Winter tyres?

[fridaseyebrows]

We don’t use the car a lot, but when we do it is for long journeys. planning on driving to Italy for Christmas and will need to fit winter tyres on the car. Hugely expensive for just a three week trip. We don’t drive enough here to make it worthwhile for the winter months here. Does anyone know if it is possible to hire winter tyres We’re in London.

Thanks!

Are snow chains an option instead of changing all the tyres?. Where I live there are roads which you can only travel on if you have winter tyres or snow chains between Oct -Feb

That sounds like a lot of hassle, do you really need them? I was driving through a snow storm in Colorado earlier this week and the law was chains, all wheel drive or winter tires (we had all wheel drive and were fine). We get a fair amount of snow where we live and the only people I know that bother with winter tires (because of the hassle of storing the other set) are those with rear wheel drive sports cars e.g. a Mustang. If you have a car like this then I’d personally rethink driving altogether, otherwise get snow chains.

It's illegal where I live to drive without winter tyres after the end of October. I'd look into if it's actually legal to drive where you're going without winter tyres OP. Post that point I think you'd probably be better off hiring a car in Europe, driving on the right hand sid eof the road in a UK car isn't the most fun and winter tyres will make you so much safer.

Where I'm from, driving without winter tyres when it's cold, icy or snowing would be considered worse than drunk driving. They make a massive difference, just check some youtube videos about braking distance.
There are some companes offering rental tyres, like this one: www.felthamtyre.co.uk/services/1/tyres.html

I live in Austria and it is compulsory to have winter tyres fitted between November and April when there is snow or ice on the roads (which is most of the time). If you do drive through Austria you will be breaking the law and should something happen your insurance company would refuse to pay out.
Also, there are accidents here every Saturday (main changeover day) in winter - the majority of which are caused by people driving from North Germany or Holland or the UK with summer tyres.

So trying to drive without them is not an option. I don't know where you would hire them in the UK- but the expense and hassle is better than what could happen if you don't have them.

I'd weight up the cost of driving, fuel and time potential stop over half way. Verses the cost of flights and a hire car at the other end.

Definitely get them. (You might have to by law ).

It’s not just about snow - the rubber is different and doesn’t stiffen up in cold weather the way the rubber on summer tyres does.

If you put them on every winter, you extend the life of your summer tyres so you won’t need to replace them for much longer ( due to only using them for half the time).

In Germany and Austria you need winter tyres by law, in France you have to have snow chains in your car, in Italy you need snow tyres in Val d'Aosta. Also, if you have the snow chains and don't use them when the conditions are when you'd need them then some countries say that the responsibility for any accident is automatically yours.

Thanks all - yes G5000 that link was the only place I found where we could hire them! Didn’t know if there was anywhere else!

We will be spending a few days in the Alps so definitely needed and illegal to be without. We will have the DC with us so safety is important - just trying to see if there is a more economical way of achieving it! Snow chains also required - but are not required by law where we’ll be so we’re trying to see if we can just change the tyres and not have snow chains as well.

Rhubarbcrumbles - noted re accidents and snow chains. Might need to change our approach on that

If you buy a set and swap them over every year, you will get a lot more wear out of your summer tires - might not be so expensive in the long run.

I'd either buy a set and use for several years (some companies will store and swap) or get good quality cross climates - which would still have the necessary snowflake to be legal and should be absolutely fine for everything a rubber (ie not studded) tyre can do.

DH's car does high mileage (uk) and generally swaps winter to summer about when the tyres are due to be changed anyway - job requires a lot of rural driving.