When and Why Do you Need Winter Tyres?
When travelling to a destination during its winter, the term ‘Winter Tyres’ is bandied around. But what does it mean in reality? When do you need winter tyres and how easy is it to get hold of them?
Winter tyres are ideal for cold, rainy, icy and snowy conditions. They are made from a softer compound than summer or all-season tyres with deeper grooves and narrower cuts. This enables them to grip onto and move over cold conditions with more ease as they disperse water, ice and snow.
One of the huge pluses of winter tyres is that you avoid having to grapple around with snow chains when you encounter snowy and icy conditions on roads. Snow chains can be tricky to fit, especially road side and potentially in the dark!
Generally, these tyres are very useful and, sometimes, needed in colder climates. We tend see a peak in demand at this time of year as people head off on ski holidays in Europe and further afield. In some of these destinations, winter tyres are required to travel up the mountains to resorts. You can find further information regarding exactly what is required when driving in European countries in winter on the AA website here.
When booking your car hire it can be tricky to know exactly what is included and whether you will get the tyres you require. We understand that when you hire a car you want to be sure it has the features you need for your trip. Here at Clarify Car Hire we have created a handy filter you can use to make sure your results only include companies which supply winter tyres:
If winter tyres are compulsory in the location that you are picking up and dropping back your vehicle then you will more often than not find that suppliers include winter tyres as standard within the rental price. However, in other locations it may be that snow chains are compulsory and therefore included in your booking instead of winter tyres. As you can see below we clearly show exactly what is included in your rental and specify whether it is snow chains or winter tyres.
If you have queries about your rental and want to discuss your requirements do get in touch and we'll be happy to talk through your options!
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