When to swap the tyres.

C

cj_eds

Senior member
 Stirling
I've been waiting for that magic 7 degrees to appear before getting the winter tyres out. This weekend I thought it was getting close and was actually debating doing it. That was until yesterday - when I jumped in the car at midday in Edinburgh and the temperature read-out was 15 degrees!! Gorgeous sunshine, not a cloud in sight. Drove out along the M8 and before I'd finished saying those winter tyres would've melted in that temperature, the fog descends. Passing Falkirk and it was 6 degrees, fog lights on all around and 50mph at best in places. (apart from the numpties still doing 80, or the ones in grey cars with not a shred of lighting on).

Not very easy to predict when to swap the tyres when the weather is this unpredictable!
 
You don't have to wait for the ambient temp to drop below 7ºC.

The road temp might actually already be below 7ºC - even if the ambient is higher.

As long as you're not driving 8/10ths or above, then the winter tyres will be find in most weathers.
 
When the leaves start to change color is when I look to make the swap.

I may take a little heat for saying so. And I mean no insult to any one. But I think all the posts I have seen of late about the winter switch over is a little amusing. We as a group tend to drive quickly. Take our cars to track days. And buy sticky short lived summer tyres. Spend vast amounts of money on mods. Then suddenly when the weather starts to cool off. We start to nervously look out the window monitoring the thermometer while chewing on our finger nails just waiting for the temp to read 6.99deg. All in the interest of getting a few more miles from our winter tyres. Wearing out tyres is just part of the cost of doing business with a sports car. I'd much rather shorten the life of my winters. Than be caught without them when a sudden early winter storm hits. And If I wait to long. The tyre shop that stores my winters won't have an appointment available for 2-3 weeks.

Cheers
 
I totally agree with the above comments. Personnaly I fitted mine yesterday.
The German rule of thumb is October to easter, regardless.
I'm off to my wifes motherland tomorrow to test out my 149mph rated boots, weather conditions permitting.
If you do travel to Germany don't forget your winter tyre speed rating reminder sticker, it's a 5 euro fine from the ever obervant German police if not displayed inside your windscreen.
Thay are free from your local BMW steeler, well mine was. :fuelfire:
 
bigdog said:
When the leaves start to change color is when I look to make the swap.

I may take a little heat for saying so. And I mean no insult to any one. But I think all the posts I have seen of late about the winter switch over is a little amusing. We as a group tend to drive quickly. Take our cars to track days. And buy sticky short lived summer tyres. Spend vast amounts of money on mods. Then suddenly when the weather starts to cool off. We start to nervously look out the window monitoring the thermometer while chewing on our finger nails just waiting for the temp to read 6.99deg. All in the interest of getting a few more miles from our winter tyres. Wearing out tyres is just part of the cost of doing business with a sports car. I'd much rather shorten the life of my winters. Than be caught without them when a sudden early winter storm hits. And If I wait to long. The tyre shop that stores my winters won't have an appointment available for 2-3 weeks.

Cheers
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To be honest, you do speak sense :-) Now off to check thermometer :-)
 
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