What have you tinkered with today?

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by svenrico

What sort of tyres do you put on for winter ? I just have the same tyres on all year round.

I have set of winter (steel wheels) tyres, with Continental WinterContacts on them. They sit in the garage 9 months of the year and go on when the temps stay consistently in the lower single digits.

They transform the way the car drives in the cold, wet, and snowy conditions. Being a BMW Estate, the 50/50 weight distribution is great for handling, but no so much for traction in Wintery conditions. The difference is remarkable vs summer tyres in the same conditions.

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

Swapped Civic summers and Alloys for Nokian winters on steel rims a few weeks ago, will do her indoors Jazz tomorrow. Winter is hard on alloys and if it does snow winter tyres are just totally amazing.. A 2 wheel drive Ford Kuga with winters on got almost to top of Tamworth snowdome ski slope, the 4 wheel drive with summer tyres went forward 2 metres and then slid back 5 metres - with winters on it got right to the top. It is not just about moving it is about stopping as well.

Hit the nail on the head there. It's the controlling of the car on the move and stopping which is the key.

[Bibio]

my old Merc gAy class is the only car that has ever been parked up when it snows heavy as its too low to the ground. got friends that take me shopping when it does snow heavy

[redtrummy]

Could never get my head around this, for the greater part of my driving career there were tyres, just tyres now we have s/w tyres - what changed? Plus years ago winters were colder when grip would have been appreciated!
Bibio- sister had a C class, absolutely hopeless when it snowed - worked like a snowplough with winter tyres on -now gone. (They drove to the Alps a fair bit to ski, totally impracticable.

[DJ123]

Technology changed, as did people's living & working habits.

Winter tyres probably existed, but were in their infancy and not widely known in the UK. They've been used in North America, Europe & Scandinavia for many years.

[CheGuevara]

Old video but a good example of the capability of winter tyres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STaximkaQxo


Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atayHQYqA3g (check the braking comparison)



I used to put winter tyres (mounted on a second set of cheap wheels) on my wife's car from about mid-Nov (temps depending) and as mentioned earlier the difference in grip (braking and cornering as well) is significant once the temps are in single digits or lower.



If you own the car for a while it can make economic sense as well, as you're saving wear and tear on your summer tyres (which can take a beating over winter).



We've no space to store an extra set of wheels/tyres currently, so now using Conti AllSeason Contacts - a compromise over proper winter tyres, but if you can only manage a single set of tyres they're brilliant in wet and cold weather -especially through standing water.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

Could never get my head around this, for the greater part of my driving career there were tyres, just tyres now we have s/w tyres - what changed? Plus years ago winters were colder when grip would have been appreciated!

Yes, same here, I have always had the same tyres on all year round and have never been offered any special tyres for winter use by tyre fitters ,or ever known anybody who changed their tyres in winter. If I was commuting 80 miles a day in all weathers nowadays like I did for several years in the 80's I think I might have thought about changing tyres for winter though !

[Bibio]

a long time ago i used to have mud and snow tyres on the car and caravan but you were restricted to 70mph or something like that. they were great for getting out muddy fields.

[redtrummy]

Stripped down and cleaned the carb on the Cub yesterday. Was going to refit it today but its too darn cold in the garage -will have to wait until it gets a bit warmer.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

Stripped down and cleaned the carb on the Cub yesterday. Was going to refit it today but its too darn cold in the garage -will have to wait until it gets a bit warmer.

Yeah, messing with pieces of metal in cold conditions just sucks the heat out of fingers, and you can't really wear gloves and do fiddly stuff. I am waiting to spray paint some stuff but no when ambient in garage is about 2 degC