Winter Tyres?

[DrSlackBladder]

Wow, just returned from holiday....nice to see my quick innocent question sparked so much discussion! :lol:

 

[jdsx]

Hope you had a nice holiday DrSB. Did you do it in the PHEV, as it were?

My dealer said:
"I have my parts department looking into the cost of winter tyres for the car.
They state that being a four wheel drive car they don’t recommend them as the four wheel drive is sufficient enough."

Which IMO is just not good enough. :evil:

 

[maby]

Hope you had a nice holiday DrSB. Did you do it in the PHEV, as it were?

My dealer said:
"I have my parts department looking into the cost of winter tyres for the car.
They state that being a four wheel drive car they don’t recommend them as the four wheel drive is sufficient enough."

Which IMO is just not good enough. :evil:

Having owned a variety of Landrovers and Landcruisers most of my driving life, I'm with him.

 

[jdsx]

I know the first of these was posted earlier in this thread, but I still think they're worth watching again...

(EDIT: sorry can't work out why the links won't work at the moment but I'm working on it.... )

Trying again:

Any better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfuE00qdhLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elP_34ltdWI#t=192

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Hope you had a nice holiday DrSB. Did you do it in the PHEV, as it were?

My dealer said:
"I have my parts department looking into the cost of winter tyres for the car.
They state that being a four wheel drive car they don’t recommend them as the four wheel drive is sufficient enough."

Which IMO is just not good enough. :evil:

Thanks, but I don't have my PHEV yet, gotta wait 'til November 4th even though it's ready and waiting for me at the local dealer! :evil:

 

[jaapv]

Hope you had a nice holiday DrSB. Did you do it in the PHEV, as it were?

My dealer said:
"I have my parts department looking into the cost of winter tyres for the car.
They state that being a four wheel drive car they don’t recommend them as the four wheel drive is sufficient enough."

Which IMO is just not good enough. :evil:

In that case have them explain to you how a four wheel drive is going to help with braking, handling and corner stability.... especially on a heavy vehicle..... :roll:
They must be drumming up business for removing dents...

 

[Phever]

Hope you had a nice holiday DrSB. Did you do it in the PHEV, as it were?

My dealer said:
"I have my parts department looking into the cost of winter tyres for the car.
They state that being a four wheel drive car they don’t recommend them as the four wheel drive is sufficient enough."

Which IMO is just not good enough. :evil:

In that case have them explain to you how a four wheel drive is going to help with braking, handling and corner stability.... especially on a heavy vehicle..... :roll:
They must be drumming up business for removing dents...

utterly laughable. i changed from decent summer tyres to wintrac 4s on my range rover, and the difference was alarming. biggest being braking distances, which were at least halved.

 

[gobiman]

That's absolutely brilliant!
Why do they offer them in Holland then?
Do they think that the relevant authorities in Bavaria, Austria, Scandinavia etc have simply got it wrong!!!
Are they aware that a winter tyre equipped front drive car will outperform a summer tyred 4x4.....
I'd be asking them to put that advice in writing.
" I'm sorry I ran over your child in the ski resort but the bloke in the Mitsubishi parts department said I didn't need winter tyres because I have four wheel drive"

 

[PolishPilot]

For me it was no brainer.

I got my Outlander delivered few days ago, and I immediately opted for set of winter tires.
I got good deal, 4 alloy 16in with directional Dunlop winters for 800€.
I put them on when the temperature drops below 8C.
It means half a year here.

I am also driving a Hilux, also have set of extra steel wheels with winter tires.
I need them, without them it was hard to plough snow out of my 150m driveway.

 

[jdsx]

For me it was no brainer.
I got my Outlander delivered few days ago, and I immediately opted for set of winter tires.
I got good deal, 4 alloy 16in with directional Dunlop winters for 800€.
I put them on when the temperature drops below 8C.
It means half a year here.
I am also driving a Hilux, also have set of extra steel wheels with winter tires.
I need them, without them it was hard to plough snow out of my 150m driveway.

Excuse the stupid question, but are you in Poland???
Sounds like a bit too long a trip for me but that sounds like a good deal!
(Btw, Glasgow is on the same latitude as Moscow, but usually it's a little warmer in the winter....

 

[PolishPilot]

For me it was no brainer.
I got my Outlander delivered few days ago, and I immediately opted for set of winter tires.
I got good deal, 4 alloy 16in with directional Dunlop winters for 800€.
I put them on when the temperature drops below 8C.
It means half a year here.
I am also driving a Hilux, also have set of extra steel wheels with winter tires.
I need them, without them it was hard to plough snow out of my 150m driveway.

Excuse the stupid question, but are you in Poland???
Sounds like a bit too long a trip for me but that sounds like a good deal!
(Btw, Glasgow is on the same latitude as Moscow, but usually it's a little warmer in the winter....

Yes, I am from Poland.
Warsaw, near which I live, is half way Glasgow to Moscow,
the conditions are corresponding.

The price was a special deal, kind of discount on purchase of a new PHEV.

I used and use winter tires on all my cars. It is not only the profile, but also
the softer rubber mix that improves the ride below 8C drastically.

But remember to change back to summer tires when hotter days come.
I learned this lesson the hard way, postponed changing until May one year
many years ago and had an accident due to poor braking effectiveness.
It was a car with no ABS, the soft winter tires on hot day just melted on full braking
and it felt like sliding on soft glue.

 

[david1972]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently.

This isn't a PHEV question - more general really:

Which is best (in your opinions) at temps below 7c - budget winter tyres or premium-brand summer tyres?

 

[DrSlackBladder]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently.

This isn't a PHEV question - more general really:

Which is best (in your opinions) at temps below 7c - budget winter tyres or premium-brand summer tyres?

Glad you're still at least considering David; obviously a decent brand winter tyre is best below 7C, but to answer your question I'd take the budget tyre designed for winter.....softer rubber with a lower glass transition point...........better braking/cornering. Not to mention the improved traction of deeper, wider tread pattern.....

For me your question is analogous to this......would you take a cheap water resistant divers' watch scuba diving or a shower resistant Rolex?! :shock:

 

[jaapv]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently.

This isn't a PHEV question - more general really:

Which is best (in your opinions) at temps below 7c - budget winter tyres or premium-brand summer tyres?

If you go for budget winter tyres, David, and you won't be surprised that I agree with the poster above - make sure they are suitable for SUV use, many tyres are not. See the websites of the tyre manufacturers.
Anyhow, what would you save by getting budget instead of midrange? 35 quid per tyre? That means 100 pounds.Relate that to the price of the car you are driving....

 

[maby]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently.

This isn't a PHEV question - more general really:

Which is best (in your opinions) at temps below 7c - budget winter tyres or premium-brand summer tyres?

If you go for budget winter tyres, David, and you won't be surprised that I agree with the poster above - make sure they are suitable for SUV use, many tyres are not. See the websites of the tyre manufacturers.
Anyhow, what would you save by getting budget instead of midrange? 35 quid per tyre? That means 100 pounds.Relate that to the price of the car you are driving....

Surely that does rather depend on whether or not the car is going to be used as an "SUV", doesn't it? Very few 4x4s actually are, you know! For most of us, it's just a large estate car.

 

[maby]

How about "All Season" tyres? I had never heard of them before, but my employer has just sent round an email with special offers on a range of tyres including some all-seasons. This review: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Bild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm seems to indicate performance that is not significantly worse than dedicated winter tyres.

Our PHEV is going to go through this winter on whatever tyres it is delivered with, but if they are beginning to show wear next year, I could imagine replacing them with All Seasons...

 

[jaapv]

Like a Jack-of-all trades, decent at everything, master of none....
Many so-called "all-season" tyres do not have a winter tyre rating, so are illegal in situations where winter tyres are obligatory. But some (unfortunately not the cheapest) are quite good for moderate conditions.

http://tires.about.com/od/buyers_guide/tp/The-Best-Performance-All-season-Tires-For-2013.htm

 

[maby]

Like a Jack-of-all trades, decent at everything, master of none....
Many so-called "all-season" tyres do not have a winter tyre rating, so are illegal in situations where winter tyres are obligatory. But some (unfortunately not the cheapest) are quite good for moderate conditions.

http://tires.about.com/od/buyers_guide/tp/The-Best-Performance-All-season-Tires-For-2013.htm

The review I quoted does say that they are probably a good solution for drivers in places like Southern England where serious winter conditions are almost unheard of - at least in the sense that you continental Europeans know them!

 

[jaapv]

I don't know, the perception of weather is quite personal- I for one have fond childhood memories of snowmen and sitting on a sled in Little Hasely(Oxon)...

 

[maby]

I remember some pretty deep snow in Hertfordshire - 30 years ago! I don't think we have had more than half an inch on the ground or for more than two or three days in the year for the last 10 years or more...