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I was wishing for run-flats when I hit a pothole leaving me stranded on a blind bend on a country line.
You can still move your car out of immediate danger on a normal flat. Unless it's completely shredded I suppose, but tbh I think I'd sacrifice a rim to not die.
There is chain through my spare (in the back) and acts as a sort of anchor which I chain the bikes too!
Thanks for the thoughts on run-flats.
I've checked with her and she does have one of the sealant kit things in the boot.
With regard to a spare, the boots is always full with a pram and her work boots, PPE etc
In reality I dont see her trying to change a wheel anyway so probably not that concerned about run-flat or not now.
Thanks
The newer collapsible spares are quite interesting too for this. But neither of my cars have spares (one never had room, the other has an lpg tank), tbh flats are just rare now with modern tyres especially if you keep on top of wear etc, so I'm happy to maybe goop it and then otherwise breakdown it.
(or one time, walk home and get another wheel)
Aside; I checked the manufacture dates on my winters thinking they're getting a bit old now and the pair that I'm about to replace are almost 10 years! That crept up on me, super easy thing to stay on top of but you have to actually do it, "once a year" checks are some of the easiest things to overlook though. Can't even guess how often I've checked tread depth, condition,looked for cracks, checked pressures etc and missed that.
With regard to a spare, the boots is always full with a pram and her work boots, PPE etc
Most cars, unless hybrid, have space under the boot floor. What model car?
Kiss of death this thread. I just went to run an errand in my Wife's car and the local lane has one of those longitudinal cracks dropping away on one side. Caught the inside wall of a very recent Bridgestone Turanza literally just driving along... Fkcu! That's £100 and bike ride disrupting buggeration tomorrow getting it fixed. Grrrrrrr...
Oh and the piddly little electric pump wouldn't touch it. I got home whipped the wheel off and the compressor did the rest revealing a GASH so not all bad...
Last time I carried a spare it was nicked 🙁
Edit: spare worth nicking, I've learned to keep a just legal one if ever I carry one, and the phone number of the insurance/recovery.
Yeah I tried the AA. They'd take me to the dealer (closed) or the tyre place (closed) or home which is where I was calling from... Hmmm...
Interesting Matt…I’ll have a look this morning - it’s a BMW 2 series hatchback
I checked the manufacture dates on my winters thinking they’re getting a bit old now and the pair that I’m about to replace are almost 10 years!
That may not matter. The 7-year rule of thumb applies to tyres that are out in the sunshine and ozone all year round. If your winters are kept in a garage for 9 months of the year they will last much much longer. However you do need to fit them - I once went several winters without fitting mine and they went sort of oily; when I fitted them they had terrible traction for a few journeys. After that they were fine. It's something to do with the flexing of the rubber and the oils within it - sounds weird but seems borne out by experience.
Yeah, it's just one of a bunch of factors- the tyres actually seem fine, no cracking at all and they were working fine as of last winter. But luckily they're also getting low on tread for winters, so I don't need to find out 🙂
It is worth checking the sealant, some of them turn solid after few years and that’s not nice when you need it.
I have tried to use the pump and sealant for 6mm hole caused by 6mm bolt on a piece of flatbar and not a slightest chance of sealing the tyre. Since then I have added car-sized anchovies but I believe plug type things might work better.
I fitted Michelin Crossclimate2s all round on my AWD Kuga earlier this year. By going to a 97 load rating (what the car is rated to have) rather than the previous 101 'XL' tyres, it's definitely improved the noise level and removed some of the previous harshness coming from the tyres.
In the snow last week... they were absolutely night and day different to anything I've ever had before. For the 1st time in over a quarter of a century, I was able to comfortably drive up and down my snow-and-ice-bound driveway - several times, even when the snow compacted to ice (our road is on a un-gritted route and goes uphill, then my driveway goes uphill too). Absolutely zero drama. I'm a convert !
I've got full winters for the winter, summers for summer but have previously used CC's as a 'summer tyre' as summer weather in Norway in the hills can be many things...
Just been given a set of Blizzak winter tyres from a colleague at work after he changed his car. Less than 3000 miles on them. Will be fitted towards the end of the week, so if you're expecting snow this winter, you have between now and Friday.
I’ve said it before , they are compromised for UK .
Our climate is increasingly wet and cool (not cold) for most of the UK a summer rain tyre would be best
i watched a good vid recently and the all season tyres handled not as good, it stopped as quick as a decent summer tyre in normal uk conditions
will post the vid if I find it
, they are compromised for
UKsouthern england
but are much better at the extreme where there is no traction - and can be curtailed in the heat by not driving like a tit
The only real downside for me is I notice a reduction in fuel ecconomy.
That's interesting. What tyres are you using?
I found an increase in fuel economy with Michelin Crossclimates.
FunkyDunc
Free MemberOur climate is increasingly wet and cool (not cold) for most of the UK a summer rain tyre would be best
But what exactly is a "summer rain tyre"? Pretty much the only thing that's really promoted that way is the Rainsport but tbf they're just not all that good and in most tests perform worse than outright sport tyres like my pilotsports and ecstas even in the wet. Most modern summer uhps are really good at wet (but also mostly relatively bad at low temps and absolutely ****ing useless at snow).
And the other thing is, even in testing you don't see big differences in wet performance til you go to extremes- like, the test winning allseason in tyrereviews aquaplanes in standing water at 79km/h and the worst performing at 75.7km/h (and their reference summer tyre at 76.5) and the answer to all of those isn't "this one is 3 better", it's why are you driving through standing water at 75km/h. And the top 10 wet stoppers cover all sorts of tyre and there's only a few percent in it.
And tbf even though my pilotsports and ecstas are up there in that top 10, I'd definitely rather be on the allseasons (they haven't tested the allseasons, I don't know if they'd test out as high but in the real world they work better in wet and manky conditions, even when the temp's relatively high)
Main thing for me is that sure an allseason will perform worse in good conditions. But that's when everything's easiest and you're least likely to have an incident. Meanwhile a summer tyre will perform worse in bad conditions, when you're more likely to have a problem. And also when it's more likely to be dark, more likely to be filthy. And even though snow is rare most people will sometimes drive in conditions where an allseason is better than a summer, and when they do, that's exactly where you want the help.
I had the uniroyal rainsport tyres and they were indeed phenomenal in wet and rainy conditions. Truly, you had as much confidence in the grip as if it were dry. However this was to the detriment of warm weather emergency braking and - crucially - longevity. I don’t believe they lasted more than 10k miles (on a mid sized family hatchback). They must be a very soft compound to give that much wet grip, thus poor braking in the warm and fast wear rate.
Cross climates are the only tyre anyone should buy for the UK (where possible by specification), unless you choose to do summer / winter combo and swap which of course would be ultimately preferable
Cross climates are the only tyre anyone should buy for the UK
Since you don't sound like a rabid Michelin fanboy I'll certainly be taking your word for it.
In truth there are three all seasons that are head and shoulders above the others.
Vredestene quatrac4s - I got 20k out my last set of fronts. Left on year round.
Goodyear vector 2
The aforementioned Michelin's .
so I’m happy to maybe goop it and then otherwise breakdown it.
check the small print - some breakdown companies won’t come out if you don’t have a spare
some breakdown companies won’t come out if you don’t have a spare
That doesn't sound like a very good breakdown company.
I would have thought these days that anyone who lives south of Glasgow would be better investing in rain tyres rather than tyres rated <7 degrees…. unless we have a sudden reversal of global warming.
I live in the Highlands and spend a lot of my weekends actively seeking out snow. Even at that I reckon there are less than 10 days a year where a regular tyre wouldn't cut it.
Even at that I reckon there are less than 10 days a year where a regular tyre wouldn’t cut it.
There are only about 40 days a year in the highlands where a winter/low temperature tyre would even be measurably better.
The only problem is most people don't find the threshold until they are either stuck in a ditch, or the back of the car in front of them.
some breakdown companies won’t come out if you don’t have a spare
My last company took all the spare tyres out of the company cars after someone was killed changing a tyre at the side of the road while on company business... So the breakdown company had to go out to everyone.
My current car doesn't even have room for a spare. The last one just didn't have one, not supplied in this market.
There are only about 40 days a year in the highlands where a winter/low temperature tyre would even be measurably better.
We get high levels of snow here in the Durham Dales (Snowiest part of England) comparable to some of the snowier bits of Scotland on a good year, but of course getting less and less each year. I would still not have a car without at least all seasons for the few days a year you really need them in the winter. That said, having driven in the south for 20 years, I can remember only 1 day the whole time where I needed to use the snow socks to boost the grip of my summer tyres (on the RWD 2 seat sports car I had with stupid wide low profile tyres at the time), which seems like a far better compromise for most peoples needs. Relatively inexpensive, extremely effective way to get you home if you need to.
My pennyworth; 100% of drivers are better off with correctly sized & rated tyres that are at the correct pressure(s) and with plenty of tread.
And if you don't feel safe to drive in the conditions, don't.
For me, I live in rural Scotland where only the main roads are gritted and our house is on a hilly single-track road; consequentially I choose to swap between summers & winters as the seasons change.
I could just run all-seasons as my OH does, but I'd rather not compromise.
There are only about 40 days a year in the highlands where a winter/low temperature tyre would even be measurably better.
there are more than 40 days under 7c .
There are Considerably more than 40 days under 7c when you consider majority of journey times.
essentially there are more times when all seasons are appropriate than there are days when they are not appropriate.
for the 10 warm wet days where braking is extended ever so slightly - ill take the trade off.
When I moved to Aviemore and was commuting over the Slochd every day, I actually paid some attention to temperatures so that I could work out which months were best for swapping the winter tyres in and off. Only in July and August did I have zero days where I didn't see less than 7C on the car thermometer. Of course, this isn't taking into account the difference between air temperature and road temperature, but I wasn't thinking of getting out and measuring the tarmac n the A9 🙂
Anyway, the conclusion I reached was that it made more sense just to run 4 season tyres and live with whatever small impact that made to my "summer" driving.
Yes, I appreciate that not everyone in the UK has the same climate.
there are more than 40 days under 7c
Yes, but that's not what i said. There's an overlap. It's not a magic line where normal tyres turn to plastic and provide zero grip.
Also, another issue is the 100-120 mornings a year where you commute *to* work at or below 7, aren't mirrored by the 40-60 afternoons a year where the temperature is still that low.
Nobody’s imagining anything. You’ve put the worst of your tires on the back. Your rear tires are 2.5 years old and 1/3rd worn. They have degraded from their new as tested performance. honestly.
I don’t really care about your tires But your language of trying to justify your position by suggesting the intimating of your tires degrading over time is shocking news is funny.
Sorry, but exactly how much degradation will take place on a pair of tyres that, and I’m trying to remember when I had them fitted, but thinking back probably eighteen months, before I had them swapped to the rear wheels, replacing a pair of OEM Goodyear tyres that were over four years old, with cracking inner sidewalls? They were perfectly good enough to stay on the front until they wore out, probably in another three years with my current mileage, but as one had a puncture, it seemed sensible to swap them to the rear, where they’re going to wear less, and have a new pair of Conti CC’s on the front.
Considering how wet it’s getting, and the likelihood of significant snowfall in the SW is dropping to near zero, with a front wheel drive car, I’d rather have the (slightly) better grip where it’s supposed to be, through the driving wheels.
As I passed my test in 1977, and having had one accident where someone cut in front of me on a roundabout exit and damaged my car in 46 years of driving, including two where I covered roughly 1500 miles a week, I consider myself to be a fairly competent driver, and I really don’t give a shit what you think.
Oh, and just to add, considering the weather and road conditions around here a week ago, it’s more relevant whether a vehicle is amphibious than how good it’s tyres are on a damp road…
That was the town centre…
So I finally got to really test the Goodyear Vector gen3s in allsorts of absolutely orrible conditions over the last week and tbf they are way better than I'd anticipated even in real "winter tyre" territory. I wasn't totally sure I'd made the right call switching from winters to allseasons (I'm basically trading performance on the worst days against performance on the better days, which goes against what I'd normally do- I wasn't happy with this compromise back with the OG crossclimates) but in the end thought it worth a try especially since quality winters were way more expensive. TLDR, very happy.
This is on an 04 Subaru legacy, so it has good awd but no traction control or driver aids other than basic ABS, and a little bit more engine than is really helpful. Previous tyres were some old Dunlop Wintersport 4Ds, in summer it runs on Pilotsport 4s. 225/45/17.
Fresh snow, very good, but fresh snow is easy tbh. Found some drifts and it'll keep going til it runs out of ground clearance and digs the bumper in (which admittedly is quite early in this car, I have sabotaged it). As good as I need them to be ever, I think. Hard compacted road snow, almost indistinguishable from the winters, you do feel them working a bit more through the wheel, they lack the effortlessness but then I don't think that's entirely bad!
Bad ice, very impressed, this is where I expected them to fall down more. Passed the "get out of car and fall on arse because you didn't even realise how icy it was" test with flying colours. Got up and down a scary slidy hill with only a little fuss then pulled a car out of the ditch halfway up (despite still being on the ice) Found a car park to play in, and inevitably they don't hold on as long as the full winters but they do have lovely manners, rather than full on/off, and TONS of feedback. Wet snow is where they're worst, I think just because they lack the big tread and blocks that the winters had, here they're only maybe 75% as good as the winters were when new.
I think the difference in performance between these and the winters, while real, more or less translates into "drive a bit more carefully and slowly" rather than "crash on these, don't crash on those". And they're closer, most of the time, to the winters than I'd expected. Needless to say much better when it's warmer and drier. Definitely less good in mud though which might be a consideration for a mountain biking car! But you won't be the first person to get stuck in the race car park field. There's still a lot of people online, especially in the states, that say "the best allseason is still better than the worst winter" and it's utter horseshit tbf. Only remains to be seen how the're doing in 5 years.
Oh yeah I rounded out the testing by trying to take my mx5 out for a skid, and not being able to get it off the driveway 🙂 Pilotsports ftw, when the job is to stop you going and doing something daft when you have a perfectly good subaru.
So yeah. Within the limits of this car I don't think I'm going to regret it, maybe if I had the clearance and the need I'd find them lacking on deep snow? Otherwise extremely pleased. And while these review well they aren't even test winners these days, I chose them because they were only like 2/3d the price of the new Pirellis, I paid £344 fitted for 4. So I'll make that a bit of general flagwaving for allseasons in general.
I have run Goodyear Vectors on my last 2 cars. Perfectly happy in various winter conditions. Good mpg, quiet, long lasting. Almost all the time summer tyres would be fine. But for a week or so a year they either make a journey possible or far more relaxing.
For the extra cost of around £40 a tyre well worth it. I will never buy summer tyres again. My current car was bought new and I went for all seasons as a £150 option. They were some version of Contis I think. OK buy not as good as the Vectors in snow and I relaced them with Vectors after I wore them out.
I'm not sure where I'll end up, it'll take me a couple of years to burn up its summer tyres so that's a decision for the future... I think in a weird twist I may end up on allseasons all year, and instead of summer tyres just have trackday tyres! For sure the vectors can do everything I ask of the car on the road all year round, and even uhp summer tyres can't do everything I want on track without destroying themselves so maybe this is my new "2 sets of tyres" normal.
Re summer tyres it depends so much on what they are. This same car on its old Eagles that it came on and on its pilotsports was just disastrous in snow, great tyres both but so many modern summer uhps amount to "3 slicks in a row" with barely any crosstread, they just can't do it- they can hold a corner a bit but not stop or go. Rubbish in mud too. But you feel like an extra massive bellend for getting stuck in snow in a subaru.
Most cars, unless hybrid, have space under the boot floor. What model car?
You might be surprised how many don’t; or at least nowhere near enough to take any kind of spare wheel. My Ford certainly doesn’t. When the boot board is lifted out, there’s useful extra space for luggage, but I doubt very much that a space-saver would fit. The car comes with a compressor, and a bottle of goo, but I’d rather call out a breakdown and have them sort it, than see a couple of hundred quids worth of tyre scrapped because I used sealant.
EcoSport was never designed for a spare inside. External Spare tire carrier was an optional extra on an EcoSport.
have run Goodyear Vectors on my last 2 cars. Perfectly happy in various winter conditions. Good mpg, quiet, long lasting. Almost all the time summer tyres would be fine.
I've just put these on our little runabout and they've been great so far. The combo of reviews and price were great but the lifespan rating is what really sold it for me. I hope they last that well. They're much quieter than the kuhmo summers the previous owner fitted, better in the wet for sure, probably the same summer performance.
Proper test yesterday in the snow and they were a flippin' brilliant. Easily as good on the snow as the full winters I've had before.
This is the second winter on CCs, flipping heck this last week has reminded me how good they are. Deep snow, refrozen snow and today thick bullet proof ice on a steep hill. All no problem whatsoever.
I have a tyre well for an emergency wheel but the car only came with goop. I bought a full size spare, it fits in just but I've lost a bit of boot space. Annoying but you barely notice.
So many good tyres about now
What a time to be alive!!
Is that a thing, then ?
If it's latex free sealant then no. But if it's the luminous coloured gloop you get with most OEM spare kits then yes it will write a punctured tire off.
I wouldn't be without at least a space saver ever. Only thing car sealants ever worked for me with is dodgy valves. Any car stopping punctures I've ever been around when sealants been involved has just lead to sealant coming out the hole and making a mess.
Don't get me wrong, I've put a spare in every car I've owned and will continue to do so but I'm struggling to believe that this stuff (esp OEM) can write of a tyre rather than just the same concerns that any episode of rolling to a halt on a flat might raise. What does it do ??
I went out to my car to find flat tyre this morning. I grovelled about in the snow and swapped to the (non all season) spare, and found a screw right through the shoulder of the punctured tyre. No way reparable. I have managed to find a part-worn tyre that is an exact match with an identical level of wear for £55, and will have this fitted when it arrives.
My all-seasons coped no problem with a snowy Alps trip, although I had chains in-case. I have never had to use chains with full winters, and to date, I haven't had to use them with all-seasons.
I did try to access the upper carpark (Labeled Reserve 4x4 et Vehicules Equipe) at the Ecudets Chair at La Rosiere, after 20cm+ of snow, and didn't make it up the ramp. That was from standing start immediately at the bottom of the ramp, so more user error. The car was fully laden with everything for a week holiday too. Maybe reversing up might have worked? I was certainly able to reverse back down safely from my failed attempt.
I’m struggling to believe that this stuff (esp OEM) can write of a tyre
Sealant is temporary you must get the tire repaired. ~100miles or so.
Repairing involves cleaning and use of adhesives.
Only your tires now contaminated with an adhesive that doesn't want to be cleaned off.
Most of not all garages will refuse to repair if they see sealant has been used.
Voila written off tire.
From kwik fit, but son suffered this fate of no one would repair
I do it when the tyre is getting near end of life. Holts Tyre Saver will seal slow punctures (likely a shot valve) for a surprising length of time.
But yes, sealant is a nightmare to remove as anyone that's ever tried to clean out a tyre will know.
I grovelled about in the snow and swapped to the (non all season) spare, and found a screw right through the shoulder of the punctured tyre. No way reparable.
Not true, it's just most tyre fitters aren't qualified to do it. If you can find somewhere that can do it it might be do-able, usually places that deal with HGVs, tractors and the like.
I did think about firing some anchovies lubed up with vulcanising solution into the hole, letting it cure, then trimming off the excess, but would I be confident to drive at motorway speeds with the kids in the car...?
Thing is, if a repair fails you initially get pretty much the same puncture back, the patch isn't made of semtex. The patching/reaming process causes just a tiny amount of extra damage and any repairable tyre is always in the "small hole" category anyway.
On the other hand, any puncture can escalate. And that gets you into pretty much unknowables- how likely is the repair to fail? I've heard a lot of good recommendations of the "repair screw" types but never used em. Much easier if you could just get inside it and fit a mushroom, I trust a mushroom repair as much as I trust the tyre itself but that leads back to "needing a pro" and that takes it out of your hands a bit. Or knowing a convenient local drifter with all the kit can be handy 😉
Intrusive thoughts like that are why not just anyone can repair shoulder punctures.
Never really tested the Cross Climates on my wife's car much in the last two years but they are sure footed when we do gat an occasional sprinkle of snow. However, my son was pulling people out of snow on the snake pass last night with all seasons in a rear wheel drive BMW so they do work. Pulled out a few delivery vans.
Wish we had them on my wife's car last night. She was down in Tavistock looking after her mum and taking her to respite care. The journey over Dartmoor to the A30 was apparently rather hairy although she made it OK.
Update: They actually came in handy!
My wife couldn't get up the icy hill on which we live in the FWD Hyundai, but managed in the Merc with a tiny bit of spin at the bottom. Result. Of course, if she wasn't paid by the day she'd have stayed home. Half of one tyre has probably paid for itself!