When I lived in Germany we all had winter tyres and talking to my friend just now over there ,they still use and are strongly advised.
Perhaps in the Uk this should be now considered.
Out of interest i just called a local tyre place and they had never heard of !!!!
says it all
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I?ve got a Polish mate in London who?s trying to get winter tyres for his Passat for his Christmas trip to Poland. Can?t get them anywhere for love nor money.
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A couple of sources:
etyres.co.uk sell vredestein snowtrac and snowtrac 2, they will be getting their stock in on the 5th of December, blackcircles.co.uk are also very helpful and can order winter tyres for you to be fitted locally.
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And another one:
www.mytyres.co.uk/
I have not used them in the UK, but have had dealings with their affiliate here in Germany who have been very efficient.
A quick search brought up a variety of brands available.
Remember, winter tyres aren´t just for snow.
Secondhand steel wheels available on www.ebay.de - most sellers advertise postage, and on request will quote shipping to the UK.
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Here we go again.,
2mm of snow and every one is saying "oh we need winter tyres"
The reason stockists dont stock winter tyres is because being in the most temperate climate in Northern europe we dont need them!
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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And when we do need them most other drivers will manage to be stuck in front of you so you cannot move anyway....
madf
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"we dont need them!"
You need all the help you can get bus wrecker!
According to Teabelly?s "snow my goodness" thread people were stuck in car parks. If only they had winter tyres...
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"we dont need them!" You need all the help you can get bus wrecker! According to Teabelly?s "snow my goodness" thread people were stuck in car parks. If only they had winter tyres...
If RF had been stuck in the car park, he wouldn't be on the loose to wreck any buses ;)
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Hey!
A new Handle, Thanks kids.
Re snow. So you got snow. now let me see. that will be day one out of about 4 this year. YOu wil have another three days of this sometime in the next 4 months. Well worth splashing out apn another set of tyres. NOT
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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It may only be one day of the year, but it?s one day that you will be sitting in a field drinking tea from a flask with your tartan blanket wrapped round you while you have a rest from shovelling snow while I?m at home with my feet up and a beer watching Countdown.
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You watch countdown? Oh Davey! a Million babes are tearing up their signed photos of you.......
Seriously In Poland (you get countdpown there?) and all points east winter tyres are good. Required. All points in the balmy west (say west of Germany or maybe the panzer route through the Ardennes) winter tyres = waste of money.
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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All points in the balmy west (say west of Germany or maybe the panzer route through the Ardennes) winter tyres = waste of money.
You've obviously not spent a winter in central France. First snow usually falls in mid November. Most of the locals have two sets of tyres and usually laugh at the low profile sporty things on my Renault.
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Thats the point, I dont live in the Massife Central, or the ardennes, or the alps. I live in in the uk. Nice warm temperate 5 days snow a year if you are lucky uk.
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RF - Da DAA. < changes in phone box > Its TOURVAN man
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Thats the point, I dont live in the Massife Central, or the ardennes, or the alps. I live in in the uk. Nice warm temperate 5 days snow a year if you are lucky uk.
Depends whereabouts you are in the UK. Big difference between the soft south and The Pennines ... and the Scottish highlands are another story again.
Sometimes I think that some folks talk of the UK when they really mean the Home Counties :)
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Yes we have Countski Down but there are no vowels and the conundrum is 45 letters long.
Have it your way RF. But don?t leave home without the blanket and the shovel. Take a flask and wrap up warm. I get my winter tyres on Friday. 46 quid each but they should last for years - the trick is to keep buying a car with the same shape tyres.
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Here we go again., 2mm of snow and every one is saying "oh we need winter tyres"
You obviously live somewhere where you dont get affected by snow. Some people live in parts of the country where the weather gets a bit more interesting in winter!
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I'm sure this has been discussed before, but winter tyres are not just for snow. Below 5°C, conventional tyres get 'hard', and don't offer much grip. Winter tyres stay 'soft' to much lower temperatures, and offer much better grip on cold roads. I have driven both on a cold (1-3°C) test track in Germany, and you certainly stop quicker with winter tyres on.
That said, have I got any? No. Would I like to get some? Looking at how the weather is shaping up - yes.
Joe
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Going by my experience on Friday, when my normal 1 hour journey home took 3 (Central Scotland - we too had about 4" of snow in as many hours), modern low profile high performance tyres are next to useless in snow - stick them on the back of BMW and they ARE useless. A road on a slight incline which I drove up no problems in my Xantia TD with 'ordinary' tyres, (185 65 15), was impassable to a guy in a 205 GTi - we pushed it for about 40 yards then gave up and he turned round. The BMW on the next hill just wanted to go sideways.... I had no problems, even when I got on a single track back road with 3" of snow on it. Oddly, I DO have a pair of winter tyres in my garage, but they're on steel rims, and I only have alloy wheel bolts - must get around to getting some different bolts so I can fit them. As pointed out above though, if everybody else is stopped then you are going nowhere anyway (hence me ending up on the single track road...). Thick coat, spade, wellies, torch, blanket and tow rope will now be a permanent winter fixture in my boot I think!
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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If you want Michelins, Costco will order them in for you 4-5 days(of course you need to be a member) but their prices are normally V.good
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RF, you (rightly) got the late ´Guna in part because of its excellent safety record (5* star NCAP etc). Obviously design and performance played a big part in the decision, but its safety features must have too. And those safety features paid off bigstyle in the recent bus incident.
Try to think of winter tyres in the same way. They are not just about getting FWD cars off Bodmin Moor in the snow. They reduce your braking distances in cold conditions. They mean you are less like to be caught out by a greasy corner in cold conditions. In short, they´re a safety feature. Just like ABS, seatbelts and airbags.
The combined contact area for all 4 tyres is about equivalent to an A4 sheet of paper, and I want that area to be as grippy and safe as possible. Particularly when they omit to grit the roads and it snows, like last week.
I wouldn´t take Mrs B out in the winter in a non winter-booted car. I certainly wouldn´t let her drive one (Mrs B drives v.fast).
Rant over! Back to ´work´ (learning Don Giovanni)
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costco - 195/65-15 alpine @ 54.50 all in.
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