winter tyres

With winter fast approaching has anybody got any recommendations for a good winter tyre for use in the UK?

Hi,

I have had Toyo H09 winter tyres fitted for about two years now, although my primary reason for fitting was to assist with traction on grass and mud.

I find they cope admirably although my van is rear wheel drive so I don't seem to have some of the issues of front wheel slip.

I use these tyres all year round and have not noticed any faster wear, I don't think that noise was an issue for me in amongst the various other van generated noise.

Since I tend to drive the van at no more than 55mph for economy and enjoyment, I have not found any reduction in braking efficiency which is regarded as one of the minus points of summer useage. They have been on the van during our annual month in France in June each year and we live to tell the tale.

I bought from Oponeo online who delivered within a few days and the date of manufacture of the tyres was only a few months prior to purchase.

Davy

Like TeamRienza I have had Toyo H09 M&S tyres fitted all year round for several years now.

My van is front wheel drive and suffered badly from wet grass/mud slip and these have helped to reduce this considerably, although when pitching on soft sites I use Monster Mats (with or without ramps as required) to minimise sinking in.

I also use the motorhome throughout the winter, often in Scotland, so have driven through a lot of snow and icy conditions and been impressed with the performance, obviously driving in a manner appropriate for the conditions.

I haven't noticed any difference in road noise but bearing in mind the general noise level inside the motorhome it would be surprising if I did.  Like Davy, I no longer drive the motorhome like white van man, which I admit I sometimes did in my younger days when using it for business.  

I also use Toyo Snowprox on the car but have these swapped each season as I drive the car faster and do higher mileage.

Mine came from mytyres.co.uk (Delticom).

Kieber from Germany next day delivery £70 each very pleased with them, cost me £10 each to get a local tyre fitter to fit them. I  use them all the year round, no slipping on wet grass etc, these were the original make of tyres that were on my VW base vehicle  in the first place,

I'd always been a winter tyre sceptic, but a recent course I went on for work changed my mind. I tried wet braking from 50mph on summer and winter tyres and the latter reduced the stopping distance by about 40%.

They are supposed to come into their own at about 7 deg C.

Peel wrote:I'd always been a winter tyre sceptic, but a recent course I went on for work changed my mind. I tried wet braking from 50mph on summer and winter tyres and the latter reduced the stopping distance by about 40%.

They are supposed to come into their own at about 7 deg C.

That's right.  

Summer tyres (i.e. every day standard tyres as sold in the UK) become increasingly rigid below 7 deg C so that at low temperatures they behave like hard plastic rather than flexible rubber, hence the loss of grip. 

M&S or winter tyres use a compound containing more natural rubber, which remains flexible even at sub-zero temperatures.  They also have different tread pattern, with a greater number of small, flexible slits, or sipes, which help maintain grip, as well as larger gaps in the main tread pattern that become packed with snow, which actually assists grip since snow sticks to snow!  

There is an argument that this softer compound may wear more quickly when used in summer months, but in common with many motor-homers I was previously replacing tyres based on age rather than worn out tread so this is less of an issue.

cheers
Roger

Peel wrote:I'd always been a winter tyre sceptic, but a recent course I went on for work changed my mind. I tried wet braking from 50mph on summer and winter tyres and the latter reduced the stopping distance by about 40%.

They are supposed to come into their own at about 7 deg C.

Same here, until my employer decided to fit winter tyres to all of our cars a couple of years ago. I am now a convert after seeing the difference they make to both grip and braking in colder conditions.

They do wear a lot quicker, but ours are subjected to higher mileage and harder driving than than I would expect from us motorhomers, pootling around in our pride and joy.

Once I'm back up and running with a van, I'll certainly consider them once the finances have settled.