enter

hello..does anyone know if it's illegal to have winter tyres through summer.

jetsam1

Don't think so. We were once told that if people are doing low mileages they just stick with the winter tyres. Squeel like hell though under breaking and on low speed corners. I would say this annoyance is worth having both.

enter

Its just that I do low mileage and the tread on the winter tyres will last imo about 3/4 years.My summer tyres UK are near the limits I would prefer to run the winter tyres down and opt for summer/winter tyres when due.

Szeged

According to - https://www.hometyre.co.uk/tyre-info...re-regulations - Winter tyres: There is no mandatory legislation regarding the use of winter tyres in Hungary.

So I would assume there is no illegalness in using them in summer?....without snow chains of course

enter

Thanks both.

FenTiger

My sister in law's family have three cars. I've never seen 12 winter or summer tyres in their garage.

Peter_in_Hungary

IMO the only issue with using winter tyres in the summer is that they will wear out much quicker than summer tyres. This is due to the different rubber compound and tread pattern on winter tyres. I understand that it is the temperature in the summer that causes most of the additional wear

scrubbedexpat0105

They wear out much more quickly than summer tyres (as you would expect, since they're softer). They age more quickly than summer tyres, regardless of mileage (how they are stored is more an issue). They cease to be effective at a greater tread depth than summer tyres: the German motorists' association (ADAC) recommends replacing them when the tread depth is no more than 4 mm (although 1.6 mm is the legal minimum in Germany).

The main benefit is arguably not the snow capability, but the better grip on ice.

If you do drive on winter tyres all year, don't drive at high speed for extended periods in hot weather.

Peter_in_Hungary

Quite a few people get a spare set of rims (from breakers yards or on line) to make it easier to change winter/summer tyres. The cost is soon recouped in not having to pay for tyre swap + balancing twice a year. Don't forget that tyres should be marked at a minimum with the direction of rotation and best to mark the location so that they can be swapped to the same position.

wolfi

Peter, you're right of course - I never did otherwise and we have in our garage in Germany threesets of tyres on rims for our cars ...

If those winter tyres of "enter" are old and worn it's probably the simplest solution to use them until they're gone - and later buy either all season tyres like my brother in law who also drives just a few 1000 km per year (and never through the Alps ...) or buy new tyres and rims.

On my little Opel good tyres do almost 40 000 km - so if you do less than 5000 km a year it's age that makes them unusable!

fidobsa

I used winter tyres all last summer because the garage I asked to swap them quoted about £80 and it did not seem worth spending that much. I have since bought a spare set of wheels but with slightly higher profile tyres than standard. I will probably get a new set of summer tyres put on these spare wheels and then in future I can change them over myself. I only do about 10,000km a year but the winter tyres seem to be lasting OK and got it through the Hungarian MoT this morning.

duztee

You mean they checked them!
I'd be surprised if they did.

Peter_in_Hungary

Winter or summer rated tyres are not an MOT issue as far as I know. Having the same pattern tread on an axel however is!
But there is no requirement to check/examine the spare.

calman014

Below 7 degrees centigrade, regular (summer) tyres are ineffective and lose grip rapidly. Winter tyres have a softer compound that stays flexible at low temperatures, offering more grip. If you look at proper winter tyres they have extra slots in the blocks of rubber (sipings) that add to the flexibility.

These sipings also have a certain depth and once they start to wear the effectivity of the tyre lessens in harsh conditions.

In some countries there is a minimum treadwear limit for winter tyres also.

Around April/May is a good time to change them over. Driving on winter tyres is OK, but steering and response may be a bit "spongy" and car may not react as you expect in an emergency situation during the warmer months.