My work at the moment involves a 40 minute commute to work. Usually this is mostly on motorway and dual carriageways but it is also too much for me to walk there if the roads are too treacherous.
Saying that, I’m willing to try as much as I can to get in as it’s an Agency job and maybe even a Temp to Perm, so would prefer to be classed as ‘reliable’ to get in in poor weather rather than ‘first bit of snow and he doesn’t come in’ even though we’re in separate counties!
So, I’m strongly considering getting some winter tyres to go on my Rover 400 diesel with it’s 14" rims.
When I was on the buses the city buses weren’t equipped with them but those that came in from the outlying areas had them and as such went further than the city routes did in terms of actually getting there. So like most of you, I’ve had a bit of experience of driving it on regular tyres. When I did get to drive a coach with winter tyres I found it was much better handling on the roads and so feel it would be worthwhile.
What do you think, do you fit them? If so, are there any particular make/model ones you’d recommend?
Your best bet is to try and get a set of rims for your car from the scrapyard / ebay etc and get a full set fitted to them. So come next March / April when the weather improves you can just take them off and replace with your set of summer tyres.Then store them for next winter Thats what i do , all well and good as long as you’ve got somewhere to store a set of 4 wheels. Whatever you do dont just put 2 winters on the front, as it will end in tears!
When i did grocery home deliveries last december,the sprinter vans we drove were all fitted with michelin alpins, these got me out of the excrement on numerous occasions , even in 6 inch deep snow and were just superb but not cheap.
Alternatively on my own rear wheel drive car,(which are the pits in snow as everyone knows !!!) i bought some autosocks a much cheaper alternative to winter tyres and they were also superb just take them off when the road is clear,halfords now stock a copy version but beware cheap imitations genuine autosocks are patented in norway,but you pays your money and takes your choice. !!
lots of vids on you tube of them in action including a truck version.
Grahamy:
Whatever you do dont just put 2 winters on the front, as it will end in tears!
So just having a pair of winter tyres on the drive axle is A Bad Idea?! Why?
The breaks are balenced usualy to about a front:rear 70:30 split. The manufacturers put in this breaking difference assuming that the front and rear tyres have near enough equal grip.
In simple terms, having winter tyres on the front that grip much better than the summer tyres on the rear means the back end will be much more likely to lock up and the back end will slide around the front.
Hmm, I can afford the £132 for 2 tyres but not sure about £264 for 4 tyres. Although they have them in the 185/65/r14 my car uses (well, I have 2 tyre sizes on my car but those are the back and spare size, the front are, oddly, 195/60/r14).
I bought a pair of wheels from a scrapyard six years ago.Got a pair of Vredestein snow tyres fitted and use them on my transit through the winter.Will go through a foot of snow easily.
As winter progresses and demand outstrips supply which ever manufacturer you go for ,the prices will rocket as they did last year ,so buy now rather than later.
Hi Saratoga.A personal point of view Dont ■■■■ about with cheap winter tyres,expensive is not expensive if it saves you having an accident or losing work.almost all people up here have 2 sets of tyres,one for winter,from nov until april,and one for summer.We use ‘‘real’’ winter tyres that are specially designed for scandinavia.The rubber compound is very soft,so ensuring more grip.These would probably be overpriced in uk but there are many good brands of winter tyres.We get about 3 winters out of a set of ‘‘friction’’[without studs]or studded tyres so if you spread the price over 3 winters it aint expensive to be safe.I travel about 200kms each day to and from work with studded tyres.
Thanks for the advice I have decided to go for the set of 4 new tyres, the Avon Ice Touring ST. This is mostly because it fits into my price bracket (whimper!) and also they are available locally whilst the others are in short supply.
I have looked at a variety of sites recommending them including:
got pirrelli scorpion snow and ice tyres fitted to an old Frontera for ■■■■■■ weather but then we’re out in the sticks. Nearest a snowplough or gritter comes is about 3 miles away, we’ve got an ex council snowplough adapted to fit the front linkage on my son’s tractor though
get on ebay and get a full set of part worns with 4/5 mms on them. i got a set for my mitsi alloys (17") for £155 delivered to my door plus fitting which cost £48 and i put them on the car myself yesterday. no doubt you can change a wheel so im sure you can change 4 wheels 1 at a time.
i have researched and it seems to be you get what you pay for ie go for cheap, they will work in the snow but not very good on just cold and wet roads. that said, i have never heard of the brand i got (dutch manufacturer) and i have only really tried them today on cold wet roads and they perform better than my lower profile 18s did on a warm but wet road. i have a couple of test routes where i know i can kick the tail out and going at the same speed as i did with the summer tyres (brand new a few months ago) and there was no hint of a skid. so far i would say winter tyres are DEFINATELY worth the investment. i did choose slightly higher profiles (215/50/17 instead of 215/45/17) for extra clearance but that depends on how much room you have in your arches and narrower are supposedly better for cutting through snow but i cant confirm that myself. with 14s you are looking at 175/65/14 or 185/65/14
the temporary covers like socks and chains are only legal on certain surfaces and must be removed when on tarmac. they are only worth it if you are consistently on a poor surface which never gets ploughed or gritted
Saratoga:
Hmm, I can afford the £132 for 2 tyres but not sure about £264 for 4 tyres. Although they have them in the 185/65/r14 my car uses (well, I have 2 tyre sizes on my car but those are the back and spare size, the front are, oddly, 195/60/r14).
Hmm…
I was always advised never to have bigger tyres on the front than the rear, some claimed it was law which it wasn’t, but still inadvised.
truckers boy:
why not buy a tyre sock like alot of norwegian’s do? i seen them in my local asda not to long ago. they fit over your regular “summer” tyre
Can get you out of a hole but no good to be relied on, when the road clears you have to stop to remove them, and where do you stop? Middle of the carrageway where its clear or hard shoulder where you’ll be stuck again.
Had them, definatly rate them but only to get you out of the hedge not to rely on!
On another motoring forum I was pointed to a website that sells tyres and rims at a decent price on the WWW.
Have a look at ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/skw.pl?car … _d=&ch_x=1
Cheers
Paul
Dont ■■■■ about with cheap winter tyres,expensive is not expensive if it saves you having an accident or losing work.almost all people up here have 2 sets of tyres,one for winter,from nov until april,and one for summer.We use ‘‘real’’ winter tyres that are specially designed for scandinavia.The rubber compound is very soft,so ensuring more grip.These would probably be overpriced in uk but there are many good brands of winter tyres.We get about 3 winters out of a set of ‘‘friction’’[without studs]or studded tyres so if you spread the price over 3 winters it aint expensive to be safe.I travel about 200kms each day to and from work with studded tyres.