Winter tyres - when to use?

DebsWhite · Feb 12, 2013

We've just had our first weekend away in our new Beach - only -2 in the Lake District but it worked incredibly well. We used the winter post advice of just keeping the heater on one through the night, and without a topper or silver screens, we were all lovely and toasty.

A quick question, that hopefully one of you will have the answer to, is how sensible or otherwise is it to leave winter tyres on permanently? Our beach came with them fitted, and I was wondering about the economies of wear on tyres, fuel consumption etc, versus buying a whole new set of tyres and swapping them over every 6 months. Any advice gratefully received!

Plus, it was great to be able to research in this forum when our heated started making strange noises at the weekend and discover it was perfectly normal. Gave us great piece of mind on our first trip.

Thanks everyone!

Harrythecat · Feb 12, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

Debs,

Let me preface my reply by saying I'm not an expert on the matter.

My understanding is that winter tyres operate more effectively than 'standard' tyres at temperatures of 7 degrees centigrade or below. Having said that I am aware of one organisation that apparently ran a fleet of vehicles with winter tyres through the summer months without any apparent adverse effect on safety and without a noticeable increase in wear.

In theory the winter tyres, made from softer compounds, should wear more quickly at higher temperatures. That's why the conventional wisdom is that you should change onto a 'summer' compound once the temperatures rise.

If you're considering keeping the winters on it might be wise to consult the manufacturers and/or your local tyre dealer/supplier.

If you do keep them on let us know how you get on. I'll be going back to standard tyres in March purely because I've got a part used set in storage but I do like the Vreiderstein's I use on the Cali and our other car and I'd happily keep them on longer.

DebsWhite · Feb 12, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

Thanks ....

TwentyOneThirtyFive · Feb 12, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

My T4 westy came with winter tyres fitted.

I bought another set of rims, but ran out of campervan budget for summer tyres...

So we've done the last year, around 7,000 miles, on winter tyres. Can't comment on mpg, but in terms of wear - the fronts have worn noticeably.

However, since it felt like we spent most of the summer driving on flooded roads, it was probably wise to keep them on!

dan

timhutch · Feb 12, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

I use a set of rims with winter tyres from around the end of October to around the end of March. I have done this on the last 3 or 4 cars I have owned, including a Q7, BMW7, S8 and the California.

As said before, it's not just the tread that has the greatest effect, but the compound structure which starts to increase in adhesion at below 7oC.

The other physical effect is reduced durability in raised temperatures. I was 'caught out' on a trip to Switzerland when the temperature rose to 25oC with my winters on at the end of March one year, and you could see tyre damage and palpable wear from one trip. (very fast 1500 mile motorway run)

My suggestion would always be to change them, it may be a sizeable cash drain at the time of purchase, but both will wear better, perform better and be safer in the appropriate conditions.

Having said this, there are many reviews on the Vredestein website of people who run the Wintrax tyres all year with reasonable wear/grip/performance.... gentle driving would reduce any excess wear, but the weight of the vehicle is not on your side.

shambly · Feb 12, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

If you have Goodyear Cargo Vector M+S tyres, my understanding is that these are all-season tyres.
These are what we now run on our (17") steel rims during the winter months.

summer tyres work best above +7 (fitted as std to the 18"s on our 4motion)
winter tyres best below +7 and feature extended wear above that temperature (as previously posted)

all-season: only sensible option for "winter" tyres in the UK. Our weather rarely stays below +7 for a prolonged period (well in the south anyway

)

Simon

Cali1 · Feb 18, 2013

Re: winter Tyres

Thank you for the replies,I think full winter tyre will be an over kill.I did not know about the temperature side of things with the tyres,makes sense though.

Will look at an all weather set.

Thanks