Studdable tyres?

[brewdexta]

I've just renewed the tyres on my Disco, same tyres I had before however the description has studdable in it now.

"General GRABBER AT2 255/60 R18 112H XL studdable, with kerbing rib BSW"

So I'm guessing studs can be screwed into them, l there seems to be holes on the tyres for this, I never noticed this before.

I buy these tyres as they have great grip in snow and are not noisy on the motorway and not bad off road unless you get the treads full of clay but never thought about studs before.

It can get pretty hairy up in the Pennines in winter, I haven't got snow chains for the disco however I'm guessing studs will be illegal on the road without snow and a pain to remove when going from the snow covered roads in the hills down to the cleared roads in the valley.

However I'm curious, anybody used studs before? Any good? pros/cons etc?

Cheers
Andy

 

[rich r]

I've driven with studded 33x12.5x15 AT tyres in Iceland, and can confirm they are fantastic in snow and ice. But then again, I've never had a problem with the 31x10.5x15 BF Goodrich ATs in deep snow in the UK without studs. In Iceland you can hear the droning noise of studs all the time, even in Reykjavik city centre from Corsas and other small cars. But their roads carry far less traffic than ours (I once drove for three hours on the main road that goes round the country without seeing another vehicle, and even then it was a bus going the other way), and are either soft gravel or very hard basalt based tarmac (as sedimentary gravel is rather difficult to get hold of there). Our soft tarmac roads would be ripped up in days if people used studs.

Driving wise you can't really tell much difference from driving without them other than the sound (very loud when you go over steel gridwork surfaced bridges at 80kmph!). Grip levels are probably marginally less, but I didn't have anything to compare it to.

The problem with using studded tyres in the UK is that you're very unlikely to do your whole journey without encountering snow free roads, and that's when you could be prosecuted for damaging the road surface.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I had a car with the same type of tread but only 155 profile. They never seemed to wear out ! As you say illegal to use on UK roads with studs in situ. If you are worried about snow this is the time of year to buy snow chains as if you wait a couple of montsh then price will go up. I suspect your tyres will be ideal (HD / reinforced) for chain usage.

 

[brewdexta]

Cheers guys

They last for ages and are great in snow, its the steep hills where I may need chains, straight out of my drive I have a 15 to 20% gradient to a sweeping curve and hairpin with only wooden fences stopping you from a steepish drop. So far I have got away with it with hill decent control and clenched buttocks. The council are clearing/gritting less often and my disco frequently comes up with some error and turns off special programmes such as HDC.

 

[rich r]

Oh - and well done on getting hold of Grabber AT2s by the way. They stopped making them last year and the replacement design is terrible. Very noisy, high wear rate and nowhere near as good off road. I've got BF Goodrich AT on the Pajero, and Yokohama Geolandar ATS on the CRV (which never goes offroad beyond grassy carparks anyway).

 

[waldershelf]

Studded tyres are illegal on UK roads, whether or not there's snow on them

 

[brewdexta]

Oh - and well done on getting hold of Grabber AT2s by the way. They stopped making them last year and the replacement design is terrible. Very noisy, high wear rate and nowhere near as good off road. I've got BF Goodrich AT on the Pajero, and Yokohama Geolandar ATS on the CRV (which never goes offroad beyond grassy carparks anyway).

I'm tempted to get some more now as they are great tyres however they seem to last about 30K on the back and 20K on the front and I think I may have sold the Disco by then.

 

[rich r]

Studded tyres are illegal on UK roads, whether or not there's snow on them

Could you give the relevant Act or Statutory Instrument that says that they're illegal?

The Road Traffic Act 1988 only says that tyres may be deemed illegal if the tyre causes damage to the road. I cannot find anything in the RTA, Road Vehicles Construction and Use Act or the Highways Act specifically mentioning studs in tyres, whether metal or any other material.

Hence they are perfectly legal to use on roads that have a packed covering of snow or ice, and there's no way the studs can damage the surface. For example I suspect that around the ski resorts in the Highlands of Scotland that have a significant depth of snow on roads that's aren't cleared by snowploughs, studded tyres would be a perfectly reasonable solution for part of the year. But only as long as you never drove onto public roads that are clear of snow (what you do on private roads is of course not regulated by law).

 

[brewdexta]

Studded tyres are illegal on UK roads, whether or not there's snow on them

I shall cancel the ebay bulk buy of body piercings then

 

[Justme]

Some "studable" tyres can have them fitted but not removed once fitted.

 

[waldershelf]

Could you give the relevant Act or Statutory Instrument that says that they're illegal?

The Road Traffic Act 1988 only says that tyres may be deemed illegal if the tyre causes damage to the road. I cannot find anything in the RTA, Road Vehicles Construction and Use Act or the Highways Act specifically mentioning studs in tyres, whether metal or any other material.

Hence they are perfectly legal to use on roads that have a packed covering of snow or ice, and there's no way the studs can damage the surface. For example I suspect that around the ski resorts in the Highlands of Scotland that have a significant depth of snow on roads that's aren't cleared by snowploughs, studded tyres would be a perfectly reasonable solution for part of the year. But only as long as you never drove onto public roads that are clear of snow (what you do on private roads is of course not regulated by law).

I don't need to provide a reference. You have already pointed out the requirements, fitting studded tyres would technically be legal if you could guarantee that you would not find any uncovered tarmac on your journey or at any time your studded tyres are fitted. Unlike in Scandinavia where they are required in the UK you would be in very special circumstances to be following the rules. Queue the " I live in wherever and never see tarmac for 10 moths of the year" clap trap for most of us studded tyres are a no no.

 

[agrimog]

another one of the urban myths, studded tyres are NOT illegal in the uk, tyres which damage the surface are illegal, screw in ice studs do not fall into this catigory,

 

[500e]

Studs come in dozens of different forms, screw, & gun inserted, there are ones that help in snow but mainly used on ice or packed snow, on ice they are fantastic the level of grip is beyond belief IF you have chosen the correct stud for the conditions on metaled roads they usually pull out fairly quickly, the cost is another factor.
http://www.nokiantyres.com/winter-tyres/nokian-hakkapeliitta-8/

 

[doubleboost]

I used to run studded town and country tyres on a transit recovery truck
The grip on ice is simply amazing
Other than a bit of noise on a dry road they were fine
The cost was 25 pence per stud 15 years ago lol
I now run snow "winter tyres" not as good as studs but still very good

 

[BrokenBiker]

fella in work has a frontera with studdable tyres, when the snow and ice sets in he put the studs in and leaves them in until it warms up a bit. never noticed them damaging the roads outside work, they do make a bit of noise though but he reckons the extra grip is brilliant

 

[waldershelf]

another one of the urban myths, studded tyres are NOT illegal in the uk, tyres which damage the surface are illegal, screw in ice studs do not fall into this catigory,

Try telling that to VOSA or the plod when you get pulled.

 

[brewdexta]

Not having used chains much before, only on snow on relatively flat roads, what are they like on thin black ice on a steep hill? Will I be doing a Torvil and Dean into the valley below in a heap?

 

[Shox Dr]

Can't you fit a rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally long stanner stairlift Andy.



(I wouldn't want to loose traction on intermittent snow/ice, on that hill, It was bad enough in the dry)

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Can't you fit a rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally long stanner stairlift Andy.

You mean like this -

 

[brewdexta]

Can't you fit a rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally long stanner stairlift Andy.



(I wouldn't want to loose traction on intermittent snow/ice, on that hill, It was bad enough in the dry)

looks like I will have trust in the god of hill decent control and winter tyres

The other year my car was in the garage and the missus needed the other to get the kids to school so I legged it down into the valley to catch the bus. As I stepped off my drive onto the steep road, I immediately fell on my harris and slid about 20 foot down the road. Black ice, if I was in the 2 tonne Disco there would have been a smouldering wreck at the bottom, not to mention the state of my bottom