Toyos not winter tyres. Ouch!

[Dusz]

Today I had the pleasure (not) of trying the Toyo tyres on snow. Drove back from Hayes, Middlesex to mid Suffolk. Weather and road conditions deteriorated from Royston and got worse further into Suffolk.
Turned off A1120 to drive home to collect my lunch prior to returning to work for a Skype meeting. Approaching a right hand corner I slowed using the regenerative braking to approximately 15 mph as there was some snow on the road. The car just started to understeer towards the field and a ditch on the outside of the corner. Managed to get round the corner but then the rear end came round just where a telegraph pole was situated.
I now have the impression of the pole just rear of the fuel filler flap and the rearmost window. The bumper is dented the bodywork is heavily impacted and even the inner skin has been pushed in as the interior boot mouldings have been deformed.
No injuries to me the sole occupant.
The car is still mobile but the left rear lens is in many pieces so there are only white lights to the rear. So, will only drive it to work tomorrow so that it can be collected for repair, fortunately the car is a company lease and none of the airbags deployed.
So the original Toyos do NOT work on snow. Maybe next winter I will ask them to fit winter tyres or maybe 4-season tyres when these need replacing.
Take care out there.

 

[Steeeeve]

Nasty but it's. Just metal and plastic well that's what I told myself when I ditched my non PHEV Outlander last month (my reason for now having a PHEV) it wasn't icy with mine either.. Oil or something in the road.. Another car had done the same 2 minutes earlier!!, they flipped their car several times into a field, I just managed to land sideways in a hedge! Luckily no nasty injuries for any party

 

[MikkB]

Ouch indeed. I'd be gutted to see my (privately owned) pride and joy looking like that. But Phev's can be fixed and the main thing is no one was hurt. A reminder to us all to be extra careful in the current spell of weather.

 

[jaapv]

Well, luckily nobody was hurt. This points out, however, that driving a 4WD is great for traction on snow, even to a certain extent on summer tyres, but braking and cornering are no different from a "normal" car; worse, in fact, as one has to control something like 2000 kg.

A good counter-argument to the "we don't need winter tyres in our climate" brigade too. This dent will cost a bit more than a change of wheels... The rear bumper alone is 1500 Euro.

 

[Dusz]

Car should have been collected this morning but drifting snow had made the three roads into/out of our village impassable. There is also snow on top of compacted snow/ice. No likelihood of a gritting lorry or snow plough coming through our village. Currently working from home.
Hopefully, things will improve tomorrow.

 

[NightPHEVer]

That does look like a pricey crunch - I feel for you I really do. You might not be physically hurt but the psychological damage could be long lasting. I once impatiently overtook a car in a blind 'dip' and nearly caused a head-on. I still wince about that now and it was 25 years ago! (Jesus, maybe I should get out more). I even still now forgive stupid acts by other driver's as an act of atonement for my sin.

We are currently experiencing -4oC and blizzard conditions in sunny Lincolnshire. I went out today to Sainsbury's for essential supplies (curry, lager and some vegetables for the missus) but decided to go in my Smart Fortwo as it has winter tyres fitted. I currently don't have winter tyres fitted to my PHEV (Oh what a disaster - see 'winter tyres' thread) despite having a lovely spare set of OEM wheels with programmed TPSM valves to fit them too.

Despite RWD and auto gearbox the Smart performed faultlessly. Only 4X4s can currently get up the road past my house today. FWD, RWD and trucks all getting stuck. And yes, you're quite right about winter tyres - it's when you come to steer and stop that you really notice the difference - even on a 4X4.

 

[MrPastry]

Glad you are ok Dusz.
The car looks quite bruised.

I had the first opportunity today to drive my Phev with winter tyres in the fresh snow, (Cooper Weathermaster WSC).
The car performed very well indeed. Sure it is nowhere near as sure footed as a Discovery 4, but I found some quiet roads to gain some confidence with it.
Tomorrow morning could be an entirely different story if it's very icy. Anyway, I'm going to take it easy out there if I go to work.

Not only is the Phev quiet, but it's very well camouflaged in the snow......

 

[Sasheo]

I can second that the Toyos are rubbish in snow. Lots of understeer today in the trip to Sainsbury’s to get essentials. Defo confirms my plan to put the Quatracs on. Glad everyone is ok.

 

[Steeeeve]

I have got to admit, I'm very nervous driving In this weather right now, probably the fact I only ditched the last car a month or so ago.. It certainly wasn't a fun experience but makes you seriously appreciate that good tyres make a world of difference. My phev appears to have budget tyres on the back and probably original Toyo or the front (3.5mm tread left and only 23000 on car) I will be replacing all four very shortly! This is also my first automatic car so not being able to control gearing in snow is very strange for me!

 

[Trades46]

Having just taken keys to the Outlander PHEV just as a blizzard hit Ontario, I was a bit weary of the car's performance in the white stuff. I do admit the Toyo aren't as good as some other A/S tires I have driven on, they were heck of a lot better than the 7 year old Michelin Latitudes on the older 2009 Outlander & MILES better than the 4 year old Continental ContiProContact SSR on the Mercedes B250; those are arguably the WORST stock tires I have ever driven on.

However as a general rule of thumb, no fancy AWD system can save your backside if you go into a corner too hot without proper winter tires. AWD & high ride height can help you accelerate, but not slow you down or stop you in an emergency situation.

 

[MrPastry]

Decided to put the Phev & winter tyres to test this-morning and try to get to work.
We now have freezing rain on top of the snow.



However, the Phev has very little ground clearance & after 25 yards, it just sat on its battery.
Took a few attempts, but it soon got up the road.

Led light bar is fantastic.

About to join the M4. I've got it all to myself.

Gave myself plenty of time to travel & took it steady. The tyres are terrific. I probably wouldn't have bothered using the car with the Toyos fitted.

 

[maby]

...

A good counter-argument to the "we don't need winter tyres in our climate" brigade too. This dent will cost a bit more than a change of wheels... The rear bumper alone is 1500 Euro.

In fairness, a blank "we don't need winter tyres in our climate" is an oversimplification. This snow will be gone within a few days and I can afford to stay in the house till it has - so I don't need winter tyres in this climate. That may not be the case for others in southern England. I'm sitting here in front of the telly watching people complaining that we are unprepared for the weather - things like this don't happen in Scandinavia. That is, of course, true and can easily be rectified - by purchasing a large fleet of snow ploughs and distributing them round the country. They will the sit there, unused most years. Even in a bad year, they will be used half a dozen times - they will rust before they wear out. Personally, I would prefer that the government either spends my tax money on more useful things or, better still, leave it in my bank account! On average, southern England probably loses less than one working per day per year due to snow.

 

[jaapv]

Do you mean that temperatures will be over 10ºC for the rest of the time in a normal; winter and that it won't rain? Because winter tyres are far superior in normal temperate wintry conditions as well.
Of course it is understandable that authorities look at the cost/benefit aspect, but I suspect that one day of a closed-down country costs far more than buying snow ploughs that bolt on to trucks that are used for other things during the rest of the year - like for salting the roads during the rest of the winter, and road repairs in summer, etc. Which is the way it is done in many other temperate climates. Mind you, over here we have the same officialdom that is totally surprised each time, that it can be cold in winter and hot in summer.

 

[maby]

Do you mean that temperatures will be over 10ºC for the rest of the time in a normal; winter and that it won't rain? Because winter tyres are far superior in normal temperate wintry conditions as well.

I've been driving close to 45 years - winter tyres were not available here for most of that time - I have never missed them. And I've never had an accident that could be attributed to lack of traction either. Perhaps we were better trained as drivers back then?

BTW, as an example, According to your Met Office, Merseyside will have 10-20 snow days a year on average.

 

[jaapv]

Possibly. But times were different. We didn't have a lot of things in the past, but still we managed.

 

[maby]

Possibly. But times were different. We didn't have a lot of things in the past, but still we managed.

Did you intend to edit my post, or is the web site misbehaving? I didn't write the line about Merseyside! I was talking from the context of southern England - the climate as far north as Merseyside is very different.

 

[geoffshep69]

...

A good counter-argument to the "we don't need winter tyres in our climate" brigade too. This dent will cost a bit more than a change of wheels... The rear bumper alone is 1500 Euro.

In fairness, a blank "we don't need winter tyres in our climate" is an oversimplification. This snow will be gone within a few days and I can afford to stay in the house till it has - so I don't need winter tyres in this climate. That may not be the case for others in southern England. I'm sitting here in front of the telly watching people complaining that we are unprepared for the weather - things like this don't happen in Scandinavia. That is, of course, true and can easily be rectified - by purchasing a large fleet of snow ploughs and distributing them round the country. They will the sit there, unused most years. Even in a bad year, they will be used half a dozen times - they will rust before they wear out. Personally, I would prefer that the government either spends my tax money on more useful things or, better still, leave it in my bank account! On average, southern England probably loses less than one working per day per year due to snow.

I'm with you on this one. Yes, its a bit inconvenient but I can work from home, and unless you are a fool who goes out driving during a Red warning then its not really the end of the world.

Events like this are probably about a 1 in 10 year happening in the UK. To gear up our infrastructure to cope with this would be a massive waste of money, and I can see the headlines in the tabloids now, screaming about millions of pounds wasted on snow ploughs and snow clearing equipment which just sits idle in a shed untouched for 5 years, that money could have paid for 50 nurses, blah, blah, blah

Don't really get the winter tyres argument either. Yes, they may well be better, but not enough to make me shell out the considerable initial investment in buying them, plus the hassle of changing them over twice a year.

My car was in for a service last week, and I was looking at the paperwork on the desk while I was waiting. The guy before me had left his car at the garage to have his winter tyres removed and replaced by summer ones. Oh dear.....

 

[jaapv]

Agree about the hassle. The initial cost is compensated by less wear, though. Anyway the hassle made me change over to all-season tyres with winter rating. Couldn't be happier with the way they handle and comfort, and there was no real price difference with good quality regular tyres.
I do think that tyres are the last thing to skimp on. Four hand-palm sized surfaces to keep 2000 kg on the road in all conditions... :roll:

 

[geoffshep69]

True, but then my car is leased and I don't have to pay for tyres, so if I did choose to have some winter tyres that would represent a sizeable extra sum I'd have to pay out.

 

[jaapv]

Possibly. But times were different. We didn't have a lot of things in the past, but still we managed.

Did you intend to edit my post, or is the web site misbehaving? I didn't write the line about Merseyside! I was talking from the context of southern England - the climate as far north as Merseyside is very different.

Sorry, my mistake. I hit the wrong button.