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X1 is off tomorrow to have its winter boots swapped, so it's bound to snow. Sorry.
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Don't joke.
During the good weather in March, in a fit of optimism, I took the winter wheels (i.e. the wheels with winter tyres) off the Berlingo, and put the summer wheels on, and felt very pleased with myself for actually getting round to doing it before May.
On the 2nd of April, I found myself driving over snow covered roads.
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I have never fitted floats.
Does that mean floods are due?
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>> X1 is off tomorrow to have its winter boots swapped, so it's bound to snow.
I've never felt the need to fit winter tyres, and outside of Car4play I've never come across any friend, work colleague, or aquaintance who's fitted them either. How many other Car4play members fit winter tyres?
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I fitted winter wheels/tyres to our A4 this year, which I picked up cheaply from a colleague who had used them previously but subsequently sold the car. Wouldn't have paid full price for a new set living where we do (south coast), but they made a noticeble difference to front end grip in low temperatures/slippy conditions.
There was also a useful knock on effect that replacing the standard 18" wheels with 17" ones significantly improved the ride of the car!! Actual cost is of course offset by the fact that for the period the winter wheels/tyres were on the car we were wearing out lower cost tyres than the 18" 'summer' ones :-)
Peter
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>> I've never felt the need to fit winter tyres, and outside of Car4play I've never
>> come across any friend, work colleague, or aquaintance who's fitted them either. How many other
>> Car4play members fit winter tyres?
>>
The only person that I know who has them fitted in winter (to his Motability car) is a disabled friend who lives in a cul-de-sac which slopes up to its exit. He is usually the only one who can get out of his street IF it snows, (we live near sea level so it is rare).
And yes, I do know more than one person. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 26 Apr 12 at 08:32
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I don't know anyone and don't myself....but...i'd like to and when finances and priorities allow, will do so.
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I know I've been guilty of poking fun at the subject for years ( what would you expect ) ! But, for a reasoned point of view for once, all I can really add is that in 35 years of driving around 40 thousand miles a year ( that's 1.4 million, crickey ! ) in all manner of vehicles in all manner of conditions both in this country and abroad I've never encountered a situation where winter tyres would have been vital to the journey. Useful maybe, but the only times I've ever been stuck, everything was stuck.
I see them as a safety aid in much the same way as one could regard anti-lock brakes or traction control. Handy to have but if you have your wits about you it's easy enough to drive according to the grip you have no matter what the road surface.
For the record I don't seriously knock those who choose to fit them. It's their choice. I've just never personally felt the need.
I shall try very hard to make that my last comment on the matter...
:-)
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That sums up my thoughts on the matter Humph, either it is safe to drive or it isn't with the vehicle you are driving. Winter tyres are not going to make a vast difference.
Driving is a choice, the world will not end if you have to wait for conditions to improve. Same as it will not end if you don't answer your phone while driving.
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Well back now, the X1 looks a little different with its M Sport alloys and not quite rubber band tyres. Took an hour all-told, change the wheels and wash the car (!) - no charge. Ordered a new key, should be in tomorrow. One less thing to worry about. Some nice cars there - good discounts on a new Z4, X6 and X5. As usual very good service from this garage.
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Called in the BMW indie down the road to look at pricing a service for the 325 when it arrives (pretty imminent now with the F30's build date having passed on Monday) - They wouldn't give me a firm price for servicing it, but say it would be cheaper than the main dealer. Oil is the expensive factor. Need to get insurance now..
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>>>>How many other >> Car4play members fit winter tyres?
I've been using them for the last 5 years having got by without them for the 30 years beforehand. I also fitted some to my wife's car just in time for the 2010 snow and again in 2011.
People are right when they say you end up stuck with everyone else but I've found because I have the grip I can in most cases do an about turn and seek out other routes often involving slopes and hills that aren't blocked and keep going and find a longer but unblocked route. I have to doubt some of the claims of some people who say they can get about perfectly ok on normal tyres in the snow. My experience with ordinary tyres was that yes you can get along on the flat and with care and judicious use of revs get up and down some slopes but there is little safety margin especially in cornering and braking and if you have a long journey to make it's a nerve wracking experience, for me anyway.
My wife was never confident enough to drive in her small light fwd car in the snow. Fitted the winter tyres on and showed her what the car can easily and safely do. She now won't be put off travelling in the snow if she needs to for her work and she insisted on leaving hers on for a few more weeks than me incase it did snow!
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Depends on where one lives though Humph, this road g.co/maps/2528d never got gritted during the previous ice age and consequently none of the residents could drive out of the estate.
(unless they had winter tyres fitted)
That's why I purchased my all-season tyres, as we live down hill on a country lane that doesn't get gritted at all.
Didn't require them this past winter though, but they look nice.
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Sorry, forgot, you're English aren't you ? Fair enough...
Really not going to say anymore, honestly...
:-))
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>> Sorry, forgot, you're English aren't you ? Fair enough...
>>
>> Really not going to say anymore, honestly...
>>
>> :-))
>>
OI!, some of us can drive on snow without poser tyres. :-)
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>> How many other Car4play members fit winter tyres?
Not me. I alter my driving style to allow for the change in weather.
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We live in the sticks, wife is an "essential" job needs 24 hour transport, almost the other reason. I have "ceased to proceed" in the past - mainly due to modern tyre (fashion) design and back lanes....
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>> We live in the sticks, wife is an "essential"...........
I have no problem with people who actually need them, likewise 4X4. But for the urban school run?
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You're right ON, the X1 is low profile enough not to qualify for a WAG or drug dealer's car.
(thought: Why are drug sellers and car pushers the only group of retailers we call "dealers" ?)
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In the world that they inhabit, ON, they do "need" them. In the same way as they need the designer clothing and accessories. Rather sad, really.
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To be fair, if the better grip at low temperatures prevents an inatentive school run driver from shunting into the back of me then I don't see the problem... ;-)
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>>inatentive school run driver <<
I'm sure none of us have ever seen one of those;)
You will also notice Peter that I tactfully ignored your typo;)
Pat
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When I bought my 330 just over two years ago the tyres were getting worn. When I came to replace them late last year I decided to get a full set I could leave on all year round because my low annual mileage, between 6 & 8k, doesn't warrant a set of winter wheels & tyres.
Since replacing the Kumho's with Michelin Alpins, the ride seems both more compliant and quieter.
And i know eight people in my social circle who fit winter wheels & tyres. I didn't bother with my previous two cars, but the 330 is awful otherwise.
Until recently, when in retail, I fitted winter wheels & tyres for over 20 years to my VW Transporters. Even the syncro versions I owned. By being able to deliver to my customers when my competitors couldn't, i gained their business. It is so much easier to retain customers than get new ones, and many of them lived in very remote places and were amazed that I made the extra effort to deliver at night when my shops closed. Exceeding their expectations served me well in business over the years.
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>>I decided to get a full set I could leave on all year round because my low annual mileage, between 6 & 8k, doesn't warrant a set of winter wheels & tyres<<
Same with my Nokian WR G2's www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nokian/WRG2.htm I leave em on all year as we don't do many miles pa, plus they give quite amazing grip in the wet.
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>> We live in the sticks
So do I. The only time we see a snow plough or gritting lorry is when we don't actually need one.
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winter tyres...must have dont need ,its england not siberia
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Well they're in the garage now for the "summer" the car does look a lot better on "proper" wheels. The tip on here last year paid dividends - coating the steel wheels in wax has kept them in good nick. The lovely little compressor kit that came with them is now out of the car. Hope the sun comes out soon !
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Whenever my eye falls on this thread title I think: there are more than enough people already, why can't it just snow normal snow? At last that melts and goes into the water table.
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When my son was in primary school he had to write an essay for homework where he had to assume the persona of a snowflake and relate what happened to him. As you do, I more or less ended up dictating it...
I was rather pleased with the finished work but somewhat miffed in an odd sort of way that his teacher didn't recognise the hand of an adult...
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>> When my son was in primary school he had to write an essay for homework
>> where he had to assume the persona of a snowflake ..........
Which of these definitions of snowflake? tinyurl.com/5hhwur
;-)
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>> >> X1 is off tomorrow to have its winter boots swapped, so it's bound to
>> snow.
>>
>> I've never felt the need to fit winter tyres, and outside of Car4play I've never
>> come across any friend, work colleague, or aquaintance who's fitted them either. How many other
>> Car4play members fit winter tyres?
>>
Fitted all season tyres Pirelli fourseasons.
Plenty of grip on snow covered hills plus many on this forum are retired those that don't have to drive to work or pick up the kids will not bother with snow driving but the others want to get there and safely. :-)
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I wonder, if the internet had existed all those years ago, whether there'd have been the same fuss made when people chose to move to radial tyres from cross ply, or halogen lights from tungsten(or whatever they were). After all, you don't *need* them - just drive a bit slower and adapt to the conditions ;-)
Thinking about it, for a while a few years ago xenon lights did seem to irk a number of people, but the noise around them seems to have lessened as they have become more mainstream
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too late to edit the above!!
Of course, the underlying issue IMO is the ridiculous over sizing of wheels/tyres on modern cars, in the interests of form over function. Mine has 265/35/18 tyres at the rear - who on earth needs tyres that size (or even 18" wheels come to that) on a diesel estate car? In snow I'm fairly sure they'd be useless. I imagine it's predecessor from 1988 probably had 195/5515s on something similar!!
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On the other hand, Peter, the 1988 car was probably 300kg lighter than today's. Whether that's enough to require such a jump in tyre size I'm not qualified to say. If the minimum size then was, say, 185/65x15 and today it's 225/50x16 (and Mercedes is about the only maker to offer a big car on 16" wheels in the UK) how much is engineering and how much cosmetics?
Curiously, in Moscow last year I saw a lot of big Volvos, many with plastic trims on what looked like 15" wheels. Whatever you read about Russian bling culture, they seem to take a more utilitarian view of their cars.
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>> Mine has 265/35/18 tyres at the rear
>> - who on earth needs tyres that size (or even 18" wheels come to that) ...........
If the axles weren't so high from the ground you wouldn't need such big wheels!
;-)
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I take a slightly different view, l'Es. When people, usually fellow travellers, complain about the length of my legs, I point out that they're only barely long enough to reach the ground.
Incidentally, I wondered if the title of this thread referred to the lesser-known B side of It's Raining Men.
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>> If the axles weren't so high from the ground you wouldn't need such big wheels!
>> ;-)
:-)
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>> How many other
>> Car4play members fit winter tyres?
>>
Put them on wifey's Jazz this winter - but it was as much to see what 15" wheels would be like rather than the standard 16" as it was to try winter tyres.
Although they've barely been needed, having winter tyres on does bring a certain peace of mind.
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I've driven FWD cars since 1971 and never had a problem in snow until the current car and its predecessor, both Octavia vRSs with low-profile 225/40/18 tyres which are useless in snow and ice. Interestingly, I didn't notice much difference in the cars' handling with winter tyres, and the ride was slightly better, as one might expect with 205/55/16s.
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Same experience here - the run-flats are back on now - slightly more road noise if you're being particular - not tried the handling out yet !
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Shirley y'all better orf fitting all weather tyres like wot I done with the Nokian WR G2's (now G3)
If Humff can (and has) driven in all types of weather in many countries and has never felt the need (in the UK) to fit these ere blimmin tyres, then all season tyres must be the way to go.
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Well, had a nice A/B road drive today and I can report the ride is definitely firmer on the City Slickers...properly cleaned - the car looks as sharp as its ever likely to.
www.flickr.com/photos/67389469@N02/7120992645/in/photostream
Dunno what it is, but the car's sinews seem to have tightened since the summers went back - maybe I was driving it like a Landie before !
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 28 Apr 12 at 12:21
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Nice looking bit of kit that. Much handier than a thirsty petrol saloon...More modern like...
:-p
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Stick the 3 on autotrader after you've had a play with it for a month or two. You should still make a turn on it. As it's "family" you could even do that without swopping the reg doc to keep the number of owners thing pure...
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That very thought has occured to me..
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Well, after a 90 mile round trip in atrocious conditions I have to report that - the front end skittishness has returned to the X1 - nothing serious, just an awareness that things are not quite the same. Road noise is definitely up and the ride definitely harsher. I know that fiddling with the tyres will solve the skittishness, sort that tomorrow. From a non-scientific test seems that fuel consumption has risen slightly...combo of misc. read-outs...
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"It's going to snow people".
Well, that makes a change from it snowing - well, snow!
I'll get my coat!
Last edited by: Roger on Sun 29 Apr 12 at 22:15
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It's going to snow people...! - tyro
