Forgive my maybe daft question but in 35 yrs of motoring ive never had a car that needed winter tyres.
We have this X5 now and i know i dont need tyres for winter as the cars hardly used anyway.
But why cant the car simply have a set of year round tyres, its not like we get the snow of decades ago any more and surely the tread on normal tyres can cope with rain in winter
Just curious as i seem to read so much about this subject. just Green on certain things :xmasevil:
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Why winter tyres here
Why winter tyres here
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Re: Why winter tyres here
To be entirely honest, I’m like minded & do not run winter tyres
No journey is so important to me that can’t be done tomorrow or as weather conditions dictate.....
The rubber compound of summer tyres harden as the temperatures drop and give less grip on wet slushy roads, so whilst a winter tyre would offer best snow handling characteristics, the compound is also softer to allow wet handling properties as the temperatures drop....
It’s often a misconception that there purely required for Snow driving, moreso required for softer compound in cold climates below 7 degrees
No journey is so important to me that can’t be done tomorrow or as weather conditions dictate.....
The rubber compound of summer tyres harden as the temperatures drop and give less grip on wet slushy roads, so whilst a winter tyre would offer best snow handling characteristics, the compound is also softer to allow wet handling properties as the temperatures drop....
It’s often a misconception that there purely required for Snow driving, moreso required for softer compound in cold climates below 7 degrees
Re: Why winter tyres here
[quote="marinaman"]
Forgive my maybe daft question but in 35 yrs of motoring ive never had a car that needed winter tyres.
We have this X5 now and i know i dont need tyres for winter as the cars hardly used anyway.
But why cant the car simply have a set of year round tyres, its not like we get the snow of decades ago any more and surely the tread on normal tyres can cope with rain in winter
Just curious as i seem to read so much about this subject. just Green on certain things :xmasevil:
[/quote]
OK, I have been driving around 40 years now and am very pleased technology has evolved in those 40 something years to make my cars nicer and safer to drive........
You might not need winter tyres especially if you do very little mileage, but we certainly don’t all have the same circumstances!
For instance, I was doing massive cross country commutes sometimes several hundred miles a day, and the contracts were sometimes “mission critical” and I needed to travel, whatever the weather, where feasible.
I don’t know if you ever saw Clarkson make a laughing stock of early X cars by unsuccessfully trying to drive them up a slippery slope - people still remember that now and talk about how rubbish the cars are in snow.
Doesnt matter how advanced the gearbox etc is, its the tyres that are going to be the problem on an X5 on ice / adverse conditons as no car will get anywhere on the ridiculous huge 21”sleds that are over a foot wide.........narrower tyres of a softer compund transform the car though and make it into a very rock stable 4x4 which really manages slushy, slippery, icy conditions well (not just snow)
Years ago cars did not have these stupid 21” alloys and crazy wide tyres.......most were narrow biscuit types, which made for better road holding in poor conditions as well, its not so much the 4x4 transmission, even 2wd cars can manage if the tyres are right.
So for me and millions of others both here in the UK and across the world, winter tyres make a LOT of sense and transform my X5 into a very stable , go-most-places vehicle in poor weather conditions.
You pays your money and makes your (hopefully informed) choices............it is a personal choice at the end of the day. You only need to see some of the Youtube videos of the same vehicle driving in the same conditions but with winter tyres on in one clip to see what a huge difference they can make -life or death in the worst case scenario.
Just my penny worth.......
Forgive my maybe daft question but in 35 yrs of motoring ive never had a car that needed winter tyres.
We have this X5 now and i know i dont need tyres for winter as the cars hardly used anyway.
But why cant the car simply have a set of year round tyres, its not like we get the snow of decades ago any more and surely the tread on normal tyres can cope with rain in winter
Just curious as i seem to read so much about this subject. just Green on certain things :xmasevil:
[/quote]
OK, I have been driving around 40 years now and am very pleased technology has evolved in those 40 something years to make my cars nicer and safer to drive........
You might not need winter tyres especially if you do very little mileage, but we certainly don’t all have the same circumstances!
For instance, I was doing massive cross country commutes sometimes several hundred miles a day, and the contracts were sometimes “mission critical” and I needed to travel, whatever the weather, where feasible.
I don’t know if you ever saw Clarkson make a laughing stock of early X cars by unsuccessfully trying to drive them up a slippery slope - people still remember that now and talk about how rubbish the cars are in snow.
Doesnt matter how advanced the gearbox etc is, its the tyres that are going to be the problem on an X5 on ice / adverse conditons as no car will get anywhere on the ridiculous huge 21”sleds that are over a foot wide.........narrower tyres of a softer compund transform the car though and make it into a very rock stable 4x4 which really manages slushy, slippery, icy conditions well (not just snow)
Years ago cars did not have these stupid 21” alloys and crazy wide tyres.......most were narrow biscuit types, which made for better road holding in poor conditions as well, its not so much the 4x4 transmission, even 2wd cars can manage if the tyres are right.
So for me and millions of others both here in the UK and across the world, winter tyres make a LOT of sense and transform my X5 into a very stable , go-most-places vehicle in poor weather conditions.
You pays your money and makes your (hopefully informed) choices............it is a personal choice at the end of the day. You only need to see some of the Youtube videos of the same vehicle driving in the same conditions but with winter tyres on in one clip to see what a huge difference they can make -life or death in the worst case scenario.
Just my penny worth.......
Last edited by CondorX5 on Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
X5 2005 Le Mans Blue 4.8is
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X5 2012 Alpine White 40d MSport 21" style 215 black alloys, rear entertainment, media package, comfort seats and a load of other options.
Fully loaded but Now semi-retired!
X5 2012 Alpine White 40d MSport 21" style 215 black alloys, rear entertainment, media package, comfort seats and a load of other options.
Re: Why winter tyres here
[quote="CondorX5"]
[quote="marinaman"]
Forgive my maybe daft question but in 35 yrs of motoring ive never had a car that needed winter tyres.
We have this X5 now and i know i dont need tyres for winter as the cars hardly used anyway.
But why cant the car simply have a set of year round tyres, its not like we get the snow of decades ago any more and surely the tread on normal tyres can cope with rain in winter
Just curious as i seem to read so much about this subject. just Green on certain things :xmasevil:
[/quote]
OK, I have been driving around 40 years now and am very pleased technology has evolved in those 40 something years to make my cars nicer and safer to drive........
You might not need winter tyres especially if you do very little mileage, but we certainly don’t all have the same circumstances!
For instance, I was doing massive cross country commutes sometimes several hundred miles a day, and the contracts were sometimes “mission critical” and I needed to travel, whatever the weather, where feasible.
I don’t know if you ever saw Clarkson make a laughing stock of early X cars by unsuccessfully trying to drive them up a slippery slope - people still remember that now and talk about how rubbish the cars are in snow.
Doesnt matter how advanced the gearbox etc is, its the tyres that are going to be the problem on an X5 on ice / adverse conditons as no car will get anywhere on the ridiculous huge 21”sleds that are over a foot wide.........narrower tyres of a softer compund transform the car though and make it into a very rock stable 4x4 which really manages slushy, slippery, icy conditions well (not just snow)
Years ago cars did not have these stupid 21” alloys and crazy wide tyres.......most were narrow biscuit types, which made for better road holding in poor conditions as well, its not so much the 4x4 transmission, even 2wd cars can manage if the tyres are right.
So for me and millions of others both here in the UK and across the world, winter tyres make a LOT of sense and transform my X5 into a very stable , go-most-places vehicle in poor weather conditions.
You pays your money and makes your (hopefully informed) choices............it is a personal choice at the end of the day. You only need to see some of the Youtube videos of the same vehicle driving in the same conditions but with winter tyres on in one clip to see what a huge difference they can make -life or death in the worst case scenario.
Just my penny worth.......
[/quote]
Agreed. We live out in the sticks now and the winters are grim. If we still lived in the city then we wouldn't need winter tyres, but where we are I wouldn't consider driving without them. Folk are always saying "why do you need them when your car is 4wd", but thats horsecrap. 4wd doesn't come in to it when you're trying to come to a stop.
I wouldn't bother with all climate tyres either, they are just OK in all seasons, but don't excel in 1. I just get a spare set of wheels for our cars and keep the winter tyres on them.
[quote="marinaman"]
Forgive my maybe daft question but in 35 yrs of motoring ive never had a car that needed winter tyres.
We have this X5 now and i know i dont need tyres for winter as the cars hardly used anyway.
But why cant the car simply have a set of year round tyres, its not like we get the snow of decades ago any more and surely the tread on normal tyres can cope with rain in winter
Just curious as i seem to read so much about this subject. just Green on certain things :xmasevil:
[/quote]
OK, I have been driving around 40 years now and am very pleased technology has evolved in those 40 something years to make my cars nicer and safer to drive........
You might not need winter tyres especially if you do very little mileage, but we certainly don’t all have the same circumstances!
For instance, I was doing massive cross country commutes sometimes several hundred miles a day, and the contracts were sometimes “mission critical” and I needed to travel, whatever the weather, where feasible.
I don’t know if you ever saw Clarkson make a laughing stock of early X cars by unsuccessfully trying to drive them up a slippery slope - people still remember that now and talk about how rubbish the cars are in snow.
Doesnt matter how advanced the gearbox etc is, its the tyres that are going to be the problem on an X5 on ice / adverse conditons as no car will get anywhere on the ridiculous huge 21”sleds that are over a foot wide.........narrower tyres of a softer compund transform the car though and make it into a very rock stable 4x4 which really manages slushy, slippery, icy conditions well (not just snow)
Years ago cars did not have these stupid 21” alloys and crazy wide tyres.......most were narrow biscuit types, which made for better road holding in poor conditions as well, its not so much the 4x4 transmission, even 2wd cars can manage if the tyres are right.
So for me and millions of others both here in the UK and across the world, winter tyres make a LOT of sense and transform my X5 into a very stable , go-most-places vehicle in poor weather conditions.
You pays your money and makes your (hopefully informed) choices............it is a personal choice at the end of the day. You only need to see some of the Youtube videos of the same vehicle driving in the same conditions but with winter tyres on in one clip to see what a huge difference they can make -life or death in the worst case scenario.
Just my penny worth.......
[/quote]
Agreed. We live out in the sticks now and the winters are grim. If we still lived in the city then we wouldn't need winter tyres, but where we are I wouldn't consider driving without them. Folk are always saying "why do you need them when your car is 4wd", but thats horsecrap. 4wd doesn't come in to it when you're trying to come to a stop.
I wouldn't bother with all climate tyres either, they are just OK in all seasons, but don't excel in 1. I just get a spare set of wheels for our cars and keep the winter tyres on them.
Last edited by Lyons on Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Why winter tyres here
ok, so ....... have you ever driven an X5 with'standard wheels/tyres' in snow, and then tried with a winter set. It utterly transforms the car. Even with 4 wheel drive it is pretty useless in snow on a standard set. Equally with a winter wheel/tyre set up you can go in the snow where most normal vehicles can't. A few years back my X5 with winter tyres towed an x5 that got stuck in the snow with standard tyres. Not an issue to pull it away.
Winter wheels should be smaller (17 inch) so you have a deeper profile tyre to cut through the snow. Low profile so called winter tyres aren't as good as the higher profile version.
But perhaps more importantly, leave snow aside as not everyone gets that in the Uk. The rubber compound used on winter tyres is more grippy at temperatures at 7c and below. So much so that in Sweden for example it is illegal to use summer tyres in the winter.
But we aren't in Sweden, however whether you get snow or to, every part of the uk gets temperatures below 7c in the winter. Ever skidded in the winter in a light dusting or sleet o snow or a touch of ice? Less chance of that happening with the winter tyres so although you think you needed them you never did. I drive circa 30k miles year all over the uk. I would not be without my winter wheels and tyres. They go on beginning of November and come off end of April.
Of course you don't have to use them but some of us do experience the conditions that require them
Winter wheels should be smaller (17 inch) so you have a deeper profile tyre to cut through the snow. Low profile so called winter tyres aren't as good as the higher profile version.
But perhaps more importantly, leave snow aside as not everyone gets that in the Uk. The rubber compound used on winter tyres is more grippy at temperatures at 7c and below. So much so that in Sweden for example it is illegal to use summer tyres in the winter.
But we aren't in Sweden, however whether you get snow or to, every part of the uk gets temperatures below 7c in the winter. Ever skidded in the winter in a light dusting or sleet o snow or a touch of ice? Less chance of that happening with the winter tyres so although you think you needed them you never did. I drive circa 30k miles year all over the uk. I would not be without my winter wheels and tyres. They go on beginning of November and come off end of April.
Of course you don't have to use them but some of us do experience the conditions that require them
Re: Why winter tyres here
Hi
I think even if I had winter tyres I already don’t like taking out the X5 in the snow even though 4wd and so if had winter tyres it would be better but it wouldn’t go out.
The reason for winter tyre is they work better at the lower temperatures. So if you are out in the sticks then it makes sense to have them. My mother used to live a village in Yorkshire they use to have very high levels of snow and drifts in the winter and you need the snowploughs.
I currently have 20” or 22” on there it’s not going out I’d rather take the Mrs car instead.
I have been thinking about getting a winter hack of a car to use instead that way if you have to leave it in the snow it doesn’t matter so much
Graeme
I think even if I had winter tyres I already don’t like taking out the X5 in the snow even though 4wd and so if had winter tyres it would be better but it wouldn’t go out.
The reason for winter tyre is they work better at the lower temperatures. So if you are out in the sticks then it makes sense to have them. My mother used to live a village in Yorkshire they use to have very high levels of snow and drifts in the winter and you need the snowploughs.
I currently have 20” or 22” on there it’s not going out I’d rather take the Mrs car instead.
I have been thinking about getting a winter hack of a car to use instead that way if you have to leave it in the snow it doesn’t matter so much
Graeme
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Re: Why winter tyres here
As said,
Try driving a car with and without winter tyres. My personal view is we all have a responsibility to be safe to other road users. Thats my personal view not a bun fight.
A nice man in Sterling has just sold me a set of used winter alloys and tyres. Pick them up Saturday. From experience its a night and day scenario.
We live on a road in Aberdeenshire with no name and its rarely treated. The Nissan Leaf is rubbish and the Carrera 4 dangerous on snow/ iced roads. Snow tyres is a generic term. As said here if the temperature drops below 7C you are better off with this sort of tyre. Its safer for everyone. There are lots of u tube videos on this subject.
Good luck.
Try driving a car with and without winter tyres. My personal view is we all have a responsibility to be safe to other road users. Thats my personal view not a bun fight.
A nice man in Sterling has just sold me a set of used winter alloys and tyres. Pick them up Saturday. From experience its a night and day scenario.
We live on a road in Aberdeenshire with no name and its rarely treated. The Nissan Leaf is rubbish and the Carrera 4 dangerous on snow/ iced roads. Snow tyres is a generic term. As said here if the temperature drops below 7C you are better off with this sort of tyre. Its safer for everyone. There are lots of u tube videos on this subject.
Good luck.
X5 E53 2005 4.4 Sport. Toledo Blue
Things to consider.
Radio. (something in
Detail Car.
Things to consider.
Radio. (something in
Detail Car.
Re: Why winter tyres here
I have them on the X6 and the Škoda and the transform the drive in icy conditions. Very rarely is there any drama with winter rubber compared to frequent flashing of the DSC/DTC on normal rubber.
If you are doing low mileage you could leave winter tyres on all the time as the average temps in the UK are rarely above the upper advisory limit for winter rubber.... which is around 20°C from memory but don’t quote me on that. Or of course you could do what Graeme does and stay in, or use a less important car
If you are doing low mileage you could leave winter tyres on all the time as the average temps in the UK are rarely above the upper advisory limit for winter rubber.... which is around 20°C from memory but don’t quote me on that. Or of course you could do what Graeme does and stay in, or use a less important car
Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.-
sleepyfolk
- Member
- Posts: 452
- Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:07 am
Re: Why winter tyres here
Or move to Cornwall, it’s rarely cold enough for winter tyres down here :yell:
E53 X5 4.6is Carbon Black 2003
Mercedes CLK 320
Audi A6 Quattro 2.4
Mercedes CLK 320
Audi A6 Quattro 2.4
Re: Why winter tyres here
Well, I was out in my X5 in a load of snow last weekend with standard tyres on and I had no trouble at all. I live in a rural location where the roads don't get gritted or cleared either. There is a hill not too far away on the A10 going down into Royston and cars were stuck and sliding all over the road. I just wafted past no probs.
I had winters on a Cayenne a few years ago but i don't remember feeling any difference other than a more comfortable ride. Mind you, the other set were 22" wheels with rubber bands for tyres..
I had winters on a Cayenne a few years ago but i don't remember feeling any difference other than a more comfortable ride. Mind you, the other set were 22" wheels with rubber bands for tyres..
Re: Why winter tyres here
[quote="sleepyfolk"]
Or move to Cornwall, it’s rarely cold enough for winter tyres down here :yell:
[/quote]
Not true. Less than 7c there later today.
Or move to Cornwall, it’s rarely cold enough for winter tyres down here :yell:
[/quote]
Not true. Less than 7c there later today.
-
sleepyfolk
- Member
- Posts: 452
- Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:07 am
Re: Why winter tyres here
Only at night! Not even had to scrape my windscreen yet this year, shall be off down the beach in the X tomorrow for a sunny
E53 X5 4.6is Carbon Black 2003
Mercedes CLK 320
Audi A6 Quattro 2.4
Mercedes CLK 320
Audi A6 Quattro 2.4
Re: Why winter tyres here
Dont drive at night, then you'll be fine
Re: Why winter tyres here
i always ran my x on michelin diamaris and never had a problem in the rare snow or ice that came my way. i always got through. obvously with a gentler touch on the brakes and throttle to suit the conditions. 
05 stirling grey 3.0d Auto. mods - park heater, reverse cam, aux in