Snow Socks

So I’ve recently gone pack to RWD, and was investigating a winter wheel/tyre set at £728, when I stumbled across Autosocks Snow socks – £65.

The content, and the user reviews seem remarkable, and for a London Urbanite that might just get caught in Kent/Oxford/Herts car parks once or twice a year seem the perfect solution with minimal outlay.

Any one here use them or got a view on snow socks? Shouold they be put on the front as well?

(Note, if its snowing when I wake up in the morning I’ll not be using the car – I’m aware the are not a full time alternative).

We’ve done this loads.

They get you out of your snowy driveway/cul de sac, but do nothing else.

Winter tyres are vastly better for a whole lot of reasons. Invest, it’s worth it. Also investigate a slightly different but compatible size of winters, to save money, but check with insurers first.

Apart from the wheels, the cost of winter tyres themselves is zero in the long run because your summers will last proportionally longer.

Well, £728 for a set of steel poor looking 16″ replacing an 18″ wheel for 3 months of the year isn’t cheap. And as above living where I do – e.g. not the Lakes or any more of a remote area, I’m not sure it is worth it…

Is it that time of year already? Must check the heating settings…

I’ve used them, and they’re a great solution to the “damn, I’m stuck, if only I had a bit more traction to get this 50 yards onto the clear bit” problem.

They are a bit fiddly to get on, but nice to have them in the boot if you don’t want to (or can’t) spend money on separate wheels/tyres that you really only need once or twice.

Well, £728 for a set of steel poor looking 16″ replacing an 18″ wheel for 3 months of the year isn’t cheap.

But the wheels aren’t £728 are they?

No, wheels and tyres.

Tyres for existing wheels especially the rear (255/18/35 run flat) seem difficult to source. The BMW winter steel wheels tyres are 205/16/55 run flat.

Ok, its getting better; Some 16″ alloys with runflats £619 here:

http://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/16-bmw-1-series-f20-winter-wheels-tyres-xr.html

Tyres seem rated badly though compared to the non runflats…

Winter tyres are undoubtedly a better, all round driving solution. But for

a London Urbanite that might just get caught in Kent/Oxford/Herts car parks once or twice a year

Snowsocks are perfect. You wouldn’t want to drive in them any distance but to get you off the drive/car park they are perfect.

I’ve used autosocks a couple of times (can’t believe I’m talking about them mid September) and they are very very good.

They get you out of your snowy driveway/cul de sac, but do nothing else

Not in my experience, I’ve driven 20 miles in them.

I also don’t find them fiddly to get on, slip over the tyre, move the car forward a bit, slip the rest on. Its a 2 minute job.

What he’s getting as it you only ‘waste’ the wheel cost, which also have a resale. We do lowish mileage so hopefully won’t buy tires for another 3-4 years as wear is split 70/30 across the 2 sets of wheels.

Last Xmas it was forecast to be 7-8 degrees so we set off to 4 days away. Came home to 4″ snow covering hilly Sheffield and had to dump the new BMW about a mile from home (a mate with a Landy gave us a lift with our 18 month old and all the bags and Xmas pressies)

Next day I ordered winter tyres. It snowed again. The car didn’t seem to notice. In fact, winters on a few inches of fresh snow had more grip than summers on a cold wet (snow free) road. Was driving up 15% gradients no problem. Could see people thinking “Ha, RWD, this will be funny. Oh.”.

If you don’t have to drive, they are a luxury and sounds like snow socks will do. But once you have winters, driving (with care) will be possible in pretty much any UK conditions (better/safer in cold/wet too, not just snow).

I’m almost looking forward to fitting them again!

Mr Winter is where we got ours. Very good price and service.

p.s. we went Conti’s. I didn’t want to save a couple of quid to find them only a bit better and we still got stuck, just closer to home, so spend a bit more to get the review winners and be sure they performed.

p.p.s. Socks sound OK for you. We live on a 12% hill, reasonably high (often rains in town and snows here) and our road doesn’t get gritted unless all the neighbours pitch in. So that’s just me and a shovel doing 500m then…

Any one here use them or got a view on snow socks? Should they be put on the front as well?

On December 10th 2010 it took me more than 13 hours to drive 20 miles through the worst traffic conditions i’ve ever had to drive in.
The M8 motor way had a 4 inch thick sheet of ice for most of it’s length. It is a drive home which has passed into legend amongst the residents of the central belt of Scotland.
I was driving this ( with chunky winter tyres )….

The only other vehicle that I SAW that was able to make it up the hill from Baillieston to the Shawhead flyover without sliding was equipped with Snow socks.
It was heavy and RWD and looked like this…

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Based on my limited observations, YES they do work. They are a “get you home” solution only though. I ordered a set of snowsocks for my wifes car the next day. Never had to use them though.

I’ve got snowsocks for my 320d, just on the rears. If you get to the stage that the front end looses grip, then you are going too fast for snow conditions IMO.

There really is no need for anything else.

The car was fine without them the majority of the time. I only ended up using them a couple of times when the snow was about 5″ + deep, and that was on a steep side road.

The grip they give is amazing.

Yes they are not designed to be used over a certain speed, and yes they are not to be used for mega long distance, but who in there right mind travels very long distances, very quickly when there are a few inches of untreated snow on roads.

As on your previous what car thread, I have driven in the BM and only had to stop because other cars have got in to difficulty, thats without the socks. With socks grip is nearly as god as a usual road.

Only problem with BM’s is getting the socks on. The wheelarch to tyre gap is very limited depending on the wheel size/suspension. Getting them on can be a real b!tch. (until you get used to it, then its easy)

Mine winter tyres are stored under the boot floor in the car all year and dont take any space up. Also carry 2 bin liners. 1 for putting the wet socks in, and 1 to kneel down on when fitting them

On December 10th 2010 it took me more than 13 hours to drive 20 miles through the worst traffic conditions i’ve ever had to drive in.

And that was the first day I used mine, heading up the hill on the m77 from Darnley to the top of newton mearns the car just stuck to the road all the way up, it was carnage all round.

On December 10th 2010 it took me more than 13 hours to drive 20 miles through the worst traffic conditions i’ve ever had to drive in.

And that was the first day I used mine, heading up the hill on the m77 from Darnley to the top of newton mearns the car just stuck to the road all the way up, it was carnage all round.

It was weapons grade weather for sure. I don’t think i’ve ever been called a smug prick more times in one day.

Even though I spent most of the drive home pulling other people out of trouble to clear the blocked roads so I could get home.

Oh if you are intending taking your car to the Alps in winter, the brand Autosocks are the only brand ok’d by the French Police to use instead of chains.

Thanks, esp. Funkydunc for the close to actual situation review.

I’ve just found out that I’ve got the worst kind of tyres for anything other than dry anyway, (Bridgestone REO50’s), so I might invest in a new set of boots that have better wet grip – and some Autosocks.

who in there right mind travels very long distances, very quickly when there are a few inches of untreated snow on roads

People who are away whilst it snows and want to get home!

Kryters, I’d question the need for runflats. Can’t you just use mousse?

I don’t know TBH. The car has the sensors for it so I assume I’d have to drive around with a dash light on. Plus there’s no spare in the boot. I really don’t know how the system works.

Weirdly, at least on black circles those Bridgestomes in my sizes have a “B” for wet weather, whereas user reviews seem aweful.

I don’t know TBH. The car has the sensors for it so I assume I’d have to drive around with a dash light on. Plus there’s no spare in the boot.

Surely in reality thats just the normal tyre pressure sensor which you can reset to any value?

Mine didnt come with run flats (and rides better for it), no spare tyre either although there is a can of gunk in the boot. Thankfully mines on fully comp lease so would just ring up for a tyre fitter to come out 🙂

I’ve got chains (never used) and when I bought my current car budgeted for a second set of wheels and conti winter contacts all round. Pretty expensive at £1k+, but very capable. I wouldn’t be without them now, even for above zero winter conditions.

As above, go narrower if you can. Not just cost, the difference between 225s and the 205s on my previous car was very noticeable (although having a heavy diesel engine over the driven wheels no doubt helped)

Surely in reality thats just the normal tyre pressure sensor which you can reset to any value?

Could you elaborate what / how for the uninitiated?

In the iDrive system there is a menu option to ‘set’ tyre pressures. It then warns you if pressure goes below that set value.

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On December 10th 2010 it took me more than 13 hours to drive 20 miles through the worst traffic conditions i’ve ever had to drive in.

I had the surreal experience of driving home along Maryhill Rd at 6pm in a foot or two of snow (packed down in one lane) with almost zero traffic on the road. A steady 15-20mph most of the way on a FWD car with decent tread on summer tyres.

After experiencing what my current car combined with legal though well worn Bridgestone summer tyres was like on a bit of snow last winter I’m going for all seasons next month. Either Goodyear Vector 4 Season Gen 2 or Michelin Cross Climate. Don’t think the Nokian all seasons come in the correct speed rating for my car yet. Even if we don’t get much snow the low temp wet grip for Oct – April will be more use to me than anything I’ll lose in what we call summer.

The 2015 Autoexpress test finds the best all season tyres as good on snow as a Continental winter tyre. Obviously winter tyres vary.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92873/all-season-tyre-test-2015-results-by-category

OP that quote seems very high, I assume the wheels are quite fancy. When I’ve priced up snow tyres I’ve done it for steel wheels only and cost has been circa £400. The snow socks do an ok job, I have seen them in action in UK and Europe in terms of getting round town. Not sure I’d want to go far in them. We have a set for the Mrs car but have never used them, bought to tick the box when driving to Alps.

@Funky thanks for that brand tip, I will check which ones we have for the Mrs French car.

They were alloys – so without run flats they are £532 for Goodyear winters, with steel wheels that comes down to £435. The steels look awful though…

Try for used wheels and tyres? Depends on your car obviously but ebay and gumtree is full of them, people tend to sell them separately from cars when they move on. It helps if you’ve got a common fitment obviously.

I love my winter tyres, but I’d struggle to justify full price for new wheels and tyres. As it is, I got a set of great condition snowproxes and a set of 4 ****ing hideous alloys for £100. I think I might need to put a new pair on those this year though.

TBH “summer tyres” seems to assume some sort of dry weather sticky thing, if your everyday tyres are something more appropriate for UK driving that closes a lot of the gap. My old Kumhos weren’t high performance tyres but they were sensible allrounders and not a disaster in snow. They lacked the siping for ice though obviously. I still got a set of winter tyres but I’d have been happy enough using those through winter.

Each to their own and depends on budget but I run an R32 and live in the high Pennines. I’ve never bothered with a set of winters but I do have Autosocks and they are great for its snowy now it’s clear now it’s snowy driving
I’ve never been stuck though with or without, maybe I’ve just been lucky

The steels look awful though…

Hehe 🙂

This year I’m treating myself to some wheel trims for the steelies on the Passat.

Each to their own and depends on budget but I run an R32 and live in the high Pennines. I’ve never bothered with a set of winters but I do have Autosocks and they are great for its snowy now it’s clear now it’s snowy driving
I’ve never been stuck though with or without, maybe I’ve just been lucky

My wife just said “but you drove a 2002 330i for 8 years and didn’t need them….”

She has a point. Maybe snow socks just in case this year and if I shit myself on the road one day I now know what to do.

The sensors are just tyre pressure sensors. Run off the abs sensor and read the wheel rotations. A flat tyre gives a different reading. Remarkably sensitive. Maybe a 5psi change could set them off. Just reset after checking pressures on the newly fitted wheels, if you do it.

R32 is 4wd though right ? I had an A6 Quattro with standard conti tyres and drove it a lot on the snow inc up down our steep unadopted road and in the Alps in lots of snow. Never needed the chains I had but it’s a 4wd car. I also have a rwd car and on one very snowy and icy day I could barely get it to climb the camber on another road once so I could leave a parking space. OP is worried about rwd. The neighbours with rwd BMW and Mercedes could not get out of our road.

Fwiw . 4wd /rwd/fwd . Makes no odds . Its the same 4 wheels doing the braking.

Going is only half your problem.

I appreciate you point @trail_rat but many rwd cars will not go at all (so perhaps your point is you think that’s best) and a 4wd has better engine braking which in poor road conditions you use a lot. Fwd generally better in the snow too.

FWIW, I’ve been monitoring temperatures since last years Winter Tyres threads and can report that there hasn’t been one month that I didn’t experience temperatures 7C or less whilst driving. 😆

Funnily enough i had a rwd car through one bad winter …. It was ace. Went where my neighbours range rover could not.

How ever it did have a get out clause of vac activated front and centre diff locks and all terrain tires on…. The only time i had to use the lockers was driving into and down a ditch to get round a muppet that thought autosocks could get him through 3 foot drifts and totally blocked the road and no one in the queue of traffic that had built up could get grip to pull him off it.

Its nowt to do with the wheels driven , but the tires on them , my friends up here drive bimmers all winter , right tires on the rims and a couple of bags of sand in the boot.

Autosocks are impressive for emergencies but i would not base my winter driving around them. – but i live in the north east of scotland where snow seems to be the norm. In london – if it was snowing on the odd occasion id work from home.

Funny that scotroutes – we live near by 😉 …… Fwiw i have not taken the winter tires off the van either …. And i based the land rovers tires on what had decent winter performance ….. Remoulds were discounted straight away… Aggressive yes , get me moving yes…. Safe – no. Stopping grip was horrendous.

Molgrips, seems like eBay is more expensive for steels with tyres than mr winter wheels alloys + non RFT tyres!

Its nowt to do with the wheels driven , but the tires on them , my friends up here drive bimmers all winter , right tires on the rims and a couple of bags of sand in the boot.

And these tyres are…?