You know what? It was once said that it was theoretically impossible for a bumble bee to be able to fly. The thing is, nobody told the bumble bees, and they went right on flying. It was recognised that the theory required some adjustment.
There was a thread referenced in another forum, quite a lengthy thing, which discussed the question of using two winter tyres only. I read the lot, twice. It went exactly the same way as the saner bits of the threads here. People with their heads up their backsides pontificating that any car thus equipped would be turned into a dangerous, oversteering monster, and people who had run their cars like that for years with no trouble at all pointing out that an ounce of practical experience trumps a ton of theory any time. The latter group pointed out that the two-tyre-only option is particularly common in the USA, despite the propensity of Merikans to sue at the drop of a hat.
What was conspicuous by its absence was any account of a single incident apparently caused by that tyre set-up - nothing from anyone's personal experience, and no links to any news reports. Neither was there any link to any accident statistics identifying this set-up as an accident risk. And it also appears that no country where winter tyres are optional has banned a two-tyre set-up for safety or any other reasons. Nothing but repeated links to the same contrived videos of cars being driven at ridiculous speeds on an ice rink, with the main culprit having had its ABS disabled for greater effect.
So I'm thinking that seeing the bumble bee flying is trumping the theory here.
Several points have emerged, certainly. Note that this discussion is relating to the car we're talking about here, the MkVI Golf GTi. That means it has front-wheel-drive, ABS, and ESP.
- Four winter tyres are better than two
- Two winter tyres are better than four summer tyres
- If you want to see any benefit at all from these two tyres, put them on the front wheels
- This set-up will deliver all the desired benefits of winter tyres as regards not getting stuck and being able to climb hills
- Driven sensibly, with ABS and ESP, this set-up is acceptably safe, and certainly safer than four summer tyres
This seems to be reality, supported by the experience of people who have used this set-up. Actual, practical real-life evidence of the set-up causing safety issues seems to be on a par with examples of bumble bees that can't fly.
Rolfe.
