Hi fellas,
Just wanted to ask everyone out there about winter tyres, the various options out there and keeping safe in poor road conditions. I know it's summer but am hoping I can get myself set up cheaper now than I can when the snow starts falling!
Last winter I spent some time in Norway and Iceland, winter tyres here are compulsory between certain dates. I also did a winter course up in Lochaber last winter for a week, great stuff, but on the last day on the way to the hills our minibus hit a patch of black ice and we had a crash, no I wasn't the one behind the wheel... The winter before that, my sister did something similar and put her hatchback through a hedgerow. Luckily everyone was okay and there ended up being no serious damage or dramas after both cases.
I've come to realise that in the last 2 years I have been spending more time in cold places; the region where my family is based has experienced a lot colder and more wintery conditions; and the mountains and remote areas (either those an hour away or those a day's drive away) have it more wintery still and can rely on gritter trucks even less. The last winters in the UK there were a lot of people getting stuck for hours and essentially becoming immobile, or having accidents, and having seen how other countries handle their own conditions, I want to do something to continue being safe on the road and actually able to get around during the winter.
That was the straightforward part, the difficult bit is, how?
The Nordic countries I have been to all use either a studded winter tyre, or an 'all year round' tyre that seems to be a compromise between dedicated summer and winter tyres. Are studded tyres legal in the UK, and under what conditions? Could I leave them on all winter, or would I have to take them off if the snow melted for some period? I have never seen anyone using them, and don't fancy being pulled over for damaging the road or somesuch - like I know snow chains can do. I guess in other countries things can be more straightforward - you know the snow will arrive roundabout this date, and will stay until roundabout this date, but UK weather is more variable - theres nothing to stop an initial snowfall being followed by a warmer period of rain and then back to snow or ice - which obviously complicates things if some tyres are 'snow/ice use only'.
I think proper winter tyres (studded?) on a separate set of wheels would work best, even if it's a bit pricier than just buying only all season tyres (my existing summer tyres aren't anywhere near needing replacing yet, and I'm not sure all seasons are likely to be as good as winter tyres) or only winter tyres without wheels (ease and speed of changing them, which is probably better for more unpredictable UK weather, plus I don't want to seat the tyre on the wheel incorrectly and damage one or the other, as I've heard can happen). But, if All Seasons are as good as dedicated winter tyres, then maybe it's worth waiting out and getting a set of them, it would mean not having to change over tyres or wheels, and not having to buy extra wheels.
Any thoughts on the above from those who've gone down one of said routes or got experience in winter driving, either UK or anywhere else? Are All Season tyres as good as winter ones? Likely area of use is N Wales and various other hilly outdoorsy areas of the UK (the Lakes, hopefully Scotland more). Perhaps the odd trip to Europe once in a while but that's in the future really. If I end up getting more permanently established in Iceland I find it hard to believe I would bring my little Skoda over, it's not cheap to do so, the steering wheel is on the wrong side and the roads here would just abuse it...
Cheers
Beardy
Just wanted to ask everyone out there about winter tyres, the various options out there and keeping safe in poor road conditions. I know it's summer but am hoping I can get myself set up cheaper now than I can when the snow starts falling!
Last winter I spent some time in Norway and Iceland, winter tyres here are compulsory between certain dates. I also did a winter course up in Lochaber last winter for a week, great stuff, but on the last day on the way to the hills our minibus hit a patch of black ice and we had a crash, no I wasn't the one behind the wheel... The winter before that, my sister did something similar and put her hatchback through a hedgerow. Luckily everyone was okay and there ended up being no serious damage or dramas after both cases.
I've come to realise that in the last 2 years I have been spending more time in cold places; the region where my family is based has experienced a lot colder and more wintery conditions; and the mountains and remote areas (either those an hour away or those a day's drive away) have it more wintery still and can rely on gritter trucks even less. The last winters in the UK there were a lot of people getting stuck for hours and essentially becoming immobile, or having accidents, and having seen how other countries handle their own conditions, I want to do something to continue being safe on the road and actually able to get around during the winter.
That was the straightforward part, the difficult bit is, how?
The Nordic countries I have been to all use either a studded winter tyre, or an 'all year round' tyre that seems to be a compromise between dedicated summer and winter tyres. Are studded tyres legal in the UK, and under what conditions? Could I leave them on all winter, or would I have to take them off if the snow melted for some period? I have never seen anyone using them, and don't fancy being pulled over for damaging the road or somesuch - like I know snow chains can do. I guess in other countries things can be more straightforward - you know the snow will arrive roundabout this date, and will stay until roundabout this date, but UK weather is more variable - theres nothing to stop an initial snowfall being followed by a warmer period of rain and then back to snow or ice - which obviously complicates things if some tyres are 'snow/ice use only'.
I think proper winter tyres (studded?) on a separate set of wheels would work best, even if it's a bit pricier than just buying only all season tyres (my existing summer tyres aren't anywhere near needing replacing yet, and I'm not sure all seasons are likely to be as good as winter tyres) or only winter tyres without wheels (ease and speed of changing them, which is probably better for more unpredictable UK weather, plus I don't want to seat the tyre on the wheel incorrectly and damage one or the other, as I've heard can happen). But, if All Seasons are as good as dedicated winter tyres, then maybe it's worth waiting out and getting a set of them, it would mean not having to change over tyres or wheels, and not having to buy extra wheels.
Any thoughts on the above from those who've gone down one of said routes or got experience in winter driving, either UK or anywhere else? Are All Season tyres as good as winter ones? Likely area of use is N Wales and various other hilly outdoorsy areas of the UK (the Lakes, hopefully Scotland more). Perhaps the odd trip to Europe once in a while but that's in the future really. If I end up getting more permanently established in Iceland I find it hard to believe I would bring my little Skoda over, it's not cheap to do so, the steering wheel is on the wrong side and the roads here would just abuse it...
Cheers
Beardy