[Jim Eddie]

Batten down the hatches lads snow heading our way, looks like no fishing this week-end 

Lets hope it does not last as long as it did last year   

 

Jim

[Barry Robertson]

Sounds like i wont miss much action 
Let it snow, let it snow 

[Stuart Smith]

ye let it snow
the fishing stops and the snowboarding starts

stuart

[Mike Barrio]

Got some winter rubber on the car this morning ..... well worth the money in my opinion

Best wishes
Mike

[Jim Eddie]

Absolutely mike, I have my winter tyres on. Most folk think that its all about chains and studs, however the biggest difference is the rubber compound. when the temperature falls below 7 deg c normal tyres become hard and loose conact with the road. Winter tyres are made of a softer compound which negates this.

http://www.kwik-fit.com/winter-tyres-faq.asp

 

Jim

[Matt Henderson]

I pondered getting season tyres, but went for all weather instead.  Mrs mdh is from canada and her parents have never had winter tyres so I'm sure we'll manage.  The bonus of all weather tyres is that I won't have to swap them for summer tyres.  I did consider getting two winter tyres for the front but don't really have anywhere to store them.  Although I see Kwikfit are offering a "tyre hotel" if you don't have somewhere to store your winter/summer tyres when they're not on.  Quite a good system you order them off the web, they deliver them to your loval garage and you just book in to get the tyres fitted. all pre-paid in advance!

What are people's opinion as to whether you need them on all four wheels or just the front/back depending on which is the drive set? 

If you are after all season tyres then you're looking for ones either described as all season or marked up M and S which stands for Mud and Snow.

[Jim Eddie]

I'm no expert but i would think you need all 4 wheels.

I got these tyres delivered from Germany to my local tyre fitter (Zip Tyres) to be hones it was not expensive , under £300 which lets be honest its feck all when its something that could mean life and death.

I also did not change them over the summer (laziness on my part) but did not experience excessive tyre wear, I really think this only affects countries where it actually gets warm in the summer 

http://www.nokiantyres.com/tyre?id=10360796&group=1.01&name=Nokian+WR+G2

 

Jim

[Matt Henderson]

I'm no expert but i would think you need all 4 wheels.

But why?  I drive a 2 wheel drive car so does having winter/ all season tyres on the back make any difference? I guess it makes a difference if you have a 4wd. 

[Jim Eddie]

But why?  I drive a 2 wheel drive car so does having winter/ all season tyres on the back make any difference? I guess it makes a difference if you have a 4wd. 

I would guess if you lose traction on the axle with the 2 summer tyres the axle with the 2 winters is not going to help.

 

Jim

[Matt Henderson]

I got that bit I just wasn't sure how I would end up in that situation. My car is front wheel drive so would be more likely to loose traction with the front than the back. But to be honest I do intend to get another two in the future.

[Jim Eddie]

"Why Four Winter Tires? I Thought I Would Only Need Two.
Today's winter tires are better at providing ice and snow traction than ever before. The technology used to develop the tread designs and tread compounds has evolved beyond what you may have used previously. Every one of our tire manufacturers and 7 out of 10 vehicle manufacturers recommend four winter tires be used on rear wheel, front wheel or four wheel drive vehicles. This is because if you use two dissimilar types of tires on your vehicle, you'll have a vehicle that has a "split" personality. One end of the vehicle won't react and perform the same as the other in the dry, wet, slush and snow conditions you'll encounter before the end of winter. Especially in emergency situations, you'll find that your vehicle will probably understeer in one condition and oversteer in another. It is preferable to keep your vehicles handling as consistently as possible by "matching" all four tires. Our customers who have matched their tires tell us they're glad they made the extra investment in four winter tires (and wheels) so they can accelerate, brake, handle and better control their vehicle through winter's challenges."

 

Jim

[Matt Henderson]

Well we'll wait and see. Last year I only ever lost traction with my front wheels so hopefully these will help.

[Ben Dixon]

Away up to Inverness this weekend, could be an interesting drive.  Just replaced my slicks with a full new set of tyres, not winter tyres but rated highly for snow.

Starting to feel cold tonight, cranked stove up a few notches.  Forecast to be well below freezing as of Friday for a week or so 


Cheers

Ben

[Hamish Young]

I've always tried to ensure that I've had all weather (or winter - there's a difference) tyres fitted in time for the crunchy stuff in the winter; usually I've ended up with two 'in the nick of time' and all too frequently I've not had the spare cash to have a spare set of wheels with winter tyres on just lying around.

From plenty of experience  in upper-don and deeside I can honestly say that you can just get away with two 'winter' tyres on the front (in a front wheel drive car...) and if you're set up that way the chances are you're better prepared than most. However, that experience also lets me say that the first time you get into serious snow (let's leave ice out of this) the back end of the car will get lively and especially so in the bends - hugely differing grip levels between summer and winter tyres make for some interesting corner techniques  Left-foot braking is a useful trick to learn, and quickly

This winter I've bought a full set of spare 15" alloys (ebay - wonderful place) and a set of these http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/gislaved/tires/themes/winter-tires/eurofrost-3/eurofrost-3.html which I've been told are the mutts nuts come the bad weather. They only went on this evening, so time will tell how they'll shape up but they look damn 'chunky'.
On reflection, some are better than none but four are better than two
Total investment - tyres and rims - under £400. Money well spent

H

PS - Ice...... now that's another story