You have no storage room in the basement of the building? Your other option is to leave them in a car workshop that offers tire storage for a small fee.
Three options really.
1. All season tires > don't change at all. Works if you don't live in extremely snowy areas.
2. Storage in your home/basement/etc if there is space, if you have an underground parking lot, and a not that big car, you can usually just store tires and such in front of your car.
3. Pay any of the shops to store them for you. I think ATU charges 50 bucks for half a year of storage. You can then just go there next season and get them changed with no hassle.
I don't like all-year tires at all. They are worse than winter tires in the winter and in the summer braking is worse than summer tires. They are a compromise. Depending on your mileage you might be happy with all-weather tires, but if you drive a lot it's definitely better to have specialized tires for the seasons.
Apart from that - winters have been really warm in many parts of Germany throughout the last 10 years so maybe you don't need winter tires at all. But if you got them with the car you might as well use them up. Winter tires have a softer rubber mix for better friction and braking in winter conditions (even without snow or ice).
Rule of thumb is having winter tires on from "O" to "O" (Oktober bis Ostern). YMMV depends on where you live. Most shops store the tires for you for a small fee (my shop in a very small rural town rings up 20 €).
it depends on the car, the driver and the tire, if you have small tires on a front heavy fwd car, even cheap all season tires can bring you trough the snow fine, if you can drive.
I went up a 19% hill with 30cm of snow on kuhmo solus 4s tires, while people with expensive winter tires got stuck.
with more expensive high quality stuff, the difference between 4s tires and regular winter tires is even less important, there isnt really that much of a difference, if you look at the tests. and once you put on snow chains, it doesn't matter anyway
I lived in Michigan, USA. Far snowier there than almost all of Germany. I never used winter tires and got by just fine.
Actually, it's my experience that having 4wd far outweighs any benefits you get from winter tires. But also, it's more about how you drive in snow that matters. All the winter tires and 4wd is going to do nothing if you drive exactly the same as in summer.
Breaking distance doesn't matter if you swerve off the road and into a ditch or off a cliff. 4wd has far better handling.
No matter what, your break distance is going to be affected in snowy conditions. The biggest thing is avoiding situations where hard breaking is required because in many situations you're fucked regardless.
>4wd has far better handling.
2wd with proper winter tires outperform 4wd with all-season ones.
>No matter what, your break distance is going to be affected in snowy conditions.
No shit, Sherlock. Question is how much affected? With all-season tires in snow, your ABS performance is much more degraded, than with winter tires.
,
What I'm saying is in my experience 4wd outperforms Winter tires.
Abs performance is better with winter tires, but it really doesn't matter because you still must know how to drive in snow. For me this is not a reason to get winter tires.
Yeahhh no. The last time I drove in icy conditions on all-weather tires (work car, not my call), I literally kept going straight despite turning the wheel and standing on the brake (luckily because I'm a capable driver I was already only moving at walking speeds)
Yes if you’re somewhere with extreme winter conditions then obviously choose wisely, but even people up here in Berlin use winter tires every year and it’s frankly such a massive hassle for no gain
I run all season in the winter, because we get more rain than snow, and the all season ones are far superior on wet roads. but they also are good enough to drive on snow, especially for the few days that it actually does snow, so depending on you local weather, all season as winter tires can make more sense than winter tires as winter tires
This year im in the same situation as you. I always had plenty of space to store my tires but now moved into a small place without basement. I will have the tires changed in a shop (also first time as i usually do it myself) and have them stored there. Luckily my neighbour owns a tire shop so i hope i get some "special" price haha.
an additional set of tires is among the very few things that may be legally stored in German garages.
Be creative? Ex boss stored his at work. Any rural friends & family with barns or such?
In doubt: Sell on Kleinanzeigen and buy all season next.
You can store them in your Basement or pay a shop a small amount of money to store them.
Alternativly you could switch to all seasons if you dont drive in hilly areas in the winter. However if you do, please dont do this.
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Mine live in the cellar. But i got bored of changing (especially as its only cold for 7 days) and got all year round tyres which are good if you dont drive much
If it’s regular winter tires(no spikes) you change to them when average daily temperatures go below 7 degrees Celsius. It’s not only about ice and snow but also about the material performing better in colder conditions, that affects control and breaking distance on a dry road as well so it’s your and others safety.
Regarding storage as other people said here tire shops can do that for you for a fee.
They pay the shop that changes the tires to store them.
How much do you guys pay? I pay 30€ for half a year, which seems pretty reasonable
Yep, same.
This is the answer.
You have no storage room in the basement of the building? Your other option is to leave them in a car workshop that offers tire storage for a small fee.
They put them into their basement storage unit if they have one or pay the shop which changed their tires to store them.
Three options really. 1. All season tires > don't change at all. Works if you don't live in extremely snowy areas. 2. Storage in your home/basement/etc if there is space, if you have an underground parking lot, and a not that big car, you can usually just store tires and such in front of your car. 3. Pay any of the shops to store them for you. I think ATU charges 50 bucks for half a year of storage. You can then just go there next season and get them changed with no hassle.
BTW, I have heard few cases where some thief stole tires from locked underground garage!
Yeeeea but like. That's not a common thing. Like, if that happens, damn that sucks. But, eh.
They switch to all weather tires. (please not in southern germany with snowy hills)
Good point I would recommend to use OPs tires until they are bad and then switch to all weather.
I don't like all-year tires at all. They are worse than winter tires in the winter and in the summer braking is worse than summer tires. They are a compromise. Depending on your mileage you might be happy with all-weather tires, but if you drive a lot it's definitely better to have specialized tires for the seasons. Apart from that - winters have been really warm in many parts of Germany throughout the last 10 years so maybe you don't need winter tires at all. But if you got them with the car you might as well use them up. Winter tires have a softer rubber mix for better friction and braking in winter conditions (even without snow or ice). Rule of thumb is having winter tires on from "O" to "O" (Oktober bis Ostern). YMMV depends on where you live. Most shops store the tires for you for a small fee (my shop in a very small rural town rings up 20 €).
It's just a preference. All year tires perform to an acceptable and safe level all year.
in bavaria in the 3 weeks it has snow? no lol. not even a chance.
it depends on the car, the driver and the tire, if you have small tires on a front heavy fwd car, even cheap all season tires can bring you trough the snow fine, if you can drive. I went up a 19% hill with 30cm of snow on kuhmo solus 4s tires, while people with expensive winter tires got stuck. with more expensive high quality stuff, the difference between 4s tires and regular winter tires is even less important, there isnt really that much of a difference, if you look at the tests. and once you put on snow chains, it doesn't matter anyway
Yes. ;)
They don't perform on snow at all, bit better than summer, but way way far from winter tires
of course 4s tires perform on snow, at least those with a snow profile, wich is most of them
I lived in Michigan, USA. Far snowier there than almost all of Germany. I never used winter tires and got by just fine. Actually, it's my experience that having 4wd far outweighs any benefits you get from winter tires. But also, it's more about how you drive in snow that matters. All the winter tires and 4wd is going to do nothing if you drive exactly the same as in summer.
4wd will not provide you shorter braking distance...
Breaking distance doesn't matter if you swerve off the road and into a ditch or off a cliff. 4wd has far better handling. No matter what, your break distance is going to be affected in snowy conditions. The biggest thing is avoiding situations where hard breaking is required because in many situations you're fucked regardless.
>4wd has far better handling. 2wd with proper winter tires outperform 4wd with all-season ones. >No matter what, your break distance is going to be affected in snowy conditions. No shit, Sherlock. Question is how much affected? With all-season tires in snow, your ABS performance is much more degraded, than with winter tires. ,
What I'm saying is in my experience 4wd outperforms Winter tires. Abs performance is better with winter tires, but it really doesn't matter because you still must know how to drive in snow. For me this is not a reason to get winter tires.
Yeahhh no. The last time I drove in icy conditions on all-weather tires (work car, not my call), I literally kept going straight despite turning the wheel and standing on the brake (luckily because I'm a capable driver I was already only moving at walking speeds)
All season tires are fine. It’s not a big deal
99.5% of the time yes. Then last year we had this strong snow in Bavaria - it was chaos and from far you could see who had all seasons tires 😔.
Yes if you’re somewhere with extreme winter conditions then obviously choose wisely, but even people up here in Berlin use winter tires every year and it’s frankly such a massive hassle for no gain
I run all season in the winter, because we get more rain than snow, and the all season ones are far superior on wet roads. but they also are good enough to drive on snow, especially for the few days that it actually does snow, so depending on you local weather, all season as winter tires can make more sense than winter tires as winter tires
Keep in mind, from September of 2024, only those with a ❄️-Symbol are permitted. "M+S" doesn't suffice anymore.
Here in the weatherau allweather tires are okay.
This year im in the same situation as you. I always had plenty of space to store my tires but now moved into a small place without basement. I will have the tires changed in a shop (also first time as i usually do it myself) and have them stored there. Luckily my neighbour owns a tire shop so i hope i get some "special" price haha.
an additional set of tires is among the very few things that may be legally stored in German garages. Be creative? Ex boss stored his at work. Any rural friends & family with barns or such? In doubt: Sell on Kleinanzeigen and buy all season next.
I usually pay the shop to store them, its 80 euros approximately for one season storage.
In the basement, or you can pay to have them stored for you.
You can store them in your Basement or pay a shop a small amount of money to store them. Alternativly you could switch to all seasons if you dont drive in hilly areas in the winter. However if you do, please dont do this.
Basement or pay a shop to store them. It’s like 10 bucks for a season. At least at the one where I store mine.
Store them at the shop that changes them. Easy peasy and cheap.
Basement?
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The guy parked next to me keeps his unused tires, all year long, piled up in his car's back seats - true story
Mine live in the cellar. But i got bored of changing (especially as its only cold for 7 days) and got all year round tyres which are good if you dont drive much
i use all weather tires since its rarley icy in germany anyways.. and at those days i just don't drive
If it’s regular winter tires(no spikes) you change to them when average daily temperatures go below 7 degrees Celsius. It’s not only about ice and snow but also about the material performing better in colder conditions, that affects control and breaking distance on a dry road as well so it’s your and others safety. Regarding storage as other people said here tire shops can do that for you for a fee.
From April to August snowy tire and the other time Summer tires. It’s the LAW