Tom
Italy winter tires OR chains in the car, but onlyif there is snow on the road.
Not if they have the mountain and snowflake symbols, as mine do.
Tom
Well I’m not going to argue the point any further, but suffice to say I vehemently disagree. And I’m paid by tyre makers for my feedback on their experimental competition tyres, so I’d say my opinion carries at least some weight.
I'm currently looking into winter tyres and have found a great Bridgestone set, but I'm concerned about the load index (LI). The manufacturer's LI is 94 and the set I'm interested in has a LI of 98. Can I assume it's safe to opt for a LI higher than the manufacturer's?
Actually it's pretty common but as they take the signs down in summer you may not have noticed.
For example - access to Flumserberg above Flums, up past Linthal, at least one of the minor passes in Toggenburg (can't remember which one).
Have you directly compared winter v all season with a stop watch, or just giving some background that may or may not have any weight in the discussion as it would appear your mind is made up.
Also... you shouldn't really switch your engine on, then get out and clear the snow and ice.
I don’t need to. I can spend 10s driving a car equipped with them (other people’s cars, obviously!) and immediately feel the difference. I can also look at the tread pattern and feel the compound and tell it won’t be anywhere near as good.
I HAVE spend many hours timing the effect of minor differences in other tyres which has contributed to quantifying my experiences.
--
Winter tyres will perform less well at 5 years old as the rubber dries out & hardens. At 10 years old they will grip very badly on snow. Aging rubber is why condoms have a sell by date!
is it prohibited to use tires with a spikes in CH?
I think most, if not all, all-season tyres also have the snowflake symbol these days. Some all-seasons can be as good as some winter tyres and in fact some manufacturers simply used to change the sidewall printing on the same tyre.
An average all-season will be miles better than a summer tyre and it would be quite foolish to go out onto snow or ice covered roads on summer tyres. An average winter tyre will be miles better than an average all-season but that doesn't necessarily make the all-seasons dangerous.
All-seasons are still a compromise in both winter and summer driving some more one way than the other. One makes a choice as to how much winter and summer performance they need but if safety is your priority generally you fit good summer tyres and good winter tyres.
Normally, yes, except on private roads.
Tom
Yes. They destroy the road. Spikes are for use on snow on top of ice. All the time. If you use them on normal ploughed and salted roads they quickly become ineffective. Which is a shame because they are expensive.
I was always confused why they are the law in Russia in the winter even in cities. Assumed it must be because someone who made the rule owns the importer.
It’s not quite as simple as progressively better or worse. A winter tyre is completely different. It is made with a much softer sidewall construction (if you ever fit one you’ll notice this) and the crucially compound is a completely different material. It has very high silica and becomes even softer at lower temperatures. The opposite of a normal tyre. The tread is the most obvious difference but probably the least important.
It amazes me that anyone who has experienced both would ever consider an all season which is just the worst of both worlds.
If you’re seriously interested in understanding why I care so much about this and you are passing Ticino, let me know and I’m sure we can arrange a demonstration complete with stopwatches!
UV hardens the tyre. That’s why they are stored in bags and preferably darkness to preserve life. I have about 80 spare tyres in my garage, many of which are special purpose and very expensive. The age and storage conditions are monitored closely. Get it wrong and you notice immediately the tyre is trash.
Irrespective of tyre type and one's driving skills, going 2-3x the speed of other vehicles on the road in inclement weather is, IMO, not a good idea. While as a rally driver your skills are well above the average driver, never underestimate the level of incompetence of the average driver!
I cannot say that I am all that interested , but having driven in the northeast US for many years, where there was much more snow and colder temps then in the Basel area, the quality all-season tyres I had on my cars were more than fine for everyday driving throughout the year.
Again, high mountain passes that are not regularly plowed or salted are different but that was not part of my everyday driving. :-)
Exactly. I drove a sportscar in New England for years on performance tires, sometimes right after Northeaster and never had problems. As long as you realize the limitations and adjust your driving style to the weather you can drive on any tires as long as you have all wheel drive or front w.d. cars.
Rear wheel drive is a problem with any tires and electronics will not help either.
For a larger car RWD works very well, the no of Audi A4 estates that got stuck & I passed in a BMW 328 estate always amassed me. Fresh All season or Winter plus LSD will work almost all the time. BMW's are hugely popular in CH so they must work in the climate.
Summer tyres & RWD is hopeless.