Hi,
there have been a few posts recently regarding the benefits of "True Winter" tyres

Sadly a member over on D3 has just been involved in a bump, no one hurt but some paint required

For icy conditions as in his pic, the more "edges" you have across the tyre the more grip you have, each edge is trying to grip the surface.

The Defender has worn Mud terrain tyres on, which gives you about 4 edges (4 blocks of solid tread) and as well worn,
no doubt the edges are rounded off as well
It slid into the Discovery which had stopped and reversed to the side

The Discovery has AT3's All terrain tyres which look like they have 3 "edges" in each block of tread plus the leading edge of each block (5 blocks) so giving you more like
20 edges all trying to grip the surface = more grip,
he had managed to stop and reverse to the side

Then you get True Winter tyres these have a different compound (silica) as well the "Sipes" or "Edges" in each block of tread that is designed to give you even more grip as the temp lowers below 7 degrees
= even more grip

Its the slowing not the going that counts and when cold and icy Winters Work.



 Porsche Cayenne 2022
gone Porsche Cayenne 2020
gone Corris Grey HSE Dynamic 2016
gone Ipanema HSE lux 2010
gone Rimini HSE 2005
!!

A winter tyre will give more grip in snow/ice than a premium summer tyre

I was never convinced about the benefits of proper winter tyres, until I actually tried them myself. Now, I wouldn't have anything else

Well worth watching. 4wd isn't all it's cracked up to be

Very informative. I remember some 3 years ago with a bit of snow a driver was trying to go up the slight incline at the end of our drive in a X5 with all 4 wheels spinning going nowhere, reving the nuts of of it

Steve. 2006 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Cairns Blue.

Disco_Mikey wrote:

A winter tyre will give more grip in snow/ice than a premium summer tyre

I was never convinced about the benefits of proper winter tyres, until I actually tried them myself. Now, I wouldn't have anything else

Until you have actually used a set of winter tyres in Ice/Snow conditions, you cannot appreciate the difference they make

+1 DM. For me it was the other way round. I had only ever driven my RRSs on snow and ice with winter tyres on. Today even we found ourselves privileged enough to get a good few centimetres of snow. Enough to cause chaos on the roads. I have my Pirelli Verde All Seasons on the current car. As soon as I tried something silly like turning at speed or braking hard, I could tell the difference between what I experienced today and what it used to be like with winter tyres! I did it on purpose when there were no other cars nearby as I’ve waited 2 years to try M+S all season tyres in these conditions. Skidding and sliding was so easy which I struggled to “achieve” when on winter tyres. The way you can quickly get control back in these cars after a nervous moment is commendable though. Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

Disco_Mikey wrote:

Well worth watching. 4wd isn't all it's cracked up to be

 Steve.

Its all relative to what you use your vehicle for, my Rangie isnt going anywhere offroad with winters on as they clog up offroad so not much use to me!

My aggressive AT Duratracs have done just fine in the Alps skiing for the last 2 years, they have winter sipes and do great, in contrast i used Wintrac 4 winter tyres before that and noticed no difference between those and the Duratrac which have fantastic ratings in places with proper snow and ice instead of our little flutter.

Most of the time it is about adapting to the conditions and using the terrain response and other driver aids to make the car work for you. 2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Went out on my AT3s today. Did pretty well. They're winter rated (mountain snowflake symbol). Braking would get some ABS action and a heavy right foot would get plenty of wheel spin if required. Much the same as the Wintracs I'd used a few years ago although braking was probably slightly better with those.

Use of appropriate TR, HDC and low range as required saw easy progress. Speed kept low, plenty of anticipation, let the tyres and computers do their thing. No problems but one could just as easily stick it in a hedge. Indeed, winter driving is much like off road driving - as slow as possible, as fast as necessary.

In the afternoon, SWMBO drove to the next village to pick up a friend. She drove and I rode shotgun as I'd been to the pub at lunchtime... . Made sure she kept it all nice and slow etc and she enjoyed it. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed