When do I have to change the car for the winter? How to choose a winter tire?

The bill on winter and summer tires was discussed in Russia for a long time. And so it happened. In 2016, a law enacted throughout the country obliging drivers to drive on winter tires (in special cases - on all-season tires) was adopted and enforced throughout the country. There is an opinion: as soon as November comes, it is fraught to roll out on a "not re-worn" car: it's dangerous, and the traffic police does not sleep. Carries out raids, finishes the negligent. How are things really in fact? When do I have to change the car for the winter?

Spikes should be at roses

Let's look at paragraph 5.5 of Appendix # 8 of those. Regulations of the Customs Union, which defines the cornerstone requirements under which the operation of wheeled vehicles (TS) is as safe as possible for the owners and others. About the mandatory replacement in November, not a word.

But it is clearly said: June, July and August - the time when our "swallows" can not ride tires with thorns of anti-skid. In December, January, February, it is prescribed to "wear" winter tires. So there is no need to doubt whether it is necessary to change the car for the winter.

Carefully refer to local characteristics. Climatic conditions are different everywhere. Regional executive authorities of the Common Economic Space States have the right, if necessary, to move the deadline for the ban.

With plus or minus?

Drivers, at least beginners (and pedantic), like the air need a clue as to when to change their car for the winter. Does the law define clear signs that signal to car owners that the time has come? What exactly should you navigate in such an important matter, as the timely replacement of protectors?

There is an opinion that it is important to monitor the air temperature. , ночью уже случаются заморозки. As a rule, when the column of the thermometer outside the window does not rise above + 5-7 ° C in the daytime, frosts already occur at night. The roads can be covered with a thin crust of ice, which is equated to winter conditions, even if it's far to calendar December.

However, too early "re-training" does not go on for future use. At + 10 ° C And above the rubber of winter tires, warming from the warm asphalt (and just under the sun), becomes soft, quickly erased. Correct temperature orientation allows to ensure long-term safety of expensive wheels.

Again a snowstorm, and the owner is being tormented: how to be?

There is another statement: when deciding when to change the car for the winter, look at the state of the roads that you regularly plow on your four-wheeled horse. Transport in megacities is easier: the asphalt is free of snow and ice? Winter tires can be neatly folded in the garage.

But the citizens among the owners of the vehicle, as a rule, a little. The majority of motorists go not only along the smooth Prospectus of Enthusiasts, but also on uncomplicated country roads. Then change the rubber better later. Actually, this is for the best: winter tires can more confidently move into the off-season mudslide.

Think: early onset of the white cover - for the winter is not yet evening. It happens, followed by romantic snowfalls, and even heavy snowstorms. How there in the people: "Come martot - do not take off the portico"? That is, reliable tires ... Yes, braking on winter tires on dry asphalt - not ice. But it's better than riding in the snow on summer.

Better to hedge

It's just amazing how many people have approaches to the question of when to change shoes in winter tires! Some pull to the onset of stable minus indicators (-5, -7), only then they begin to act. In this case, many are in a situation where tire-changers have to move through the snow. Faced with the undesirable consequences of delay, in the spring they are in no hurry to remove winter tires.

Fearful of the return of blizzards, powder and frost, they say something like this: let the rubber be cleaned better than we will be again "bugs" on the ice. This category of motorists is waiting for stable plus six, plus seven. In their opinion, below this temperature limit, summer tires are not yet relevant: the grip with asphalt is not that.

Braking is worse, even if the asphalt is light, dry. The substance from which summer protectors are made, when lowering the thermometer column is not able to maintain softness, becomes a rigid "plastic". Followers of this theory do not take risks, "winter" for "summer" is changed with the onset of +7 degrees.

The style of "unisex" is not relevant

There are among the theorists and those who believe that the most elastic, and therefore less damaged, rubber in the temperature range from +10 to +25 degrees. Just what you need when re-engraving (removing the tire from the disk and installing the right one). ) любые операции с резиной не рекомендуются. They are sure: with a minus (even if the figure is just below 0 degrees ), any operations with rubber are not recommended. By analogy, they make a reverse substitution.

It is important not only to decide when to put winter tires. How to choose it correctly - a thing no less intricate. Here, too, there is a sea of opinions and approaches. In an age of universal access to information, it is sometimes difficult to understand where the truth is, and whether it exists at all.

Fans of objects of various applications do not want to believe that there is no universal rubber. There are tires for specific operating conditions. As for multifunctionality, it is necessary to remember: the higher the level of versatility of rubber, the lower its ability to maneuver under certain weather conditions.

But technology is developing. It is not excluded that there will be a basis for tires, which will be adjusted for any season. And the question of when you need to change your car for the winter, will disappear by itself. In the meantime, it remains to act carefully, taking into account the climate and the state of the road. It seems that no sensible driver will fly over the snow-covered highway at a wind speed only on the grounds that his car has winter protectors.

Rubber can be different

The average speed of traffic in winter should be reduced by about twenty percent. It is not necessary to make sharp changes, to try to slip into the gaps of the flow of cars, exposing themselves and other participants of the movement to danger.

Let's continue. To understand when you need to change your car for the winter, it is worth to clarify what winter tires differ from summer tires. The first thing that attracts attention is the tread pattern. Anti-slip "auto shoes" more massive, embossed. It is made of a base that is resistant to low temperatures: the tires retain the desired properties, they do not become fragile like summer ones. The chemical composition of tires is very important!

Standard rules: winter tires are operated at temperatures above +5 ° C. Summer as it approaches the zero point of the thermometer solidifies, increasing the risk of skidding even on a comfortable road. In the situation of a normal puncture, a rupture of the wheel is not excluded. до +10 °С . All-season protectors are stable in the range from -5 ° С to +10 ° С.

Sailing increased

When discussing the question of when you need to change your car for the winter, you can hear that cars with all-wheel drive in winter - the very thing! They guarantee safety, not that front-wheel and rear-wheel drive "iron brothers". However, the machine-animal only accelerates faster. Braking under similar circumstances shows: no difference.

Auto with an increased distance between the bearing surface and the lowest point of the central part of the car (ground clearance) is unstable on a road reminiscent of a skating rink (aerodynamics is worse, sail is increased). The SUV is designed for pits and bumps, but not for spaces covered in ice. High inertness is noted.

Advantages are observed unless in overcoming the spaces covered with loose snow. Double caution behind the wheel is relevant in any case. Winter tires for a jeep required! Tires Their off-roaders beginners are often mistaken for the all-season. All because, in the summer and winter versions, they look thoroughly.

Economy is inappropriate

Many motorists consider: winter tires are needed not to slip on the icy road and it is easier to brake. Therefore, determining when to change the car for the winter, some drivers decide: enough and "re-training" only the driving wheels. Others with a rear-wheel drive "dress up" all four wheels, and on the front-wheel drive - only two. Wrong approach.

Winter tires not only pull out the car from snow drifts or deftly stop it before the red signal of a traffic light. They equalize the centrifugal force at the turn, when the weight of the machine can not cope with this task. In this sense, it is impossible to overestimate the timely re-registration of the wheels.

The owner, selectively replacing the tires of front-wheel-drive cars, runs the risk of getting into the skid even at low speed. In this situation, removing the vehicle from a dangerous situation is more difficult than with a rear drive. On the number of winter tires: experts believe that they should be five (plus winter reserve).

Diversity is not for the good

It would seem, it is clear: you need to be responsible and not violate the requirements of safe traffic. And all the same there are people who in every way evade the tiresome procedure, even knowing when to change the rubber to winter. To take a car for the winter it is necessary. Although in 2016-2017, a fine for summer tires, flickering during frost, is not provided. But is everything supposed to hold only on punitive sanctions? After all, the road is the place where the price of the matter is sometimes life.

And a little more about tires. SDA provide that on the same axis they are the same. If the car is mono-drive, this option is still somehow acceptable. And then, on the condition that the driver understands: braking efforts on the axes with the variegation of the pattern are different. As a rule, this does not affect braking, but the risk of drifts increases.

On the all-wheel drive car tires are required, identical in model, pattern, height, wear. The wheels in this construction are active not only on the turn or during braking. Violation of the initial requirements for balance is fraught with serious consequences even in simple road situations. Be carefull!