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First Drive On Winter Tyres On Snow


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Had Dunlop Winter Sport tyres fitted last week. Yesterday it snowed. Last year my LS was useless in the snow. Yesterday was amazing. One half of my brain was screaming "No No No! slow down its snowing, we are going to crash" the other half of my brain was saying "it cannot be snowing because the car is driving as normal".

The car drove, steered, braked and accelerated as if I was driving on a dry road. Amazing. Just amazing.

£118 each fiited from Camskills on 01946 694794 or 794694 (cannot remember which way round)

EDIT; that camskils in Whitehaven Cumbria.

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I cant say that I noticed much difference but we didnt have much here just a smattering which hasnt lasted long. However I still had trepidation and drown slowly because I dont trust the car atall!!

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£118 each fiited from Camskills on 01946 694794 or 794694 (cannot remember which way round)

EDIT; that camskils in Whitehaven Cumbria.

What size tyres are you running? Seems very inexpensive.

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Had Dunlop Winter Sport tyres fitted last week. Yesterday it snowed. Last year my LS was useless in the snow. Yesterday was amazing. One half of my brain was screaming "No No No! slow down its snowing, we are going to crash" the other half of my brain was saying "it cannot be snowing because the car is driving as normal".

The car drove, steered, braked and accelerated as if I was driving on a dry road. Amazing. Just amazing.

£118 each fiited from Camskills on 01946 694794 or 794694 (cannot remember which way round)

EDIT; that camskils in Whitehaven Cumbria.

Don't be lulled into a false sense of security. You might have the best tyres in the world, but it's all the other idiots you have to watch out for. OK, you've reduced your risk of skidding, but as an LS400 driver my guess is that you'd be driving sensibly anyway. As I indicated in an earlier post - consider the well-worn, cheap tyres on the average hatchback or MPV, driven by the average inexperienced woman driver on the school run, perhaps the for first time on snow. The only thing to protect you from that is to leave the car at home.

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Had Dunlop Winter Sport tyres fitted last week. Yesterday it snowed. Last year my LS was useless in the snow. Yesterday was amazing. One half of my brain was screaming "No No No! slow down its snowing, we are going to crash" the other half of my brain was saying "it cannot be snowing because the car is driving as normal".

The car drove, steered, braked and accelerated as if I was driving on a dry road. Amazing. Just amazing.

£118 each fiited from Camskills on 01946 694794 or 794694 (cannot remember which way round)

EDIT; that camskils in Whitehaven Cumbria.

Had the same experience myself last year. After paying £160 a tyre for Nokian WR G2 winter tyres I spent a lot of time wondering if I had wasted my money. Then the snow came and I realised they were worth every penny.

I even treated the wife to a set for Christmas. (Cost a fortune in wrapping paper!)

John N

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£118 each fiited from Camskills on 01946 694794 or 794694 (cannot remember which way round)

EDIT; that camskils in Whitehaven Cumbria.

What size tyres are you running? Seems very inexpensive.

The size is 215 65 16. i know that these are not the size specified but they are the same diameter as the original 225 60 16.

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I think as clerdick has already said winter tyres will help you, they will help you or allow you to pull away and they will improve stopping on ice, snow, or even a dry road at temperatures below 7 degrees. But you must not drive as you normally do, you need to slow down and drive to other people's limits not your own. They will not stop you quicker than summer tyres in August. So think of the pedestrian stepping of the pavement or walking in the road, the front wheel drive car that starts slipping on a steep hill or the BMW ( and other ) rear wheel drive cars that aren't going anywhere or if they do it'a all over the road and no stopping at the junctions.

If you think like this then hopefully you will drive accordingly and have a safe winter and keep your car in on piece.

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IBut you must not drive as you normally do, you need to slow down and drive to other people's limits not your own.

This is the type of great advice that should be adhered to regardless. Driving to the conditions and surroundings. I've lost count of the number of winter 4x4 converts that I hear saying that their car was crap in the snow and still skidded, etc. Granted the 20"x10" (or whatever they are) wheels on an X5 won't do any favours, but people who automatically think that because they're moving they can drive like as they would in normal spring/summer weather are never going to appreciate the the ability and limitations of what they're driving.

I might slightly argue about the bit of not stopping as quickly as a summer tyre in august though. It all depends on what you're taking off the car really. I had a set of Pirelli Scorpion STR's on my RX previously and I changed to my new Vredestein Wintrac's in around end of October to beginning of November. The weather was still very mild up here but braking and cornering was leagues ahead of the old tyres which were all worn to almost 2mm so were considerably past their best (which I must say were very very good in all weathers) by that point. Firm braking in the wet would trigger the ABS really easily, to the point I thought my pads were almost done as well, yet with the change to a new tyre braking is consistent, more positive and the ABS hasn't been felt since.

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I think as clerdick has already said winter tyres will help you, they will help you or allow you to pull away and they will improve stopping on ice, snow, or even a dry road at temperatures below 7 degrees. But you must not drive as you normally do, you need to slow down and drive to other people's limits not your own. They will not stop you quicker than summer tyres in August. So think of the pedestrian stepping of the pavement or walking in the road, the front wheel drive car that starts slipping on a steep hill or the BMW ( and other ) rear wheel drive cars that aren't going anywhere or if they do it'a all over the road and no stopping at the junctions.

If you think like this then hopefully you will drive accordingly and have a safe winter and keep your car in on piece.

You may mean well Steve. Im sure you do but I do find your tone a bit patronising to say the least. Im not a bloody idiot. I have no intention of driving on snow in the same manner that i might on a dry road in August.

The intention of my post to to give anyone else concidering a change to winter tyres an idea of how good they are.

PS; please dont stamp on kittens, push broken glass into your ear or jump off high building as someone might just get hurt.

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You may mean well Steve. Im sure you do but I do find your tone a bit patronising to say the least. Im not a bloody idiot. I have no intention of driving on snow in the same manner that i might on a dry road in August.

My comments are based on what you said in you first post. read it again yourself and see if you can see why I said what I did.

But it's also a general observation for others who may not be so experienced on driving in snow, that even with winter tyres the driver may be OK but the driver needs to be aware of other road users.

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My LS hibernates in the garage for the winter at the 1st sign of snow.I got caught out once a few years ago as it snowed while out,couldn't even get it up a slight incline on the estate,so abandoned until I walked home and returned with a spade.

My front wheel drive Citroen Belingo gets me about in the snow,I've even bought it some snow socks this year.

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Got winter tyres on my car (IS200) and its still absolutely useless - I am gutted, having spent over £600 on proper winter tyres (I ordered in August so got a good price before the prices started going up as it got colder!!)

My side road is on a slight incline to the main road- couldnt get up the road this morning slipping all over the place (it was however pure sheet ice - no chance of any grip as it had just rained on already present ice) volvo and VW passed me with apparent ease as did a mini, only one car had to slide back and I couldnt see what that was!!.

I am selling the Lexus and before anyone comments, I am a female advanced driver and my other vehicle is a 7 and a half ton Ford Iveco!

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Might be worth trying with a bit of weight in the boot/over the rear wheels to try and give you a bit better chance of traction. Something like a couple of paving slabs. The crs you mentioned passing you are, most likely, fwd & front engined. Just about every rwd saloon is relatively light over the driven wheels so they will literally be gliding on the surface and struggling for purchase.

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Hi SAD - it's a curving rubble back lane incline to our house and prior to the winter tyres I simply had to leave the LS parked in the main road - which was a risk in itself as there were plenty of opportunities for cars to slide into it. Since fittingt the winter tyres I can negotiate the drive 90% of the time when there is ice and snow. The 10% when I can't are when it's turned to ice on the top or very hard packed snow. I guess only spikes would deal with that.

Mike

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Got winter tyres on my car (IS200) and its still absolutely useless - I am gutted, having spent over £600 on proper winter tyres (I ordered in August so got a good price before the prices started going up as it got colder!!)

My side road is on a slight incline to the main road- couldnt get up the road this morning slipping all over the place (it was however pure sheet ice - no chance of any grip as it had just rained on already present ice) volvo and VW passed me with apparent ease as did a mini, only one car had to slide back and I couldnt see what that was!!.

I am selling the Lexus and before anyone comments, I am a female advanced driver and my other vehicle is a 7 and a half ton Ford Iveco!

This sounds a little suspect, I hope you don't mind me asking. Are the tyres winter tyres, do they have the sipes across the tread and show the snow flake symbol? Also are the tyres fitted the correct way around?

Winter tyres should enable you to drive on almost anything in winter.

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Might be worth trying with a bit of weight in the boot/over the rear wheels to try and give you a bit better chance of traction. Something like a couple of paving slabs. The crs you mentioned passing you are, most likely, fwd & front engined. Just about every rwd saloon is relatively light over the driven wheels so they will literally be gliding on the surface and struggling for purchase.

Now have two bags of builders sand in the boot!! - dont know what that will do to my MPG!! anyway will try anything - Thanks for the tip - I was told to put weight in the boot by the tyre people too!!

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Got winter tyres on my car (IS200) and its still absolutely useless - I am gutted, having spent over £600 on proper winter tyres (I ordered in August so got a good price before the prices started going up as it got colder!!)

My side road is on a slight incline to the main road- couldnt get up the road this morning slipping all over the place (it was however pure sheet ice - no chance of any grip as it had just rained on already present ice) volvo and VW passed me with apparent ease as did a mini, only one car had to slide back and I couldnt see what that was!!.

I am selling the Lexus and before anyone comments, I am a female advanced driver and my other vehicle is a 7 and a half ton Ford Iveco!

This sounds a little suspect, I hope you don't mind me asking. Are the tyres winter tyres, do they have the sipes across the tread and show the snow flake symbol? Also are the tyres fitted the correct way around?

Winter tyres should enable you to drive on almost anything in winter.

Knitware - thanks for the post I dont mind your questions atall

On the way to my "Phd in tyres", I have been out to check the tyres and they all have the snow flake symbol (so they have passed the nationally agreed standard for Winter Tyres) and having researched "sipes" have checked them all (and against my neighbours tyres)and they are across the tread.

I am not sure how I check whether the tyres have been fitted the correct way round?? but they were put on my National Tyres so I blinkin hope they are :angry:

I now have two bags of building sand in the boot!!

Currently researcing which fwd I will swap the Lexus for!!

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There are actually quite much variation with winter tyres.

You have studded tyres that are the best for winter, then Nordic type winter tyre and European type. So if you have winter tyre and you think that driving in ice will not cause any issues, well it depends the type of tyre you are using.

I live in Northern Finland, close to Lapland and the minimum tyre type I can use is Nordic type tyre, using European type would be way too dangerous, studded tyre would be the best choice for me, specially with rwd car.

The European type winter tyre is closer to summer tyre, so it has harder compound, usually faster speed rating and it is better in wet conditions and dry tarmac, but not so good in snow and specially not good in ice. Nordic one is quite good in winter conditions, specially in snow and not too bad in ice, but in wet tarmac the grip is worse than with European type winter tyre. So you cannot get everything in one tyre, they are always a compromise.

So if you have to get up to the hill when the road is covered with ice, using rwd car and European type winter tyres might not be enough, because you just don't have enough grip. How ever, if the hill would be covered with snow, then you would have a change compared to using summer tyres.

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2 bags of builders sand is less weight than filling your car tank with fuel ?????????

They are big bags and I didnt put them in the boot because I couldn't lift them - I actually saw the suspension lower!!

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There are actually quite much variation with winter tyres.

You have studded tyres that are the best for winter, then Nordic type winter tyre and European type. So if you have winter tyre and you think that driving in ice will not cause any issues, well it depends the type of tyre you are using.

I live in Northern Finland, close to Lapland and the minimum tyre type I can use is Nordic type tyre, using European type would be way too dangerous, studded tyre would be the best choice for me, specially with rwd car.

The European type winter tyre is closer to summer tyre, so it has harder compound, usually faster speed rating and it is better in wet conditions and dry tarmac, but not so good in snow and specially not good in ice. Nordic one is quite good in winter conditions, specially in snow and not too bad in ice, but in wet tarmac the grip is worse than with European type winter tyre. So you cannot get everything in one tyre, they are always a compromise.

So if you have to get up to the hill when the road is covered with ice, using rwd car and European type winter tyres might not be enough, because you just don't have enough grip. How ever, if the hill would be covered with snow, then you would have a change compared to using summer tyres.

itarumaa - thats very interesting information - I think I had the wrong weather for my european winter tyres, too much ice = the road really was like glass - I wonder if they will be better on snow?? Will have to wait and see. Thank you for the post it makes a lot of sense

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2 bags of builders sand is less weight than filling your car tank with fuel

Shirley, you need two builders in there as well :)

Steve - That was really funny and made me laugh out loud - I am pretty stressed with the Lexus and that cheered me up!!

Anyone know where can I buy a "couple of builders" ??!!

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Currently researcing which fwd I will swap the Lexus for!!

If you're going the whole hog of swapping the Lexus, why not go for something 4WD like a Subaru Legacy?

Otherwise. Cheap as chips Yaris for a winter car! Other half has one on pretty budget (ie. carcraft fitted when car was bought) tyres and it didn't get stuck once last winter.

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SAD, I forgot to say, you need to run the tyres in too, don't be too hasty to swap cars too soon! When my tyres were new they were quite slippy and I thought Noooo! It took around 400-500 miles and the sipes began to lift, very slightly, but the tyres became super sticky. I opened a thread on here recently with a pic of my car in 4" of snow. My car drove as normal.

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