found this ARTICAL
Thought I would do some research on tyres, after having the worst drive ever coming home from work.
found this ARTICAL
quote:
Do I really need snow tyres?
We all know that tyres are a compromise. One tyre can’t be the fastest on the track, most controllable in the snow, and longest wearing. The Ultra High Performance tyre that grips the track at high tread temperatures is incompetent as its tread compound becomes like “hard plastic” at below 7°. Today’s tyre tread designs and compounds maximize long, even wear… not winter traction. And while many of today’s Original Equipment tyres address some of these issues, they still emphasize longer wear, a quieter ride or greater performance…not winter traction.Only snow tyres are designed to excel in the colder temperatures, slush, snow and ice that alpine areas experience for three or more months a year.
I was great in the snow. Or was it because I was in my early 20's
My sud was great in the snow - great for improving your left foot braking technique as well!
165/70 tyres help in the snow over the fat tyres on modern cars.
[Edited on 6/1/10 by whitestu]
My Peugeot 107 grips surprisingly well in the dry, almost as well in the wet and seems to do a lot better than most cars around me in the snow. The fronts only last about 12 months of restrained driving. My first car, A Citroen AX had tyres that lasted nearly 60,000 miles of lunatic driving. They aquaplaned like an ekranoplan at the merest hint of moisture. Seems to fit what you're saying.
Modern Cars are heavy: The C-max weighs about 1.5 tonnes, Your old Alfa Sud about 0.8
Modern cars have wider low profile tyres and yes modern tyres are probably constructed more for longevity and quite running and less for poor weather
conditions.
But again the most important factors are the extra weight of our bloated rides and the wider low profile tyres they have. Look at a rally car on a
snowy stage, very narrow high profile tyres.
The joke is that there are more four wheel drives than ever on our roads but most of these are struggling almost as much as everyone else, again
because they are heavy and have wide road biased tyres. An old escort, 205 or MK1 Golf will run rings around most of this stuff currently on the road.
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
My sud was great in the snow - great for improving your left foot braking technique as well!
165/70 tyres help in the snow over the fat tyres on modern cars.
Back in the day people used to fit tyres called 'Town & Country' in the winter. They had a much chunkier tread, like an off road tyre
pattern.
Wonder why not these days?
Is it because the winters have been so mild lately and now people panic?
OT - If the weather is so bad that schools need to shut, why are all the kids playing out in it?
In the winter of '63 I was 15, and used to walk 6 miles to work and had to be there for 07:30. That was in over a foot of snow.
Now on the news, it shows a closed school in an area with about 4 inches of snow.
Are we turning into a Nation of wusses?
people have gone soft with a series of mild winters, no one I know has a set of spare wheels with winter tyres on them anymore!
I had a vectra which was on 205/55 16s. 20 years ago that would have been a sierra on 175/65 14s or something. Weve very much moved from general tyres
to bigger wheels and wider tyres for appearances and assymetric summer tread patterns.
The 4x4s on the road now make me laugh, gone are the days of range rover classics and defenders on sensible tyre sizes. The electricty board run full
width mud tyres while most consumer 4x4s run road tyres to achieve the wear period they want, handling they desire and cushion the poor saps who buy
them from any possible road noise and squirm from appropriate tyres.
A complete lack of vehicle suitability and preparation combined with no one ever learning to drive in such conditions is why this countries reaction
to the white stuff is so embarrassing!
PS, who here carried a space blanket, gloves, some warm clothes and a set of snow chains in the boot if venturing out in this weather?
What you need in this weather is an OvloV
OvloV's in the snow
BMSeven
I'm most distracted by your avatar, its quite 'engaging'!
[Edited on 6/1/10 by carpmart]
Following on from another thread - look how skinny the tyres are on those Volvos - 5.5" wheels with high-profile tyres (or not much bigger).
Seems to work!
My Rover 75 is brill in the snow -- probably due to the unkown brand cheap tyres that seen to work well in sub zero conditions.
quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
PS, who here carried a space blanket, gloves, some warm clothes and a set of snow chains in the boot if venturing out in this weather?
Cars are as good in the snow as they have always been - its the level of intelligence driving them that is getting worse as time goes by!!
quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
PS, who here carried a space blanket, gloves, some warm clothes and a set of snow chains in the boot if venturing out in this weather?
no snow chains, aparently there isn't room for them round my wheels anyway
no space blanket
but I do have a shovel, the clothers and a pair of these in the car:
even if i get the car stuck its not going to stop me
[Edited on 6/1/10 by mcerd1]
i just aim for a coat and a full tank of fuel! Might take a rake tomorrow as i dont have a shovel 
With any luck I'll have some Vredestein Snowtrac 3's arriving tomorrow to go on my 16inch steelies for the missus X-type. I'm not
supposed to use chains on her 18inch alloys due to clearance issues but I've got some low profile chains from my old Beemer in the boot that I
had to use in Geneva the other day.
Hopefully the winter tyres will help out a bit and we'll get the use out of the on ski trips.
quote:
Originally posted by Confused but excited.
OT - If the weather is so bad that schools need to shut, why are all the kids playing out in it?
I want some snow tyres now! Ive got a spare sparewheel so theres two i dont need 99% of the time.
Daniel
Other reasons schools close
Tightwad maintenance and heating budgets mean pipes always seem to freeze and boilers break down, especially after holiday periods - the schools turn
all the heating off until the morning of start of term)
Coaches don't arrive so half the kids aren't there.
Government targets for attendance (huge number of kids/parents won't bother but it's the school that gets nailed for having bad numbers on
the spreadsheet if they are open)
If there's a reasonable chance a kid will get hurt falling on ice then it's very risky to stay open. (insurance costs, HSE investigation
costs, no win no fee bottom feeders, Gutter press horror stories, Unions etc etc)
quote:
Originally posted by bmseven
What you need in this weather is an OvloV
OvloV's in the snow
Or the other theory of getting to work or school or wherever else in the Snow/Ice.
Stay in bed, you might loose out on £100 a day wages...
Attempt to get to work and:
Prang an Alloy/Tyre £150
Crash into sombody/something £300 excess
A claim, and next years premium rises £200 not to mention the Hassle.
Fight it into work... to be thought no better of?.. whats the point!
P.S incase your wondering i've made it into work everyday 
quote:
Originally posted by speed8
With any luck I'll have some Vredestein Snowtrac 3's arriving tomorrow to go on my 16inch steelies for the missus X-type.
(off a 505 estate I think)
quote:
Originally posted by bmseven
What you need in this weather is an OvloV
I like vredesteins stuff, let me know what their snow tyres are like!
The problem with this country is that no tyres can do everything. For driving in fresh snow you want snow chains, for driving on packed snow/ice you
want studded tyres, and for driving on tarmac in subzero temps you want a decent winter tyres with the appropriate compound.
Unfortunately studded tyres destroy themselves when you hit tarmac, snow chains dont work on ice or tarmac.... Its a bit like rock paper scissors.
quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
I like vredesteins stuff, let me know what their snow tyres are like!
I've got mine now, changed from these:
sportrac 3's
to these:
quatrac 3's (all season rather than full snow ones)
amazing how much difference it makes