So who's on winter tyres for this season?

CiniO

I remember around 2007-2008 when hardly anyone in Ireland ever heard about winter tyres, many garages selling tyres didn't know what I was asking for when I tried to buy winter tyres.
Severe winters of 2009 and 2010 changed it a lot, and lots of people were prepared with their winter tyres fitted for 2011, 2012, and eve 2013.
I remember many threads here on boards appraching those winters in relation to winter tyres and lots of posters fitting them to their cars.

However it got quiter again about winter tyres, and I hardly remember any threads in recent 2 years.

So who has fitted winter tyres to their car already?

I have about a month ago, and I must say they paid well over last few days.

Voodoomelon

I believe you live in a rural area inland so you no doubt get some value. I live in an urban area with well gritted roads by the sea, so me not buying any in 10 years of driving has paid well too.
It would also be another opportunity for the tyre monkeys to scrape my wheels, so money saved there too.

Supergurrier

Them tyre monkeys, great bunch of lads.

The zed shall stick to it's potenza's for the duration of the winter

CiniO

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I believe you live in a rural area inland so you no doubt get some value. I live in an urban area with well gritted roads by the sea, so me not buying any in 10 years of driving has paid well too.
It would also be another opportunity for the tyre monkeys to scrape my wheels, so money saved there too.

Heh.
Well I live also very close to the shore line, and normally there's no need whatsoever for winter tyres in my area, but actually suprisingly they helped a good bit over last few days.

Anyway - I got the 3 years ago, and reason for that was that I was driving to the Continent every winter, so winter tyres were pretty much a must.
I used them during 2013/14 winter and 2014/15 winter, but as I didn't travel to the Continent last year, they spent nearly 2 years in the shed.
So I decided to actually use them during everyday driving here, instead of keeping them for another year or 2 before I'll be driving to the Continent again, as by then they'd be 4 or 5 years old, and would be no good on the snow anymore.
It's usually up to about 4 years you can reasonably use winter tyres. After that they become fairly useless on the snow.

Grip is obviously normally worse than on summer tyres during regular Irish weather, but it's still much better than on chinnese sh1te summer tyres some people buy.

Del2005

I adjust my driving a bit instead of fitting winters, the fact I've no space in the boot to haul tyres around this time helps.

Even in the bad snow a few years ago I managed fine on summers. Only got stuck twice, once when trying to reverse park outside my apartment when trying to get across a rut and in a pile of snow in a supermarket both of which would have needed studs or chains to get out of.

We'll see how it goes this year with RWD:eek:

pa990

Summer tyres, all year.

I've had winter tyres in the past, and never again.
Winter in cork, doesn't justify winter tyres.
Quality Summer tyres and some common sense, and the fact that my daily commute is on national routes that are well gritted, means that I can forego the cost of winter tyres.

Old Perry

Whats a set of middleing winter tyres retail at?

CiniO

Old Perry wrote: »

Whats a set of middleing winter tyres retail at?

Same as summer tyres.

Old Perry

CiniO wrote: »

Same as summer tyres.

And if the weather didn really get any worse or most of ur driving (70%) was on regularly grited roads would you ruin winter tyres?

CiniO

Old Perry wrote: »

And if the weather didn really get any worse or most of ur driving (70%) was on regularly grited roads would you ruin winter tyres?

I'd say they wear bit quicker than summer tyres, but difference wouldn't be that much.

Problem with winter tyres in Irish climate, is that IMO they don't don't provide great grip at 10+ temperatures which we seem to be getting a lot in Ireland during the winter.

traco

I'm on winters, keep cars long term so buy second set of rims and tyres and switch November /March time frame or so. Winters are smaller rim size than summers so cost less. In terms of wear they last longer than the summers, both are Pirellis, P-Zero summers and Scorpion winters.

I do a fair bit mileage as I'm on the road a lot and having been caught 100+ miles away at night in sleet, hail, snow falling heading home I wouldn't be without. That extra bit of grip and margin of safety is worth the one hour to swap the wheels and in terms of cost I can't see any difference as the winters will do three seasons versus the summers two. big help on grass and non tarmac surfaces also.

The biggest difference is in stopping and cornering grip, everyone talks about getting stuck but you can't hit anything if your not moving. I find stopping to be much more important but that's just me.

As for grip in high temps - no difference at all, if you are braking so late or cornering so hard that you break traction then you really should be on a full on sport tyre, never a problem at normal road / legal speeds. Its possible to break the traction level of any tyre if you drive hard enough.

Vicxas

I stick mostly to main roads so the need for winter tyres is very low for me. However i have thought about them before, but the odd size of my tyres makes them expensive.

xabi

Put them on in November, usually around the same time that I install the ashtray in my bike.

exaisle

I live in a hilly area thats usually one of first to get snow, so winter tyres are fairly essential. I have them on their own rims. However, they wear far faster than summer tyres so I just swap them over if it starts snowing. Takes no more than half an hour (I have FWD so only swap the fronts).

It's difficult to describe the grip achieved on snow and ice that winter tyres get compared to summer tyres...but it is astounding.

Gumbo

Nope. Just adjust my driving for the conditions. Mainly city though.

CJhaughey

I used to swap between Winters and Summers but have decided to just run All Seasons all the time now, The last set of Winters were Conti TS850 and they were amazing in terms of grip in marginal conditions.
Living in Rural Cork and doing 25k miles per year meant that I needed to have decent grip in all conditions.
I am running Michelin Crossclimate now but I think I'll change back to Nokian Weather Proof when I need to get new rubber.
I found the Weatherproof very quiet long lasting and grippy all year round.

colm_c

exaisle wrote: »

I live in a hilly area thats usually one of first to get snow, so winter tyres are fairly essential. I have them on their own rims. However, they wear far faster than summer tyres so I just swap them over if it starts snowing. Takes no more than half an hour (I have FWD so only swap the fronts).

It's difficult to describe the grip achieved on snow and ice that winter tyres get compared to summer tyres...but it is astounding.

Pretty sure mixing winter and summer tyres is a bad idea!

Cee-Jay-Cee

I have a set of Continental Winter Contact TS810's already mounted on a set of wheels but haven't fitted them yet. They're 4 years old and have been fitted from November to February the last 4 years and still have 6mm thread remaining. Planning to put them on this weekend, hopefully.

MarkR

colm_c wrote: »

Pretty sure mixing winter and summer tyres is a bad idea!

Seems a bad idea all right.

CiniO

MarkR wrote: »

Seems a bad idea all right.

When I was 17 and started driving in 1999, my dad had 2 winter tyres, as he couldn't afford all 4. (fwd car)

Was very handy for climbing hills on the snow or getting out or deep snow parking spots, etc...

But was lethal during normal driving on snow.
Nearly every single turn or bend I had to contraturn steering wheel to control the skid. Every bend was drifting
I had lots of fun and learnt a lot about vehicle control, but I can't say it was 100% safe.

joujoujou

Winter tyres here, obviously. :cool:

Dord

I'll stay with summer tyres. I live in the city and don't drive much. If it's too bad I'll find another way round.

micks_address

MarkR wrote: »

Seems a bad idea all right.

How about mixing two summer tyres with two Michelin cross climates?

Trojan

I saw a quote from Continental where they said driving on the Winter Sports all year round was fine. Anyone got thoughts on that?

Voodoomelon

They're right. But fine isn't as good as optimal. 9-10 months of the year, summer years give the optimal performance in Ireland.

ednwireland

Firestone Multi season ( which look identical to the firestone winterhawk that were on it) never bother taking them off over the summer.

Got me out of a some scrapes but then I live in donegal.

ace86

i use an all weather tyre and find them very good,they are goodyears eagles ls2 i don't think winter tyres are really needed in this country expect in very harsh weather which we only get every so many yrs bcos we mostly get rained on anyways.

Special Circumstances

I'm definitely noticing a little less grip from summer tyres on cold cold roads. Traction control and vehicle stability aids and less power probably hide that from many people in everyday driving.

I'd like to try winter tyres to test the claims of better grip at low temperatures but for my usual driving I think it would have to be clear that it was going to be a prolonged thing before I could free up that few hundred euros. AWD and dialling things back a bit will have to suffice in the meantime.

RobAMerc

winter tyres are not just for snow and ice, winter tyres out perform summer tyres below 7 degrees and I believe are better than summer tyres in very wet conditions ( particularly if its cold ) and there is no doubt you scrub off a lot more speed before the ABS is called on in frosty conditions

I also use it as an excuse to do a type rotation.

Btw - Adjusting your driving for winter conditions is no substitute for having the car properly equipped.

mine go on this saturday.

JC01

I leave quality "summer" tyres on all year round, we don't get harsh enough winters to justify winters here and to be fair once it's anyways damp anytime of the year Iv to drive like a nun anyways.
That's on a powerful RWD with no traction/abs etc

Anjobe

RobAMerc wrote: »

Adjusting your driving for winter conditions is no substitute for having the car properly equipped.

...and of course, the converse is equally true.

CiniO

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I'd like to try winter tyres to test the claims of better grip at low temperatures

While indeed winter tyres probably provide better grip at low temperatures, don't believe pushy marketing saying they are better below 7 degrees.

In fact, it has to be way below 0 to feel any difference.
At minut 20 degrees on dry road, you'd be able to say if you have winters or summers on your car without looking.

In my experience, in any +0 temperatures, on dry or wet surfaces, summer tyres provide better grip then winters.

but for my usual driving I think it would have to be clear that it was going to be a prolonged thing before I could free up that few hundred euros. AWD and dialling things back a bit will have to suffice in the meantime.

AWD hardly helps.
It indeed might help you get out of snowdrift, or help accelerating in extremelly slippery conditions, but let's face it - if it's so slippery that your car would have problems accelerating without AWD, then driving without winter tyres is just silly.

Special Circumstances

CiniO wrote: »

AWD hardly helps.
...driving without winter tyres is just silly.

Gotcha!

Voodoomelon

I'm running Continental Sport Contact 5s all round for the first time and am very surprised at how much the rear wheels are loosing grip, like giving the smallest bit of welly to get out at a junction etc, considering their segment and price. Big wide 275 profiles on the rear and the wheels have spun more than 3 times this week alone on just damp roads.

JJJJNR

Decided to run both cars on winters this year, was going to buy a plastic awd car earlier this year but just couldn't. Worst case scenario i get towed by a friend to the main road and leave the car there, that's if goes nuclear, i was able to drive perfectly fine last time though ( be great to do that again).

_Kaiser_

The only time I've had any issues over the last few winters was when I was living in an estate that had a hill at both entrances to it. The amount of cars abandoned at the entrance on bad days was amazing. Getting out wasn't so bad but coming down it was iffy because of ramps - there was a "fun" moment one day when I slowly proceeded down and gently leaned on the brakes only for the car to slide on over the ramp anyway while at the same time an E-class was trying to get up the hill and veering towards me as it struggled for grip. A Fast and Furious style drift/flick on my part managed to avoid any issues though!

Even in the bad winter of 2010 I don't recall any issues and I still had the Passat then. Just took my time (without unnecessary dawdling) and avoided any sudden/hard moves. The amount of people who absolutely crawl along at the first sign of frost though is ridiculous!

CJhaughey

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I'm running Continental Sport Contact 5s all round for the first time and am very surprised at how much the rear wheels are loosing grip, like giving the smallest bit of welly to get out at a junction etc, considering their segment and price. Big wide 275 profiles on the rear and the wheels have spun more than 3 times this week alone on just damp roads.

I bet if you tried a quality All season you would be amazed at the grip increase.
Not saying that you should but all the little sipes on them definitely make a difference to grip in cooler damp conditions.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Biglad

CiniO wrote: »

While indeed winter tyres probably provide better grip at low temperatures, don't believe pushy marketing saying they are better below 7 degrees.

In fact, it has to be way below 0 to feel any difference.
At minut 20 degrees on dry road, you'd be able to say if you have winters or summers on your car without looking.

In my experience, in any +0 temperatures, on dry or wet surfaces, summer tyres provide better grip then winters.



AWD hardly helps.
It indeed might help you get out of snowdrift, or help accelerating in extremelly slippery conditions, but let's face it - if it's so slippery that your car would have problems accelerating without AWD, then driving without winter tyres is just silly.

You will notice the difference between summer and winters tyres at temperatures well above zero. The softer tyre wall makes it a different ride altogether and the different tyre profile helps with wet roads and especially standing water. A 2 wheel drive car fitted with 4 winter tyres is a better option in bad winter conditions than an AWD or 4WD running summer tyres. All weather tyres are also a great option for the Irish climate.

Charles Babbage

Biglad wrote: »

All weather tyres are also a great option for the Irish climate.

In a country that is rarely very hot or very cold, but often has cool wet roads, All Season makes most sense.

Just bought new summer tyres this week. No need whatsoever for winter tyres in Ireland.

Biglad

Evangeline Rhythmic Urinal wrote: »

Just bought new summer tyres this week. No need whatsoever for winter tyres in Ireland.

I appreciate that that is your opinion. I've always had winter tyres based on where I'm from and I still think using them in Ireland makes sense for at least a few months of the year based on better grip on damp/wet roads etc. I'd rather be prepared and not get stuck, especially up here in Donegal. In the few bad winters we've had I would have been stuck or house bound without them. It also prolongs the life of my summer tyres.