This is not so much of a question as a warning to anyone contemplating the fitment of winter tyres. Last week my daughter purchased 4 winter tyres for her Vauxhall Corsa from a well known internet tyre retailer in the UK and had them fitted locally. These turned out to be 'budget' tyres from Asia as opposed to a 'premium' brand and the price was about 60% of what might be charged for a Michelin or other such brand.

She remarked when fitted that the steering felt very light in comparision to the Continental tyres that came off, but thought no more about it. On Friday she returned visibily shaken and upset as her car had slid across a bend on a local road she travels regularly into the oposite verge. Fortunately nothing was coming the other way at the time and no physical damage occurred to either the car or her. The road conditions were cool (6 deg) and dry at the time.

I checked the pressures which were all ok, and took the car out the following day in similar conditions, and was appalled at the lack of grip that the tyres provided. The car slid on corners, the back end stepped out and even under moderate braking the ABS kicked in as the tyres slipped. This is not even at the low temperatures, snow and ice the tyres are supposed to be designed for.

Having browsed the internet, I note that there are very many 'unknown' brands of asian manufacture being sold in the UK market and badged as 'winter tyres'. You could argue that you get what you pay for, but in the case of something as important as tyres with lives at risk from their ability to perform adequately, my advice is to stick to premium brands at all cost - you can't get a refund when you're gone.