Winter Tyres

Many people think you only need winter tyres if there is a thick blanket of snow on the ground. This is not the case, drivers will benifit from using winter tyres on ice, frost, slush and even wet roads. In fact when the temperature drops below +7 degrees centigrade you are better off on winter tyres.

Why?

Unlike summer tyres, winter tyres do not harden at lower temperatures. This means they give you much better grip on the road and the ability to stop in a shorter distance, making you much safer on the road.

The rubber compund used in winter tyres is very different to that used in summer tyres and is specifically designed to work in temperatures lower than +7 degrees centigrade. A summer tyre loses its flexability when the temperature drops making it less grippy in low temperatures. winter tyres are made from a compund containing much more natural rubber and do not harden when it’s cold. This means much more grip and in turn better safety on the road.

Summer tyres simply cannot compete with the grip that winter tyres provide. At 30mph a car fitted with winter tyres can come to a standstill on a snow covered road after 35 meters – with summer tyres this increased by a further 8 meters (43 meters) that is another two car lengths!

Winter tyres have a large number of tiny lateral grooves on the tread called sipes that grip to the road by biting into snow and ice. For example a winter tyre may have 1500 sipes compared to 200 on a summer tyre. The benifit of this is increased traction and shorter stopping distances.

We recommend switching over to winter tyres from October to April in the UK.

If you buy winter tyres from us we will refit your summer tyres for FREE at the end of the winter.