parthiban Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 No this isn't the usual should you have winter tyres question, but something a little more random! From F1, it seems that colder temps means a softer tyre compound as it's much easier to get heat into them. On that basis does that mean that winter tyres have a much softer tyre compound than summer tyres? And if so, would that mean that in the summer winter tyres probably still have better grip than summer tyres? Perhaps the tread pattern may not be best suited and they might not be as durable, but they must be a stickier tyre? Obviously I understand that F1 logic doesn't necessarily translate on to the road, but curious to know whether there is any relevance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 As I've run my winter tyres all year I can say they are better than any budget summer tyre I've used in the past. I've really used any premium summer ones so can't compare. The only time I knew I had winter tyres on was when cornering, you can feel the sidewall is very soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Yes but the soft compound means they wear very quickly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Yes but the soft compound means they wear very quickly Not that quick TBH, my brother kept his on all year as well and got 12k miles out of them, same as a summer tyre. Mine have hardly worn that much either. I suppose if we had a summer with constant temperatures of 25 degrees plus they might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 I don't think you get as good grip in the summer when it's dry. From what I recall reading somewhere and yest they will wear a bit quicker but I think you start off with 10mm and not 8mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 ive had my winters on all year and im totting up about 10k on them right now. But thats lots of non agressive driving. They are less grippy in the summer than summer tyres ive been use to but its minimal and to be fair with my current eco driving style you dont notice any loss of traction or issues braking. The benifit however is that in suddent down pours they are much better at dissapating the water than any tyre ive used before and when there were sudden frosts and hail down pours during february i was much better equiped to cope than others on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Winter tyre grip is a combination of a soft compound and flexibility of the rubber between the sipes. It's these abundant sipes that allows a better footprint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 When the sipes have worn the tyres are just like summer ones then aren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 My Pirelli Sotto Zeros are very soft in comparison to the Mitchelin Super Sports I have on the IS-F. Can hear the Sotto Zeros unstick from the garage vinyl tyres when it moves off. Don't think they'd last too long on warm summer roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 This is quite interesting, as our climate never really gets scorching hot are summer tyres ever at their optimum then? I suppose all weather tyres are the ones that sit somewhere in between, and it makes sense that the winter tyres would wear faster. Probably fine in normal use, but I guess if you drive hard in warmer temps it probably wears them very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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