Derek Uzzell Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 The "In Brief" section on page 40 of the February 2007 Caravan Club Magazine has the following paragraph: "Travelling to Germany this winter? Then your vehicle's tyres have to be suitable for the road conditions - they have to bear the mark 'M+S' or the snowflake. There must also be anti-freeze in the windscreen cleaning fluid. If you don't have the correct tyres you can expect to receive a fine of E20-40 plus one penalty point." The snowflake marking designates a genuine 'winter' tyre. This will have a specialised rubber compound and tread pattern optimised for winter conditions, providing improved traction/braking on snowy/icy road surfaces. Examples suitable for many European-built motorhomes are Michelin's Agilis 81 Snow-Ice and Continental's VancoWinter. Because of their design characteristics they should be fitted to all the road-wheels of a vehicle. The M+S (Mud + Snow) marking applies to less radical tyres that still offer improved performance on poor surfaces. These are general-purpose tyres that (presumably) will have met test criteria for grip/traction on mud or snow. An example is Michelin's Agilis 81. To the best of my knowledge, none of the 'camper' tyres (Continental's VancoCamper, Michelin's XC Camping, or Pirelli's CityNet Camper) are M+S marked. I'm sure that the CC's warning would benefit from further clarification regarding the scope of the German tyre regulations involved (eg. how, when or where they apply). If you feel this may impact on you, then you may want to follow the matter up with the Caravan Club or the German Tourist Office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 DerekDo you happen to know whether any of the alternative Winter, or M+S, tyres you mention (Michelin and Conti) are also suitable for year round use? Also, are they suitably rated/sized for motorhome fit?It has long seemed to me that, since most motorhome tyres appear to expire through age rather than wear, it would be reasonable to accept some (presumed) increase in wear rate, provided that brought better soft ground traction. The same would probably be true for those going fairly regularly to Alpine regions in winter.Most of us have little to no problem with our standard tyres when bowling down the blacktop, or even on summer grass. However, out of season grass can be very slippery, so tyres designed to give that extra bit of grip under these conditions would seem a commonsense choice, provided they are suitable.I have suffered a couple of "near misses" on wet grass sites, and one very slippery trip on compacted snow (in April!), where the ubiquitous XC Campings' lack of grip on such surfaces were uncomfortably apparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 Where a tyre manufacturer produces summer and winter variants of a tyre pattern, size-for-size they will have the same (or very similar) load/speed rating. So 215/75 R16C Vanco-8 and VancoWinter tyres both have a load/speed rating of 113/111R. Winter tyres are likely to have a more restricted size range than summer tyres (my 2004 Continental leaflet shows 16 VancoWinter sizes against 20 Vanco-8) and availability in the UK would need to be checked with the manufacturer or a tyre supplier. Winter tyres are designed to provide better traction and braking on ice and snow than summer tyres, but obviously they must be able to perform adequately on wet or dry roads too. Agilis 81 Snow-Ice and VancoWinter both have heavily siped tread patterns (lots of little slits) for extra bite on snow and ice and I'd guess this will result in increased noise on dry roads and a higher wear rate than their summer siblings. To work effectively, winter tyres need plenty of tread depth, so wearing them down on summer jaunts would drastically reduce their winter capability. I don't know how well rubber compounds optimised for low temperatures would function in hot weather. These really are specialised tyres - Agilis 81 Snow-Ice even has a directional tread pattern. November 2001 Pro-Mobil magazine apparently included a comparative report on 'motorhome suitable' winter tyres, but I haven't got a copy. I'm wary of assuming that a tyre capable of high grip on snow and ice will necessarily provide a similar performance on wet grass or in mud, as the latter surfaces are outside a winter tyre's design window. It's something you'd need to explore with the tyre manufacturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Thank you Derek. It sounds as though the M+S variety may be worth keeping in mind when changing tyres, albeit with some possibility of extra road noise and perhaps a bit quicker wear.Has anyone tried this on a motorhome? If so, how does it work for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Hi, Just enquiring here and sorry if it is a stupid question but I wondered this when I read the CC piece. Why doesn't the 'if your vehicle is correct in it's country of origin it is ok abroad' as I understood it be work here. i.e. it is not a requirement in the UK to have winter tyres. Just curious. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 Although a UK-registered vehicle may be 'legal' in itself while being driven temporarily outside this country, that doesn't prevent national road-traffic regulations applying to it where appropriate. For example, speed limits, use of headlights during daytime hours, etc. So, if an EU country demands that everyone driving there carries snow-chains or has 'winter' tyres then there's no let-out clause just the Law is different 'back home'. (I think that explanation makes sense!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Thanks Derek, yes perfect sense. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peejay Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 This link might give you a little more info on winter tyres than the brief CClub statement if you plan to visit Germany this winter..... http://openpr.com/news/13523/Snow-tyres-what-is-important.html or in pdf form.... http://openpr.com/pdf/13523/Snow-tyres-what-is-important.pdf pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 Thanks for the follow-up Pete - I was hoping someone might be able to shed more light on this. I've e-mailed the Caravan Club, referring to the link you provided and suggesting that the advice given in the CC magazine could be misleading. Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.