Not so. The rear needs more grip than the front under braking. The effect is even more exaggerated with winter/summer tyres, and even more so in a descent on a snowy road.
There are some good videos on Youtube that demonstrate cars with summer tyres, two winter tyres, and four winter tyres driving on slippery surfaces, it's quite convincing.
Best of luck, Debbie :-)
I have run out of expressions of thanks! But I *will* say "Thank you" yet again!!!
The rear tyres are older than the front but look as if they have loads of wear in them. Both times the car slid I was steering round the roundabout and not braking. In fact I didn't have any problems braking. I've done a little bit of research myself and I've just written to Bridgestone (the makers of the tyres) I think there are 2 possible causes, silicone left from the mould or over inflated tyres.
I had a phone call this morning from the outfitters form the chef d'atelier who has asked if I can go on Wednesday and not tomorrow as he has his day off tomorrow and won't be there to look at the car. I'm impressed first time in 15 years of living in France I've had good customer service whilst complaining :-) In the meanwhile it's wet today so I'm going to check the tyre pressure then take the car up to the big car park to see if I can replicate the problem and get my confidence back in the tyres.
Thanks for your input.
Thanks, Peter. James et al have done a huge amount of work in the last 24 hours and I am now following up on the suggestions made. This *is* a great community!!!
600 euros seems a bit steep for 4 tyres. For my Astra Estate, I normally get away with 300 euros including fitting - depends on the brand, but most of them are pretty good these days. Have you tried the internet tyre shops - they will deliver to the garage of your choice ( from their list, bien sur);
No trouble, this has become a very informative thread, thanks for starting it!
You are just brilliant. Thank you so much, James!
I have learned so much from this discussion. Thanks very much, Steve!!
Much what I thought about the insurance, Dewi.... Think a visit to the bank for a wee overdraft to get some decent tyres may be called for....... Thanks for your input - much appreciated.....
You can actually put the tire size into kelkoo.fr and it will list all the suppliers it knows about. Add in the manufacturer's name and it will limit the results to just from them.
It is only financial constraints that have made me look for cheap alternatives! And, much to the annoyance of many other road users, I do tend to maintain a very decent gap between me and the car in front. Reaction times deteriorate badly as one gets older!! Thanks for the advice on the Rain Tyres.......
I've just done a quick search online using these four vendors.
The cheapest tyre available are as follows; (I'm not suggesting you buy the cheapest, just for comparisons sake)
Oxyo 57.69 (plus 5% off with Gretchen's code http://www.oxyo-pneus.fr/cms/code-promo-oxyo.html)
Allopneus 62.90
123pneus 72.20
pneus-online 63.30
http://www.oxyo-pneus.fr/taille-pneus/215-65-r16-96-h/liste.html 57.69
http://www.allopneus.com/find?activite=1&marque=&d1=215&d2=65&d3=16&d4=98&d5=H&variante=&saison=e 62.90
73.20
http://www.pneus-online.fr/pneu-auto-215-65-16-96-H.html 63.30
NO ! Sorry, all your tyres must be the same size on the correct rims and have good tread ie above the tread wear indication moulded into the tyre. For reasons of safety for yourself and other road users its best to drive on good tyres even if they are good used tyres . Having non standard tyres would almost certainly void your insurance and in turn get you a load of problems with the police. Don't risk it. I always buy middle ranged new tyres with the same tread patten and keep the same type and tread patten on each axle . I would look around for any good deals and promotions if you do not do much mileage but stay safe.
I am having a marvelous time just writing "Thank You" messages. Thanks, Don. Being an old f*rt, the car gets very little use - normally less than 50 Km a month and that at low speeds! And I now thoroughly dislike driving at night and or in the wet! How times change!!
At the risk of sounding like a self-righteous bore, do you really want to compromise on tyres? Tyre sizes are simple. Google it. If you are set on going with some knackered old tyres, please fall back a few car lengths from now on. Decent tyres (and the Uniroyal Rain Tyres are superb) can be found for the same price as the UK, if you do your homework and keep an eye on the promotions.
WOW!!! Thank you so much, Gordon!!!
I don't think my old wreck would cope with 130kph, let alone 210! It would die in the process!!! :-)
Graham,
Juast done a quick intrenet search
123pnues.fr have tyres your size from 63 Euros.
pneusonline were a little more expensive but loads of choice and also they show what each tyre performs best at i,e wear rate, road noise, grip in the wet/snow etc.
The "H" speed rating is good for up to 210KPH - that should be enough! - but check with the handbook to be sure.
Graham,
It was Roady who fitted the tyres I bought on line.