Clubjazz - Honda Jazz & HR-V Forums
Honda Jazz Forums => Honda Jazz Mk2 2008-2015 => Topic started by: Defender on October 06, 2016, 04:55:43 PM
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Yes, sorry but I'm start a tyre topic, so flame away!
As autumn is well and truley with us, I know this as my thumbs go cold riding into work the other morning, I started to think about when to swap the wheels over to the winter set?
I do more miles on the winters than the summers, I commute by motorcyle as much as I can for various reasons, my winter tyres will last at least another winter or two.
However, I will need two new summer tyres soon, so do I buy all season tyres and accept the compromise over dedicated summer and winter tyres, but not have to worry about when to change them?::)
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I tend to think that any decision like this depends on circumstances. I don't go for winter tyres for the following reasons;
1) Although I live in the North, the area I live rarely gets extreme weather.
2) I'm retired so getting to work is not an issue. On top of that my annual mileage is 3,000 max.
3) I can use other forms of transport if I don't fancy the drive and our kids both live relatively close to us.
For these reasons I consider winter tyres to be a waste of money. However, prior to moving back to our present location (Warrington) we were living in Glossop. The weather much harsher there, lots of hills even on our housing estate and our kids were over 35 miles away. I was seriously considering getting winter tyres although all weather tyres (Michelin Cross Climates?) might have been the ideal compromise as our annual mileage was still only 5,000 or so.
I think if I was commuting and lived in an area with a harsh climate, I'd go for winter tyres. It all depends on the individual circs.
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I'm in agreement with Pete048.
With a front wheel drive car, not doing excessive mileage and not living in a remote area I don't see the need.
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A few weeks ago i've bought a good used set steel wheels with winter tyres (Michelin Alpin) from the Honda dealer. Before that i was like you thinking about winter tyres- or all seasons. But with 2 new (April) Michelin ES front tyres i decided to go for the winter wheels. Although last winter was no winter ;) i have seen lots of snow here in the south east of the Netherlands, which is also the only part of NL with hills, haha. We drive about 10.000 km a year.
Nice thing about changing wheels is that i can give the summer alloys a good clean when off. ;)
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Thanks for the veiws so far, I will be sticking with changing over to winter tyres sometime next month, but when I refit the summer set next year I will be reviewing the tyres again, even if the tyres do need changing I wont do that until next year when they're due to go back on the car, 4 months just sitting on the rims doesn't seem very wise.
I use the change over to check the condition of the wheels, tyres, suspension and brakes, so from that point of view it's no bad thing to be doing?
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Winter tyres are better in snow and also mud than summer tyres, also stickier on cold road surface. Use steel wheels in winter as well, when wheel rim is more likely to get up close and personal with the kerb. My wifes Jazz and My Civic both have WR D3 Nokian tyres on steels for winter - mainly because the steep and twisty road out of our housing estate - which never gets gritted at all. They are a very quiet tyre and give you great confidence on snow and heavily frosted roads.
Like others I use the wheel changeover to check general state of brake pads etc. and spray a bit of underseal or anti-fling chain lube onto bits that look like they need it (chain lube dries really sticky and clings to surfaces).
I have no doubt that all-season tyres are OK in UK conditions, but your alloys take a beating in winter.
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The original Dunlop SP2030 on our 2009 Jazz worked just fine in the bad 2009 and 10 winters but they were worn out by aroudn 16000 miles, so I guess that's a sign they are very soft.
Replaced them with winter Michelin Alpin tyres and ran them year round. They worked fine in summer but I think we had one day of snow in the years after they were fitted. The Alpins were on track to last about 2x the mileage of the SP2030's.
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Living in the South West of the country snow is but an occasional thing. Having said that in 1969, my Father in Law who was born on the prairie land of Alberta in Canada had not seen snow like it since leaving Canada. Whilst this seems like digression it just shows how unpredictable our weather is. I think it was three years ago,certainly pre Jazz, our Rover with it's V6 lump was fitted with an auto box. I am sure it had four modes. Auto/manual/sport and SNOW. This stopped 1st from being engaged and changed into a higher gear at lower revs. I watched cars and light vans making a fist of about 2 inches of snow on a slight slope. Thinking I would be in trouble, I just engaged the snow mode and the old girl just sailed up the slope.
So the question of winter tyres must surely be a personal thing with locality being a factor. I have not driven the Jazz in snow cos we ain't had none YET. But I will just use the manual side of the Ishift and not use 1st gear with a feather touch. So with all the gee gaws manufacturers are fitting to cars, could something like the snow mode be considered or is it like everything else, big business wants it's share so the tyre companies stop the car manufacturers. Clearly if you life in the North or Scotland snow tyres would be an asset.
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With just the tyres touching the surface there is only so much you can do with using a higher gear and limiting the revs, there is no magic bullet that can magically give the tyres extra grip (although there is an aerosol spray for tyres that will give them extra grip for a limited time) - just good practice can make the most of any existing grip. Those smug people in 4WD fitted with summer tyres do not realise their snow performance is no better than a FWD car with summers (the extra weight of a 4WD certainly doesn't help). A FWD fitted with winters will get most places a 4WD will (ground clearance permitting). This was bought home to me by my neighbour in her RAV4, who has just a little more slope on her drive than I do, there is no way she could get up her drive (and bimbo was too lazy to clear any snow), but I could get off our drive in Jazz with summers (which to be fair with the narrower 15" tyres ain't too bad on snow). And don't forget you also have to be able to brake on snow - and winter tyres will stop your car a lot quicker than summers (braking is another area 4WD will be worse due to extra weight).
I always hope for a bit of snow, its when people in normal cars can get their own back on RWD BMW cars - they can't even get moving let alone tailgate you and overtake in dangerous places :-X
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video (http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video)
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One of the biggest problems when driving in snow, as Culzean says, is the amount of tyre in contact with the surface. This limiting factor is compounded by the people that clearly do not have a clue. You see them time after time whether it's 4WD, rear wheel drive or even front wheel drive, sitting on a patch of snow, revving their engines with wheels spinning like the clappers, polishing what starts as snow and quickly turns to a nice patch of compacted snow/ ice. Not only do they get nowhere fast but make it dangerous for those that try and drive properly.
There are times of course when there is no way that a vehicle can move nor even pedestrians when snow has melted and then turned to ice. Or rain has frozen. You see plenty of examples on the TV in the 'comedy' clips.
I am mindful of an accident and a colleague attending , despite his training went out with the Land Rover and stopped on a hill which was sheet ice. The Landrover did have a very efficient handbrake but this did not stop the vehicle sliding down the hill he had stopped on. Hadn't even turned the front wheels into the gutter. BUT at the end of the day, given such severe conditions even winter tyres won't cope.
Once again it comes back to the amount of tread on a tyre, which in very heavy rain is very important as a skinny tyre won't clear the surface water with aquaplaning the outcome whether or not it's summer or winter tyres.
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Traction is the all important factor for tyres, people commonly mistake the winter or cold weather tyres we have here in the UK with the ones used in Scandinavia which are spiked and have a very open tread more like rally gravel tyres, also referred as Hakka tyres. Ok
My 4x4 has All Terrain tyres with a Mud & Snow ratting, I can attest to the effectiveness of the Hill Decent Control on a compacted snow and ice, it works so well I got bored desending a long hill and sped up and then let the HDC slow it back down again which it did with ease.
The more recent versions incorporated into the terrain response system or similar are even better, but the original is good enough for me.
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Those smug people in 4WD fitted with summer tyres do not realise their snow performance is no better than a FWD car with summers (the extra weight of a 4WD certainly doesn't help). A FWD fitted with winters will get most places a 4WD will (ground clearance permitting). This was bought home to me by my neighbour in her RAV4, who has just a little more slope on her drive than I do, there is no way she could get up her drive (and bimbo was too lazy to clear any snow), but I could get off our drive in Jazz with summers (which to be fair with the narrower 15" tyres ain't too bad on snow). And don't forget you also have to be able to brake on snow - and winter tyres will stop your car a lot quicker than summers (braking is another area 4WD will be worse due to extra weight).
I always hope for a bit of snow, its when people in normal cars can get their own back on RWD BMW cars - they can't even get moving let alone tailgate you and overtake in dangerous places :-X
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video (http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video)
There's definitely something in the skinny tyre thing. Back in 2010, when we were still in Glossop, there was a particularly bad winter. One of neighbours had no trouble at all getting out of our close and he used his wife's 10 year old Polo with narrow tyres. All the other cars, including my Civic, were stranded.
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My reference to skinny tyres was lacking in tread. It is possibly a localised expression. Clearly a thin tyre ( narrow cross section) would to a certain extent cut into the snow and obtain more traction.
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Snow tyres on rally cars are noticeably more narrow than their gravel ones.
Vic.
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Another thing to throw into the equation is that with much less open area on a steel wheel compared to alloys (especially with good plastic trims) they protect the discs and brakes better from winter road spray and salt gunge. Also a steel rim may bend when hitting a kerb but still not leak, but an alloy one may get cracked and lose air, Also more pothole in winter, so get taller tyre with smaller rim to give everything an easier ride. The winter salt can give alloys a hard time.
Steel rims are so easy to paint as well, some great paints like Hammerite etc. which cling well and are very resistant to rusting. Just wash them down with plain water before you put them away for summer to get salt off and they will hardly rust anyway.
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I think another issue for some people is storage if you don't have a garage. We have a shed but it's bursting at the seams anyway.
You can get "Tyre hotel" storage but I think it's quite expensive. Nevertheless, if my circs were different and I did go for winter tyres, something to consider.
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http://www.tirereview.com/silica-siping/ (http://www.tirereview.com/silica-siping/)
Attached is an interesting link about tyres and tyre compounds. Using silica you can have your cake and eat it, harder compound (longer wear life and lower rolling resistance) with more grip ----- result !! As referred to in the article this silica can be made from burnt rice husks, this silica is also used in concrete to strengthen it and replace some of the expensive cement.
It touches on winter tyres because Nokian (the masters of winter tyres) developed the zig-zag 'sipe' (those little cuts in the tread) - or is it zag-zig if you put the tyres on the wrong way ?.
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Hi,
In the winter of 2010 I saw a programme on TV about winter Snow tyres and as a result the next day I bought 4, for our Car. 2 or 3 days later, all hell broke out in Essex (where we live) we left home in the sun but about 1 hour later the snow (Lots & Lots) arrived and they (tyres) were fantastic. Since then I have changed tyres/wheels every winter till March (ish).
Sorry to the forum but we have just parted company with our Jazz, as my wife needed more room in the car due to a serious back condition and the seats were to low for her.
AS a result I have put the tyres, wheels, up for sale on eBay and in the forum
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Here is a auto express all season tyre test, seems the gap between dedicated summer and winter tyres and all-season is narrowing and the average driver (who does not drive like Lewis Hamilton) would be quite happy with all-season performance all year round. On my Civic I have Nokian Winters (very quiet and grippy) and Michelin ES+ summers (very quiet) at the moment, but because of the lower annual mileage I now do I (used to get new tyres about every 18 months) would consider all-season (especially in UK where snow is now rare). I do think however that having winters on steel wheels saves your alloys from ravages of winter as well as protecting the brake discs (especially the rear) a lot better because the steel wheels and trims pretty much totally enclose the brakes, unlike alloys that let all the salt and crud through onto brakes.
Having taken my wifes Nokian 175/65-15 winter tyres off and put the 185/55-16 summers back on about a month ago we are both dismayed by the extra noise and harsher ride on her Si Jazz.
I am surprised how well the Winter Nokians are wearing, my wife has gone through 2 winters now (2 x 6 month periods) and they are showing very little wear.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92873/all-season-tyre-test-201617-results-by-category (http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92873/all-season-tyre-test-201617-results-by-category)
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I run a driving school 2009 Jazz and three years ago when my original summer Dunlop tyres needed replacing, I got a set of Nexen N'Priz 4S. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much snow in London but I have find them very good in all conditions. Further, they are really good value, £37 per tyre. They have updated their tyre to N' Blue 4S.
Good thing about All Season Tyre is that you don't need to change them around. They done 20k miles and still has 4-5 mm on them!
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Went out for a drive this morning in about 5 inches of snow on local roads, the Nokian WR D3 winter tyres on my wifes Jazz were absolutely amazing, chalk and cheese to summer tyres on snow. I could accelerate quite quickly even on hills with traction control occasionally cutting in, and braking was excellent.
Saw a few beemer drivers stuck but no help coming their way from me, at least when a beemer is stationary it is not annoying other road users and causing problems (except when parked in disabled parking space).
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Yes winter tyres are great, its the other road users revving the guts out of their motors in snow winter conditions that concern me
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Yes winter tyres are great, its the other road users revving the guts out of their motors in snow winter conditions that concern me
Our neighbour had a Toyota RAV 4 with summer tyres on, in earlier winters with snow and her sloping drive she had steam coming off her tyres from spinning her wheels, never thought about cleaning any snow off drive. A front wheel drive car with winters on is much better than a 4x4 with summer tyres. Rear wheel drive cars are sh1te in snow or mud.
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Just on the topic of winter tyres - what do people who have them do when they change the car, especially to a car with different tyres sizes? Is it a good selling point?
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Just on the topic of winter tyres - what do people who have them do when they change the car, especially to a car with different tyres sizes? Is it a good selling point?
Possibly people sell them with the car or on ebay or forums, but I tend to keep cars for a while so they will probably wear out anyway. Most people still not convinced winter tyres + steel rims are worth it, but they are a game changer in snow and mud and do protect your alloys from winter salt and kerbing, and from experience they also protect brakes from corrosion as steel wheels pretty much cover up the brakes completely, and with addition of wheel trims they keep pretty much everything out. It is so easy to wash steel rims after winter and slap a coat of Hammerite or plasticote on wheels, something you would probably not do with alloys, and you are more likely to hit kerb in winter, a steel rims don't suffer as much as alloys.
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Just on the topic of winter tyres - what do people who have them do when they change the car, especially to a car with different tyres sizes? Is it a good selling point?
Well I just traded in my HRV and the dealer was uninterested in my Winter tyres.
I put a post on the HRV forum, basically giving them away. No takers. Stunning. I shall turn them into some form of garden seat cum planter in the Spring.
I have never been stopped by snow when I have had Winters on my Jazz or HRV, and I live high up a step hill in Yorkshire.
I traded for a Hybrid 4x4 Rav4 which has Bridgestone all season tyres on, so it remains to be seen how this combination will perform, but I have high hopes.
But Culzean is right about winters vs 4x4. Your typical 4x4 driver on Summer tyres is probably more dangerous in snow because of the over confidence they will have in their traction system.
I remember a test a while back using two Ford Kugas, one 2x4 and one 4x4 in a indoor snowdome. The 2x4 with Winters made it to the top and the 4x4 on Summers climbed a few metres before getting stuck and even sliding back a little.
I found the link... http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video
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Just on the topic of winter tyres - what do people who have them do when they change the car, especially to a car with different tyres sizes? Is it a good selling point?
I put a post on the HRV forum, basically giving them away. No takers. Stunning. I shall turn them into some form of garden seat cum planter in the Spring.
But Culzean is right about winters vs 4x4. Your typical 4x4 driver on Summer tyres is probably more dangerous in snow because of the over confidence they will have in their traction system.
The problem is 4x4 are normally heavier than other vehicles and this shows with the 4x4 Kuga sliding back in the test, also 4x4 harder to stop because of the extra weight.
I originally got winters for my wifes Jazz because we have a hell of a slope off our estate and it is the only way out, also her GE came without spare so I bit the bullet and paid £80 per corner for steel wheels + Nokian 175/65R15 WR-D3 winters from mytyres.co.uk, fully fitted and balance and arrived in 3 days, excellent service. She uses winter tyre for spare in summer and vice-versa. To be honest our GD Jazzes with summer tyres were not to bad in snow, but the GE with stupid 185/55R16 tyres was a lot less effective. Never have to reset TPMS when changing wheels over, but on my Civic it decides after about 10 miles that its gonna complain.
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Finally, snow in London! I was able to test my Nexen N'Priz 4S all weather tyres in the snow after 3 yrs. They were safe and gave alot of grip in the snow. For the price I paid, £37, definitely worth the money. New model, the N'BLUE 4 Seasons are said to be even better.
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Well my Cooper WM SA2's are still doing a sterling job, I didn't even bother to swap them over in the spring for the 16" summer set, as I'm doing fewer car miles now, much less than 2k since the MOT in May.
Still unsure as to what to do when they wear out, but judging by the performance over the last couple of days I'll stick with a full winter set, my nextdoor neighbour was well impressed with the grip, where his Q3 Quattro failed to work at all!
The only slight issue was found clearance, as the undertray was scrapping on the snow.
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Well my Cooper WM SA2's are still doing a sterling job, I didn't even bother to swap them over in the spring for the 16" summer set, as I'm doing fewer car miles now, much less than 2k since the MOT in May.
Still unsure as to what to do when they wear out, but judging by the performance over the last couple of days I'll stick with a full winter set, my nextdoor neighbour was well impressed with the grip, where his Q3 Quattro failed to work at all!
The only slight issue was found clearance, as the undertray was scrapping on the snow.
I got Goodyear gen 2 all season tyres makes light work on snow and also a lot quieter the Michelin cross climate + are good as well but the Michelin's have weak rating on snow
Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
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Well my Cooper WM SA2's are still doing a sterling job, I didn't even bother to swap them over in the spring for the 16" summer set, as I'm doing fewer car miles now, much less than 2k since the MOT in May.
Still unsure as to what to do when they wear out, but judging by the performance over the last couple of days I'll stick with a full winter set, my nextdoor neighbour was well impressed with the grip, where his Q3 Quattro failed to work at all!
The only slight issue was found clearance, as the undertray was scrapping on the snow.
Owners of 4WD vehicles often get cocky in snow, but it is all in the tyres - I saw quite a few 4WD by us going nowhere in the snow we just had, they didn't like it when I easily drove past them in a 'mere normal FWD car' (they didn't know I had Nokian winters fitted...
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I went on a 4WD adventure day as a stag night alternative, everyone being quite gung-ho at our coffee break until someone arrived at our summit in a Metro - general silence descended. All he'd done was swap his wheels to proper off road type, the usual road legal tyres were in the back.
--
TG
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I went on a 4WD adventure day as a stag night alternative, everyone being quite gung-ho at our coffee break until someone arrived at our summit in a Metro - general silence descended. All he'd done was swap his wheels to proper off road type, the usual road legal tyres were in the back.
Went on a stag 'day' a few years ago and as well as 4x4 track they had loads of stuff like clay pigeon shooting. One of the things was a 'reverse steer' Suzuki 4x4 that had to be driven round a obstacle course but the trick was the 'victim' did not have control of throttle (the instructor worked that), only the steering wheel which worked the wrong way, I quickly sussed that if I held bottom of steering wheel I could move it in direction I wanted vehicle to go. No Metros on 4x4 course, but it does show what a difference dedicated tyres can make.
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We had one of those days, with Honda Pilots (not the SUV but buggies), Clay Pigeon Shooting, and a reverse steering Series III Land Rover. After setting a time round the course you then had to do it blindfold, with the rest of your team giving the directions. Brilliant fun.
(https://utvactionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/HONDAS_SPREAD_Honda_1989_Pilot1.jpg)
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I read with interest TG's recount on 4x4 driving and the Metro. Sorry to repeat it but it is applicable. I had 2 Metros issued to my beat. The first was a 1.0 litre and the second a 1.3. Due to the fact that my patch had more unmade roads than made I asked if anything could be done to protect the 'sump' Yes I know it was the gearbox. They fitted a Rally modification. I only got stuck once and it was my fault. I didn't allow for a passenger and got it lodged on a ridge.Another time at an accident I had to get off the road, it was very soft mud, it sank up to the floor and still came out, I thought it was a magic little vehicle. People used to laugh at my 6ft winding into it but it did the job. Of course there were no winter tyres fitted then.
On a different note a colleague, just like the ones in the video, attended an accident. Sheet ice. Parked the Land Rover on the hill. Didn't think to turn the wheel against the kerb OR put it on the grass and wondered why it sailed past him down the hill. Well I put it in gear!!!!!!!!.
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I read with interest TG's recount on 4x4 driving and the Metro. Sorry to repeat it but it is applicable. I had 2 Metros issued to my beat. The first was a 1.0 litre and the second a 1.3. Due to the fact that my patch had more unmade roads than made I asked if anything could be done to protect the 'sump' Yes I know it was the gearbox. They fitted a Rally modification. I only got stuck once and it was my fault. I didn't allow for a passenger and got it lodged on a ridge.Another time at an accident I had to get off the road, it was very soft mud, it sank up to the floor and still came out, I thought it was a magic little vehicle. People used to laugh at my 6ft winding into it but it did the job. Of course there were no winter tyres fitted then.
On a different note a colleague, just like the ones in the video, attended an accident. Sheet ice. Parked the Land Rover on the hill. Didn't think to turn the wheel against the kerb OR put it on the grass and wondered why it sailed past him down the hill. Well I put it in gear!!!!!!!!.
Your metro a light car the tyres make a difference winter tyres have soft rubber compound that doesn't harden unlike normal summer tyre think of harden rubber like rubbing glass to glass
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Sheet ice. Parked the Land Rover on the hill. Didn't think to turn the wheel against the kerb OR put it on the grass and wondered why it sailed past him down the hill. Well I put it in gear!!!!!!!!.
Mind you, if it was on ice then turning the wheels or putting it in gear would not make a lot of difference! Remember once waiting in line to get a run at a steep hill, and the gritter came down at about 40 mph. All wheels locked. It was sliding on black ice!
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Sheet ice. Parked the Land Rover on the hill. Didn't think to turn the wheel against the kerb OR put it on the grass and wondered why it sailed past him down the hill. Well I put it in gear!!!!!!!!.
Mind you, if it was on ice then turning the wheels or putting it in gear would not make a lot of difference! Remember once waiting in line to get a run at a steep hill, and the gritter came down at about 40 mph. All wheels locked. It was sliding on black ice!
Similar thing happened to me driving my jazz downhill reverse gear hand brake on foot brake on still the car slid downwards miracously avoided hitting any cars.
Next day changed the tyres to winter and the car handling on snow transformed like a limpet stuck like glue on the road
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So had a real test today on my Nexen N'Priz 4s all season tyres. Driving on snow is actually ok, the odd spin but moving off no problems compared to the BMW rear wheel drive or Mercedes Benz B Class around me. However, ice is the main issue. The car was going up this hill and wouldn't go any further. Had to reverse into a space with snow and drive up again.
I wonder if full winter tyres would made a difference on ice? Stay safe everyone and stay warm!
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I wonder if full winter tyres would made a difference on ice?
Yes, they certainly do - the rubber compound is softer, and because the tread has far more sipes, it means the tread blocks are more flexible and grip slippery surfaces better.
Summer tyres are simply too hard at sub-zero temperatures.
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I wonder if full winter tyres would made a difference on ice?
Yes, they certainly do - the rubber compound is softer, and because the tread has far more sipes, it means the tread blocks are more flexible and grip slippery surfaces better.
Summer tyres are simply too hard at sub-zero temperatures.
I got a pair of Goodyear all season gen 2 they are a lot better on snow and good all rounder as in the UK we get the odd snow and then ..
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I wonder if full winter tyres would made a difference on ice? Stay safe everyone and stay warm!
All season are a compromise between summer and winter so are not as good as summer or winter tyres really. Can't speak highly enough of the Nokian WR-D3 on our Civic and Jazz, they are totally at home on snow and ice. The Avons ZV7 on the Civic alloys are absolutely great in summer. One thing having full winter tyres on steel rims does is protects your alloys from winter roads and salt, and the steel wheels do a great job of protecting brakes from all the crap, if the steel rims look a bit the worse for wear after a winter it is easy to slap a bit of Hammerite on them, which you would not do on alloy rims, and if you skid into a kerb with steel wheels you don't care as much as you would with alloys. The wear is spread out between summer and winter tyres so after the initial investment you don't actually lose anything, all you need is space to store wheels. On the Jazz we use a winter tyre as summer spare and summer tyre as winter spare, so it saves wasting money on a silly space-saver setup.
The Jazz is better than most cars in snow, but with full winters it is unstoppable !
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I also tried my Seat Ibiza manual with Michelin Crossclimate on the same part of the icy slop. Again, same thing happened!
I did have winter tyres for two seasons, 2012-2013 but there were not one drop of snow in London! So I decided to try All Season tyres. So far no complaints but obviously was an eye opener when it didn't do too well in the ice. Will be careful not to venture that particular road tomorrow!
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Despite the snow, the Jazz is holding well with the Nexen N'Priz 4s. Seems to me that snow is not an issue with these all season tyres but ice is.
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Despite the snow, the Jazz is holding well with the Nexen N'Priz 4s. Seems to me that snow is not an issue with these all season tyres but ice is.
Absolutely 100% agree with that. My Mk.2 Jazz on 4 Winter Tyres was unstoppable, including ice. My Nissan X-Trail 4WD on regular tyres was impressive but not as good as the Jazz. My current Rav4 4WD on all season tyres is impressive on snow but not as sure footed as that Jazz was on the Winters and a bit slippy slidey on ice last night.
When I had my HRV I put two Winters on the front but never experienced weather like this in the two Winters I had it. I offered those Winters for free on the HRV forum when I sold the car but nobody wanted them. Wonder what they are thinking right now. I still have them if anyone wants them.
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When I had my HRV I put two Winters on the front....
It's supposed to be very dodgy to do that as you end up with the back of the car overtaking you.
It's OK to put two on the back of a RWD car.
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Well I looked into that a lot, as previously I had always gone with four. There was a whole lot of conflicting advice out there. But the final arbiter was my tyre shop. He didn't want to sell me four. Said it was pointless. Now he had skin in the game so I decided to go with his advice.
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My '11 ES has Michelin Energy tyres, they are fine in the dry, but on any roads that are damp and wetter make the car very under-steery and are useless in the snow. Not going to bother with full winter tyres but something better in the wet would be preferrable. What do panel suggest?
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All season ones, and the Vredestein Quadtrac 5 got the best reviews for the wheels size on my car.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92863/all-season-tyre-test-20172018-top-all-weather-tyres-tested for example
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Or Nexen N'BLUE 4s if you are on a budget. I use Nexen N'Priz 4s and during the last 3 days, have been brilliant.
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I just stay in !!!
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Blackcircles have a "£25 off 4 x Michelin Cross Climate" offer. Destroyed one tire in puncture so ordered four - to be fitted next week £303 all in.
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Just taken my winter Nokians off and put my shiny alloys back on.
I noticed wear bars with a snowflake on them that were taller than normal wear bars so I googled it. Seems like 4mm in minimum tread depth on winters where they are mandatory for efficient grip in snow, can't find any information for all season tyres but if 4mm is minimum for proper winter tyres I guess all season will lose their efficient grip in snow earlier. Anyone have any information on this ?
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I believe it's to do with snow compacting in the grooves.
Winter tyres in particular deal with snow by the soft compound compressing the snow in the treads, so that it can be released and thrown clear when the tyre rotates. If the tread depth is too shallow, this compression doesn't work and the snow actually sticks in the tread, significantly reducing traction.
Presumably, all season tyres are made from a harder compound, and rely on this action less, but I would imagine it would still have some impact.
Basically, bald tyres are not good in snow... I think we can work that bit out, but there is a technical reason why it's recommended that winter tyres should be changed at 4mm.