advertisement


Winter tyres - the ADAC's annual assessment

This, I'd say, is more relevant to UK car owners who look for winter/all-season tyres:


It was this review that made me go for my current 17" Goodyear Vector 4Season all-season tyres ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JTC
What’s the best course of action for aUK driver? I bought a spare set of wheels for a RWD car but it’s a hassle even though the dealer will change them free of charge. We only drive once in every 10 days to get across Scotland and I just left the winter tyres on this year (and I get it that stopping distance is greater).
 
TheDecameron said:
What’s the best course of action for aUK driver? I bought a spare set of wheels for a RWD car but it’s a hassle even though the dealer will change them free of charge. We only drive once in every 10 days to get across Scotland and I just left the winter tyres on this year (and I get it that stopping distance is greater).
Click to expand...
I get the impression that, for most places in the disUK, all-season tyres are the way to go. Here in Swizzieland, we seem to get less and less snow, but that's not the point - below about 7°C, winter tyres are advantageous, and of course having an accident in winter on summer tyres can be rather expensive, insurance-wise. I'd imagine that winter tyres would be a reasonable bet in the more northerly parts of the disUK. As you say, a nuisance, but the local dealer, who stores my wheels for me, sends me a list of potential appointments for winter/summer/winter changes, and it's all done very quickly.
 
With the pandemic, my mileage has dropped dramatically, so I've just left the winter tyres on; before, I always got them swapped each autumn & spring... @ £50 a time! :eek:
The best winter tyres I've had were Gislaved Nordfrost 5; the current Goodyear Ultargrip 9 aren't as good in snow, though still good, and of course much better than summer tyres. I've not tried all-season tyres, though...?
 
I run a set of dedicated winters & summers; 2 separate sets of alloys. But then again I've the storage for them and change them over myself

However this time around (after research and watching/reading reviews); I went for the Goodyear all-seasons rather than winters and really glad I did

They'll be perfect for the colder, wetter weather and for the road trips up to the Highlands and back etc; but won't have to worry about swapping them as soon as the weather starts to warm up etc
 
TheDecameron said:
What’s the best course of action for aUK driver? I bought a spare set of wheels for a RWD car but it’s a hassle even though the dealer will change them free of charge. We only drive once in every 10 days to get across Scotland and I just left the winter tyres on this year (and I get it that stopping distance is greater).
Click to expand...
There was a recent discussion here, the comment from people who swapped tyres fairly regularly was that you could use "All Season" tyres in non mountainous areas of the UK all year round, if you accepted that the dry grip was marginally lower in summer than a summer tyre and that they might wear slightly more quickly. If you were a regular to the Scottish Highlands or the Lakes/Snowdonia in winter then you might want to get a second set and have full winter tyres for 5 or 6 months. There remain a good number of us here that use standard tyres all year round and drive accordingly in winter if it's snowy or icy.
So if you want a consensus you'd better only ask 1 person.
 
Only started using winter tyres since around mid/late 2000's when we went from Saab front wheel drive to a 335i RWD. All season tyres were not a thing back then so we bought a set of wheels and winter tyres and have got used to changing them. Car was changed for a M235i RWD and bought another set for it and flogged the old set, got around 1/4 of the purchase price back on the old wheels and tyres.

Used to the wheel swap process now, can't get the company to spring for winter tyres on the company Tesla sadly but 4WD and no snow means no issues.
 
Remember that tyres have a safe life of about 4~5 years - if you do low mileage, swapping wheels every Spring and Autumn might end up costing you money, because the tyres may become too old to use before you’ve used the tread on them.

To slow the ageing, store your unused tyres in a cool, dark place - both UV light and heat will harden the rubber used in tyres.
 
I have read in the past that tires are safe up to 7 years old, and this article suggests somewhere between 6 and 10 years
https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html

Many automakers, including Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, tell owners to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year.
Click to expand...
 
Au Contraire:
MOT Inspection Manual §5.2.3 said:
Tyres over ten years old at the time of test must be failed if they are on:
  • any front steered axle
  • any rear axle of a minibus with a single wheel fitment.
Tyres not displaying a date code must also be failed. However, date codes are only required to be marked on one side of the tyre so it may not be possible to see the date code on twin wheel fitments. Under these circumstances you should advise the presenter and assume the date code is present and the tyre age is acceptable.

On tyres where the date code is illegible, for example, due to kerbing or deliberate tampering, a major or minor defect must be recorded, depending on the location of the tyre.
Click to expand...
Source: MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles - 5. Axles, wheels, tyres and suspension - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There’s nothing in there about cracking, sidewall hardness or other symptoms of age. Only damage (lumps, cuts, bulges) will raise a failure.
 
TheDecameron said:
What’s the best course of action for aUK driver? I bought a spare set of wheels for a RWD car but it’s a hassle even though the dealer will change them free of charge. We only drive once in every 10 days to get across Scotland and I just left the winter tyres on this year (and I get it that stopping distance is greater).
Click to expand...

From the research I did the best all-season types looked like the best option as they' significantly outperform winter tyres in almost all winter conditions we'll normally counter here in the UK, and more or less match decent summer tyres in dry/warmer conditions. The tests I looked at showed the all-seasons performed better than a full-winter in pretty much anything except snow, even sub-zero non-snow conditions.

There will be times (e.g. heavy snow) where full winters will be better but despite driving up to the highest village in the Cairngorms pretty much every week for more than a year I've yet to encounter that (which probably means I will this winter!). Even if I did I suspect that while the winters might be better on a small percentage of that 160 mile trip the all-seasons will be better for 90% of it.
 
stevec67 said:
MoT testing in the UK doesn't look at tyre age, but inspects their condition. Only if they have deteriorated is it a fail.
Click to expand...

I thought they did look at age now as I'm pretty sure I had to switch the tyres on my motorhome after 10 years to pass the MOT. Being van tyres with only about 30,000 miles on they still more or less looked like new at that point, with no cracking etc.
 
According to German law, they are only required when there is snow or ice on the road, and that happens where I am about 3 days a year. And who wants to drive in ice and snow? In some regions in France either you have to have winter tyres November 1 to March 31 or chains in the boot. Winter tyres can get in the sea as far as I am concerned. So can all season tyres. I'm running tyres and carrying chains.
 
richardg said:
According to German law, they are only required when there is snow or ice on the road, and that happens where I am about 3 days a year. And who wants to drive in ice and snow? In some regions in France either you have to have winter tyres November 1 to March 31 or chains in the boot. Winter tyres can get in the sea as far as I am concerned. So can all season tyres. I'm running tyres and carrying chains.
Click to expand...
I think all-season tyres make sense in the UK when road temperatures will drop below 7C for a good part of the year, so you get better grip for braking and cornering, and better traction. But I guess the further south you go, the shorter the period when this has value. I’m probably going to Michelin CrossClimate 2s when mine need replacing, but that’s at least a year away.
 
Though, TBH, being robust enough to cope with potholes and broken surfaces is probably a more important consideration these days. That pretty much precludes anything below 50 profile too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top