Ive seen a few different style of tyre actually marked up as M&S, some are the traditional type, that I always think of as Colway Nora`s.
And others have been more like a winter tyre, kind of like a slighly chunky normal tyre, directional as well. I am sure they would be good in the snow but not really cut out for mud (tread blocks not open enough)
Got to admit I have never fitted a winter or M&S tyre to my car for the snow, even though I normally have quite a few laid around. I have always used whatever tyres are on the car and driven accordingly ;D
Sorry really busy yesterday so this is 1st chance I`ve had to reply
Traditional M+S tyres are more like gravel rally tyres, or Old design snow tyres.... they are better than normal summer tyres in snow but nowhere near as good as winter tyres.
Winter tyres are identified by a snowflake symbol on the sidewall and come in 2 distinct flavours as well..... Nordic/Skandinavian type for areas where there is snow for a large part of winter , and this is left and not salted, these tend to be Studdable as well
The more common (And useful to us here) are what are known as Northern european winter tyres.
These are more like conventional tyres, but the rubber compound is different and the tread is more open with lots more Sipes (Side cuts)
These are designed for use on cold, wet tarmac and snow/slush but predominatly in regions where the snow is cleared and salted, rather than left to pack down
They work well in snow too. no design of tyre works well on Ice, studs are the only thing that will grip on ice
Whatever the tread design, rubber does not stick to snow.....
So aggressive treads don't work
Now the Sipes are designed to do the work.
Rubber doesnt stick to snow, but snow sticks to snow really well
So the modern winter tyre has a tread designed to trap snow in it.
The snow traped in the tyre tread at point of contact is what grips the snow on the road ;D
As the wheel rotates, the tread flexes and drops the snow from the sipes, ready to collect a fresh amount next rotation
;D
It really really works, like I say, my quattro and Janes Syncro fitted with winter tyres, never needed chains, no matter how much powder had fallen overnight.............
I only got stuck once and that was driving into a parking space that had deep tyre tracks and a load of snow raised up in the centre..... basically about 9" of fairly compact snow standing up between teh wheels.
I was lazy and didnt clear itinto teh wheel tracks first, I just drove straight in and beached it
Nothing to do with the tyres, as they now had a lot less weight on them
1/2hr later it was all dug out from underneath and drove out
I have a spare set of wheels for winter, but you could swap tyres on rims, it doesnt really matter ?
I`ll post some pics up later in the weekend when I get home, to show you the tread pattern
HTH
Dom
+
