Winter Tyres - Not Just for Driving on Ice!

Brrrrrrr!!! It’s cold! And though we’d all love to stay wrapped up, warm and cosy inside, most of us have to venture out for work, school or to keep the kitchen stocked up! That means having your car ready for winter weather and being prepared for driving on ice and snow.

As well as checking your car to make sure it’s fit for winter driving, the best way to prepare your motor is to swap to winter tyres. This may seem a bit drastic and a bit of a gimmick, but winter tyres can cut your stopping distance and significantly improve your car’s handling in rain, snow and ice when compared with normal tyres.

So bear with us while we explain why you should consider fitting winter tyres to your car, even if it isn’t snowing.

Winter Tyres In Liverpool? Snow Joke!

Although we do see a little bit of Liverpool snow, our region is hardly a winter wonderland! However, driving in winter tires you out easily - deicing your car, followed by lots of concentration in the dark, often with rain or hail to cope with is hard work. So anything we can do that will help to make winter driving easier is welcome. Winter tyres aren’t just for arctic weather conditions. In fact, the AA recommends using them as soon as the weather drops below 7C. In the UK that can be as early as Oct and right through until April. That’s six or seven months of every year!

When the temperature hits 7C, normal tyres begin to stiffen, reducing their grip on the road. Winter tyres are made from slightly different material that allows them to stay the right softness, even in the coldest weather. Lots of additional grooves make winter tyres better at biting into snow or ice, providing extra grip.

All season or all weather tyres don’t do as good a job as winter tyres. They aren’t great in extremes so struggle with very hot (not likely in Liverpool!) or very cold conditions. At Christmastime in 2010, for example, when the temperature on Crosby beach reached -17.6C and the region ground to a halt, winter tyres would have helped more of us get out and about.

Stay Safer When Driving On Ice

When Tyresafe compared the stopping distances of cars travelling on wet roads with different types of tyres, the benefits of each were noticeable. At 20C it was the normal tyres that took slightly less distance to stop. At 5C, however, a car fitted with normal tyres took significantly longer to stop than a car fitted with winter tyres. When driving on ice, the distances are even further.

The best option is to use two different sets of tyres on your car and swap them when the temperatures hit 7C. The cost of winter tyres is similar to normal tyres so although you’ll make an initial outlay, switching between the two sets halfway through the year will double the lifetime of each set so you can delay replacement. And you can’t put a price on safety!  

As well as reducing wear, using the right tyres for the season instead of all weather tyres or all season tyres can also increase your car’s efficiency so you’ll be quids in all round! Tyres perform best and last longer when they are at the right pressure so don’t forget to check them regularly using a gauge at a petrol station.

Free Winter Car Kit

If the thought of driving in winter tires you out, make sure your tyres are up to the job. If you aren’t confident checking your own tyres or you’d like to get your car fitted out with winter tyres, come and see us at Motor Range.

We’re currently offering a FREE winter kit to our customers when you visit - even more reason to come and see us at our Dunnings Bridge Road, Liverpool showroom. Then rain, hail, ice or snow, you’ll feel better about driving on our winter roads.