Winter tyres - worth having?

[TonyJones]

Having done 48000 miles in 4 years from new, our van is probably going to need at least a couple of new tyres sometime this year. It's a FWD Transit.
Having had the odd spot of bother with the snow lately, and in the past with wet grass, I wondered whether, when the time comes, to get a couple of winter tyres & put them on the front wheels. In the 70s I drove a company Sherpa which had them on the (rear) driving wheels, and it seemed to help in snow. I know there are all sorts of things (official and otherwise) you can carry to get out of trouble, but space is tight & I'd rather not have the trouble in the first place!
Can anyone advise me from their own experience
(a) would winter tyres solve either or both of the above problems for a front-wheeler?
(b) how badly would they hit our fuel consumption? (so far I've been delighted to average nearly 35mpg)
Thanks

 

[twooks]

We drove with mixed wheels for years and found the winters were brilliant for grip and no real problem with either noise or fuel consumption.
Have now gone straight - must be old age - and use vredestein all season tyres, they are count as winter tyres in countries with strict rules on usage eg Germany because they have 'snowflake' marker
They're not always easy to get, but have been excellent in snow slush and wet grass and probably ice, certainly not noticed any problems in over 12 months.
Google and look for firms called 'mytyres' or 'tyremen' both given good service. in the past.
sorry can't find link option so for Vredestein see http://www.tinyurls.co.uk/bj0
Of course, not cheap either, but neither are they in same price bracket as so called camping car tyres, just be sure to get correct weighting.
our fuel consumption has dropped recently, been keeping close eye on it because it's a newbie, got up to 8.4 miles per litre, dropped to about 8.1 nothing to do with tyres tho, same ones all the time

or even
http://www.vredestein.com/file_banden/2006/Tyre%20cards/2011/Tyre%20Card%202011%20Zomer%20ENG/Tyre%20Card%202011%20Zomer%20ENG%20Comtrac%20All%20Season.pdf?UserSessionID=27016413
since the tiny link doesn't seem to be working

 

[TonyJones]

Thanks Jackie, I'll take a look. Won't be doing anything just yet as I can't afford to waste perfectly good tread, but the weather had made me think of it for later in the year.

 

[Brum1]

Hi Tony.
I have fitted winter tyres to my road car on a another set of roadwheels so it will be easy to swap in Autumn and Spring.
They have been a great to use expecially during the recent snowfall.

However...I believe that they cannot be used during warmer months, so 2 sets of tyres are a must.
Regards
Brum

 

[twooks]

best time to buy is probably after the really bad weather, demand may be down and the new supply should be coming through.
Have a chat with Vred if you've any queries, they were very helpful.
£500 or thereabouts is a lot to shell out in one go but at least then it's done for 5 or 6 years, and when you think your lives could depend on the tyres it's cheap at half the price

as they say - never understood it myself

AND your insurance company can't whinge about you having different tyres on front & back,
and you've no storage issues

xJ

 

[benaustin]

Worry no more dude. In 2010, according to AutoBlog, Schrader Electronics, a leading developer of tire pressure monitoring systems, announced it had developed a smart tire sensor system called Cyber Tire, which it planned to bring to market by 2013. The Cyber Tire system tied into the electronic control module system and would communicate with vehicle control systems.The idea is that the tire’s sensors keep track of surfaces and road conditions and will widen or raise to adapt to rain, gravel or even snow, meaning one may never need snow tires again.You can buy the car that has as much technology as possible already.