Tyres almost unfit for purpose?

[Burnerman]

I guess everyone seems to drive cars with wheels and tyres much wider than they used to be a few years ago.
Mrs B has a Nissan Note diesel (hardly a road burner) factory fitted with Continental rubber and when the snow came here a few days ago the car was literally undriveable. Two inches max of wet snow, when compressed by other vehicles and we were left with a vehicle that wouldn't grip, drive or steer. To cap it all, when I tried to speed up to gain momentum the engine wouldn't let me - the automatic traction control wouldn't allow the engine to rev. Its a wonder I got home at all!
The car now has winter tyres on a spare set of steel rims (front only).....chunky treads with sipes that can actually displace material sideways. If anyone has any doubts about how good they are, give 'em a try.
Drive safe!
John

 

[Jackrae]

You cannot "drive safe" with winter tyres on one axle only. When you brake the rear wheels will lock up and your *rse will try and overtake you.

 

[Burnerman]

I thought my post would have caused some comment, and theoretically you are absolutely correct. I'm not suggesting that anyone should follow what I have done - thats up to them.
However, its traction and steering that I need to get anywhere at all, and in real life the ABS takes care of any lock up.....I've driven the car in many situations recently trying to get the thing to misbehave and its been fine.
The point I'm trying to make is that any car destined for wintery Britain should have rubber able to cope to some degree, and this one hasn't!
John

 

[stuartturbo]

Few years ago I fitted just the fronts only time I really noticed when I was "misbehaving" Arse end got a bit lively I now run a full set all year and replace them November when they are worn out about 15000 miles.

 

[stuartturbo]

the other to addition if you get really stuck find and pull the abs fuse
Weighing up being able to drive and risk

 

[Peter.N.]

Before we had all this hi tech stuff I used snow chains - worked a treat

Peter

 

[gregers]

couple of weeks back i bought some snow chains from lidl's,didnt think they were a bad price at 20 quid as my car has 18"alloys.
havnt had the chance to use them yet as weve only had about 1" of snow.
was in my local asda last night and they had a load of snow socks in stock.

john my 1 concern is m8 if anything happened would your insurance pay out if they find out you only have them fitted to 1 axle??

i am seriously thinking of getting a set of steel wheels and have them fitted with winter tyres,but not in 18"s as ive heard they cost around 180 quid a corner????

 

[Jackrae]

"Winter" tyres are not the same as "snow" tyres.
The advantage of 'winters" over "snow" or "summer" (bog standard UK types as fitted by car manufacturer) is that they use softer compound which offers increased traction well before the onset of freezing or snow and continue to offer superior traction in sub-zero or snowy conditions.
Fit for the winter months of the year and forget about traction problems until the spring.

 

[Burnerman]

couple of weeks back i bought some snow chains from lidl's,didnt think they were a bad price at 20 quid as my car has 18"alloys.
havnt had the chance to use them yet as weve only had about 1" of snow.
was in my local asda last night and they had a load of snow socks in stock.

john my 1 concern is m8 if anything happened would your insurance pay out if they find out you only have them fitted to 1 axle??

i am seriously thinking of getting a set of steel wheels and have them fitted with winter tyres,but not in 18"s as ive heard they cost around 180 quid a corner????

I think this is one of the grey areas insurance wise, really.....I've just had two new front tyres fitted to my Berlingo van. The originals were Michelin, and on went a pair of Nexen tyres - certainly chunkier tread wise. I chose these for the tread pattern, purely and simply. Maybe the insurers could claim that I should have fitted the OE tyres, i.e Michelins again. I would have course claimed that these were recommended by my tyre supplier.
Lets hope it never comes to an argument!
John

 

[potshot]

It is not a grey area - you have modified the car and you will not be covered by your insurance. There will be information from the manufacturers giving the exact spec of winter tyres (all FOUR wheels only) suitable for your car as certain areas of Europe have mandatory requirements to fit winter tyres.

There is a list of insurers who do not require to be informed provided you have fitted the correct winter tyres on all FOUR wheels....
http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/C...r_Tyres__The_Motor_Insurance_Committment.aspx

 

[dhutch]

It is not a grey area - you have modified the car and you will not be covered by your insurance. There will be information from the manufacturers giving the exact spec of winter tyres (all FOUR wheels only) suitable for your car as certain areas of Europe have mandatory requirements to fit winter tyres.

There is a list of insurers who do not require to be informed provided you have fitted the correct winter tyres on all FOUR wheels....
http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/C...r_Tyres__The_Motor_Insurance_Committment.aspx

No mention on that site about a requirment to have winter tyres on all four?

Currently I do, if only becuase I happened apon a set of alloys with part worn winter tyres for £120 when looking for a second set of rims for another reason.

They certainly do make a diffrence, although being an older car I already had fairly all round tyres and fairly narrow 'high profile' compaired to what you might expect on a more modern model (195/60R15's on a bmw compact)

Before that I had a set of Quarac 3's which are a partially siped 'all weather' tyre on the front axle and good all round summer firestones on the rear during winter, swapping them over during summer. Again, where exactly you lie with insureance I expect depends on many things, however it wasnt a dedicated winter tyre and my insurance was on the above list as not requiring notification either, so I expect I was ok.

My girlfriend is currently in Arctic finland for months, at about -30/40 they have proper snow tyres with metal in them! Not that this stopped one her fellow volenters roofing there berlingo in a snow drift...


Daniel

 

[potshot]

No it doesn't because first of all it is just commonsense but mainly because it says

The insurers named below do not require the payment of any additional premium if customers decide to fit winter tyres to their cars, provided that the tyres meet, and are fitted in accordance with, the relevant vehicle manufacturers’ specifications and are in a roadworthy condition whilst in use.

and there isn't a manufacturer in the world who would specify winter tyres on one axle only.

 

[Burnerman]

An interesting discussion - I am in no way being critical towards anyone's point of view, knowledge or assumptions....life's too short to fall out about things.
Purely for interest:
I've just had a look at the vehicle handbook.....all it says is to keep tyres in good condition, correct pressures and above the legal tread depth. It doesn't even mention the old phrase about mixing crossply and radials....presumably thats old hat now.
Winter tyres (or any other type of tyre) aren't mentioned at all. It says that snow chains may be fitted, but to the front wheels only.
Looking at the insurance policy document, it says I need to inform of 'anything that will improve its value, performance, handling(my italics) or attractiveness to thieves'.
So - to anyone who knows nowt, I look at the handbook, look at the Policy and consider I'm doing OK!
Maybe there's areas that need addressing here?
Common sense, however, doesn't apply in law.
Have a good evening, everyone.
John
P.S For a vehicle thats made in Sunderland, it sure aint equipped to deal with bloody north eastern winters which was my original point.
J[/i]

 

[gregers]

trouble is john if you give an insurance company an inch they will take a mile.
if they smell a chance of getting out of any claim they will take it.
wonder if its worth contacting the technical dept of the maker and ask them or see if theres a forum for your vehicle?

snow chains to the f/wheels,take it it aint a beamer then

 

[Burnerman]

A rip snorting Nissan Note mate Still buried under 14" snow at the moment.
Good points you make, as ever.....I guess its the insurers job to wriggle if they can. Thing is, 'er indoors would have been in a ditch or rolled with the original rubber - with these tyres on its really predictable and the grip aint far off 4WD.
John