What's the consensus on the factory fitted All weather Mud and Snow tyres?
I always have driven with winter tyres in my previous model RRS and had no 'uncomfortable' situations.
However the new all weather tyres on my new RRS have given me a few frights on muddy and icy Suffolk back roads!
Very noticeable increased breaking distances and that awful 'When are we going to stop?' sensation!
Perhaps I'm just going quicker in the new car and relying too much on my DYNAMICS pack!

Which size wheels do you have?

The all-weather tyres are a compromise between UK high performance tyres which start to harden at +7degC and full winter tyres for very low temperatures. Nothing grips on ice except studs. For the UK, I would have thought that the "intermediates" would be pretty serviceable but your previous experience would tend to indicate otherwise.

Personally, I find the standard fit tyres on 20 inch wheels much better than the super low profiles. Regards

Malcolm

I had a scary moment last year on 20" Pirelli Scorpion All season M&S in snow after 2 relaxed winters on 19" Goodyear Wrangler All season M&S in worse conditions

Fitted 19" Conti winter tyres this year but not had a single snow flake or icy day to test them

I am convinced smaller wheels are better in winter though  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

What tyres are fitted to your new RRS? The ones I saw recently in a dealer had Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season fitted. They looked like a reasonable compromise tyre for those not wanting dedicated winter tyres. Of course, like all compromises they won't perform as well in any one situation as a dedicated solution might. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I have the feeling too that smaller wheels are less prone to damage though, granted, the extra 1 inch side wall when you go down from 22 to 20 is not going to save you. I like some of the bigger more expensive wheel designs but I know from experience with my Evoque that they can get easily damaged when not doing very much, so I think 20" is probably good for winter tyres. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

Unfortunately as the RRS gets more refined, less noise and less vibration and more powerful assisted steering the driver is more remote from the road conditions.

Lets face it most of the time we drive too fast for the conditions and expect car technology to compensate for our own stupidity - just see how many rear end accidents happen. A RRS is a 3 tonne shed and that's an awful lot of energy and momentum you've got to loose before stopping !

The UK ( except perhaps for the north of Scotland) has a pretty temperate climate with frequent rain all-year and its only in recent years that there has been hype about 'winter' tyres just because so-called normal tyres go hard at 7 degrees (remember this is road surface temperature not ambient air temp. which is less often)

The reality is that a 'normal' tyre doesn't suddenly become hard and rigid at the magical 7 degrees, its a very gradual and slight stiffening of the rubber. After a few miles the 3 tonnes of your RRS will mean the side walls of your tyre will be much warmer than the ambient temperature - as you know from checking their pressure ! Remember this is a case of averages because, in fact, in summer the pressure of your normal tyre will be significantly higher because of the high ambient temps; meaning the same tyre in winter will be 'softer' because its cooler.

Of more significance is that the typical 'summer' tyre is usually devoid of the cross-tread channels found in M&S and winter versions. Of course this means on dry roads the (often wider) 'summer' tyre can sustain higher slip angles and thus we can drive around corners faster and brake slightly quicker. However, in today's traffic if you need the ultimate performance from your tyre then you are travelling too fast for the conditions and frequently on a wet road.

If you want winter tyres that's fine but if you care that much for tyre performance you need to change to the slick tread, quieter summer tyres when the average temperature goes above about 9degrees. And, by the way, the winter tyres really should be on narrow rims not 'wide' low profile. The wide summer tyres are also more likely to aquaplane in rain at any time.

Personally I can't be bother - I'd rather have the better all-year rain and moderate off-road performance of the M&S tyre and, on the very odd occasion that there is very cold road temperatures or ice, I'll drive a bit slower.

So, in fact, you can do whatever makes you happy because, road surfaces differ, roads have adverse cambers, no two corners are the same, trucks spill diesel, it rains, it snows sometimes we get sunshine, shock absorbers deteriorate, tyres pressures aren't checked with certified gauges, tread depth varies, there are other idiots on the road etc. etc. - its the way you drive that will make the biggest difference cause that's about the only real thing you can control.

^^^^ What he says. Well summed up Dr.

Had a look at some tyre dealer advice web pages and was pleased to see that apparently in Austria tyres marked with M and S are acceptable to use thru winter.
That means that the Pirelli Verdes 21s all seasons fitted as standard by LR can be driven to the slopes without any legal worries - although I wonder what the insurers would say if an accident were to happen?
However our muddy Suffolk roads are pretty tricky especially after sugar beet harvest - so for me the outlay for a set of alloys and 4 winter tyres is probably a good move. And I will drive slower!

I have had Scorpion M&S tyres on a couple of RRSs; they were horrid in anything under about 10 degrees and not that good in heavy rain. The dealer also thought they were crap, but fitted by LR as they were relatively cheap and OK for general use in the dry (plus the "Scorpion" name has some macho zing). Switched to Vredsteins in each case and whilst there is a little more noise they give a great deal more confidence.

I am no fan of pirelli tyres as soon as they wear out I will change. I have found on previous cars that winter tyres can make a significant difference to handling and stopping in bad weather. Perhaps the brakes need upgrading also.

I think it's all been summed up above quite frankly and the All Weather tyre is a small step up but not as good as changing back and forth where possible.

I would like to add that even through the very mild winter we are almost out of many have benefited from a winter tyre even down here in balmy Surrey, we have found the Vredestein Wintrac tyres we sell gets great feedback from our customers and they don't find any great negatives through the rest of the year for the users who decide to run them all year.

There are many choices available for you to choose from and at the end of the day it's your choice on what tyres you fit on your 4x4.

Most times in the south of the country a good AT tyre does the job but as AT tyres are only made up to 20" and not all the sizes it can be a pain finding the right tyres especially the late vehicles on 21" and 22" wheels.

I still say "I would rather drive on winter tyres in the summer than summer tyres in the winter" but if you can swap when needed and most important of all is drive to the conditions of the road.

I personally am not in favour of huge wheels with ultra low profile tyres and with the pot hole situation getting worse the vast majority of my customers agree, lots wanting to move back to 20" from 22". Please call us 01737 241370 for the quickest response

www.ajstyres.co.uk

Just had a few very nice sets of 20" and 21" Genuine wheels and tyres into stock with Pirelli Verde All Season tyres fitted.  Please call us 01737 241370 for the quickest response

www.ajstyres.co.uk