Are Winter Tyres worth it?

Winter tyres are specifically designed for cold conditions with deeper grooves and narrow cuts to provide extra grip and maximise traction on the road. Made with a softer compound of rubber, the tyres disperse snow and water by allowing the rubber to flex over surfaces which improves the contact with the road.

To find out if you have winter tyres on, you can look for 2 symbols on the side of your tyres.

M+S: No, not the shop.. This is the symbol that indicates the tyres are designed for Mud + Snow. Even though this has snow in the title, these are not technically classed as full winter tyres.

Snowflake + Mountains – This is the symbol for full winter tyres and indicates that the tyres provide grip and safety on both snow and ice.

Advantages of winter tyres

• Reduces the risk of aquaplaning (gliding across the water) and improves handling on the roads due to the deeper treads dispersing water more efficiently.

• Reduces stopping distance in low temperatures. On average, it take 70 meters for you to stop on summer tyres in low temperatures, but in winter tyres this is reduced by 5 meters.

• Works most efficiently in lower temperatures which is anything below 7 degrees which in the winter in the UK is most days.

Disadvantages of winter tyres

• It’s quite costly to have both summer and winter tyres.

• It's a good investment if you live in extreme conditions due to the extra traction and grip

• You have to replace the winter tyres back to your summer tyres which, with the UK weather, you will have to do this after a short period of time.

So, are they worth it? They are a great investment to make if you like in areas of extreme weather conditions or want to have peace of mind in the winter. Generally, all-weather tyres are suitable for UK’s weather conditions, and we usually don’t have extreme conditions. However, we all know what the weather is like in the UK so we would recommend you check your tyres treads throughout the winter period to ensure you and your loved ones are safe.

If you want to speak to one of our team about winter tyres or want to get new tyres fitted for the winter period, find your nearest Chorley Group dealership where we will be happy to help.