Snow and mug tyres

kngfhrt, Feb 5, 7:38am
can these tyres be used on the road. legal!

saki, Feb 5, 7:46am
only the mug ones

afer_daily, Feb 5, 7:50am
if you are talking about the oldtown and country tyrespattern /yes . snow idont think so,

franc123, Feb 5, 7:52am
Yes, the rules are no different from any other tyre.Proper snow tyres (different from mud and snow) are legal too but have a few extra rules, such as a 4mm minimum tread depth and the fact they have to be fitted to all 4 corners.

morrisman1, Feb 5, 8:09am
I dont understand the logic behind that new rule, 4mm or 0mm the tyres will still have the same grip on a dry road. On a wet road why differentiate them from any other tyre because if snows aren't safe at 2mm then neither would most other tyres fitted to cars.

I think they were just too pussy to ban them outright. The rule should say that snow tyres should only be fitted when conditions require them, i.e. when it is snowing!

franc123, Feb 5, 8:14am

morrisman1, Feb 5, 8:16am
not really

franc123, Feb 5, 8:20am
It explains what a motorist needs to know re legalities which is what the OP wants/needs to know.

morrisman1, Feb 5, 8:31am
apologies, i thought it was in response to my post.

clark20, Feb 5, 8:40am
Do a bit more research, snow tyres are bad if you are not in snow like Finland for 4-5 months of the year. They are designed to work from 5 to -40 degrees (low temps, I dont know the exact number). If you go up the mountain and need them fine, but back on normal roads at 20 plus degrees they can overheat (like in racing when they say they have cooked the tyres, or red in GT5) and lead to delamination. Snow tyres with 2mm would be next to useless anyway.

ml6989, Mar 13, 6:55pm
My understanding of the subject is that these tyres are designed to operate at temperatures much lower than what we normally experience on our "top quality well maintained Transit highways". While there may be a place for them in the dark depths of winter at higher altitudes, generally speaking they are not suited for use in NZ. Hence the requirement to have them on all four wheels, probably for reasons of vehicle handling. In simple terms, would you play in the snow or go to the beach with a gumboot on one foot and a jandal on the other! Horses for courses me thinks.