I'm considering a 4WD, and realized that winters in the places I've lived in before are a bit different.
What are the types of winter tyres used in CH? Friction? Studded?
(I'd expect the former, looking at the paving... Are studded tyres even allowed?) More relevant, is there a time period when winter tyres are mandatory, or do people slip around on summer tyres and chains in the trunk?

Thanks!
//ata

studded = you will be shot.
M&S tires from now until April, 4x4 not really necessary. Slow into danger, fast out. Front wheel drive is fine for almost everywhere, rear wheel drive demands a little finesse.....sometimes.

I avoided a German on the highway once, his Merc wanted to point the other way......

Depends where you want to go. I would reccomend winter or mud n snow from mid october to end of april but I live at 1500m so there are times in august when my winters wudv been handy.

I had sum hankooks on my mitsi outlander n they were the buisness

Snow tyres are not legally required in Switzerland. Personally, as we live in the mountains, I much prefer having dedicated snow tyres, than all-weather tyres.

Do be careful though, if you do not have snow tyres, and choose to drive in snowy/icy conditions- you could be deemed not to be suitably equipped for the conditions, and invalidate your insurance and be liable for police fines and lay yourself to be sued by any injured party.

Do be careful never to hire a car on the French side of Geneva or Basle airport in winter- as unless paid for and ordered in advance, it won't be equipped for snow, and leave you at above risks. All cars hired on the Swiss side will include snow equipment automatically, for reasons stated.

Interestingly, they ARE required in Italy, from Nov.-Mar., but only in case of snow!

My wife uses M+S year round, I use snows Nov. - May, but carry chains year round (just in case).

And I live in southern Ticino!

Studded tires are allowed in CH

Restricted to Nov 1- April 30 and maximum 80 kph and must have the appropriate sign on back of vehicle.

Link FR: http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/741_41/a62.html

The TCS tests tyres and publishes a list of winter tyres in the Autumn. I think it was in their last news,but you can also get the info from them. There was a table with results for different aspects they tested and prices. There was also a bit about which ones were best for 4WD cars. It might help you with your choice.

Depends on where you're planning to be during the winter. Many cantons have mandatory times when winter tyres must be fitted to cars while others don't.

Here in Fribourg we always try and do the changeover on the first weekend in November, having been caught out during our first year here. Usually we change back to summers the first weekend in April, but keep an eye on the weather forecast just in case there's some late snowfalls.

I was wondering about this. Is it OK to use winter tyres in the summer? I have been toying with the idea myself.

like I said, you will be shot....

Half the people work with do so, and I do sometimes as well (if they are at the end of life)

Tom

P.S. As I rarely use my car when there is no snow (I use motorcycles), my personal case is perhaps not the norm.

Pretty much the only time I use the car in summer is when my wife's or daughters' are broke.

Gives a softer ride, and perfectly legal. But in the long run an expensive option.

... meaning they wear out faster in the summer due to the softer rubber?

For the few hundred km I use the car for in summer, perhaps not.

I walk to work, car is only used when my wife's is broken, or we need to haul stuff (mine is bigger).

Tom

I end up doing 10000 km / yr.

So would it be a good idea to simply buy a winter (therefore safe / legal all year round) set ? Also, how many km would a winter set give in these circumstances?

Or go for the 4-seasons stuff my wife has.

Realistically, the only time we HAVE to deal with snow is if we go skiing, the rest can be avoided.

Tom

My understanding, based purely on browsing the intertubes, is that winter tyres are decidedly worse than summer tyres on wet asphalt, and that they might wear faster. (This is assuming "winter tyres" are the same thing as "friction tyres". I learned winter driving in a place where studded tyres were mandatory, so it gets a bit confusing.)

Thanks to all for the info!
//ata

You could do, but they're designed to work best at temperatures of 8 degrees C or less and they usually don't give you as many kilometres per litre of fuel so using them all year round would probably push the fuel bills up. If you're only doing 10,000k a year you might not notice much change in the cost though.

So which cantons are these then ?

(by the way, transport is federal jurisdiction, not cantonal)

The first time I saw that sign I thought he was carrying explosives, as the sign looks like a sea mine, http://www.google.ch/imgres?start=20...r:25,s:20,i:79

The TCS share the winter tyre testing costs with other organisations, so the same report will pop up elsewhere, (Choose your language, top right)

http://www.tcs.ch/de/test-sicherheit...FUxY3goduhgAIg