Winter Tyres Review
Winters are getting worse, or so it seems. Last winter was particularly nasty, with ungritted roads, ice, snow, sleet, slush… whatever could get in the way of motoring somehow managed to do just that.
I’m used to bad weather, having live in the Yorkshire Dales all of my life, and so with the memory of last years cold snap very fresh in my mind, I wondered what motorists can do to stay safe and stay on the road when that cold snap inevitably hits.
Tyre manufacturers offer a range of tyres specifically designed for the winter. That doesn’t just mean they work well in snow, but that they work well in all weather conditions, even the dry! So long as the temperature is below 7c, winter tyres are said to perform better than summer tyres. The benefits are so obvious that some EU countries have made winter tyres a legal requirement during the colder months.
But are they really worth the expense? Well this winter I aim to find out, with a little help from Continental UK, who have provided me with a set of WinterContact TS800s for my Citroen Saxo VTR (185/55 R14).
The staff at Kwik-Fit on North Road, Darlington fit me in without an appointment to have the tyres fitted and the wheels aligned. They offer a good range of Continental tyres, including winter ones.
Since having the tyres fitted I’ve only covered a few miles, but in the wet they offer a crisper, more precise turn in than the tyres which were removed, but they were quite worn, and new tyres always feel good, so it doesn’t say that much about them. However, over the winter I’ll update this blog with the performance of the tyres in a variety of weather conditions and temperatures, as well as photographs so stay tuned for updates!
The first image is courtesy of Jon Large (Flickr) and the images of the tyres are courtesy of Continental.
John Slavin is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to the Make and Model Blog. Make and Model are an online classifieds website advertising a range of used cars including Audis, Fords and Alfa Romeos.
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We fitted a set of four Continental WinterContact TS830 to our Mazda 6.
They were on offer at Kwik-Fit, so that’s where we went. We had them fitted to the same alloys and simply got the summer tyres back.
Our summer tyres were not even half worn, but would feel really skittish at below 0C.
I previously owned a Mazda RX-8 which suffered enormously at low temperatures: rear wheel drive combined with a limited slip differential, and summer high performance tyres meant sudden loss of traction even in a straight line, only really controlled by the stability program.
Driving with winter tyres on, especially when icy or wet and cold, transformes the handling. The handling is simply better and safer: grip is outstanding.
I am a winter tyre convert: if anyone has a doubt, it’s because they just haven’t had the opportunity to try a set. If they had, they would change their mind.
What amazes me is that here in Britain, most drivers will complain of sudden loss of control, skids and congestion on snowy roads but won’t spend money on the only four patches of rubber keeping them on the road.
Thanks Filippo.
Its nice to hear your thoughts about winter tyres.
Your last point seems true; I’d imagine the increased snowy conditions have caused more drivers to convert to winter tyres and that hopefully more people will start to see the benefits they provide.
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