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What's the big deal with winter driving?


akewt

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Hi Guys

 

So.

 

What IS the big deal with winter driving?

 

I know it's gonna be tricky in the snow but other than that isn't it just a road car like any other built for all weather?

 

I've driven it to the south of France and back and now been to Berlin and back in all weather conditions. I have taken 6 cars and a lorry on a triple chicane up a mountain and reached 165mph on an autobahn.

 

What's a little bit of rain?

 

Is it worth getting winter tyres?

 

Nice

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I certainly won't be driving in the snow.

 

i like the idea of having seasonal tyres and saving money in the long run.

 

I have a set on at the moment that I don't think are great from when I bought her.

 

I want to take it on the track next year too so thinking about a new set of wheels (poss 19 to fill the arches) and keep my rays for the track. There a bit scuffed and i want to have something a little different.

 

There's a thread on here somewhere with me stating I wouldn't be customizing and keeping stock. there were also a lot of replies telling me i was kidding myself! hmmmm

 

I will have to dust off the wallet.

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Winter tyres rule for a few reasons.

 

1. Better cold weather performance

2. better wet weather performance ( no aquaplaning an sliding, braking etc )

3.Better snow and ice performance. IMO its a small amount of money to spend for alot of safety.

 

Most people saying just drive to the conditions live where the weather is mild all year round. Winter tyres are the LAW in countries for a reason.

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Winter tyres rule for a few reasons.

 

1. Better cold weather performance

2. better wet weather performance ( no aquaplaning an sliding, braking etc )

3.Better snow and ice performance. IMO its a small amount of money to spend for alot of safety.

 

Most people saying just drive to the conditions live where the weather is mild all year round. Winter tyres are the LAW in countries for a reason.

 

What he said!

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if you can push to it, get winter tyres, if you live down south like i do where winters are never that bad, its just a case of driving to the condition, and if the condiotions are too bad, don;t drive.

 

all my rear wheel drive cars have been all year round drivers. all have coped fine on summer tyres.

 

some people think the zed will implode on anything other than perfect conditions. this is not true, its a very stable platform and although its figures say high bhp its weight and presence actually help it drive like a lower powered car in bad weather. as cars go its a brilliant starter car for anyone new to RWD as its extremely responsive with good feedback. it doesn;t snatch and grab like some cars and it generally remains progressive. but with any car; you over cook it, you lose.

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Winter tyres definitely help in winter and as dblock says they handle very well through puddles but you still have to drive sensibly and to tje conditions they won't make your car bulletproof- mistakes are caused by the driver not just being ill prepared

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Most people saying just drive to the conditions live where the weather is mild all year round. Winter tyres are the LAW in countries for a reason.

But they're not over here because you don't actually NEED them. Whatever did we do in years gone by when there were no such thing as winter tyres, and tyres (and cars, for that matter) were in general much worse? Oh yeah, we drove to the conditions and survived.

 

You'll be telling me that we NEED all these stability and traction control devices in cars simply because the law says we have to have them next.

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your biggest friend will be clutch control, using the gears, and not touching the brakes. leaving big gaps between you and the car in front, and driving at a speed suitable for the conditions.

 

i may be teaching grandma to suck eggs, but its suprising the amount of people on the road who don;t know these basics.

 

the amount of times i've seen someone trying to get off a drive by sticking it in first and flooring it. all they end up doing is polishing the snow and making it worse. so much easier to stick it in 3rd and gently rock out with clutch control and the smallest amount of throttle.

 

or people anchoring on to go on to a round about only to slide like an ice skater on to the round about. when using the gears to engine brake would have done it.

 

i've even had people tailgating in heavy snow while my rear end is twitching;

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Most people saying just drive to the conditions live where the weather is mild all year round. Winter tyres are the LAW in countries for a reason.

But they're not over here because you don't actually NEED them. Whatever did we do in years gone by when there were no such thing as winter tyres, and tyres (and cars, for that matter) were in general much worse? Oh yeah, we drove to the conditions and survived.

 

You'll be telling me that we NEED all these stability and traction control devices in cars simply because the law says we have to have them next.

 

I think the point he was making is that winter tyres are proven to make a big difference to cars- many people still believe they are a con and don't make any difference at all

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All depends how much you HAVE to use the Zed, I'm coming up to my 4th winter with mine, never had winter tyres and always driven through the winter with no problems. If it is heavy snow and I don't have to use the Zed I don't no point risking some other tool sliding into me is there :shrug:

 

At the end if the day you can have winter tyres, snow sock even chains on but if some idiot is out of control you will still have no chance of getting out of the way :surrender:

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Never got winter tyres last year and was fine, if it snowed or the weather was really bad I simply didn't drive at all, just common sense really (although a wise man once said "common sense isn't common"). If anything you should be looking at getting a decent level of protection on your alloys, the grit and salt will munch its way through your wheels if its left to its own devices otherwise and leave you with a hefty refurbing bill a few months later.

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I think the point he was making is that winter tyres are proven to make a big difference to cars- many people still believe they are a con and don't make any difference at all

Fair enough, if that's how it was meant that I agree 100%. On the other hand, you can end up with how most people in a 4x4 drive when the conditions are awful, which is thinking that they're god and invincible. Sometimes, ye just cannae break the laws of physics! :lol:

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Had mine out in 0C and it was fine, just be careful not to gun round corners or you'll see your a*se waving at you through the side window :lol:. Mines is gonna run on the Falken 452's all winter and it'll only be parked when its decent snowing. Light snow, slush?...hell I'll give it a go lol

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Most people saying just drive to the conditions live where the weather is mild all year round. Winter tyres are the LAW in countries for a reason.

But they're not over here because you don't actually NEED them. Whatever did we do in years gone by when there were no such thing as winter tyres, and tyres (and cars, for that matter) were in general much worse? Oh yeah, we drove to the conditions and survived.

 

You'll be telling me that we NEED all these stability and traction control devices in cars simply because the law says we have to have them next.

 

Firstly Scotland is colder than south of England. It gets very cold here quite frequently. It's been icy 2 days this week already. I NEED them. 2 years ago range rovers, xc90's etc etc where getting stuck. -10c was average temps at night. If I didn't have winter tyres I wouldn't have got paid and my bills wouldn't have been paid.

 

You don't NEED same tyres on the front and back but you agree it's safer. When it snowed on in March this year I has my summers back on. I didn't crash but it took me 3.5 hours to do 60milss. It was butt clenching and and the tyres where having a hard time. If I had winter tyres it would have been no biggy.

 

If you don't live somewhere cold and you haven't tried winter tyres maybe you shouldnt dish out advice on them.

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