Big_Sam Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 This is something which up until November I took very little interest in. I was moving house and had the Volvo V70 loaded to the roof and driving over 100miles each trip. That was fine until we had a little icy weather and I had a few 'interesting' moments on the road. Now, Swedes are not stupid people, yet it seemed they had made a car that was useless on snow and ice, that puzzled me So after digging out the handbook I discovered a short paragraph that stated simply: 'Volvo recommends the fitting of winter tyres in winter'. Aha! So I did some googling and discovered that pretty much everywhere else in europe uses them and there are huge tests and reviews every year (the best is done by the ADAC). And thus I decided to try out some of these 'winter tyres'. I was using P6000 at that time. I selected the Vredestein Snowtrac 3, but they were out of stock so got the snowtrac 2 instead (tyre size 195/65 r15). What a difference! It was like night and day. Suddenly it stopped sliding on the tiniest patch of snowy stuff and the grip and handling on wet roads was brilliant! I would not have believed it was such a remarkable difference. On dry roads there was no difference, but on wet and icy roads it was huge! I went up into the hills and found a carpark with 5 inchs of snow and ice and tried to get the volvo stuck, no chance! With careful driving, 5 inch deep snow was manageable. Now imagine all those cars stuck in england had had proper tyres fitted! But.... its more that just the tyres. People here don't know how to drive on snow, you see them driving like normal, then looking surprised as they land in a ditch or spin their wheels on tiny slopes. When I was learning to drive a few years back, my instructor insisted that we went out everytime it snowed, we went on all the nastyiest, ungritted roads we could find and had great fun sliding and skidding for miles. It taught me the correct way of driving, and how to feel the car's movement on the ice. I now love driving on snow and try to get out as often as possible in it! We can't all own landies and L200, so for the rest of us, winter tyres are the nearest you will get to a good all-terrain tyre for the normal car. They work well in mud too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 my BFG's I think are classed as winter tyres and they stay on all year round but they are very different on snow and ice to the tyres they replaced. Lots of car drivers buy directional tyres which are fine in good conditions but useless at the moment. Look at the continent and you won't find ze germans having trouble driving on snow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'm a landy driver so I can't really comment. I don't fit winter tyres to the other halfs car though, just take the landy if things get bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I think any tyres with the M + S markings count as winter tyres really, so ATs on your landy is a yes really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie 1 Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 well i have bfg mud terrains on my freelander all the time so they should be ok in the snow lol. but could someone please explain the difference between all terrain tyres and snow tyres. are they not just the same but for cars instead of 4x4's. thanks charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Well not really, Winter tyres are made from a softer compound that doesn't harden up in the cold weather like normal tyres do. This makes them more 'sticky'. It also means they wear out more quickly, hence why you change back to normal tyres in the summer. All-terrain patterns would not always scale down well to car wheel size, so you have to design differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conygree Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) all I can add is buy a set of snowchains I fitted them on my wife's Jimny and it possible to drive almost anywhere including down ice hills. I fitted another set to my 4x2 ranger, normally used only for mud ( don't clog as MT) as I drove down the keepers hill track with a load of wood, they all came out of his cottage to see me slid but nothing happened much to their disapointment they gripped - but the new Range rover that preceded me went thorugh a hedge on the same section. :yp: I brought mine from 'Brindleychains' years ago not too bad to fit - not a girly job. I was ontop of the Kirkstone pass a few yrs ago when a snowstorm struck, most had no snow experiece even with 4x4 but I fitted my chains and off I went overtaking 4x4's on the way down ( only doing say 15 mph). At the bottom while taking them off nobody came down for ages Edited February 10, 2009 by pigeon popper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeylove Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) Ive just bought a set of snow chains for my tranny, im off snowboarding up aviemore at the weekend and dont want to get caught out. Ive got mud terrains on my lightweight but dont fancy the motorway journey in that (plus it would be a bit cold kipping in the back). Edited February 10, 2009 by mickeylove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilstoat Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I mentioned to my dad to try snow chains after seeing him struggle a bit to get some traction, after a visit, he seems to think they wreck your tyres...never heard of this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 We just don't get enough 'winter' weather to start fitting different wheel/tyre combinations along with chains. If last weeks affair with the snow were a 3 month ordeal, that would change my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I use a different motor altogether if its icy or snow down, wish I had a pound for every time we get snow overnight or early doors, and its usually gone by 10,in fact driving over the A66 a couple of weeks ago I had to come back and go via the 69, but that don't make the news up here!! bit like the couple of years I lived in peterhead, I was told "we don't get snow being so close to the sea" strange thing was I had to dig the furniture van in, never mind out? KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conygree Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I found snow chains OK even loaded on short section of clear road but slower say 15 mph, on snow you can go faster. No problems with tyre damage, using them for say 10 yrs, mainly on mud caravan sites etc. They are handy on say a transit if parked off road if you get stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'm a landy driver so I can't really comment. I don't fit winter tyres to the other halfs car though, just take the landy if things get bad Fit the wrong tyres to any vehicle and you will not get very far! I have worked over in both Sweden and Norway and they have an official date that you must switch over to winter/snow tyres. They generally don’t mess about with gritting, because all on snow tyres. They also have a much higher standard of driving test which includes skid pan work. It is just not practical in the UK, and come on really for 1 day every 10 years that we get a real problem it is not worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 We just don't get enough 'winter' weather to start fitting different wheel/tyre combinations along with chains. If last weeks affair with the snow were a 3 month ordeal, that would change my opinion. My thoughts exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I suppose for all you southerners it mostly isn't worth it, trying living up here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Here's a bit tip for you all: Don't buy studded tyres then think you can pull the studs out.... yes, they will come out, but at 90 studs per tyre you will have blistered hands like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.