Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 21:46:34 +0200 From: Robert Brown <rjbnopsamnet.se.nospam> Subject: Re: Winter vs all season tires on 900SE???
Nice to see that most posters on this thread are advocates of real winter tyres. A few years ago we introduced legislation that made obligatory the use of winter tyres in winter conditions (ice, snow, or even clear roads with low temperatures). There had been a number of very messy head-on collisions where at least one of the drivers thought he/she was so skilled that the use of winter tyres was unnecessary. A real shame if you get hit by a driver of that kind (regardless of what kind of tyres you yourself are using ...). Two factors that I don't see mentioned in this thread are 1) how summer tyres' grip characteristics are affected by low temperatures, regardless of whether there is snow/ice or not; 2) The reduced grip of studded snow tyres on clear asphalt surfaces (compared with using them on snow). Many drivers up here do as follows: Where there is lots of snow and ice for a large part of the winter, they use studded snow tyres. Unbeatable when braking and cornering on ice. Of course some countries don't allow them but they're still legal here, despite that they leave wheel tracks that collect water and lead to aquaplaning in the summer. I guess that's where our tax money goes - having our roads repaved every second year. Where there is a fair bit of driving on cleared roads, as well as snow/ice), studless winter tyres (much softer compound) ar often used. What's good about studless winter tyres is that they perform very well on clear roads, though the tyres wear a bit. The handling is of course sloppy as hell but it's exactly that characteristic that ensures that grip is broken less easily. The tyres also harden after about 4-5 years so they should be chucked in the bin after that. Studless tyres work less well on ice compared with studded ones, but you can corner and stop fairly well nonetheless. Try doing that on summer tyres . . . And there are still the occasional idiots that like to buy wide, low-profile *winter* tyres on alloy wheels . . . in which case, why bother? From my experience of living in Massachusetts 4 years as a kid, I'd guess that studless tyres is the way to go in a New England winter. What say you people from that part of the world? Robert Gothenburg Sweden (1983 900 studded tyres, 1999 9-3 studless, 2001 Audi A4 studless) Nutmegger wrote: > Four Weis says... > > >> Any specific recommendations? > > > >If you want to keep up with all of the other FWD cars, get the all season > >tires. > > That is a weird way of saying it! I mean....who cares about keeping up with the > 'Jonses?' > > >If you want to pass the other cars, including four wheel drive models, > >get the pure winter tires. > > I think it is a personal decision, and should be based on his climate. Why > waste $$ on snowies if not needed? > > >I don't know if the Pirelli Winter 190s are available anymore, but I hear they > >are 'old' technology anyway. > > I don't know what kind of Pirelli's I had, but I loved them. I've got to pull > the paperwork before I go get some new ones. They wear out fast, but I don't > care - they perform good for me, the way I drive. > > ~J~
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