Would studded tyres be legal in Ireland?

peasant

I'm semi-seriously considering getting myself a set of studded winter tyres for next winter after the desaster of the last few days. I can drive on snow with summer tyres, if push comes to shove ...but we don't get snow, just bloody sheet ice and even winter tyres won't do you much good on that.

Add to that a very steep driveway and a trip to work on untreated roads and you can see where these thoughts are coming from

Now the big question ...could I actually use them on the public road or would the first official to spot me with them on throw me in jail for destruction of public property (studded tyres do damage to road surfaces:o)

Cosmo K

Yes, they are road legal, or should I say, there is nothing in the NCT manual, that says they are illegal.

Let me explain;

I tested a 1993 Toyota Celica a couple of months ago, that actually had studded tyres fitted, car belonged to an irish guy from Ennis, who's gf is from Lithuania. Once a year they go over to Lithunia by car, because she doesn't like flying.

In Lithuania he picked up a cheap set of studded tyres, and simply left them on the car, when they returned to Ireland. When I then tested the car, I failed the it, because I was a 100% sure, that studded tyres are illegal on public roads. As they are in Germany, France, Poland, the UK......you get the idea.

Anway, he complained, the case was reviewd by an official from the department, and that guy decided that:

Studded tyres are not illegal in Ireland.

homer simpson

the legality of them i dont know but i do know that if you use studded tyres on a road that doesn't require them (which is inevitable, i live on a road with 6 houses thats 3 mile from a main road my road is terrible but main roads are grand 90% of the time) the studs won't last very long and you'll be left paying a fortune for tyre that arebasiclly bad patterned normal tyres after 2 trips, that and the fact that when you hit a patch of none slippery road your studs will fly off potentally damaging other peoples cars as you drive along, my advice is get yourself a set of narrow snow tyres far more efficent in snow and ice (due to being narrow and the pattern) and save yourself and potentally others unnecessery expense (p.s. im not having a go at the OP here just saying my view on studded tyres)

peasant

Cosmo K wrote: »

Studded tyres are not illegal in Ireland.

That's what I sort of figured ...how can you legislate for/against something that no-one (in this country) would have ever seen (or know about)

Hmmm ...it takes me about 30 mins to change all four wheels by hand ...this might just be a runner for on and off winter use, depending on the conditions.

BeardyGit

On a somewhat similar note, I have a set of M+S rated tyres for one of the 4x4's leaking on the driveway at the moment. They have holes to accept studs - Any idea how I'd go about getting studs and whatever tools are required to fit them? I'm looking at you my German friend!

Cosmo K

peasant wrote: »

That's what I sort of figured ...how can you legislate for/against something that no-one (in this country) would have ever seen (or know about)

Tbh, I don't think the guy who reviewed the case, has ever actually seen a studded tyre:eek:

peasant

Gil_Dub wrote: »

I'm looking at you my German friend!

No idea, they are illegal in Germany

BeardyGit

Arse. Any Finns/Scandinavians here?

AugustusMaximus

How are Scandanavians allowed use them if studded tyres destroy roads ?

Surely they are allowable up in the Alps ?

homer simpson

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

How are Scandanavians allowed use them if studded tyres destroy roads ?

cos you'll be hard pressed to find a decent tarmac road in the cold parts because they are mostly compact gravel roads.

AugustusMaximus

homer_simpson wrote: »

cos you'll be hard pressed to find a decent tarmac road in the cold parts because they are mostly compact gravel roads.

You would want some serious amount of ice to make driving on compacted gravel difficult without studded tyres.

itarumaa

If you drive normal speeds and not very aggressively, then usually you should not have issues with studs getting loose/removing from the studded tyre. So even with tarmac driving they stay in the tyre.

They are a bit noisy tough specially in motorway speeds, and not really suitable for that anyway. If you get studded tyres then the idea is not to drive like maniac specially in tarmac.

In ice they are really good, of course that is the whole idea:)

Those kind of tyres do, of course, destroy roads but still the positive parts are more important and during the years of development they still give a good level of grip without damaging the road too much.

You can apply the studs by yourself, but it is quite much waste of time, if you put them in old holes they don't usually stay in the tyre long time, so basically there would be need to drill a new hole and apply the stud there. Not really DIY job then.

Also narrow snow tyres are good in snow, not in ice (without the studs), in normal winter driving (maybe 10 000km in winter time) studded tyres last about 4-5 years and yes, believe or not homer_simpson all the Nordic countries have tarmac roads:)

BeardyGit

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

You would want some serious amount of ice to make driving on compacted gravel difficult without studded tyres.

It actually matters little whether the road subsurface is 'dirt' or tarmac/asphalt once it's covered in ice. The fact is that studs are there to grip the ice, not the surface underneath the ice.... There are winter roads across Finland and Sweden that are actually criss-crossing lakes on the frozen surface alone. Tarmac? Dirt? Who cares. With studs, you'll have some traction on the ice sitting on top....

Oh, in terms of 'serious amount of ice', we Irish are only getting a little taste of it here at the moment compared with what some of our counterparts across Europe deal with each winter. There's a big difference between our current cold spell and 5 months of snowfall, compacted to 30cm+ thickness along main reginoal routes with any freeze thaw cycle contributing to more icing of the surface....

CJhaughey

The Norwegians are required to pay an additional tax for the use of studded tyres in order to offset road damage.
There is a special tool that inserts the carbide studs into a premoulded hole in the tyres, the tool is withdrawn and the stud is left in the tyre.
To properly break the tyres in you have to drive at 60kmh for the first 100km then they are properly seated, too fast too soon and they can come out due to centrifugal force.
They grip well on ice and packed snow though.

macnab

I put winter tyres on my car a couple of months ago. They were fine in the October weather but they are in their element now (pun intended)
As I see it you can get: Summer tyres, All Season tyres, mild Winter tyres, heavy Winter tyres, snow tyres, studded tyres, snow chains. They vary in their ability to handle winter road conditions from Summer tyres = no good in winter, to Snow tyres = great in snow but not good in Summer.
I decided to fit mild Winter tyres because I think they suit our Irish weather better, and I will leave them on all year round as they are good in warmer weather too. Note: I dont use the car from March to October because I ride a motorbike.