V70 tyres

[Nick]

Of course tyres do not stop working at any given temperature that we are
likely to encounter...

As per Steve Henning's comments... they may tail off in performance outside
the design
temperature range, but that's what happens in real life and tyres have been
designed to cope with.

By far a bigger issue is what if you have a crash with "proper" winter tyres
on and the speed rating is
not what is recommended by the manufacturer ! Ideal wriggle-out possibilty
for them, all because
we were "trying to be smart" and fit a "better" tyre ....

What happens if we have winter tyres on and the sun comes out - do we change
tyres and then back
again at night ?

Here in the UK, we are having -6 deg C at night and + 12 deg C in the
day...not a great temperature range
and our "all weather tyres" seem to cope admirably...

Nick

 

[Espressopithecus (Java Man)]

I strongly suggest to use specialist tyres for each season i.e. summer
and winter. All weather tyres are always a compromise. It is proven
wrong that All Weather-Tyres have the better aquaplaning-properties than
summer(regular)-tyres. And the performance during the wet and snowy
season of specialist tyres with softer rubber with a high content of
Kieselsäure (I don't know the english expression for it) is ways beyond
All Weather-Tyres. The draw back is a reduced speed rating (which is not
relly important given the speed limits).

Based on my experience, I concur.

I've been running 4 Pirelli "Ice Radials" on my 850T during winters for
several years. I bought a set of Toyo Proxes 4 (high performance all-
season) last summer partly on the strength of ownership surveys rating
them equal to the Pirelli P-Zero Nero All Season. The Toyos performed
OK during several snowfalls we've had this winter. I never got stuck,
but they were clearly limited in their ability.

I recently put the Pirelli Ice Radials back on for a ski trip. What a
difference! I noticed it as soon as I drove out of our garage onto our
snowy driveway. The rubber compound on the Ice Radials provided a major
improvement in traction on packed snow and ice. As you would expect,
the tread pattern on the Ice Radials helped immensely in the deeper snow
I encountered in the mountains approaching the ski area, but that's a
no-brainer.

As an aside, I'm fairly impressed with the performance of the Toyo
Proxes 4 during summer and fall. Traction on dry and wet roads is very
good, they track very nicely on the highway, they're quiet, and they
balanced up very well. A good tire for the money. But when the tread
on the Ice Radials reaches the recommended minimum, I'll get another set
of 4 dedicated winter tires.

Java