain requirement on a road in Austria - with police enforcing it.
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>> with all the technology around these days, tyre manufacturers are not capable of developing a tyre that is able to grip on ice and on dry, warm roads as well
There are all season tyres. But their performance is not as good as pure summer or winter tyres. Ideally one should use summer tyres in summer and winter tyres in winter as they do in Northern/Central Europe.
I am surprised that manufacturers are not fitting cars with all season tyres. At least all RWD cars should have them fitted as standard.
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I suspect the reasons they don't fit all season tyres as standard are:
1. The car doesn't handle quite as well - they'd lose potential customers on test drives etc. This is probably worse on RWD performance cars - ironically the ones most likely to be affected by icy weather
2. There aren't very many all season tyres out there, and they're more expensive
3. Customers in northern Europe are used to having two sets of wheels; customers in southern Europe will only want summer tyres
4. Customers in the UK don't demand them
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>>>I suspect the reasons they don't fit all season tyres as standard are:
I suspect also that the softer compound, grippier all weather and winter tyres roll with higher resistance and this would adversely affect the manufacturer fuel consumption figures.
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Is the general interest in winter tyres relatively new?
I don't recall much discussion on the topic years ago.
I'm not sure winter tyres were even available to the ordinary motorist.
During my brief period in the motor trade we sold lots of tyres, but none were winter.
The biggest innovation was radials over cross plies, and you really were at the top of the tree if the radials were steel-braced.
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Winter tyres?
Global warming means we are going to have no snow...
(I've just bought an extra 7kg badg of salt in case the Warmists are wrong)
Winter tyres are a waste of time here. Too many MX5s/Mercedes/BMW drivers who get stuck and stop the traffic. Stock up on food and walk. )
edit
Steel braced radials? I remember Michelin X tyres on a Rover 75 (1953).. Going north round Aberdeen's ringroad in snow was impossible... uphill between traffic lights and you got started - just and the next lights went red, lost traction and spun wheels. Ended up going the long way)
Last edited by: madf on Wed 12 Oct 11 at 14:09
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>> Is the general interest in winter tyres relatively new?
>>
>> I don't recall much discussion on the topic years ago.
>>
Good point, which has several reasons far as i can see.
Tyres have got quite frankly to silly proportions on modern cars, very wide ultra low profiles with hard as hell compounds to allow umpteen G cornering without any tyre squirm, might as well run on inner tubes for all the use these things are when the ice and snow form, in cold wet conditions they are not a lot better.
Older designs of narrower softer compounded tyres coped better IMO, coupled with a bit of weighting and pressure adjustments as needed.
Idiots in their own cars and company car drivers with no say in the matter driving round on tyres with 2mm tread, often these treads having almost no side patterns, being virtually straight grooves round the tyre in the last 3 or so mm.
Traffic volumes have increased massively, and many people now drive everywhere, which slows traffic to crawl, and once you stop on an ice or snowed incline you've had it.
remember not so many years ago if you were returning home late from work in snow yours was the only car on the road.
Trucks have got heavier and have more axles to push/pull, but still only one drive axle, and that will almost never have winter compound tyres on it, and the huge majority of trucks will not have chains nor would the drivers be allowed to fit them if they were supplied, in many firms a driver isn't allowed to change a bulb, it's laughable if it wasn't so tragic.
Driver competence, here we go...;), yes everyone laughs at RWD cars unable to move, but how many of the drivers had the nous to chuck some weight in the boot like we used to, how many even know which wheels drive the thing anyway.
How many drivers do you now see approach a hill and actually come to a stop instead of keeping moving and getting a run up.
How many FWD drivers would have the sense to turn around and reverse up a slope they couldn't drive up....if half of them could reverse in the first place it would help.
You find a dodgy hill and years ago one vehicle would take a run up, the others would wait a long way back whilst the first cleared the top, then everyone else would do the same in turn.
Not now, the first goes up and gets stuck, but there's twenty more jammed up his chuff, so no second bites, everyone stops.
Common sense is sneered at often here, but winter driving calls for it in spades, and a bit of self reliance and can do attitude, something this country sorely needs.
Winter tyres mean you stand more chance of using alternative routes the sheep wouldn't dare go down once they've jammed up the major route, once the conditions get tough i'm usually off on my own route, car or truck.
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Common sense is sneered at often here.
I don't think so, GB - although there may be the occasional objection to its unjustified use as shorthand for 'simplistic political prejudice'.
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Sack that lot in number 10/11 (I could suggest 'alternative arrangements' for them)
Mr gordonbennet is more-than capable of sorting out broken Briton, be it the white stuff or the green folding stuff.
Seriously!
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Seriously NOT:)
We'd all be back 50 years when everything was better than now.....
Funny, I don't remember it like that!
Pat
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>>We'd all be back 50 years when everything was better than now.....<<
50 years ago would be, eh – 1961:
The Beatles perform for the first time at the Cavern Club.
Black and white £5 notes cease to be legal tender in the UK.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins (and ends)
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins (and completed)
Catch-22 is first published by Joseph Heller.
The Vietnam War officially begins.
And ...
"Barbie" gets a boyfriend when the "Ken" doll is introduced.
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You left out the detonation of the largest nuclear explosion ever - The Tsar bomb detonated in October 1961.
Nuclear war seemed almost inevitable.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Wed 12 Oct 11 at 16:46
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>>Nuclear war seemed almost inevitable<<
Wow! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba could have been the end of life (as we know it)
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"could have been the end of life (as we know it)"
As Barry McGuire said
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akoukq5DvAE
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>>As Barry McGuire said<<
Good song CG, here's Randy Newman ~ www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrKYCsE48Lc
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>> Good grief. You'd only worry about the boat sinking.
>>
LOL.
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Michelin snow 'cords' for sale in costco for about £70 per pair. Thought about getting work to buy a pair for one of my team who has difficulty getting off his street if there are more than 2 snowflakes within 100 metres of each other, but god knows what issues it would raise if we did and he still crashed.....
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265/35/18 summer watchstraps on the back of the Merc. Be fine I expect. Not worried...
:-(
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265s - Wow. My M3 was well undershod - only had 255s!!
Actually you'll be fine in most driving conditions in the UK. Biggest problem with these low profile tyres in in snow. The treads fill up with snow, which compresses into ice, and backwards off into the hedge it is.
There's something vaguely satisfying though when driving in heavy snow to a ski resort and seeing Range Rovers and X5s fitted with ultra low profile summer tyres being towed out of the fields they've ended up in.
Same thing happens on muddy ground - tread fills up with mud.
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>> 265s - Wow. My M3 was well undershod - only had 255s!!
I thought M3's would be wider, my 318 M sport has 255 on the rear
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The E92 M3 has 265s as standard at the back, with an almost civilised 40 profile. Mine was the E46 which had the optional 19" wheels and rubber band profile 255/30s. I guess it needed 255s for traction and handling due to the 343PS going through the back wheels.
Not really quite so necessary on a 318d, but those 18" M Sport wheels really do look nice. The minimum wheel size on the E46 M3 incidentally was 18", in order that the wheels cleared the brake discs.
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>> 265/35/18 summer watchstraps on the back of the Merc.
Are they different sizes on the front as some MB's are?
If so I wonder where you'll put the new tyres when the fronts are worn down.
tee hee...
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Yes 245/40s on the front 265/35s on the back
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Yeah actually that's a good point GB. In a scenario where the fronts need replacing but the back ones are only half worn what then eh?
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>> Yeah actually that's a good point GB. In a scenario where the fronts need replacing
>> but the back ones are only half worn what then eh?
>>
>>
>>
Who knows what a gentle hint to the man that provided it would produce?
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I think it would be gently suggested that I get the fronts replaced and jolly well get on with it..
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 13 Oct 11 at 13:31
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Yesterday I had 4 x winter 225/50R17's Goodyear UltraGrip RunFlats fitted to the beemer (by Event Tyres, impressed by them as always fwiw).
Very early to get them fitted, but wanted to be prepared. Was stuck in Calais last November because of the snow, so thought I would get in early!
Expected more road noise and perhaps different ride comfort on the drive home yesterday and into work today, but no, all seems fine. Will have a fast run down to the South West of Paris next week, and then Frankfurt the following week, and will see how they go in the (probably) dry.
Will be interesting to see what mileage I get out of these.
Reason for fitting them. Removal / reduction of fear, pure and simple. Had no traction whatsoever last year on black ice and compacted snow, and no amount of driving skills and nous gained over 24 years and 600,000 miles could deal with zero traction. Had many heavy bags of tarmac in the boot, tried lowering tyre pressures, etc, to no avail. Snow socks worked a treat but you still have to put them on / take them off with cars (and in one case a double decker bus) sliding towards me!
If we have a mild winter, great, if we have a hard one I am prepared. If I get stuck behind other unprepared people then as long as I use common sense and keep a good gap between me and the car in front I should be able to turn round and try another route.
I agree, we never talked about them in the past, probably because they were not so readily available and there were not as many forums like this and general knowledge from the web. I think their introduction to the UK market is a good idea for those that want them, and the people who can get about on summer tyres with no problems? Well done!
Interestingly my MD went for a 4x4 this year. If it is a bad winter we will be comparing notes as he is sticking with the summer tyres!
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>>Goodyear UltraGrip<<
Very good tyres Slightlyfat ~ www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Goodyear/UltraGrip-7-Plus.htm<<
:-)
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This week's Auto Express has a test of winter and all-season tyres and have put the same question to various motoring "authorities"
" If you were to stick with only one tyre on your car, would you pick a winter tyre or summer tyre" and the answer was a resounding "winter". The gains from it in winter outweigh the shortfalls from them in summer.
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>>The gains from it in winter outweigh the shortfalls from them in summer<<
Vulcan logic you see! ... and if you read through the winter tyre tests I posted earlier, y'all see that most of em don't do too bad at all in the dry road tests.
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They're a very good tyre. I've used them for the last three winters, they'll be going on again this weekend. Low road noise, good ride comfort, they only get a bit noisy when the temp gets into the high 20's when they can be a bit American car chase squealy going around corners.
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>>zero traction.
That's why Mr Zee doesn't need winter tyres. Perhaps he could bottle some and sell it to the rest of us.
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Like Sfd I also used Event Tyres to fit Michelin Alpins onto my 330. The Kumho's had very little tread left so I reasoned that this time I would go the winter tyre route and possibly leave them on all year. Come next Spring/summer I may well refit the Kumhos, but my main consideration was grip in the wet, snow & ice being secondary, and living in a rural part of NYorks at the top of a short twisty steep hill, should reap the benefits.
Checking the Event Tyres website, they have gone up in price. About 6 bottles of Sancerre in fact!
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Anyone any experience of Kumho KW27 winter tyres?
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I t wont be long before you "cant drive numpties" will forking out on sets of Autumn tyres and Spring tyres.
Any of you want to buy a bridge?
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>> I t wont be long before you "cant drive numpties" will forking out on sets of Autumn tyres and Spring tyres.
>>
The old days of rear wheel drive :-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho4QGBUAABA&feature=related
1963 snow
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI&feature=related
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>> I ordered a set of wheels and winter tyres for the wife's Jazz on Sunday.
>> I see that price online this evening (Tuesday) has gone up £30. This is from
>> mytyres.
>>
>> I reckon if anyone else is thinking of getting winter tyres you'd be well advised
>> to get a move on.
>>
Didn't have a moments trouble with wife's Jazz on Dunlop SP2030 tyres for the last couple of winters, and I did resonable distances on some very cold days. The tyres are sold as All-Season tyres in some parts of the worls so they may be more suited to cold weather than Summer tyres. They've certainly worn pretty quickly.
However I always felt the car would be better on 15" wheels rather than 16" and the higher profile might soften the ride, so I grabbed the chance when offered a set of 15" wheels and put Michelin Alpin winter tyres on them. I got the tyres from Costco in a 20% off deal, and, thinking they tyres might be hard and expensive to replace if they get damaged, I tried to buy 6. However they wouldn't discount 6, only applying the discount for sets of 4!
Anyway, I'm now wondering when to put them on - was thinking of around 1st Nov, but forecast is starting to get a bit iffy!
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>>I'm now wondering when to put them on - was thinking of around 1st Nov, but forecast is starting to get a bit iffy!<<
Get em off on!
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Just had a call from the dealer, WT's picked up on Friday, fitted at a time to suit me next week, then alloys cleaned and bagged for return as and when, no additional charge. Sorted.
Last edited by: R.P. on Mon 17 Oct 11 at 17:34
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then alloys cleaned and bagged for return as and when, no additional charge. Sorted.
>>
What?, a bit of proper customer service, that's the way you keep customers, by looking after and not fleecing them at every chance, well done the Beemer garage.
Seeing as you have the magic wand RP, would you like to do the honours as and when the time is right....edit and make our own winter tyre test thread?
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Yep get them on and bedded in nicely for when the cold snap comes.
Slipped my Nokian WRG2 winter set onto the faithful MB at the weekend, instantly the ride is smooth and quiet again, bliss, i couldn't stand another day on the Toyo's, i swear every extra day of wear and/or possibly each degree lower ambient temperature increased the noise and ride harshness by an extraordinary amout.
I took the opportunity to repaint the calipers in black hammerite and gave an extra blast of waxoyl type stuff round the suspension and exposed brake pipes whilst there, that's it, ready for winter to do it's worst now.
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Got a tub of that waxy stuff to coat the rims when they come back as well !
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Masochistically enough perhaps but I'm sort of looking forward to a combination of RWD, 200 odd bhp and a wee bit of snow... Been a while. Heh heh !
:-)
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Just swapped mine, RP and used Collinite 845 on the off-coming alloys as well as the on-going steelies. Polished the cars with it the other day....WOW, never seen beading like that before. Easy to apply too. I think I'll order the 914 hard wax too - Ebay has a twin pack of 914 & 815 very reasonably priced. Have always used Autoglym products but can't ever see me using another polish (when the AG's run out).
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>>Slipped my Nokian WRG2 winter set onto the faithful MB at the weekend<<
So you've got the nicky nacky nokians as well gb, I never realised that, I find they are far superior to the previous Bridgestone Turanzas, and it's not even winter yet :)
If we all lived in 'the stock broker belt' we could all probably manage on summer tyres but up here on the moor down the bottom of quite a steep hill that never gets gritted, I'd be a fool to not have winter tyres.
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>> So you've got the nicky nacky nokians as well
Can't remember if this is the second or third winter with them D, the MB hardly got used last winter as we still had the Hilux.
And they do have the leaf motif on the sidewalls as well as the usual winter stampings, wonder what it means.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 17 Oct 11 at 20:26
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Suitable for composting?
:-)
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Compost would make a suitable load, if you pack the whole back end tight it might even stop the tailboard of the van getting pushed in when those burly fashion designers give you a push on the snowy car park..;)
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I won't be needing any designers round my rear end. Just a bit of care and common sense.
:-)
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"The birch leaf symbol on the sidewall of the Nokian WR G2 describes environmental friendliness: no harmful oils neither toxic chemicals have been used in the production of this tyre. The compound includes canola oil."
My researches also revealed that the national tire safety symbol of Canada is a maple leaf :-)
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Thanks MT, cleared that one up.
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>>The birch leaf symbol on the sidewall of the Nokian WR G2 describes environmental friendliness<<
Interesting, I'd never have imagined it was that, wonder if Nissan filched the idea for their leccie.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM&feature=youtu.be
A BMW marketing vid.
Waiting for my tyres to be collected so I can go fit them next week. Talking to the dealers today they told me that BMW have fixed their prices and they won't be going up in winter. I paid a substantial price for the tyres and rims - but as I said before they will be collected from here, fitted and my alloys returned for nothing for the life of the tyres. They are 18" 225 section tyres so I guess it's all relative.
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The temperature up here on the moor was below 6c this morning, just as well I had my winter tyres fitted then!
:-D
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www.flickr.com/photos/67389469@N02/6288064895/
Shod in its winter boots this morning - Alloys make a difference - all done as part of the package, alloys will be returned to me later today cleaned. Chap saying in the garage that popular sized tyres are very difficult to source. The car was a little quieter on the return trip, ride a tad softer. Not much difference really.
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Car looks smart R.P. Tyres also.Dogs at peace..;)
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Yeah, probably just as well. It's going to be 12C here over the weekend and it's set to drop to 16C on Monday.
:-))
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Back to summer tyres you are rubbing it in Humph.;)
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Funnily enough the Summers turned up half an hour ago - washed etc. All I need is a trolley jack !
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. All I need is a trolley jack !
>>
Of every tool i've ever purchased me substantial trolley jack has been the best investment of all, paid for itself hundreds of times over.
The release/lowering valve is very important, many of the cheaper type are not well made and the valve is either open or closed with little control, not something you want.
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...All I need is a trolley jack !...
Only thirty quid from Screwfix.
It wouldn't last five minutes in a workshop, but OK for light use.
www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-2-tonne-trolley-jack/88816
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You are naughty but i like you.;)
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If you're going to buy one, get a substantial model with a decent cup...
www.justoffbase.co.uk/Trolley-Jack-Yankee-3ton-Rocket-Lift-Sealey-3030CXD
I wouldn't pay any less than this sort of price.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 13:54
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Agreed GB... I upgraded many years ago to a very similar one around £100. Chalk and cheese for strength, stability and control over the previous £25 model.
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The best trolley jacks we used were made by Bradbury.
A quick google suggests they are no longer going.
One of the good things about a Bradbury jack was the cup lowered between the front wheels.
An ordinary trolley jack won't go under the sill of a Mini with a puncture.
Last edited by: Iffy on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 14:17
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You could get a trolley jack fitted with headlamps so that every night, you could watch the 10.00 news and weather forecast and then nip out to put the most appropriate tyres on for the next day...
Only saying, just trying to help...
:-))
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>> Only saying, just trying to help...
>>
ppfffftt...
you'll be reporting the hopelessness of your watch straps when you can't get off the drive then..;)
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They'll be be fine, nearest things we have to hills round here are the speed humps !
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>> They'll be be fine, nearest things we have to hills round here are the speed
>> humps !
>>
That translates to ''i'd never tell you lot, after all my mickey taking i'd never live it down''..:-)
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 14:16
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I'll come tow you out Humph. :-)
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 14:24
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Thanks for the offer. Only downside I can see would be the public admission of being stuck. I rather favour staying indoors on those days. Both of them...
:-)
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A tyre place I went to used an inflatable donut - no danger of graunching anything on the underside of the car.
Some fire brigades use them at road smashes.
The surface could be soft or uneven, and it could be difficult getting a proper purchase with a trolley jack cup on a bent car.
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>> A tyre place I went to used an inflatable donut - no danger of graunching
>> anything on the underside of the car.
We used to blow old truck inner tubes up till they exploded, we'd leave them in a back room so no one knew what was happening, they get to around 6ft diameter before going off, great fun, especially the reactions..;)
edit, oddly enough they'd suck the door or cardboard window in instead of blowing it out, i wonder why?
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 14:14
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>> edit, oddly enough they'd suck the door or cardboard window in instead of blowing it
>> out, i wonder why?
And we wonder why the EU went overboard on H&S in the workplace!
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>> And we wonder why the EU went overboard on H&S in the workplace!
But GB's observation is still fascinating. If N_C was a fluid dynamicist, air being an elastic fluid, we could request a provisional theory accompanied by a set of equations, with a simple explanation in words for the quasi-innumerate or bone-idle.
Something to do with a rapid elastic oscillation of the air in the room, with some escaping through cracks and so on with the first rise in pressure following the rupture of the inner tube, and a consequent momentary pressure drop on the outside of the space contained in the room. All happening quite slowly, fluids being self-damping, perhaps taking as long as half a second. Depending on the volume of the room.
See? I know what I mean but I don't expect anyone else to be able to decipher this hurried approximation. I don't have the language, let alone the theoretical knowledge, just rule of thumb. What's needed is the right expert.
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RP, are you nipping down to Aldis for some wheel trims to finish it off?
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Funnily enough that's exactly what my BiL asked - although Halfords was the chavtastic butt of the joke. :-)
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It's why we haven't seen Skoda for a while. He's in shock at a BMW wearing steelies.
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 28 Oct 11 at 15:10
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Stung by Iffy's comments elsewhere :-), spent a pleasant couple of hours tinkering with the car - cleaned the wheels and coated them in that waxy stuff I bought (recommended on here) - then in a flash of inspiration, I knocked the plastic BMW logo'd centres from the spare set of X1 alloys and blinged the "tommies" up with them. They look a little less NHS now (IYKWIM).
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>> They look a little less NHS now (IYKWIM).
Nicole calls them "areas of social deprivation"
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18 degrees, sunshine and blue sky on the south coast today - ideal top-down driving weather. Winter tyres possibly a touch premature... ;-)
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Don't worry chaps you'll almost certainly get a couple of days round about half past February when it'll snow a bit. If you get up early enough you might even beat the gritter before it clears it all away and get a chance to see if they work. All that preparation and money invested will seem but a minor inconvenience then eh ?....
;-)
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And at least a dozen cars with incompetent drivers on a dusting of snow will block the road anyway. :-)
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Are you putting ( or have you put ) winter tyres on yours Peter?
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I haven't put them on Humph, but we are going to France/Italy over New Year, so I was looking at options.
I think the standard 17" Avantgarde wheels (they're the ones I linked to at alloywheelsdirect), rather than the 18" ones that came with my "exterior style pack", actually look better , so thinking of buying a set with winter tyres for use over New Year, and keeping them on until spring.
Given that the 18" Pirelli 265/35/18s on the back seem to cost north of £500 a pair, compared to £300ish for the 17" ones, I might even keep them on permanently!!
Peter
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What I get from that video is spend a four figure sum on winter wheels and tyres and you will be able to drive at 15mph and exit a set of cones with cheeky little flick of the tail end.
Did I get all of the message or did I miss something ? :-)
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15 degrees here tonight....couldn't make it up could you ?!
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Winter Tyres?
Who needs em - get the bus!
WARNING some profane words on screen (well its youtube )
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pcdg9m7Dao&feature=related
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Probably a Polish driver, they see worse snow in Summer !
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Winter tyre prices going up - Zero
