The first frosts of this winter experienced by many of us this month has perhaps done enough to remind us if the disruption caused by last winter’s snow.
Switching to cold weather tyres (merely calling them winter tyres doesn’t do justice to their breadth of ability) is high on the agenda of the tyre companies and fast-fit giants, even if it’s appearing much lower in the list of priorities of many fleet operators.
We’ve decided to run one of our long-term test cars on cold weather tyres to see how much of a difference it will make to safety and keeping the car running where if fitted with standard rubber, we might have considered avoiding travel by road.
The Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Titanium X Sport is fitted with 235/45 R18 ContiSportContact tyres as standard. The cold weather tyres – selected by Michelin-owned ATS Euromaster – are Michelin Pilot Alpins, although Conti alternatives would have been available.
While we would heed advice against travelling in harsh conditions, we expect to see improvements in tyre performance on cold days, particularly in wet or slippery conditions.
Cold weather tyres have a more complex tread pattern than standard rubber, and are made with a different compound that allows improved contact with road surfaces when the temperature drops to seven degrees Celsius or below.
Braking distances are reduced while traction and grip levels are improved.
The flip side of this is that effectiveness is reduced at higher temperatures. For example, a car fitted with cold weather tyres would have a slightly longer stopping distance than standard rubber on a dry road at 20 degrees Celsius.
So timing is important, and advice suggests the change should be made in October, while the switch back is best done in late-March or early April.
While an extra set isn’t free of charge, the cold weather tyres simply become one of several sets of tyres a vehicle would use during its life on the fleet.
The actual cost of the tyres should be negligible. Where leasing companies offer the service as a bolt-on to a maintenance package the cost could be up to an extra £25 a month (although where the practice is more widespread, for example in Holland, it typically costs an extra €10 (£9) a month).
The cost is for storage and fitting the tyres twice a year.
Some of this may be offset against the cost of downtime through poor weather or reduced repair costs if the company’s insurance has a high excess.
Research by ING Car Lease in Holland has shown slightly fewer accidents involving cars using cold weather tyres, but also significantly lower repair bills in the accidents as a result of reduced impact speeds.
First impressions of the tyres fitted to the Mondeo are favourable: the car delivered power much more smoothly than normal when tackling roundabouts driving through a torrential downpour.
The car also felt much more stable when ploughing through water streaming across the road, when on the standard tyres there might have been a split-second loss of steering feel as the water temporarily comes between the tyre and the road.
It will be interesting to see how they perform in proper wintry conditions though. I will be comparing experiences with other Fleet News staff to see if the Mondeo continues to work if their cars are grounded.
Edward Handley - 07/01/2011 11:19
There is nothing new about the benefits of winter tyres. In Austria, Switzerland for example it is illegal to drive on "summer" tyres from 31st October to 31st March. Everyone has two sets of tyres and if you look in an Austrian's garage you usually see a spare set of wheels/tyres. Many drivers have their summer tyres on a set of nice alloys and winter tyres on the standard wheels. Those without garages get their tyre supplier to store them and swap over at the appropriate time. If you drive in the Alps in winter you can easily spot the cars that are running on summer tyres because they are the ones struggling and sliding about on the gradients when everyone else is under control. The problem in this country is that we do not have a consistant climate. In Austria for example, it is always cold in winter and snow is a certainty so it is essential to have winter tyres where as here in the UK we can usually get away without them. That does not mean that it is safe, sensible, or cost effective, to struggle through without them! The biggest problem for many companies is the hassle of storing the spare set of wheels/tyres because tyre suppliers in the UK are not geared up to store thousands of sets of seasonal tyres - which means there is a substantial market opportunity available for the first tyre companies to come up with a comprehensive supply-store-finance package for seasonal tyres for the UK market, particularly if the trend seen over the last couple of years for harder winters is going to continue. That of course is the rub - so far no one can provide a reliable long term prediction for what the British weather is going to do!