[Jim Eddie]

Many continental and Scandinavian coutrys make it a legal requirement , I know from my time in Norway (Mike L should be able to confirm with the correct details) that they have to change to winter tyres in October.

The thought had crossed my mind , but then again after the mild winters in the last 10 years or so it did not seem worth it. With the winter we have had it became very topical again. Did anyone see the test done for Evo magazine ? A couple of identical Jags on a track in Sweden I think one with and one withoout winter tyres , chalk and cheese , acceleration , cornering and braking the difference was incredible. Apparently the rubber compound of " Summer tyres" goes hard at 7 deg C and become worse than useless.

A couple of guys at work have done it this year , after Fridays debacle on the roads in aberdeen I bit the bullet and bought a set. Being a professional buyer I did a bit of reasearch first.

The tyre manufacturer I chose (Nokian) are not a household name, they are the most profitable tyre company in the world. They are Finnish so must know a bit about winter driving . I chose the WR G2 tyre after googling numerous reviews (they are very popular in Canada ) http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nokian/WRG2.htm

 You cannot buy them direct in the UK but there is a website http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html who will deliver them from Germany to your local fitting station.
They are no more expensive than a set of tyres from Kwik fit ,but may save your life.

 

Jim

[Mike Livingstone]

Winter tyres are the pup's pods!   

We have to use them over in Norway, as Jim said.  They are just softer rubber with decent grip and it is incredible the difference they make.  That is not to say you do not have to adjust your driving style comparedto summer road conditions but you can't have everything. 

When/if I ever move back to Scotland I will be investing in a set for the winters.

Mike L.

[Mike Barrio]

I was needing a couple of new tyres in November and an advert on "Squeek Radio" for winters caught my attention for some reason and I had them fitted ....... I have never bought them before.

Not sure what brand they are ( round black ones ) but I have certainly appreciated them

We used to use chains in Spain, I don't think I've seen them being used here?

Cheers
Mike

[paavo]

Many continental and Scandinavian coutrys make it a legal requirement , I know from my time in Norway (Mike L should be able to confirm with the correct details) that they have to change to winter tyres in October.

The thought had crossed my mind , but then again after the mild winters in the last 10 years or so it did not seem worth it. With the winter we have had it became very topical again. Did anyone see the test done for Evo magazine ? A couple of identical Jags on a track in Sweden I think one with and one withoout winter tyres , chalk and cheese , acceleration , cornering and braking the difference was incredible. Apparently the rubber compound of " Summer tyres" goes hard at 7 deg C and become worse than useless.

A couple of guys at work have done it this year , after Fridays debacle on the roads in aberdeen I bit the bullet and bought a set. Being a professional buyer I did a bit of reasearch first.

The tyre manufacturer I chose (Nokian) are not a household name, they are the most profitable tyre company in the world. They are Finnish so must know a bit about winter driving . I chose the WR G2 tyre after googling numerous reviews (they are very popular in Canada ) http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nokian/WRG2.htm

 You cannot buy them direct in the UK but there is a website http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html who will deliver them from Germany to your local fitting station.
They are no more expensive than a set of tyres from Kwik fit ,but may save your life.

 

Jim

Hi Jim
In Sweden we have to use winter tyres from 1:st dec. to last mars. Nokian tyres are a big brand in Scandinavia, so I think you did a right chose. 

//Harri

[Jim Eddie]

Harri

Thanks, I knew you would have experience on winter tyres 

 

Jim

[Irvine Ross]

The tyre manufacturer I chose (Nokian) are not a household name.

Jim

Jim

Not a household name? Same name is on my mobile phone. Its the Nokia company from Nokia near Tampere. They diversified from tyres and welly boots a few years ago

Irvine

PS What did your research bring up about Vredstein? That is the brand of winter treads we are currently using.

[Jim Eddie]

Jim

Not a household name? Same name is on my mobile phone. Its the Nokia company from Nokia near Tampere. They diversified from tyres and welly boots a few years ago

Irvine

PS What did your research bring up about Vredstein? That is the brand of winter treads we are currently using.

Irvine

They did not make it into the top 10, 79% comapred to 91% for the Nokians

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Vredestein/Wintrac-4-Extreme.htm

"Nokian Tyres (which had manufactured tyres under the Nokia brand; Nokian is the genitive) was split from the Nokia Corporation when Nokian Tyres Limited was created in 1988 as a joint venture company. Nokian Tyres PLC shares were floated on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (OMX Helsinki) in 1995. Nokia, which became the largest mobile telephone manufacturer in 1998[8], ended its ownership interest in Nokian Tyres in 2003, selling its holding of 2 million shares to Bridgestone Europe NV/SA, a subsidiary of the Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, for U.S. $73.2 million.[9] This made Bridgestone the largest shareholder,[5], with a 18.9% stake, later diluted to 16.8%.[9][10] Bridgestone announced that Nokian Tyres would be operated independently, but it would consider complementing the company's product development, testing, and distribution.[9]"



 

Jim

[Mike Barrio]

Hi guys

Just had a look at my "round black ones" and they are Cooper Weathermaster Snow tyres, don't know how they rate in the reviews, but they have served me well so far.

Just shows what a winter we are having when we are discussing tyres on the forum

Mind you, after fishing tackle, I guess cars rate quite highly in the "big boys toys" division

Best wishes
Mike

[Hamish Young]

As it happens, I'm currently using Vredestein all weather tyres (Quatrac 3) on the front wheels of my car and that of "she who must be obeyed" and they've been bloody brilliant in the winter weather so far.
Ofcourse, they're a compromise tyre and not a pure winter tyre per se but they're without doubt the best all weather tyre I've ever fitted.

For me it's a compromise, there's no legal requirement to have tyres suitable for winter roads in the UK (there should be, but that's another topic) and I can't really justify having two sets of wheels one with winter tyres and one with summer tyres for each car - so an all weather tyre goes on pretty much all year round to be honest and I accept the higher tyre wear incurred during the summer months.
What really rips my knitting something chronic is the number of folk who are never prepared (motoring wise) come the winter months - up here they should bloody well know better  

I confess I'm a Vredestein 'fan' and I'm very surprised they featured so low on the score - I can't get into that survey as I'm in the office right now - was it a pure winter tyre comparison or was it all weather

H  

[Jim Eddie]

Hamish it was not a Nokian v Verdestein survey, it was scored by tyre brand and model.

I looked at numerous of these types of survey's and the Nokina's scored well across the globe. I know its not comparing apples with apples and these tpyes of surveys can be very subjective. A bit like whats the best fly rod ?

However I found it hard to find much negative feed-back on the Nokians.

      

Jim

[lenap]

i have always had a 4 tyre steel wheel mounted set  for both of our cars. my car a v 70 volvo has the gislavid 5 nordfrost. my wifes car is a s 60 volvo awd ,has the dunlop winter sport. i put these tyres on at first snow fall ,and remove them in late march. the tractive safety is astonishing, before my wife used these tyres she was fearfull of winter driving, now she would not hesitate to go in the snow. by the way in northern vermont, where my son lives ,regular use of full tyre studding is the norm. they get snow by the foot and its very common to get passed by a snowmobile on any road.

[Jim Eddie]

Thanks for the input Len , nice to get some information from the other side of the Pond   

 

Jim