Bargain tyres - I've been testing now (for many years)

[Dashers]

Thanks for the reviews.

I'm on my second set of PS4, and have been really happy with them. Used to run Eagle F1s before, haven't tried the latest incarnation of those yet. I wince at the price each time I change (all four at a time on 9J wheels), but IMO it's the one of the most important things to invest in: doesn't matter how good your brakes are if the rubber connecting your vehicle to the road isn't optimal.

I also run winter wheels when the temperature dips to be consistently below 7°C. But I think I invested poorly. I went for slightly skinnier wheels and proper snow tyres, which is fantastic on the two days it snows, but not so good for the cold dry days which we often see in the UK. I wish now I'd gone for a wider wheel and CrossClimates for winter. Still, probably in five years or so when the rubber perishes on the winter wheels, I might switch!

[Zak33]

the narrowness isn't the problem... narrow tyres have as much grip as wider tyres in the dry and more in the wet.

it's the compound and the tread pattern that's not so good in regular winter.

I drive all seasons all year round now.. never swap. Have done for years.

[kalniel]

narrow tyres have as much grip as wider tyres in the dry

I'm not sure that's true.

and more in the wet.

Depends.

While the total force into the road is no different (and thus, spread over a larger area with a wider tyre), the adhesion is higher - you are forming more bonds between the tyre and the road. So in the dry, wider tyres do have more grip. In the wet that's also true, so long as you can disperse (mechanically or chemically) the water preventing the tyre from adhering, it's just that with a wider tyre you have to disperse more, so if you fail to do that then you reduce adhesion.

Where you have a lot of water/snow/mud then a narrow tyre can cut through to the road underneath more easily.

it's the compound and the tread pattern that's not so good in regular winter.

I drive all seasons all year round now.. never swap. Have done for years.

[Butcher]

While the total force into the road is no different (and thus, spread over a larger area with a wider tyre), the adhesion is higher - you are forming more bonds between the tyre and the road. So in the dry, wider tyres do have more grip. In the wet that's also true, so long as you can disperse (mechanically or chemically) the water preventing the tyre from adhering, it's just that with a wider tyre you have to disperse more, so if you fail to do that then you reduce adhesion.

Where you have a lot of water/snow/mud then a narrow tyre can cut through to the road underneath more easily.

Exactly. The normal argument runs that narrower tyres have a higher pressure exerted which counteracts the smaller contact patch. But it doesn't as tyre grip is non linear - it scales faster with increasing contact area than with pressure. Hence wide tyres have more grip than narrow.