Winter Tyre MOT Question

[big_g]

Coming home from work today and we have some visitors. Noticed their car parked on the drive and was very impressed to see a winter tyre on the back - they are not the type of people to pro-actively research and fit something that would make their car handle better.

 

Anyhow - did you notice how I said 'a' winter tyre - that's right, they have one winter tyre on the rear axle of a front wheel drive car. I suppose that that is marginally better than having only one winter tyre on the front axle - but only just.

 

So, quick question if there is an MOT test person in the house. I tried to tell them that one winter tyre was dangerous and that all four tyres should match but drew a blank. Would a car fail its MOT with an odd tyre? Gawd knows who fitted one odd tyre to their car - but there you go.

 

Thanks in advance

 

G

[speleo1]

well you woul usualy have winter tyres on the drive wheels which in this case is the front,

but as long as its got the legal amount of tread on it i should think its ok to have

would fail with odd sizes but dont think odd tread pattern

[tinfoilhat]

well you woul usualy have winter tyres on the drive wheels which in this case is the front,

but as long as its got the legal amount of tread on it i should think its ok to have

would fail with odd sizes but dont think odd tread pattern

 

I think as far as mots are concerned you'll be fine if there is enough tread. Insurance companies will insist on all 4.

[Janus]

It is an interesting point. When I have enquired (at tyre fitting garages) about having a couple of winter tyres fitted (same axle of course), the response has always been that they will fit a pair providing that there is already two on the vehicle, i.e they will not fit a pair if the other two tyres are normal tyres. I do not know the legal position, insurance or mot position. I’m sure a garage would advise.

[Eater Sundae]

well you woul usualy have winter tyres on the drive wheels which in this case is the front,

but as long as its got the legal amount of tread on it i should think its ok to have

would fail with odd sizes but dont think odd tread pattern

 

I don't know how it would fare in an MOT, but regardless of that...

 

There is a concern that a car with winter tyres on the front only (even if it is a front wheel drive car) could be dangerous in winter conditions. The better grip at the front might mean that at the limit, (either when cornering or under very hard braking) the rear tyres would lose grip first, ie oversteer, which is considered as more dangerous and harder to control than understeer.

 

Edit. Ah, Janus has already picked up on this.

[terminator]

As spelo1 says apart from its not mixed Radial with a Cross ply

[jbauto]

Terminator is exactly right I am an mot tester this would not fail and odd tyres are not dangerous. Winter tyres work better on all four wheels but can be put on the driven axle.

[nightrider]

I don't know how it would fare in an MOT, but regardless of that...

 

There is a concern that a car with winter tyres on the front only (even if it is a front wheel drive car) could be dangerous in winter conditions. The better grip at the front might mean that at the limit, (either when cornering or under very hard braking) the rear tyres would lose grip first, ie oversteer, which is considered as more dangerous and harder to control than understeer.

 

 

Even worse with having only one - it means one tyre has much better grip than the one on the other side. Presumably they fitted it themselves because I am surprised a garage would agree to do fit only 1 winter tyre?

[retired]

I have winter tyres on my front wheel drive car and normal on the back. Brilliant in the snow. But you do get over confident when turning say off into a side road and the back end can swing out. next year I will be putting this years tyres on the back and a new pair on the front.

 

If you have the space get a spare set of wheels from a scrapper so you can change the wheels overs yourself rather than the expense of having the tyres changed twice a winter.

[Eater Sundae]

I have winter tyres on my front wheel drive car and normal on the back. Brilliant in the snow. But you do get over confident when turning say off into a side road and the back end can swing out. next year I will be putting this years tyres on the back and a new pair on the front.

 

If you have the space get a spare set of wheels from a scrapper so you can change the wheels overs yourself rather than the expense of having the tyres changed twice a winter.

 

This link was also posted on another thread a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Summer-VS-Winter-tyres-Warm-weather-performance.htm

 

It shows a summer tyre, in snow, having roughly 50% of the braking capacity and cornering capacity of winter tyres, in snow. Thus, with winter tyres on one axle and summer tyres on the other, one end of the car has half the ability of the other end. For 99% of the time, this probably isn't much of a problem, as a driver can drive very conservatively and not take any risks. However, in an emergency, all bets are off. With winter tyres on the front, a sudden need to swerve or to brake hard when not exactly straight might cause the rear of the car to overtake the front.

 

Also, the usual advice is the have the better tyres on the rear, because understeer is likely to be safer than oversteer.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Eater Sundae
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