Changing to winter tires: an expert clears up six myths

Created: 2022-11-04 05:07

By: Peter Borchers

Drivers are about to switch to winter tires.

Susanne Friedl has over 30 years of professional experience in this business.

She clears up six myths.

Geretsried – Currently the day of Susanne Friedl and her team could have 30 hours or more.

The order book is overflowing, many drivers call to get an appointment at their tire and car service operation on Böhmerwaldstrasse.

Because winter is just around the corner, it's high time to swap summer tires for winter tires with good grip.

The phase of changing tires in autumn and spring is always a time of myth.

Our newspaper picked up some of them and gets to the bottom of them with the help of Susanne Friedl, managing director and expert with over 30 years of professional experience.

Busy time in the workshop: In Susanne Friedl's tire and car service shop in Geretsried, tires are currently being changed like on an assembly line.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

Myth no. 1: You only have to put on winter tires when it snows!

This is definitely wrong, says Friedl, because above a certain temperature of the road surface and the air - one speaks of around 7 degrees - "a summer tire glazes due to its special rubber compound designed for higher temperatures, which means it becomes hard and loses grip “.

So is the rule of thumb “Winter tires from O(ktober) to O(stern)” not a myth?

"Absolutely not," says the expert.

For example, people who are out and about by car early in the morning or late in the evening “should change in mid-October, it can be really cold then”.

A positive side effect: If you think about changing tires early on, it is easier to get a workshop appointment and - if new tires are due - you can fall back on a large range of suppliers and models.

Myth #2: Tread depth comes before tire age!

"Neither," says Friedl.

The tire expert speaks of a maximum durability of a tire "seven, eight years" - but only under optimal conditions.

If it is exposed to severe weather conditions - for example, the car or a trailer is often left in the blazing sun for a long time - its service life can be reduced.

“You know that from other things: If something is left in the sun for half a year, it fades and becomes brittle.

It's the same with tires.” And the tread depth?

According to Friedl, a summer tire with less than three millimeters and a winter tire with less than four millimeters should “no longer be fitted at all”.

The 62-year-old tells of a personal ride on a test course with different tread depths of three, six and eight millimetres.

"With three millimeters on the circular path,

the cones just flew away.

You quickly have no chance there.”

Myth no. 3: M+S tires, the letters stand for mud and snow, are equivalent to winter tires!

No, not anymore, says Susanne Friedl.

Pirelli once had a sporty summer tire called P6000 in their range.

Because the American market wanted it that way, it received an M+S label and thus entered the European market.

The episode: "For three years we've had the 'Three Peak Mountain Snowflake Symbol,' a three-pointed mountain with a snowflake in it.

Only with this branding on the sidewall of the tire is it a winter tire with all the properties required for this time of year according to the legislator.”

Myth no. 4: All-season tires are sufficient in the Oberland to get through the winter!

In the south of the Free State - even if you drive little and only within the city - according to expert Friedl "doubtful".

She describes this type of tire as an "attempt by the jack of all trades", which - brand new on the rims - might still be suitable as a "quite passable" winter tire.

Due to its rubber compound, which is tailored to all seasons - it should be hard enough in the summer and soft enough in the winter - it wears out more quickly in the summer, "that means that if a critical spot occurs in the second winter, it may be that the vehicle is no longer has the necessary grip".

Therefore: "We need winter tires here."

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Myth #5: The better tires always go on the front axle of the car!

"That's too general," says the 62-year-old.

“You ask five experts and you get six opinions.” The best way for the expert to decide which tires are fitted where is when changing them in the workshop.

Myth no. 6: I'm always right with the test winner!

This, too, is too general, says Geretsriedin.

After all, the result of the tire tested with its specific size cannot be transferred linearly to another size of the same model.

"But you can read a trend from the tests, at least with the premium brands - "if it's always the current generation".

Anyone who needs new tires has to decide: "Do I want premium, do I want middle class or can I live with low-budget tyres?"

“Then I go to my tire dealer and trust his experience.

Because he wants me to come back.” It also falls back on the dealer if the recommended tire isn’t any good, says Friedl.

and says a sentence

Everyone – whether they are about to change or buy a tire – should think about this: “Ultimately, it is always the surface of the tires, which are about four DIN A4 sheets in size, that connects us to Mother Earth in the car.

That is not much.

The quality should be good there.”

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