In the preamble to the latest issue of Auto Express, editor-in-chief Steve Fowler ponders the attitude many have to buying tyres, noting their status as “one of the most important things you’ll buy for your car,” yet observing that “relatively few of us in the UK think about changing our tyres to suit the conditions” and that “most of us tend to buy on price rather than quality.” Fowler rightly calls this approach “crazy for a safety-related item.” Addressing both issues, eight winter tyres – all from well-known manufacturers and retailing for between £82.49 and £120.99 – underwent a series of cold-weather challenges in the 5 November 2014 edition of Auto Express, and an all-season and a summer tyre joined them to see how they’d fare against the specialised winter rubber.