Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardoyak
English opinions?
I would be interested to hear a winter tyre view from anyone living in England south of Birmingham.
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Sir, in answer to to your request above; please be advised that currently I am "living in England south of Birmingham". However, that has not always been the case for I have lived, worked and had to drive many types of vehicle, on and off road literally "between the Poles". I have visited both Poles and most other countries in between thanks to the generosity of the British tax payer.
To some there might be a clue about me in the login name which I use. TogMog; TOG, remember Terry Wogan and what TOG meant? MOG on the other hand is short for Morgan, the "First, the last and some say the best of the real English Sports Cars". In other words I am old but still very, very bold.........'onest!
I am old enough to remember the days when winter tyres were never even contemplated by anyone, as they were not available to us. Even those driving on snow and ice most of the time (as I have had to do) had to either use snow chains or when they became available studs. We used such narrow wheels and tyres in those days which were fitted to relatively low powered vehicles, that one had no alternative but to take eleven hours to travel from Aldershot to York in a blizzard. As a side note the car was a self built Lotus Mk5 and open topped too!,
All that said, over the years I have picked up a thing or two along the way. I like to think that everyday is a school day, also, that I am not too old to learn (I produced this message on my iPad). But most of all I do not like to see others make the same mistakes which I have made. Both on and off the race track I have learned that technology moves on, engines, chassis, transmissions, electronic systems, etc. We all know this yet there are still those who fail to acknowledge that tyre technology has also improved/evolved, whatever; therefore, when the conditions are right we ignore advances in tyre technology at our peril!
The fact remains that when the temperature drops below 7 degrees C; Winter Tyres will perform better in the vast majority of conditions, which will be experienced by the vast majority of drivers, even below Birmingham!
Why do I rant on about this subject on this site? Well, the chances are that while I am out driving during the cold weather, that some "Chelsea Tractor" driver (as you put it) will cause an accident while NOT driving on winter tyres...............and no, I do not work in the tyre industry.
All that said, I do believe that I too have a duty of care to other road users and that I should do all that is in my power to ensure that I will not cause injury to others. After all after spending upwards of £38k on an X3, the £1400 spent on winter wheels and tyres seems like 'small beer' for my piece of mind.
Do have a safe Christmas everyone.