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Post by the light works on Oct 11, 2015 16:00:22 GMT
In that case, UK roads are a mix of all weather and winter tyres. Dependant on type of vehicle. All use the all-weather... 4wheel drives of the SUV/Pickup/Soft-Roader type may use those deeper tread "winter" tyres. If the tread is less than 1.6mm, its illegal, so I dont know exactly who would use the summer ones?... Are they cheep?... It looks a little "Part worn" to be honest, if its less than 4mm deep on the tread, no one would buy it here as it just wont last long enough. Yearly MOT checks would put a "Be aware" on tyre depths of less than 3mm, and start warning you about 4mm.... If they are the type of low rolling resistance energy efficient tyre, then those hybrid things use them. as I said, in common usage, "summer tires" refers to the tires "winter tire" users use when the winter tires aren't on, rather thn being a specific tire type. "touring tires" refers to tires meant for never going off the road and maximum quiet and tread life - and are often not M&S rated (which means chains are required for driving on ice or snow) tires that aren't M&S rated typically have longer tread life than all season tires, because they are a little stronger rubber composition, and denser tread pattern, as well as being designed to run quieter since they don't need to handle sloppy stuff (also related to denser tread pattern).
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Post by kharnynb on Oct 15, 2015 20:02:48 GMT
friction/non-studded winter tires are still behind good studded ones on every test i've seen, including my own driving experience.
A good nokian studded tire will give you grip on surfaces that even the best non-studded ones are useless on.
Ice/ice water and compressed snow are the worst surfaces here and all have studded tires outperforming others.
For summer we use all-weather ones.
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Post by silverdragon on Oct 16, 2015 6:56:30 GMT
friction/non-studded winter tires are still behind good studded ones on every test i've seen, including my own driving experience. A good nokian studded tire will give you grip on surfaces that even the best non-studded ones are useless on. Ice/ice water and compressed snow are the worst surfaces here and all have studded tires outperforming others. For summer we use all-weather ones. Agreed, but, there are the fools who use the studs on tarmac when the "Big white" has gone. They do not have the grip they think they have on tarmac.
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Post by c64 on Nov 29, 2015 13:57:19 GMT
Last winter was hard on me. The new job has a 35 minutes commute and ice was a big issues last winter. I got into one officail wreck due to ice and slid several times that I was able to recover from. So this year I am getting snow tires. What do you have experience with and what do you recommend? 1. Snow tires a superior during rain. So its good to have them in the "dark season" of year since there is much more rain than during summer. 2. Snow tires cost you more money when using them The drag is increased by the more coarse thread so you need more fuel AND they wear down much quicker on dry roads so you spend more money replacing them when worn. So the rule of thumb "From October to Easter" is wrong, it depends on the area you live in and on the actual weather conditions each year. 3. While snow tires reduce your braking distance on a wet road and especially on snow, they won't help much on even ice and while they help accelerating and braking, they handle less axial forces so you must take corners slower and you can't evade obstacles as good as with summer tires, especially on a dry road! 4. The claim that the temperature is important and snow tires work better at below 7°C is not quite right. At high temperatures, snow tires wear out quickly but their performance doesn't degrade much. They are just not good on dry, clean roads so it is a question of chances during which season you encounter the most problems on which road conditions. 5. All season tires work pretty well on snow and on dry roads but not as good as real seasonal tires. They wear out quicker and cost you more fuel. But they are perfect if you switch between different climates often (e.g. mountains) or there is an unusual amount of rainy days since they can handle rain much better than summer tires. 6. For flash ice there is no difference - buy yourself a good set of snow chains and be ready to install them (bicycle gloves work good). 7. Find out the perfect air pressure of your snow tires Release air step by step until the tread marks your tires leave on clean snow start to break up, then add a little more air. Make sure that tires on the same axle are filled with perfectly the same pressure. And never get too far off the recommended pressure and recheck tire pressure often! This gives you maximum braking performance and you can climb steeper hills - but it will also affect your mpg badly!
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 29, 2015 20:52:44 GMT
the review on this years tires. mostly in finnish, but you can see the scores.
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 29, 2015 20:54:54 GMT
all the none spike tires scored 7 or below...
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Post by wvengineer on Nov 30, 2015 23:40:53 GMT
I got myself some Goodyear Ultragrip Ice tires. Have not had them studded yet. Getting the tires was a headache and a half. I ordered the tires to a local tire shop since they don't normally carry snow tires. Then drive home, lest than 30 miles on the tires. Next morning, I go out to see that not only is the tire flat, it has managed to break the bead seal. I thought that it shouldn't be a big deal to re-seat the tire. Get the compressor out, pull the tire and start filling it. I got it halfway reset when the sidewall tears a hole big enough to stick my finger in. So I put the spare on and drive back to the tire place. That was a Saturday. They say that it is a defect and will replace it at no cost (great!), but till have to order in a new tire. (Sigh. Annoying, but to be expected.) It should be there by Tuesday at the absolute latest. On Friday, they finally call to say it is in. Sunday I go in to get it installed. An hour after I got home, they call to tell me the forgot to put the spare tire back in the trunk of my car. So I have to go back down there again...
Groan. If nothing else, I have put about 100 miles on them without a major failure.
ON to spike, or not to spike: Winters here tend to be icy and really cold, mixed with weeks of warmer and dry weather followed by several inches of snow that melts in a few days. How does having studs affect dry driving and braking?
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2015 0:06:31 GMT
I got myself some Goodyear Ultragrip Ice tires. Have not had them studded yet. Getting the tires was a headache and a half. I ordered the tires to a local tire shop since they don't normally carry snow tires. Then drive home, lest than 30 miles on the tires. Next morning, I go out to see that not only is the tire flat, it has managed to break the bead seal. I thought that it shouldn't be a big deal to re-seat the tire. Get the compressor out, pull the tire and start filling it. I got it halfway reset when the sidewall tears a hole big enough to stick my finger in. So I put the spare on and drive back to the tire place. That was a Saturday. They say that it is a defect and will replace it at no cost (great!), but till have to order in a new tire. (Sigh. Annoying, but to be expected.) It should be there by Tuesday at the absolute latest. On Friday, they finally call to say it is in. Sunday I go in to get it installed. An hour after I got home, they call to tell me the forgot to put the spare tire back in the trunk of my car. So I have to go back down there again... Groan. If nothing else, I have put about 100 miles on them without a major failure. ON to spike, or not to spike: Winters here tend to be icy and really cold, mixed with weeks of warmer and dry weather followed by several inches of snow that melts in a few days. How does having studs affect dry driving and braking? they leave great evidence making a panic stop. otherwise, they lift some of the rubber off the roadway, but not a huge amount. I would say they don't cost TOO much traction on dry pavement. still, as I said earlier, I really didn't find them a great deal of help when I was using them.
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Post by kharnynb on Dec 1, 2015 4:59:58 GMT
I couldn't do without studs here, but we drive on compacted snow and ice a lot.
If i were living more south, say helsinki area, i'd concider non-studded tires.
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2015 5:13:16 GMT
I couldn't do without studs here, but we drive on compacted snow and ice a lot. If i were living more south, say helsinki area, i'd concider non-studded tires. I was skiing 3-4 days a week back then. granted, I wasn't driving on snowpack as much when I was running the studless, but I was running a front drive with the studless.
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