Winter weather is setting fast, with cold and wet conditions becoming more common. Driving in these conditions places stress on vehicles tyres. Given the recent harsh winters here and the forecast for this year, it might be wise for “professional” drivers i.e. sales reps, taxi drives and anyone who spends a lot of time driving, to give consideration to swapping their tyres now for winter tyres.

Many European drivers routinely switch to winter tyres in the colder months and in some countries it’s a legal requirement. Well many believe that there should be several millimetres of snow and slush to even consider fitting winter tyres, not so!

Driving in winter is always more demanding than at other times, whether the road is covered with snow, icy or simply wet, there is always less grip than in summer. When the temperature gets below 7 degrees C, the performance of standard tyres suffers, the air within will freeze and the rubber walls will stiffen-up.

Winter tyres have a specific profile containing many more lateral grooves designed for water removal, the winter tyre reduces the risk of aquaplaning, it has much better grip and excellent mobility due to its tread pattern which is deeper than on standard tyres. The tyre is made of a special silica rubber mix, which is specially formulated to give optimum performance in low winter temperatures and will give better braking.

Tyre Pressure: Some motorists believe that it is wise to reduce tyre pressure in snowy conditions; this is not recommended, in fact it can be dangerous.

Temperature has an effect on winter tyre pressure. The lower the temperature the lower the pressure measured. In winter the temperature is generally low, thus to compensate for the “low temperature” effect in winter and run at the correct pressure, you need to add 0.2 bar (cold) to the normal pressure (recommended by the car manual).