Author Topic: Winter is almost here  (Read 3853 times)

sportse

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #15 on: November 28, 2021, 10:25:30 AM »
For those of us living in the south of England I don't see the point of winter tyres given there are so few days where the weather causes a problem, often none or maybe 4 or 5 at worst and for those days either stay at home or use public transport (if it's running).

We now have a Seat Mii electric as our second car and that has four levels of regen rather than the two on the Jazz which gives you lots more options so I'll probably use that if the weather's severe and I have to go out.

I also live in the South East and have a lot of early morning drives - I only used my crossclimates once on mud, but the great benefit is that they have the same clear road grip in freezing temperatures as a normal tyre in the summer.

Standard tyres on the Jazz/Mii/etc are not too bad.

You get much greater benefit when the winter/all season tyres are replacing sporty/low profile/wide tyres. On those, they are awful in the winter, particularly if combined with rear wheel drive.

My first crossclimate set was put on a rear drive Lexus, before fitting the rear end would twitch on slow roundabouts in the winter. The ecoearth Jazz tyres were fine in similar conditions.

culzean

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #16 on: November 28, 2021, 12:01:28 PM »
For those of us living in the south of England I don't see the point of winter tyres given there are so few days where the weather causes a problem, often none or maybe 4 or 5 at worst and for those days either stay at home or use public transport (if it's running).

We now have a Seat Mii electric as our second car and that has four levels of regen rather than the two on the Jazz which gives you lots more options so I'll probably use that if the weather's severe and I have to go out.

I also live in the South East and have a lot of early morning drives - I only used my crossclimates once on mud, but the great benefit is that they have the same clear road grip in freezing temperatures as a normal tyre in the summer.

Standard tyres on the Jazz/Mii/etc are not too bad.

You get much greater benefit when the winter/all season tyres are replacing sporty/low profile/wide tyres. On those, they are awful in the winter, particularly if combined with rear wheel drive.

My first crossclimate set was put on a rear drive Lexus, before fitting the rear end would twitch on slow roundabouts in the winter. The ecoearth Jazz tyres were fine in similar conditions.

Cold weather tyres are a must on rear wheel drive cars,  and as you say low profile summer tyres on a rear wheel drive car mean it becomes a roadside ornament in even a light dusting of snow...
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Expatman

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #17 on: November 28, 2021, 01:11:00 PM »
Winter & All Season tyres are not just for snow, the grip and stopping distance of summer tyres deteriorates rapidly at temperatures below 7°C. Winter and All Season tyres are made from a compound that retains grip at low temperatures.
Summer ECO tyres are even more susceptible to losing grip at low temperatures.

madasafish

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #18 on: November 28, 2021, 02:15:01 PM »
I have had Michelin Cross Climates for three and a bit years. We have snow on the ground. It makes light work of it - and slush - the car is far more sure footed. Summer tyres don't do well in snow, WIDE tyres do even worse.

I expect to see 40k miles from the current set. They are also great in mud and slippery grass - I travel over country roads when beekeeping and on single track roads, owners of new 4x4s don't go offroad (they have summer tyres so useless),

Only trouble is in really bad conditions roads block due to drivers on summer tyres incapable of coping and blocking roads.  (A Range Rover halfway up a tree last winter 0.5miles up our road)

Lord Voltermore

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #19 on: November 28, 2021, 02:22:14 PM »
I urge anyone needing new tyres to fit a good brand of winter legal all season tyres  (Unless they live somewhere swopping  between winter and summer tyres s makes mores sense.)
   They are nothing like the all season tyres of yesteryear.     They are now highly developed, because the law in Germany (and possibly elswhere) requires  tyres to be suitable for the current road conditions  - even if it snows in July  .I have driven in snow in July and August. . They are suitable for snow, or driving at 200kph+  in the summer. 

They are a slight compromise.  Not quite as good as the very best summer tyres in summer, or the best  full winter tyres in snow.  Winter and all seasons tyres are a compromise anyway.  A tread thats good in snow is less suitable on dry roads.  Some favour one over the other.   
This assumes you actually have the best summer or winter tyres.  My Goodyear vector 4 season tyres performed better in summer than the Pirelli cinturato summer tyres they replaced.  And MUCH better in winter.

I can understand the difficulty for  those who can chose to avoid the worst weather. Good quality summer tyres do not perform as well in cold weather,  but probably still better than some  budget quality tyres will have done all summer.

My cunning plan is to buy an extra set of wheels  with all season tyres     A big initial outlay  , but by sharing tyre wear between two sets of tyres I probably wont need to buy any more tyres during my ownership. All seasons rather than winter as its not always easy to know the optimum time for swopping.    And if necessary I can sell the spare set of wheels and recoup some of the costs.
I probably wont do it this winter as I still have my Yaris on all season tyres. 
  Trust a dog to guard your house  , but not your sandwich

culzean

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #20 on: November 28, 2021, 02:39:06 PM »
Summer tyres don't do well in snow, WIDE SUMMER tyres do even worse.

There, fixed it for you....
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Expatman

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #21 on: November 28, 2021, 03:44:06 PM »
One problem is if you drive a Crosstar your choice of All Season tyres is limited to.........ONE!  Falken AS210. Reasonable reviews and a lot, lot better than any summer tyre just not up to Goodyear Vector All Seasons etc.

R2D3

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #22 on: November 28, 2021, 05:10:24 PM »
One problem is if you drive a Crosstar your choice of All Season tyres is limited to.........ONE!  Falken AS210. Reasonable reviews and a lot, lot better than any summer tyre just not up to Goodyear Vector All Seasons etc.

Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 also available.

Jazzik

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #23 on: November 28, 2021, 05:41:25 PM »
One of the reasons for NOT choosing the Crosstar was (besides all the Tupperware, the missing blind spot information and cross traffic monitor) the very odd  :o tire size.
If nothing goes right, go left!

Expatman

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #24 on: November 28, 2021, 10:40:55 PM »
One problem is if you drive a Crosstar your choice of All Season tyres is limited to.........ONE!  Falken AS210. Reasonable reviews and a lot, lot better than any summer tyre just not up to Goodyear Vector All Seasons etc.

Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 also available.
True - new entrant - but reviews are mixed at best. You could, of course, be brave and go for 195/55 R16 tyres, plenty of choice then including Michelin and Goodyear, very little difference in circumference so no problems with speedo. Only problem is it might upset Honda in the event of a warranty claim!
« Last Edit: November 28, 2021, 10:44:04 PM by Expatman »

Hicardo

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #25 on: December 01, 2021, 09:20:52 PM »
it would be very useful to know whether honda would agree to the fitment of the 195 all season tyres, and have that published.  then crosstar owners would not be so inconvenienced with almost zero tyre choice. 

I'll drop them a line and see what they say  ::)

Expatman

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #26 on: December 02, 2021, 09:59:30 AM »
Best of luck with that! The safety rating and MPG and emissions will all have been assessed on 185 tyres so Honda can't authorise 195 without reassessing emissions.

peteo48

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #27 on: December 02, 2021, 10:38:52 AM »
I've got a better solution........ I leave mine in the garage  ;D

One benefit of retirement and having a local supermarket and B&Q

Agreed. I am retired as well and not having to go out in bad conditions is a blessing. Where we live we could manage without a car reasonably well.

Just walked round to the corner shop to get my paper. Crossing the road I tested the surface with my foot. Black ice, my worst nightmare.

Not keen on driving in the dark either.

richardfrost

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #28 on: December 02, 2021, 10:58:28 AM »
Why do you need permission from Honda to fit different tyres?

R2D3

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Re: Winter is almost here
« Reply #29 on: December 02, 2021, 11:00:02 AM »
If I were to invest in a set of winter tyres for my new Crosstar, is there any downside to just buying the tyres and getting my local tyre fitter to swap the tyres over twice a year or am I far better getting a full set of alloys too and simply swapping the wheels over myself?  Anyone know what a set of Crosstar alloys costs?

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