Winter tyres

kennyb3

Mena wrote: »

I ordered a set of Cooper Weathermaster Snow 225/55/16 from Camskill late last week. Delivered cost was £387.40 (€457.90).

I had them fitted this morning at Carfit in Naas (Toughers Industrial Estate) for €50.00 (Balanced as well).

The difference is unreal on my 5 series, I can't even begin to describe it.

Carfit say they should be getting a delivery of winter tyres in the next week to 10 days so if any one needs it may be an idea to call them and put your name down. I've done so for the wifes car, however I am not at all sure what the cost will be, I am assuming a lot more than what I paid from Camskill.

good to know there is a place to get them put on cheap, even better to know they make a serious diff to bmw's

Velocitee

http://www.globalmotors.net/video-2011-bmw-x3-winter-driving-summer-tires-vs-winter-tires/

Quite a bit of difference IMO

Piri

Mena wrote: »

The difference is unreal on my 5 series, I can't even begin to describe it.

Thanks for the note

Biglad

Velocitee wrote: »

http://www.globalmotors.net/video-2011-bmw-x3-winter-driving-summer-tires-vs-winter-tires/

Quite a bit of difference IMO

I hope that the peeps on here advocating two winter tyres is enough as I go slow anyway have a good look at especially the cornering. Winters on the front only and summers on the back...recipe for disaster me thinks.

Again the example might be a bit more extreme as what we would get here on average, but I'm a winter tyre convert and I haven't even got them on yet.

Matt Simis

Biglad wrote: »

I hope that the peeps on here advocating two winter tyres is enough as I go slow anyway have a good look at especially the cornering. Winters on the front only and summers on the back...recipe for disaster me thinks.

Id like to see how a RWD car with Winter on the rear performs. Whenever I put the ABS Relays in the 850 Ill test it, but IMO, it wont be anywhere near that bad, it will just understeer like a FWD car. Driving last year on Summers on RWD and it was 360 spin happy, that just wouldnt happen with an unbalanced setup. It never even got close to understeer though (obviously).

And unlike the FWD car, a RWD car uses 100% of the traction on the front to steer, so its going to out steer a FWD car anyhow. Again not advocating "unbalanced" setups, Winters all round is clearly superior.

Biglad

Matt Simis wrote: »

Id like to see how a RWD car with Winter on the rear performs. Whenever I put the ABS Relays in the 850 Ill test it, but IMO, it wont be anywhere near that bad, it will just understeer like a FWD car. Driving last year on Summers on RWD and it was 360 spin happy, that just wouldnt happen with an unbalanced setup. It never even got close to understeer though (obviously).

And unlike the FWD car, a RWD car uses 100% of the traction on the front to steer, so its going to out steer a FWD car anyhow. Again not advocating "unbalanced" setups, Winters all round is clearly superior.

Wonder what Jeremy Clarkson would have to say about

Anan1

Matt Simis wrote: »

And unlike the FWD car, a RWD car uses 100% of the traction on the front to steer, so its going to out steer a FWD car anyhow.

Under acceleration yes, but under braking or at a steady speed the only differences will be down to weight distribution.

fletch

Not sure if this has been posted before
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/bmw-x3-video-summer-or-winter-tyres/

Matt Simis

Biglad wrote: »

Wonder what Jeremy Clarkson would have to say about

About what? That RWD cars dont also drive traction via the front, while RWD (and AWD) do?

Anan1 wrote: »

Under acceleration yes, but under braking or at a steady speed the only differences will be down to weight distribution.

And turning!? While pooting about in a straight line at a steady speed nearly all cars are the same. Im really thinking about how they loose it on that icey roundabout. FWD and most AWDs tends to understeer. Someone thats used to RWD would find that pretty unnerving.

DubDani

Got 4 new Continental WinterContact 830 (205/55/16) fitted today for £90 each. They really make a difference. Now I just hope that there will be some more "Winter" coming.

kennyb3

DubDani wrote: »

Got 4 new Continental WinterContact 830 (205/55/16) fitted today for £90 each. They really make a difference. Now I just hope that there will be some more "Winter" coming.

Care to share where?

peltor

Thats a very good price for continental

thetyreman

kennyb3 wrote: »

good to know there is a place to get them put on cheap, even better to know they make a serious diff to bmw's

<snip> in Kildare town will fit and balence for the same aswell,,,

<snip contact details - please PM the poster for information>

DubDani

kennyb3 wrote: »

Care to share where?

Kwik Fit in Newry of all places. Ordered by phone yesterday and got them fitted today. They even threw in free Wheel allignment.

Biglad

DubDani wrote: »

Kwik Fit in Newry of all places. Ordered by phone yesterday and got them fitted today. They even threw in free Wheel allignment.

Good deal. If i remember correct they do only have limited sizes left, no 215 or 225 afaik.

kennyb3

thetyreman wrote: »

<snip> in Kildare town will fit and balence for the same aswell,,,

<snip contact details - please PM the poster for information>

Thank you, i ll be in the min my winters arrive

kennyb3

Biglad wrote: »

Good deal. If i remember correct they do only have limited sizes left, no 215 or 225 afaik.

I could be wrong but 205/55 will fit v 225/50 - i had to chose between the two and 205 should actually be very slightly more preferrable

Piri

Insider info

1. There is no winter tyre in stock in EU

2. Prices going up by 30-50% in one week
3. Goodyear raised prices by 10%
4. Continnetal stock is out

5. Dunlop stock is out

6. Pirelli will have some after 15.12.2010.

Biglad

I think you are very lucky to find a small pocket of tyres somewhere like Kennyb3 did and even more lucky if they ahve your size. Most suppliers and fitters will tell you that they are expecting stuff in in aweek or so, I believe it will be "or so" as stocks are nil in general.

The next run will be on all weathers...

kennyb3

Biglad wrote: »

The next run will be on all weathers...

That run is deep in progress imo, and wait till the cold comes back late next week.

ednwireland

this is what i faced this morning (2 miles to the main road) part worn winter tyres on last week, honestly big difference, i put 4 on

Wicklowrider

Talking to a friend last night who lives in Minnesota. They get several feet of snow and iced roads in the winter with blistering heat in Summer. He has to drive in all weathers about 40 mile each way commute. He misses work and he loses his job. Obvious question was what tyres do people typically use there and he said all weather tyres! He knew only one guy who uses winter tyres.

My concern would be cash strapped people rushing to buy expensive tyres that may not be the silver bullet they are being lead to believe.

People posting here are saying:

Saw crashed cars. Conclusion:they should have invested in winter tyres ( did posters stop and examine the tyres on crashed car? Were they summer tyres or were they worn/illegal? Was it loss of traction caused crash or was it lack of anticipation or care or experience - how many learners are out on ice/snow?)

Saw wheels spinning/car sliding. Conclusion:Owner should have got winter tyres ( How do you know they weren't just inexperienced and would have spun ANY tyre? How do you know they didn't maintain momemtum, paid due care to road conditions etc?)

I've seen learners/inexperienced/ bad drivers causing many problems that no tyre is going to correct. I've seen two cars in one day with no brake lights working, people on phones and even texting on the icey motorway while doing excessive speed for the conditions. I've seen worn and dangerous tyres fitted to vehicles in car parks - a change to any tyre with legal thread would significantly improve in these cases.

I've absolutely no argument with people investing in winter tyres but don't exaggerate their worth or argue they are a requirement because clearly they are no such thing. Too many drivers are safely driving all weather tyres all over the country without mishap.

BostonB

I'd guess a lot people don't have all season tyres, here, or some no name tyre thats dire even in the dry.

kennyb3

@Wicklowrider

agree with some of your points:

- they are no silver bullet
- still need to drive safe and slowly
- concluding on lack of information

However

- go to any Canadian, US forum on cars and the drivers from places that get snow and ice all recommend winter tyres. Based on your friend everybody uses all weather tyres - simply not true.
- if the german and austrian governments think they are important enough to make it law its good enough for me (the real clincher)
- It's been said a billion times but there is no massive extra cost, only an initial outlay which pays itself back as you save your summer tyres. the costs are the xtra stellies/alloys and fitting costs

Surely this has been done to death now.

kennyb3

BostonB wrote: »

I'd guess a lot people don't have all season tyres, here, or some no name tyre thats dire even in the dry.

Again thats it - all weather tyres would prob be a massive improvement to the summer tyres that alot of people would have on their cars, and if you cant afford the double outlay for winters now and summers come march (assuming you need 4 tyres), all weathers are a good option. But if you can and have the storage space why not drive optimum tyres for both summer and winter.

Spook_ie

kennyb3 wrote: »

Again thats it - all weather tyres would prob be a massive improvement to the summer tyres that alot of people would have on their cars, and if you cant afford the double outlay for winters now and summers come march (assuming you need 4 tyres), all weathers are a good option. But if you can and have the storage space why not drive optimum tyres for both summer and winter.

Maybe it's just me, but, how many people actualy have what people are terming as "Summer" tyres? and are they genuine "summer" tyres or an all season tyre anyway?

kennyb3

Spook_ie wrote: »

Maybe it's just me, but, how many people actualy have what people are terming as "Summer" tyres? and are they genuine "summer" tyres or an all season tyre anyway?

I do personally, my gf's car, her families. all the cars i ve basically looked at since the weather started.

I would think most irish cars have tyres that have a sun on them and not a sun/snowflake, but im open to correction.

Sure i even went to fast fit to try get an all weather tyre for the gf's car and they tried selling me a summer tyre - this weather is a one off, summer tyres are okay for 99% of our weather. All that stuff. They'll sell what they have in stock.

Spook_ie

Know what you mean, but I was just looking for info on summer matkings for tyres and there doesn't ( haven't found any yet ) seem to be anything.

I did come across this little gem though

D): Snowflake inside a mountain pictogram.

All winter tires offered in Canada bear this symbol that denotes approval of the Canadian Rubber Association (CRA). In principle, it guaranties that the tire conforms to specific performance requirements regarding grip in snow, and that the tire is specifically designed for driving in snowy conditions. The standard does not currently include a test for grip on ice.



Until recently, the snowflake on a mountain symbol was a reliable indicator of with winter performance of a tire. However, BF Goodrich, Goodyear, Michelin and Nokian now offer tires bearing the aforementioned symbol, which have tread patterns more typical of an all-season tire and are approved for year-round use. These all-season tires are not true winter tires. When new, they have sufficient tread depth to pass the snow test devised by the CRA. But they weren’t designed to confront really cold weather, and their performance diminishes over time as their tread is used up. If the CRA performance standard incorporated an ice test, these tires might not meet the requirements for the mountain and snowflake symbol. The standard needs to evolve so the winter tire designation doesn’t lose its significance, like the M+S symbol has.

BostonB

When I last changed my tyres, most places had cheap no name brand tyres. I couldn't find any brand name in stock in dublin the the size I needed. I can say from experience the tyres I got are truely dire. Thats in the summer. I think they were actually worse than the worn tyres I took off. I wonder how many others have similar dire tyres, as thats what the tyre sellers were pushing on people until recently.

Stevie Dakota

Well the winter tyres just arrived, and with dire weather forecast for next week, and the cold snap to last until the end of the year not a moment too soon.