MartinT 514 Report post Posted March 14, 2018 3 hours ago, Church said: MartinT: if there is no snow or temps under freezing temps expected this spring in forecast, i'd leave buying winter or all season tires to autumn. Half a year less to think where to store them and possibly half a year newer manufactured tires And also it's possible that the prices will go down if I buy in late spring/early summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdstrike 186 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 Meanwhile in the weather forecast... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinT 514 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 I'm seriously contemplating buying some tomorrow, if I can get fitting done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Church 209 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 Is it really that bad on UK side now? Always thought that you have rather mild weather, because Gulf stream and such. Even here weather starts to turn to more spring-like .. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdstrike 186 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 Our weather is mild and moist most of the time, indeed I was out cycling in a pleasant 10 degrees this week. Today it's a bit warm for winters, tomorrow it will be freezing. Occasionally the winds change and we get weather from the baltic care of Norway or the arctic. The snow falls, it lays a day or three, melts, refreezes and creates black ice everywhere. All the roads block up with people crashing, the airports and railways grind to a halt, and then everybody panic-buys food. We're really bad at handling snow! The real advantage of the winter tyres is in handling all the cold and rain from about November to March, and you get a chance of getting home if it snows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Church said: Is it really that bad on UK side now? Always thought that you have rather mild weather, because Gulf stream and such. Even here weather starts to turn to more spring-like .. No it isn't more hysteria, but it depends where you live. Winter tyres aren't worth it in the mild and wet North West of England where I live. It'll be cold for four of five days from tomorrow, but it never snows to any degree where I live. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stutopia 158 Report post Posted March 16, 2018 I lived on the coast in Blackpool for years, didn’t get what all the fuss was about, warm/salty sea air kept us snow free. Two months in Leeds and I’ve seen more snow than I did the last 10 years. I’ll be saddling up winter tyres next time, it was a total PITA getting up/down hills to major roads. Whether you put it down to carbon emissions or natural cycles, these bouts of extreme cold seem to be getting more frequent and lasting longer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinT 514 Report post Posted March 18, 2018 Well, I've been 'caught out' again (I couldn't get any tyre fitting until tomorrow). Must go stand in that corner. 1 Mike reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conscript 45 Report post Posted March 18, 2018 We had snow all day yesterday, but it didn't settle on the roads until the evening. So I popped to the shops for some doughnuts, if you catch my drift. Wink wink. 1 Mike reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Church 209 Report post Posted March 18, 2018 Funny, that even in real drift racing/competition, grip is essential. Top D1 racers run wide, low threadwear grippy half-slick tires at specific pressures for that. Even if rears are smoking, one still needs grip for control. Competitive ice/snow drifters are running on studded tires for very same reason. Without grip, not only overall speeds are much slower, but also control takes heavy hit. Yes, those that are just drift enthusiasts often intentionally reduce grip via running narrower tires or overpumping them or even induce extra instability in alignment (such as with toe-out) for less power needed, choose high threadwear tires for them to last longer (not everybody has in budget tires that can be worn down & need to be replaced after just two runs), but those that have the budget and are into high-profile competitions for results/wins do opposite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rich 378 Report post Posted March 18, 2018 On 3/16/2018 at 5:03 PM, Church said: Is it really that bad on UK side now? Always thought that you have rather mild weather, because Gulf stream and such. Even here weather starts to turn to more spring-like .. We had a couple of centimetres here in south Manchester, nothing that really affected travel, looks pretty though. It's quite late in the season for snow here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinT 514 Report post Posted March 19, 2018 Don't laugh, but after shovelling snow yesterday ready for this morning's commute, another load fell overnight! This stuff helped me just get enough traction to get off the drive and onto the lane. Useful to keep a can in the boot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
