Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: richie on December 12, 2012, 02:41:18 pm
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Have you guys changed to Winter tyres on your vans / cars yet? Changed the two front ones on my car this afternoon. Last few days i have noticed a big decrease in grip. On the rear of the car i use All Weather tyres all year round. The Winter tyres i have are on a separate set of rims.
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Just changed to winter tyres yesterday funny enough.Why do you only change two of your wheels out of interest?
I ask that because I've heard it could make grip worse by just changing two of them.
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Only 2 is a waste of money IMHO, you want the grip on all of your wheels for obvious reasons. I use them for 14 years now so I have some experience. Winter tyres do make a huge difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovNrn8TLSNE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7xXDMkVFlE
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They do make a difference, but you only need them on the wheels that have drive... Ie on a front wheel drive vehicle you put them on the front, and rear wheel you put them on the rear....
On a front wheel drive if you have them on the front and all weather tyres on the back, the back will just follow the front.....
So there is no need to put them on all 4 on a 2 wheel drive.. ;D
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They do make a difference, but you only need them on the wheels that have drive... Ie on a front wheel drive vehicle you put them on the front, and rear wheel you put them on the rear....
On a front wheel drive if you have them on the front and all weather tyres on the back, the back will just follow the front.....
So there is no need to put them on all 4 on a 2 wheel drive.. ;D
I strongly recommend you to watch the vids I posted Hector. In some countries in Europe they will not even let you enter the country unless you have them (on all wheels!). In some cases the snowchain is a must too, but thats a different story.
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Only changed the 2 fronts due to the rear tyres been All Weather tyres......which in fact are classed as Winter Tyres in some countries. They have the M+S marking on them.
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i think you'll find its illegal to only put them on 2 wheels and invalidates your insurance.
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UK law requires that your vehicle is fitted with the correct type and size of tyre for the vehicle type you are driving and for the purpose it is being used. This means fitting the right tyres and for safety ensuring that they are inflated to the manufacturer's recommended pressure.
The legal limit for minimum depth of the tread on your tyres is 1.6 millimetres, across the central ¾ of the tread around the complete circumference of the tyre.
For safety reasons it is recommended that you replace your tyres before the legal limit is reached. Many vehicle manufacturers recommend replacing at 3 millimetres. At 1.6 millimetres in wet weather it takes an extra car length (8 metres) to stop at 50 mph than if your tread was 3 millimetres.
A regular check of your tyres can help you to avoid 3 penalty points and £2,500 in fines (per tyre) for having tyres worn beyond the legal minimum limit on your vehicle.
It is also a legal requirement to ensure that tyres of different construction types are not fitted to opposite sides of the same axle. The two main tyre types are radial and cross-ply, and these must not be mixed on the same axle.
Mixing brands and patterns of the same construction type is permissible.
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Why would it invalidate your insurance?
You've gone the extra mile and put on Winter tyres
on the drive wheels.
What's the point in putting them on non drive tyres?
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Does not invalidate your car insurance, as i went into this in great detail last year with a couple of insurance companies.
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Hence the reason for my last post.....to point out it IS perfectly legal to have Winter tyres on just one axle. If you have a rear drive vehicle then i would suggest you not only put Winter tyres on the rear drive wheels but also the front wheels. Remember the front wheels steer the vehicle and also account for approx 75% of the braking therefore improved grip from Winter tyres. Most cars these days and over half of all vans in the UK now have front wheel drive. This is why i opted for Winter tyres on the front and All Weather tyres on the rear.
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Put snow socks on
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You guys with winter tyres on one axle really should do some research.
I would strongly advise you read this link from the Association of British Insurers.
http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/Consumers/General/Winter_Tyres__The_Motor_Insurance_Committment.aspx
Secondly no vehicle manufacturer will condone the use of different tyres on front and rear axles.
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Nick, that link is basically saying the same as what i posted above. As for different tyres on different axles it has no bearing. What they are interested in is that the tyres are not mixed radial / cross ply, have the correct tread depth, no damage to side walls. I had a accident 2 years a go (non fault). When my car was inspected one of the first things the 3rd parties insurer checked was my tyres. I was there that day and the checked inside / outside tyre walls and tread depth. They wrote down the make of tyres on all four wheels and tyre condition. The report submitted showed different tyres on the front axle compared to the rear but stated all were in good condition.
Tyres are something i take seriously and inspect them on a regular basis. I will contact my insurance company tomorrow to see what they say.....if i am wrong then i will openly stand corrected and post the comment here.
I guess for those concerned about tyres they should simply contact their insurer and ask for advice.
I just re-read the link you put up Nick.
As can be seen, often motor insurers will not charge an additional premium when their insured customers use winter tyres, provided that they meet, and are fitted in accordance with, the vehicle manufacturers’ specifications and are in a roadworthy condition.
This means that providing the vehicle is fitted with the correct size.
This can be a can of worms......My car (Vauxhall Astra) when i asked Vauxhall which tyres are the right size they informed me that the car can have either 185/65/14 or 195/60/15 fitted. The reason i asked them was because i went to Kwik Fit to have new tyres fitted and they told me i had the wrong size on the car (195/60/15).
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Richie
I fully understand what you are saying, but as you can see from the above link not all insurers are the same!! Some even require you to notify them by telephone that your running them! How many have done that or even know if your insurer requires this!
It is vastly documented that it is dangerous to use a winter tyre with an all season or summer! If you had winter on your drive wheels and all season on the other this as stated by car manufacturers is dangerous and will/can make you vehicle handle abnormally. In worse case scenario any insurer could say it was not within in the manufacturers specification. You only need to do a quick search to see that all industry experts discourage winter tyres on one axle and all say no, no, no. This is due to how dangerous it can be although at current it is still legal.
Just because something is legal does not mean an insurer HAS to accept liability!
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Good grip is a must on all 4 wheels, especially on ice and/or snow. Rear wheel drive with winter tyres on the back wheels only is useless you need the grip for steering. Just watch the vids I posted, they explain all of the combinations.
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As i said, tyres are something i take seriously. I would be interested to see the claim that it is vastly documented that it is dangerous to use Winter tyres with All Season Tyres. Recent tests showed All season tyres running very close to the winter tyres in braking and cornering. For sure it would be dangerous to run them with summer tyres....in fact i think it is dangerous to run summer tyres at all in the winter. It is time that the UK took a good look at the tyre law and changed it. People moan year in year out that the local councils are not doing enough to keep roads running smooth.....when the fact is the biggest reason roads get clogged with vehicles is because people are running summer tyres and they are not getting enough grip.
Ference, i agree and have maintained the fact rear wheel drive vehicles really should have winter tyres all round.
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Put snow socks on
They are just for temp use tho. My mrs just had a set of Nokians delivered to our place for her car this winter after hours and hours of research. They look a real nice tyre and if stored properly she will get 3 winters from them.
I personally wouldn't fit just 2 (another 2 are on way) I prefer to know I have the same grip all round. Especially with the roads around here and the way I drive.
Gonna order some myself. They came from Poland in 2 days for around 85 for a 205/55/16.
They get great reviews from Scandanavian countries.
They only invalidate your insurance if you fit them with non standard wheels/alloys as they are classed as a modification.
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Yes, but Jamie, you're driving an (at least) 220hp Accord Type-R.. :P
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Which Nokian's did you buy?
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Yes, but Jamie, you're driving an (at least) 220hp Accord Type-R.. :P
I have never driven that car in the winter ash (its 240hp btw)
It's only done 40k of summer miles in 13 years.
The tyres are for the FRV.
Nokians are ADA3 which are for performance cars but get better reviews than their standard.
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Continental Vanco Winter tyres all round for me on my Master 8)
Tony