Petition for legislation for winter and all season tyres

[AHPP]

1 hour ago, doobin said:

Can’t beat a winter tyre even just for wet muddy back roads. 
 

im a big fan of Nokian Weatherproof. Cheap but good, they’ve worn well. 

 

You beauty. I was about to spend appreciably more on a set of Michelin Crossclimates for the car. Always wanted some Nokians but ended up with other stuff by quirks of fate.

[Big J]

1 hour ago, trigger_andy said:

I see loads of accidents in Stavanger year in year out in the winter. That’s with enforced Winter Tyres. There’s idiot drivers all over the world. I don’t think all season tyres would make a blind bit of difference to folk sliding down hills, dedicated Winter Tyres maybe, Studs yes. 

 

You are wrong there.

 

We had a C4 Grand Picasso years ago. Came with summer tyres. I ordered cheap all seasons in December from Germany. Before they came, we had 2 inches of snow. Our drive to the house at that time was gently to moderately uphill, with a sharp corner you wouldn't be able to carry any speed through.

 

It took me a solid 5 minutes to get up on summer tyres. It was 150m. The abs system had a panic attack at the top, the whole dash lit up and had to be recovered to Citroen.

 

In the meantime, the tyres arrived. They were changed whilst at the garage.

 

Two weeks later, another 2 inches of snow and it drove up like it wasn't there.

 

Not only that, but we had more snow a few weeks later. I was climbing a steep hill out of a village called Ecclesmachen when I encountered a transit reversing down. He leaned out the window so I stopped. He said I'd never get up there (6 inches of slushy snow). I reassured him that I'd be fine and pulled away effortlessly.

 

That is the difference between summer and all season tyres in British snow.

 

 

[coppice cutter]

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

 

You beauty. I was about to spend appreciably more on a set of Michelin Crossclimates for the car. Always wanted some Nokians but ended up with other stuff by quirks of fate.

I've been using Crossclimates since they came out, they really are the perfect all year round tyre and worth every penny IMO.

[Mesterh]

25 minutes ago, Big J said:

 

You are wrong there.

 

We had a C4 Grand Picasso years ago. Came with summer tyres. I ordered cheap all seasons in December from Germany. Before they came, we had 2 inches of snow. Our drive to the house at that time was gently to moderately uphill, with a sharp corner you wouldn't be able to carry any speed through.

 

It took me a solid 5 minutes to get up on summer tyres. It was 150m. The abs system had a panic attack at the top, the whole dash lit up and had to be recovered to Citroen.

 

In the meantime, the tyres arrived. They were changed whilst at the garage.

 

Two weeks later, another 2 inches of snow and it drove up like it wasn't there.

 

Not only that, but we had more snow a few weeks later. I was climbing a steep hill out of a village called Ecclesmachen when I encountered a transit reversing down. He leaned out the window so I stopped. He said I'd never get up there (6 inches of slushy snow). I reassured him that I'd be fine and pulled away effortlessly.

 

That is the difference between summer and all season tyres in British snow.

 

 

What are the downsides to all season tyres? More expensive, more road noise? Only asking as I've never tried them.

[AHPP]

1 hour ago, coppice cutter said:

I've been using Crossclimates since they came out, they really are the perfect all year round tyre and worth every penny IMO.

The spanner in the works.

[josharb87]

5 hours ago, Mesterh said:

What are the downsides to all season tyres? More expensive, more road noise? Only asking as I've never tried them.

below about plus 7 they work better than regular tyres even on dry or damp roads due to the softer compound.

I would assume that they’ll therefore wear quicker in warmer temperatures. The difference is pretty amazing though, but ice you really need studded tyres, then it’s like driving on gravel 

[Big J]

6 hours ago, Mesterh said:

What are the downsides to all season tyres? More expensive, more road noise? Only asking as I've never tried them.

 

They wear slightly quicker if driven year round. A little bit less grip in summer (but it's fractional).

 

In my mind, all seasons are maybe 5-10% worse in summer when driven at the limit, and who does that? 

 

In winter, they are so, so much better when conditions get tough that they are the difference between you being able to move and not. And in normal UK winter conditions, they will perform better too.

[doobin]

9 hours ago, AHPP said:

 

You beauty. I was about to spend appreciably more on a set of Michelin Crossclimates for the car. Always wanted some Nokians but ended up with other stuff by quirks of fate.

I’m just about to buy cross climates for the panda because I can’t seem to find Nokian anymore. Have you found any in 15”?

 

Typically I’d just found a new set at very good money (40 plus vat a tyre) for the corsa before I sold it to a mate. Think they might be stopping importing them 😞

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

2 hours ago, Big J said:

 

They wear slightly quicker if driven year round. A little bit less grip in summer (but it's fractional).

 

In my mind, all seasons are maybe 5-10% worse in summer when driven at the limit, and who does that? 

 

In winter, they are so, so much better when conditions get tough that they are the difference between you being able to move and not. And in normal UK winter conditions, they will perform better too.

For the number of days / year they might be useful in UK the cost benefit ration simply doesn't stack up for the average motorist.  I'll concede - beneficial to some transport / emergency services / essential users perhaps - but not your average Joe.  Just not gonna happen.

 

I'm actually really disappointed J, that you don't seem to have mentioned / considered the grave environmental impact (a) of road tyres generally, and (b) the increased harm of a softer compound all year round.  

 

Tyres are made from synthetic rubber, a derivative of crude oil, and contain a number of toxic organic compounds, including known carcinogens. As they make contact with the road, they release tiny particles measuring less than 23 nanometres, which pollute the air, soil and water.

 

The softer the compound, the more they degrade in use....

 

Yome flogging a dead horse with this one mate.

[coppice cutter]

45 minutes ago, doobin said:

 Think they might be stopping importing them 😞

I was a Michelin motorcycle tyre distributor for over twenty years but pulled the plug last year as availability was becoming so haphazard. And this from a company who were pretty much flawless in every regard over all those years.

 

Covid seemed to impact them massively.

 

On the Crossclimates, another big advantage they have is that they are directional as opposed to inside/outside, so if the fronts get scrubbed a bit more on the outside you can swap right and left over which puts the outside on the inside.