Tyres - Winter/Cross-Climate - the decision - sell old ones?

[DrFfybes]

Just to drag it slightly more on topic, yesterday we had snow. Only an inch or so, but I took the opportunity to try out the cars on out mainly flat drive.

Braking was downhill, acceleration uphill.

The cars have 185/65 and 215/55 profiles. The narrow tyres also have 4mm of tread, whereas the wider ones are down to 2mm at best.

Carina (185 tyres)
So up to 15 mph and hit the brakes until wheels lock, stops in about 15 feet. Acceleration is subjective, but pulls away easily on tickover or mild throttle as it is an auto. Repeat the braking with cadence braking once the wheels locked and it seemed to travel further.

Avensis, similar stopping distance but once ABS cut in it seemed to stop slowing down. In fact it seemed to travel a metre further but possibly slightly more speed or a heavier car. Turned around and coming back in, as soon as the rear wheels hit the tarmac ridge the front started spinning. Traction control galore, lifting helped, but very little grip.

They tryres would already have been done but MrsF had the car in Devon up to Xmas, so in a hour I am off to Halfords for some new ones.

However rather than splash out on the Cross Climates which will no doubt be better over the next 3 weeks, I've gone for normal 'summer' tyres. We can choose when or if we go out, we can walk to the bus or shops if necessary, so on the offchance I do get some snow at least I'll have tread to cut into it.

A few years ago I got one of those infra red thermometers and discoverd the tyres were quite warm after a few miles, even in freezing conditions. This makes the 7C cutoff for winter tyres a bit of an odd figure, as I assume the tests are done with cold tyres as well. Be interesting to see how warm they new ones are after 5 miles back from Halfords.

Paul

[9873210]

Well, also slightly off topic......there is a trade off with most things in life.

Global warming for the UK seems to mean ....we accept colder winters in exchange for warmer summers.
Seems like a good deal to me.

Spend a year in Chicago before you say that.

[DrFfybes]

Well it turns out the old tyres were 14C (rear) and 16C (front) when I got back home, against road temp of 3.5C.

I say the old tyres, as the new ones are still on the shelf in Halfords, because despite the Avensis coming with a whole range of toys and features I have yet to find need of, the key for the locking wheelnuts wasn't one of them

I do remember the dealer saying it was in the boot with the tools when we picked the car up, but I didn't check. In hindsight this was a mistake.

Paul

[Breelander]

...despite the Avensis coming with a whole range of toys and features I have yet to find need of, the key for the locking wheelnuts wasn't one of them

We can supply Toyota Avensis Wheel Nut (Keys) from as little as £40. ... We do not require the wheel nut security key code, just simply a clear image of the locking nut on the alloy wheel and 'proof of ownership/id'.

https://www.lockingwheelnutkeys.co.uk/s ... n-toyota-a

[DrFfybes]

We can supply Toyota Avensis Wheel Nut (Keys) from as little as £40. ...

Thanks,

I called into theToyota dealer on the offchance they had a database with the code for the key, but as they are optional extras it isn't recorded centrally. However they pointed me to evoautomotive.com that does them for £17 delivered, if you have the code but apparently they can look it up from a photo. There are similar places on Ebay around £20. I must remember to mask the V5 reference when I send proof of keepership

However all seem to be closed for the week.

Ironically the dealer had a big pile of them for this purpose, but were unable/unwilling to go through them to find the right one as that would have meant sendin me on my way with a loose wheel

Good job it isn't an emergency, although Halfords did send me to an engineering company who would remove them for a fiver a wheel (presumably welding a hex bar on to them) and I could get a set of replacements from the motor factors.

Paul

[Raasu]

I have a set of winter tyres on separate steel wheels. They're several years old now but they're only on the car for 3 months or so in the year, so they're still legal with tread of 2-3mm. In past years I would have swapped them onto the car by now, but last October I put two new summer tyres on the front wheels (it's front wheel drive), so they have almost full tread on them. I can't decide whether it's better to have nearly-new summer tyres, or swap them for pretty worn down winter tyres. I live in the Midlands so not like Scotland, but we have snow now. I wonder what others think?

[quelquod]

I believe that winter tyres with less than about 4-5mm of tread are pretty useless when it comes to snow and thick slush. At towards 2mm I would scrap them straightaway.

FWIW referring back the thread a bit I drive a BMW 5 (RWD but x-Drive) and its performance in snow with normal ‘summer’ tyres is very poor for steering, traction or braking but winter tyres transforms it and it cuts through thick slush with ease. It still requires some common sense of course but progress and braking compared with summer tyres is chalk and cheese. I’ve not tried crossclimates as limited wear on the winters gives them a long life.

[redsturgeon]

Just replacing my tyres on my 4 wheel drive BMW and it will be summer tyres again. We have had no snow down here in South Hants and many winters we see no snow at all.

Bridgestone Turanza T005s for me

John

[Clariman]

We've got a lot of ice and have had for the last few days. Some remains of snow iced up from last week followed by rain which froze on top. It is treacherous underfoot.

So glad I swapped tyres. Shame I can't drive anywhere much now! Still. I sold the old tyres via a car website so happy enough.

[Dod101]

I have a set of winter tyres on separate steel wheels. They're several years old now but they're only on the car for 3 months or so in the year, so they're still legal with tread of 2-3mm. In past years I would have swapped them onto the car by now, but last October I put two new summer tyres on the front wheels (it's front wheel drive), so they have almost full tread on them. I can't decide whether it's better to have nearly-new summer tyres, or swap them for pretty worn down winter tyres. I live in the Midlands so not like Scotland, but we have snow now. I wonder what others think?

You will definitely not get the full benefit of winter tyres with only 2/3 mm any more than you would with summer tyres with that amount of tre3ad. The other thing of course is how the winter tyres have been stored because the walls will not last forever whatever the tread. Bottom line is though that I would scrap your winter tyres.

Dod

[Dod101]

Maybe I should have had winter tyres. We have at least seven inches of snow this morning and it is still falling.

Dod

[redsturgeon]

Maybe I should have had winter tyres. We have at least seven inches of snow this morning and it is still falling.

Dod

Happy with my new summer tyres down here near the South Coast, currently 9 degrees with daytime temps not set to fall below 7 c for the rest of the month.

John

[kiloran]

Maybe I should have had winter tyres. We have at least seven inches of snow this morning and it is still falling.

Dod

Happy with my new summer tyres down here near the South Coast, currently 9 degrees with daytime temps not set to fall below 7 c for the rest of the month.

John

Yes, pretty much like summer here near Glasgow, just a couple of inches of snow and just above freezing

--kiloran

[DrFfybes]

Happy with my new summer tyres down here near the South Coast, currently 9 degrees with daytime temps not set to fall below 7 c for the rest of the month.

John

Probably not for the rest of the year

Paul

[Charlottesquare]

I believe that winter tyres with less than about 4-5mm of tread are pretty useless when it comes to snow and thick slush. At towards 2mm I would scrap them straightaway.

FWIW referring back the thread a bit I drive a BMW 5 (RWD but x-Drive) and its performance in snow with normal ‘summer’ tyres is very poor for steering, traction or braking but winter tyres transforms it and it cuts through thick slush with ease. It still requires some common sense of course but progress and braking compared with summer tyres is chalk and cheese. I’ve not tried crossclimates as limited wear on the winters gives them a long life.

Agreed, when we used to drive to Sweden in winter (when there was a UK ferry to Gothenburg) I had a set of Gislaveds on steels for my then automatic Mercedes 300, our house there is up a seven mile back road with hills, bends, drops and blind corners, even with snow lying/impacted the car nipped along quite safely at up to 40mph never losing its grip, the only tricky bit was our drive which is steep and is coarse gravel/grass, even with that and say 12 inches lying it coped (albeit snow if left when parked froze in the wheel arches making the next trip difficult as it needed removed). We tended to get up to -10 during the day and the odd -30 overnight so the snow was semi permanent.

[quelquod]

Resurrecting the thread briefly I popped out yesterday with my wife to visit the vaccination centre and return via Asda. We have around 5-8 inches of snow depending on altitude and I passed I suppose several dozen stranded motorists including taxis, a variety of vans and a couple of buses. I’m sure the X-drive helped but I’m glad I have winter tyres fitted.

As a by-the-way I was amused to note that although the local schools are closed and Asda have cancelled all deliveries, the vaccination centre was doing a roaring trade with 70-somethings managing to toddle there through the drifts.

[Clavain]

Short add on, I have found https://www.tyrereviews.com to be a brilliant source of info on tyres. His Youtube channel has some really detailed reviews of tyres including a very interesting comparison between two BMW X3s in the snow. One 4 wheel drive with Summer tyres and a 2 wheel drive on Winter Tyres.

I have thought long about putting all season tyres on but living in South Devon it just doesn't seem I would get enough mileage in truly poor conditions and low temps to justify it. Having winters and summers is the best mix but I don't really have the funds or storage space for this, esp having switched to a Merc C300 cabriolet. The wheels would significantly impact on shed space!

[Dod101]

After all the talk about the merits of winter tyres the last few weeks have been quite a good test with snow on the ground where I live from 29 December until 14 February and heavy snow at times, accumulating to 12 inches at some points. I used my car as much as is normal in a lockdown and probably as much as I would have even without a lockdown. I had new tyres all round fitted in early December but they were the usual all season tyres. Not once did I feel uncomfortable about going out in my car and not once did I get stuck so there is no way I would buy winter tyres unless I was an old fashioned doctor say, on call 24 hours a day.

I have a Q5 which has permanent 4 wheel drive and live in semi rural south Perthshire where, other than the main A9, the trunk road, roads were barely treated.

Dod