Winter Tyres - Confused!

[berg]

Personally I wouldn't bother - you're going to SW Scotland, not Alaska.

 

Are you joking?  I personally think winter tyres should become law in the UK.  Theres a reason the UK grinds to a halt with the slightest dusting, while mainland Europe and Finland/Denmark etc carry on as normal with minimal delays yet suffer much greater snow fall. 

Winter tyres, pure and simple are worth every bit of the cost.  99% of the people who appose winter tyres haven't tried them and felt the benefits. 

i agree with sy, i have noticed such a difference since fitting them on 1st dec, awesome traction even in sub zero conditions 

[ArildStavrum]

Ok so winters are definitely the way to go then!

per my question earlier....is storing my summer tyres in my garden shed ok?

any tips for storage would be much appreciated!

[andrewparker]

Ok so winters are definitely the way to go then!

per my question earlier....is storing my summer tyres in my garden shed ok?

any tips for storage would be much appreciated!

I store my summer wheels in my cellar. They are on rims though. I can't see why storing them in the shed would be a problem.

It is massively beneficial having two sets of wheels. Last April it had been warm and dry for a couple of weeks, so I switched to my summer wheels. A few days later it unexpectedly put 6 inches of snow down so I quickly swapped them over. You can't really do that if you're relying on a tyre fitter to change them over.

[Eccie]

Ok so winters are definitely the way to go then!

per my question earlier....is storing my summer tyres in my garden shed ok?

any tips for storage would be much appreciated!

I store my winter/summer tyres in the garage, flat and covered, when not in use - like Andrew, I have them fitted to another set of wheels & swap them when I like or the weather dictates.
I generally put the winter tyres on both our cars when the clocks go back & take them off when the clocks go forward in the spring - but having them at hand means you can be flexible

[scottm72]

guys I have read a few comments on this thread but don't need to read any more
I worked for Michelin for 5 years
I ran tyre depots for 4 years
the following comment is factual AND NOT just my opinion although I 100% agree
regardless of fitting summer tyres, winter tyres you put your strongest grip tyres on the REAR,,, always
regardless of fwd, rwd or awd
reason for this,,, you need your strongest grip on the rear because if you loose control of the car, or the car slides in snow etc that's where the grip needs to be.
this also applies if you have a blow out.
this information is recognised by ALL the top tyre manufacturers,,, and not just Michelin.
anyone who fits their best grip to the front and says things like ( oh it helps pull me up the hills ) is only guessing and has no product knowledge other than their own.
if you check my information by telephoning every top tyre company and assuming you speak to someone who actually is qualified in answering this question, they will all tell you this is correct.
please drive safely

[zerolag]

Proper icy this morning -2*C... the winters were absolutely f**in fantastic, like driving in the dry... people sliding all over the show... simply brilliant, get some!
FYI: Mine are 225/40/18 Goodyear Ultragrip

I reckon the winter tyres start making sense around 4*C.

[Bernhard30]

Add to the positive comments for winter hoops.
Although Newcastle is not in the Artic Circle (well today it's not that warm..) I wouldn't be without them on either car.

When 'er indoors was expecting in 2010 decided to source a spare set of Pescaras and get winter tyres so we ran her GT TDi on winters and that winter was pretty snowy for a few weeks. Last winter her Golf had changed into an A4 Avant, so we bought higher load/wider tyres for her car and I used the Pescara/Conti winter set up on mine.
A mild winter followed. Both sets are Conti WinterContact TS830P.

Now into winter '12, recent coldness, I was only thinking the other morning that they were providing sursprising traction on my St2+ Ed30, in cold and damp conditions it was surprising how many 'beans' were being deployed cleanly.

In terms of storage, there's a bit on the Continental site for storing.
They suggest hanging the wheels in bags. I've not got room to do that, so mine are bagged in the VW wheel bags (from dealer), pressures down to 1.0 Bar (what's that 15psi or so?) And stacked up. Heard it's best to keep them out of the light to try and stop ageing while stored.

As someone mentioned on here, only those who have not experienced winter tyres, don't rate them, those that have praise them.

I always think that summer tyres are a bit like wearing leather soled shoes, you can go along an icey pavement in them but chunky trainers would make walking a lot easier. Just my thoughts..

[scottm72]

Add to the positive comments for winter hoops.
Although Newcastle is not in the Artic Circle (well today it's not that warm..) I wouldn't be without them on either car.

When 'er indoors was expecting in 2010 decided to source a spare set of Pescaras and get winter tyres so we ran her GT TDi on winters and that winter was pretty snowy for a few weeks. Last winter her Golf had changed into an A4 Avant, so we bought higher load/wider tyres for her car and I used the Pescara/Conti winter set up on mine.
A mild winter followed. Both sets are Conti WinterContact TS830P.

Now into winter '12, recent coldness, I was only thinking the other morning that they were providing sursprising traction on my St2+ Ed30, in cold and damp conditions it was surprising how many 'beans' were being deployed cleanly.

In terms of storage, there's a bit on the Continental site for storing.
They suggest hanging the wheels in bags. I've not got room to do that, so mine are bagged in the VW wheel bags (from dealer), pressures down to 1.0 Bar (what's that 15psi or so?) And stacked up. Heard it's best to keep them out of the light to try and stop ageing while stored.

As someone mentioned on here, only those who have not experienced winter tyres, don't rate them, those that have praise them.

I always think that summer tyres are a bit like wearing leather soled shoes, you can go along an icey pavement in them but chunky trainers would make walking a lot easier. Just my thoughts..

[ArildStavrum]

Another thing... My summer hankooks and rated B for wet grip yet the winter tyres I'm thinking of buying are rated C. According to the scale that means my summer tyres stop better in the wet than the winter tyres!?

Im baffled.

Vredestain wintrac's are even worse at wet grip rating E. 

All from Camskills website.

[scottm72]

Another thing... My summer hankooks and rated B for wet grip yet the winter tyres I'm thinking of buying are rated C. According to the scale that means my summer tyres stop better in the wet than the winter tyres!?

Im baffled.

Vredestain wintrac's are even worse at wet grip rating E. 

All from Camskills website.

summer tyres will stop better on the wet if they are a good brand, reason for this is they are designed for over 7 degrees and when above that temperature the rubber compound adheres to the road the way they where designed to, so they will out perform winter tyres every time.
another reason is the tread pattern, summer tyres have better water dispersal grooves apposed to winters, winter tyres are not designed for speed and not designed for maximum water dispersal with more thought put into grip in the snow.
I run winter tyres all year round on my wifes car, Michelins, they are as good as summers nearly but they produce more road feedback noise until you reach 80mph.
all you need to remember is winters are soft, smaller chunks of rubber so they flex a lot better in cold conditions, summers have large rubber areas and stiffen up in cold conditions but come to life above 7 degrees.
when you are sliding about on icy roads with summer tyres it is because the rubber is very stiff and cannot grip.
whatever you do, do not buy cheap budget winter tyres, would be pointless, I am running Michelins on my wifes and have done for 3 years ( continuously that is ) and they are very very good on a 15 inch wheel.
on my mk5 I have just put on vredisteins and they seem just as good, they are 16 inch.
when a snow tyre gets below 4mm they are next to useless also so remember this,,, when they breach 4mm chuck them out ( you loose 50-60% of their grip then )
also remember that as you go up in tyre width the snow tyres become less effective, more rubber touching the road is a bad thing when it comes to snow tyres, so a 15 inch tyre will out perform a 18 inch tyre, this is the reason I have put 16s on instead of just buying 18s for my summer rims,,,,,,, the smaller the tyre width the the easier it is to CUT through the snow,,,,, instead of trying to flat pack grip it with a wide tyre.
all these points are factual
safe driving 

[andrewparker]

You don't half love your commas Scott!

[scottm72]

You don't half love your commas Scott!

yeah I type very basically I know, bad habit, I tend to just keep going without a pause so I invented commas lol
was worse before, I didn't used to use full stops - at all,,, period,,, just kept going,,,, bad bad habit from school.
just as well my PhD is not in anything to do with English I tell you or I would be working in McDonalds

[andrewparker]

Haha, every time I read one of your posts from now on I am going to find it impossible not to imagine you gasping for breath every time you use your commas

[ArildStavrum]

Cheers Scott, much appreciated.

I'm predominantly buying winters for the cold, wet and icey conditions not snow.
I also can't afford decent winter tyres and wheels so I was just going to buy tyres and replace the existing summer tyres on my monza 2's.

Thanks again, you clearly know your tyres!

[scottm72]

Cheers Scott, much appreciated.

I'm predominantly buying winters for the cold, wet and icey conditions not snow.
I also can't afford decent winter tyres and wheels so I was just going to buy tyres and replace the existing summer tyres on my monza 2's.

Thanks again, you clearly know your tyres!

no problem buddy, just don't buy a budget brand, good luck to you and let us know what you bought