What is the difference between Standard Tyres and Winter Tyres?

At this time of year, a lot of phone calls we are taking here at Hometyre North Cumbria are from customers asking about fitting winter tyres to their vehicles. Whether you have been recommended switching to winters by a friend or colleague, or maybe you've just been doing some reading up on-line about the benefits of winters, you may still be trying to make the decision!

Braking Distances

When you are driving at 20mph, the stopping distance of standard tyres on icy roads is approximately 68m. The same vehicle fitted with Winter tyres has a reduced stopping distance of just 57m, showing a difference of over 10m! Which could really make the difference in an accident on the roads this winter.

Something else which will greatly improve your braking distances, on both standard and winter tyres, are the tread depths of your tyres. If you have over 5mm tread in an even band around the central ¾ of the tread then your tyres will perform as originally intended, on average stopping around 10m shorter than a tyre with the minimum tread depth of 1.6mm remaining.

As well as being dangerous, having low tread can be costly! Once your tread depths are reading lower than 1.6mm within the central 75% you can be fined up to £2,500 per tyre with up to 3 points on your licence PER TYRE.

Do winter tyres give you better grip on the roads?

Yes. Once temperatures drop below 7 degrees Celsius here in the Lake District, the performance of your summer tyres is reduced. The compound of a winter tyre is designed to handle the colder temperatures and the tread grooves are wider with narrow slits at the edge, this results in better grip on snow and ice.

If you want to know more about winter tyres just give us a call on 0333 444 5454, we also have a selection of winter tyres available to order online, just pop your tyre size into the search box on the home page a filter to winter tyres using the options on the left! We provide fitting in Keswick, Penrith, Cockermouth and surrounding areas, whether you're at home, work or going to the gym! We come out to you with our fully mobile tyre fitting vans!