Should I Fit Winter Tyres or All Season Tyres? Tread carefully…

Should I Fit Winter Tyres or All Season Tyres? Tread carefully…

Between 2015 – 2021 the insurance provider, USwitch found that over half of serious accidents involved a driver travelling speeds below 30mph. You cannot rely on careful driving alone to ensure your safety, you need to be prepared for any weather conditions, especially in the UK where the weather can vary so much. With the vast number of manufacturers and information available, choosing tyres can be overwhelming, there are a few factors that should help with your decision making.

Tyres are designed to be excellent in the dry and wet when the weather is warm, but as soon as the temperature drops below 7°c, so will the performance. To combat this, tread rubber compounds of winter tyres are designed to remain flexible, allowing the tyre to grip the road better. Winter tyres contain a higher proportion of natural rubber, making them softer with a higher rate of elasticity. This increases the level of grip the tyre can offer in temperatures below 7°c. Winter tyres also have a different tread pattern containing more cuts and sipes, these are designed to fill with snow, snow crystals will grip to other snow crystals and provide extra traction to give you the best possible performance on snow and ice.

An all-season tyre blends the best of both the summer and winter tyre into one package, meaning you can run it all year round. This tyre would be appropriate if you live somewhere in the country that doesn't get especially cold or see much snow and ice. You will still get good performance in the summer and when the temperature drops, the tyre has the elasticity in the rubber to provide good winter performance too.

As shown in the diagram below, all-season and winter tyres have a large impact on braking in the snow. This means there is more than performance alone that comes into the selection process.

Options will vary depending on where you are in the UK. Winter tyres are a legal requirement in many parts of Europe due to their harsh terrain and low temperatures. The UK does not consider winter tyres a legal requirement at present, however there are certain areas in the UK where they would be a wise choice.

Many areas in Kent have a harsher terrain and would justify winter tyres, such as Bilting, Elham, Alkham or West Hythe. If you are situated in one of these areas, or anywhere in the Downs then choosing summer and winter tyres may be your best option. We can swap your tyres Biannually; we can also hold on to your others until it is time to swap again. This will give you optimal performance in the warmer months, but as the temperature drops, you'll have the best tyres for those wintry conditions.

If you live in inner city areas such as Folkestone, Ashford, Maidstone, or Canterbury in less challenging terrains, you will likely not meet the harsh demands of winter tyres, therefore all-season tyres would be sufficient for your car, another benefit to fitting all-season tyres is having these fitted, cuts out the need to replace your tyres biannually and you don't have to worry about storage. This also makes all seasons a more cost-effective option as you don't need to own two pairs of tyres at a time. The counter argument to this option would be you are not getting the best performance in either winter or summer, but convenience and cost are largely favoured with this option. 

Winter tyres are a mandatory requirement for much of Europe, here in the UK the climate does not justify laws that dictate our choice of tyre. For this reason, the UK is near the bottom of the priority list when it comes to importing tyres. Only a small amount of winter tyres make it to UK shores as there is not a demand for them. This means if you are considering fitting winter tyres, you should be proactive and begin your search earlier in the year to avoid disappointment.