Winter tyres

[snowBALLs]

2 hours ago, MM16 said:

Thanks for this - I did think about the speedo. Says it would be 1.1% out I think. Will probably stick to the same size

1.1% is fine, it's actually 0.76%. The rim can easily hold an extra 10mm width. 

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/advice-and-tips/tyre-size-calculator/165-65-r15#alternativeTireTool

 

[Ahar]

We had the first real snow of the winter in North East England this morning and I was actually quite excited to see a good covering when I opened the curtains as it gave me the opportunity to see for myself how winter tyres would perform on my 2012 Aygo. It was brilliant.

I had no real problems getting going and more importantly stopping. I may have been taking the confidence they gave me a bit too far as I overtook someone who was creeping along at a snail's pace, then zoomed up the bank out of my village that had someone stranded on it and most people weren't attempting and pushed on through the thick slush where there were two lanes and everyone else was following each other on the clearer lane but I had a whale of a time! One thing to bear in mind is that they're no help if your path is blocked by other people who are stuck or can't get moving. I had to squeeze past a lorry that couldn't quite make it up the inclined approach onto the first roundabout I came to so after that I adjusted my route to work slightly to try to avoid junctions with inclined approaches. I arrived at work with smug mode fully engaged.

The tyres are a full set of cheap Sumitomo WT200. They're the only winter tyres I've ever had so can't compare them with any others but after today I'm definitely a convert. In dry conditions the steering feels a bit more vague than with the previous summer tyres but you get used you it and when accelerating I noticed a slight SSHHHHH sound that wasn't there before. I imagine this is something to do with the sipes in the tread.

[Wiz201]

yeah we had a bit of slushy stuff and I enjoyed carving lines into the right hand lane on the M62 and m606 to bradford. I'm still slightly careful but nowhere near snails pace like some drivers are.