What did you do to your car today?

Went for a short spin in the snow up the Wicklow hills, winter tyres are the business
 

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JohnRA said:
Lol mad hoor the gardai and council have signs up saying don't go near the place lol
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I commute across the Wicklow Mountains via military roads similar to the Sally Gap for 9 years... Only truly impassable twice for a few days. Anything under a foot of snow is passable with the right vehicle and tyres. Out of the 9 years, 4 years with Imprezas (although this did limit me to about 6-7 inches of snow and hence twice there were a number of days I couldn't go across the hills). Other three cars were an Audi A6 Allroad, an A4 Quattro and an AWD V70 (not XC so same height as normal v70). Most of the time all you need is good winter tyres and 4wd.
 
I met mountain rescue up at Sally gap, they were putting up road closed signs. In fairness they get plagued getting calls from people getting stuck.

The conditions last night were at about the limit for the Impreza, 6 to 8 inches mostly, was afraid to stop and get photos where it was worse in case I couldn't get going again

One fella in a land cruiser went right off the road, lucky not to roll the car and other fellas getting stuck too.
 
Living in Roundwood the biggest problem we have to here when it snows are the idiots who come up here and get stuck!!

Majority of call outs to mountain rescue are day trippers stranded when they come for the snow.
 
Good point Jamie about the day trippers.

Seen lots of Jeeps go off over the years; in fact most of the times serious offs are jeeps... 99% of the time they do not have winter tyres on and think that just because they have a 4x4 jeep that they can drive on snow and ice. You're at nothing trying it with summer tyres. Also, often they leave the jeep in RWD mode and do not engage the 4x4 because many jeeps can only travel at max 30kph in 4x4 mode without frying the centre diff (like the Pajero sport). Other makes and models automatically disengage 4x4 over a certain speed to prevent frying the centre diff... inexperienced drivers don't know this and then wonder how the hell did they end up on their roof or side in a field or down a mountain side.

Apart from the right equipment and tyres... you need some common sense and driving skills... and that is where it also is lacking with the "day trippers" who come up from town in their 4x4s. Ejits going too fast down hill, or coming up to bends... they think because they have forward motion traction that they have similar stopping power or turning grip... which you don't (even on winter tyres).

I always bring a shovel and a bag of sand too - just in case I do get stuck. Happened only once to myself with the blobeye due to height of snow, but have dug out a load of people over the years. Would also never consider going into a remote snow bound area without at least half a tank of fuel. In case you do get stuck, and cannot get out, you need fuel to run the heater and stay warm.

If one does not have the right vehicle, tyres and skills one has no business going up into a remote area - end off. If people want to "learn", stay somewhere inhabited and don't go too remote, it is stupid and puts yourself and others (like rescue teams and other road users) at risk.
 
The wife needs new tyres on her bmw it's the family car and is never driven hard as she has the kids in it
Would I be mad putting winter tyres on it for all year round what do you guys think.
Cheers

Keith
 
I don't know from first hand experience but apparently they wear quickly if driven when temperatures are too warm. A few people have relayed to me.

Performance wise they're not supposed to be as good too which makes sense. I much prefer the feel of decent summer tyres too, steering feel is better on dry (and dryish) compared to winters in my experience
 
keith dublin said:
The wife needs new tyres on her bmw it's the family car and is never driven hard as she has the kids in it
Would I be mad putting winter tyres on it for all year round what do you guys think.
Cheers

Keith
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Keith
Winter tire is made with much softer compound, should be used if average temp over day is less that 7deg Celsius. Anything above (on long term), will eat tire very quick. Better to try to find all season tire which will be compromise between good grip summer time and no grip on winter.
 
Keadeen said:
Good point Jamie about the day trippers.

Seen lots of Jeeps go off over the years; in fact most of the times serious offs are jeeps... 99% of the time they do not have winter tyres on and think that just because they have a 4x4 jeep that they can drive on snow and ice. You're at nothing trying it with summer tyres. Also, often they leave the jeep in RWD mode and do not engage the 4x4 because many jeeps can only travel at max 30kph in 4x4 mode without frying the centre diff (like the Pajero sport). Other makes and models automatically disengage 4x4 over a certain speed to prevent frying the centre diff... inexperienced drivers don't know this and then wonder how the hell did they end up on their roof or side in a field or down a mountain side.

Apart from the right equipment and tyres... you need some common sense and driving skills... and that is where it also is lacking with the "day trippers" who come up from town in their 4x4s. Ejits going too fast down hill, or coming up to bends... they think because they have forward motion traction that they have similar stopping power or turning grip... which you don't (even on winter tyres).

I always bring a shovel and a bag of sand too - just in case I do get stuck. Happened only once to myself with the blobeye due to height of snow, but have dug out a load of people over the years. Would also never consider going into a remote snow bound area without at least half a tank of fuel. In case you do get stuck, and cannot get out, you need fuel to run the heater and stay warm.

If one does not have the right vehicle, tyres and skills one has no business going up into a remote area - end off. If people want to "learn", stay somewhere inhabited and don't go too remote, it is stupid and puts yourself and others (like rescue teams and other road users) at risk.
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Good post. I am a snow day tripper but I've been doing it for years, however I am fairly well prepared and careful. I always make sure I've enough petrol and could walk out if necessary too.
Winter tyres give great lateral and forward traction but when stopping you probably see the smallest improvement over summer tyres. Type of snow or sleet also makes a big difference, you really need to test what the car does. Even then it can vary so you need to watch temperature and be aware if your on a sheltered spot of road etc.
I've seen a few offs and close shaves in 4wd.
It is good fun though when conditions allow it and you're prepared usually late at night or early in the morning where they aren't too many people around.
 
It is not only going forward advantage of winter tires. Stopping is way better as well comparing to summer tires. Soft component means that even below 0 they are soft, means much more grip. On ice and snow especially.
 
przemcio007 said:
It is not only going forward advantage of winter tires. Stopping is way better as well comparing to summer tires. Soft component means that even below 0 they are soft, means much more grip. On ice and snow especially.
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I think they're better at everything compared to summers, as they should be. Just saying smallest advantage is probably when stopping, especially when decanting a steep hill!
 
keith dublin said:
The wife needs new tyres on her bmw it's the family car and is never driven hard as she has the kids in it
Would I be mad putting winter tyres on it for all year round what do you guys think.
Cheers

Keith
Click to expand...

Sort answer:
Yes run winters all year, especially if you do limited mileage and don't need super high performance grip in summer.

Longer answer:
In theory winters will wear quicker and give less grip in summer than a proper summer tyre... that said...

Broad rules of thumb:
- under 7 degrees Celsius winters always better
- 8-15 degrees winters and summers have similar performance (although in the wet winters might have an advantage)
- over 20 degrees summer tyres have a performance and wear advantage (how many days in the year is that in Ireland?)
- Note: little known fact, but you have to run about 10-15% higher tyre pressure with winter tyres than the indicated tyre pressure which is based on summer tyres. Better grip (sounds counter intuitive but correct though), better steering input response, less heat build-up in the tyre and hence less wear.

Real world experience in Ireland:
1) For the past 5 years and 100k kms we have been running winter tyres all year round on the Hyundai Tuscon 4wd. During that time and mileage it went through 2 full sets (8 tyres), which given the road surfaces where I live is nothing (context: I go through two sets in under half that with either the Scoobies and Quattro diesels I have had - which you could contribute to faster driving, but also driven plenty in the Tuscon and Maebh in the other cars). So, whereas I wouldn't say winters last longer than summers, they do not seem to have a noticeable shorter life span. Our climate is probably the largest influencing factor and the poor road surfaces wear tyres faster anyway.
2) Ran winters all year round on my V70 AWD (as didn't need high performance grip in summer)... similar wear and under normal driving conditions no adverse effects in summer.
 
As above run them all year round Keith you won't notice them wearing more and being honest it's only if your doing long Motorway trips that the fast wearing comes into play :thumbsup:
 
Thanks lads car never over 60kmph
And only ever short trips to school and shops and stuff.
And they are cheaper lol
 
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