Winter tyres: believe the hype – Fleet Voice
Thursday 13 October 2011. Fleet Voice Column.
As weather forecasters fix their chilly grins and predict another ice age for this winter, the idea of winter tyres will be crossing many a company driver’s mind.
The problem is, how do you know they’ll be any good or make a difference until it’s too late and, crunch, you’re stuck or involved in an accident?
Luckily, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) decided to put on just such a display, comparing summer and winter tyres. Using a variety of different vehicles in a variety of low-grip driving situations, the benefits of winter tyres in slippery conditions became starkly obvious.
Trying to ascend an icy hill in a Toyota Yaris should be something most competent drivers can achieve with some thought and skill. However, the last couple of winters in the UK have shown this is exactly the kind of manoeuvre many drivers struggle with.
The Yaris’ relatively light weight and narrow tyres help it scamper up the first section of track, but at the point where most drivers want to apply more power, the Yaris’ front wheels spin and traction is lost. Ice hill – 1, summer tyres – 0.
Swap the tyres on the Yaris for winter items and the same ice hill is a breeze, regardless of the temperature. The difference in traction, both when setting off and during the ascent, is marked by a confidence the summer tyres simply couldn’t instil.
The more telling point about this simple exercise is we didn’t think there was too much of a problem with the summer tyres to begin with. Then, we tried the winter tyres and there’s a sudden dawning of realisation that more than 98% of UK drivers are travelling in winter conditions with barely enough grip to stay on the road, never mind deal with an emergency situation.
Growing recognition
![The difference between winter and summer tyres is plain to see [click for a closer look]](http://www.fleetdirectory.co.uk/fleet-news/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image60.png "The difference between winter and summer tyres is plain to see [click for a closer look]")
Last year, only 1.2% of UK drivers chose winter tyres, and many of them were business users who know they have to keep moving regardless of what the thermometer’s mercury says. Admittedly, many of these sensible drivers are those who have been long time converts to winter tyres and live in the more inaccessible parts of the UK, but there’s a growing band of drivers who recognise the need for winter tyres.
The improved grip for driving, cornering and stopping has become more evident to a lot of drivers after the past two years’ cold snaps. As last year’s dragged on from the beginning of December through to March, the financial implications of having a second set of tyres waned.
When you gotta go, you gotta go, and you wanna get there too.
The other point to come out of the SMMT’s superbly organised demonstration day is that winter tyres are not just for winter. Yes, they work best when the temperature gauge registers 7-degrees Centigrade or below, but winter tyres are equally happy to function with no obvious differences to summer tyres at up to 20-degrees Centigrade.
Given the weather conditions in many parts of the UK, this means a winter tyre will only encounter conditions outside of its prime working envelope on a few days per year.
Even then, a winter tyre does not fall apart or stop working. All that happens is it will wear out more quickly, but we’re talking about thousands of miles rather than nipping down to the shops – winter tyre compounds are a little more durable than those used in Formula One.
With a softer compound and different tread pattern to help give better grip in snowy and low-grip conditions, a winter tyre makes a great deal of sense as the default rubber for many drivers in the UK. It begs the question of why we don’t switch to this type of tyre for most of our driving and only contemplate a summer tyre for the few months when they can give their best?
Well-equipped
Some will argue the UK doesn’t suffer sever enough weather for a mass switch to winter tyres. However, as the past two winters have proven, the UK grinds to a halt after only a few inches of snow and a hard freeze.
Fit winter tyres and this type of weather is not something to be unduly worried by. Take the usual precautions of keeping your car in good order, plus carrying a few essentials such as warm clothes, food and a shovel, and you should confidently complete every journey.
One argument against winter tyres for business drivers is the added expense of a second set of tyres and the storage of the unused summer tyres. It’s a valid point, but one some fleet managers have been willing to tackle.
Storing tyres can be achieved by doing a deal with the company’s tyre supplier or finding space in company premises.
The more pertinent question fleet managers and company owners should be considering is: can you afford not to switch your vehicles to winter tyres? The added cost of winter tyres will be absorbed over the duration of the vehicle’s life and rewarded with less wear on summer tyres.
There is also the corporate responsibility angle. In parts of the continent, all cars must be fitted with winter tyres as a matter of course. If not, the driver of that car is automatically deemed responsible for any accident.
Granted, such legal pressure does not exist in the UK, but any area where a company can reduce its risk is surely worth the effort?
Huge difference
As our day out with the SMMT more than proved on Silverstone’s various test facilities, winter tyres make a huge difference to how a car responds in poor conditions. The question we should all be asking ourselves as business drivers is not can we afford winter tyres, but can we afford to be without them?
Even as the UK enjoys the tail end of an Indian summer, the resounding answer to the above question is ‘give us winter tyres’.
However, as the Indian summer gives way to an Arctic blast, it will pay to be one of those drivers prepared for the chilly months ahead with winter tyres.
Alisdair Suttie
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