I’ve never thought I was the greatest driver in the world, in fact I figured I was pretty crap. But having just driven from Woking to Guildford and back again, it’s been eye opening. Various cars going sideways, lorrys jack knifing, etc etc. How hard is high gear, low revs, don’t go too fast, don’t expect your steering to work very well.

BMW/Merc/MX5 RWD cars should just be banned when it snows. It was ridiculous. I helped push two mercs up a hill on the A3 ffs.

“BMW/Merc/MX5 RWD cars should just be banned when it snows. It was ridiculous. I helped push two mercs up a hill on the A3 ffs.”

Why? I am in Germany at the moment on a business trip, plenty of Mercs, BMWs, Porsches etc but no silliness on the roads.

They all have to fit snow tyres mind.

i walked, didn’t get stuck once and i had a pint in the local too, walking and drinking tut tut!

some right idiots driving about though as you say, no clues at all some of them

Nothing beats smugness.

Banned or snow tyres. Either is good.

Mandatory winter tyres is the way ahead. There would be no disruption whatsoever. It needs bringing in now.

I did make the error of mocking the bmw drivers when pushing a merc up the hill with a fellow driver – she then said she was having no problems in her bmw ‘thank you very much’ 😀

surely RWD should be better up hills – unless you have massive fat tyres (and maybe an auto gearbox – and shitty “traction control” that just brakes both sides if they even hint at loss of traction)

trouble with winter tyres is that they are rubbish/last a short time in normal conditions, which here in the midlands is 98% of the time, not worth the layout for the maybe 5 days a year where it snows

having said that there’s about 6″ of the stuff outside and it’s snowing hard atm

and a rubbish driver with winter tyres is still a rubbish driver, maybe mandatory winter driving courses might be better

RWD: no engine weight over the drive wheels – it’s a problem

I have been using a pair of autosocks on my FWD Honda. They are very good on snow/slush/ice. I keep forgetting I have them on and end up sliding the back out and having to countersteer to prevent a spin. Great fun.

RWD: no engine weight over the drive wheels – it’s a problem

bag of sand/corpse in boot, dab of oppo – innit

Sorry Rocketdog, you’re talking rubbish. My winter tyres are absolutely fine from Oct-Apr and have no wear issues. They’ll also allow my Berlingo to cope with up to 10-12″ of fresh snow. No excess noise, no extra fuel consumption, just grip and control.

so why bother with normal tyres then if winters are good in all conditions?

12″ of snow in a Berlingo ?
What’s the ground clearance on one of those ?

Think they must have inches and centimetres mixed up. Common problem.

so why bother with normal tyres then if winters are good in all conditions?

I don’t bother with them between november and april.

The compound is to soft for summer use.

I don’t bother with them between november and april.

southern hemisphere? as nov-april is winter where i live

Its heavy snow down here in Bucks; just been out in the wife’s Freelander – drifting and opp. lock everywhere, great fun.

I keep forgetting I have them on and end up sliding the back out and having to countersteer to prevent a spin.

What would it take to improve your memory if sliding the back out repeatedly fails do it?

As I said, 10-12″ of “FRESH” snow, where the top layer will be pushed aside. I reckon the clearance is about 20cm/8″. 12″ of partially re-frozen slush would be another matter.

As has been discussed at length across the forum, winter tyres offer superior grip and control in all conditions below 7degC due to tyre compound and trad pattern. If you find you’re doing the majority of your driving in temperatures above 7degC, put your summer tyres back on. It is that simple.

It’s all great fun until someone gets hurt….

With snow consistently a foot deep my landy feels it.

Theres no way you drive through a foot of snow in a berlingo!

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a BMW, 4×4, landrover with winter tyres or a ford focus, at least one person will drive badly, mess it up and cause delays meaning your stuck in the same traffic jam as everyone else.

I stand by my comments regarding the effectiveness of winter tyres and in particular the improved capacity they bring to my Berlingo. Those of you who subscribe to the “Winter tyres are pointless” mentality might be better spreading the sand on your road, rather than burying your head in it.

the problem with merc and bmw drivers is they cannot be arsed to buy a £10 hands free kit for their mobile phone so £400 notes on some winter tyres is not going to happen, their way of thinking the little people will always give them a push if they get stuck.

so why bother with normal tyres then if winters are good in all conditions?

They are improving all the time and many of them are now classed as ‘4 season’ eg. Nokian WR G2. It’s a bit of a compromise but IME the improvement in performance is huge in cold/wet/snow and dry seems fine without exploring any ‘limits’ as yet. Although I haven’t had the opportunity of assessing them in warmer conditions, in the web reports I read, many people kept them on all year round with only a relatively small reduction in traction and increase in braking distances.Certainly nothing like the difference in tests the other way round. Wear seems ok too with reports of 20,000 kms.

As I needed new tyres anyway, if they are poor once it warms up I’ll swap them for summer tyres and it’ll cost me £30 to swap them back next winter. Seems reasonable to me to have the extra grip and safety for at least the next 3 or 4 months.

trouble with winter tyres is that they are rubbish/last a short time in normal conditions, which here in the midlands is 98% of the time, not worth the layout for the maybe 5 days a year where it snows

What crap. I have had Nokian WR (winter) tyres on my XC90 for the last 2 years and they’re easily going to last 20k miles which is actually more than the standard Continentals do.
‘Summer’ tyres are all about grip when you’re going fast, but the volume of traffic nowadays makes those opportunities less fdrequent every year.
Surely just one saved accident makes winter tyres a worthwhile investment?

Edit: we left our Golf (with new standard) in the pub car park last night and went to get it this morning. Only about 1.5″ of fresh, compacted snow on the ground and it would barely move out of the parking space, and when it finally did it was all over the place – compared to the XC90 which was driving around as if there was no snow at all.

and a rubbish driver with winter tyres is still a rubbish driver, maybe mandatory winter driving courses might be better

I’m sure there are plenty of poor drivers in Scandanavia and other places where winter tyres are compulsory… yet they manage to get through the winter without coming to a standstill.

If everyone fitted winter tyres then the country wouldn’t grind to a halt with 2″ of snow.

Last week the temperature was 10 degrees and the M&S tyres I have fitted were just fine. They didn’t fall apart and the level of grip was just fine. I know people who run winter tyres all year round, it isn’t an issue.

What would it take to improve your memory if sliding the back out repeatedly fails do it?

I reckon a fancy time machine that reversed my age by 20 years would improve my memory no end.

My point is that when going in a straight line you get used to a lot of front-end grip from the autosocks and it fools you into thinking you can corner faster than you can. You can’t. Judging what speed you can corner without the back breaking out is dead tricky. But it’s all sub 30 mph and can all be sorted out by opposite steering to counter the slide. Perfectly in control and quite a giggle.

BTW. folk who doubt the efficacy of winter tyres have not tried them. The issue for me buying and storing wheels. I think in DE/AUT, the garage stores the other tyres and swaps them over for you when you have bi-annual services. I would deffo go for that.

My GF just got back from the French Alps, and her opinion is that the French are far worse winter drivers and even less prepared than we are.

Those of you who subscribe to the “Winter tyres are pointless” mentality might be better spreading the sand on your road, rather than burying your head in it.

chuckles

What crap. I have had Nokian WR (winter) tyres on my XC90 for the last 2 years and they’re easily going to last 20k miles which is actually more than the standard Continentals do.

only 20k? are you a lottery winner or something?

Those of you who subscribe to the “Winter tyres are pointless” mentality might be better spreading the sand on your road, rather than burying your head in it.

blimey i think you have other issues than worrying about what tyres other folk use, maybe your belingo gets through mountains of snow cause you drive angry with foot down and teeth gritted?

just cool ya jets chap 😉

I think in DE/AUT, the garage stores the other tyres and swaps them over for you when you have bi-annual services. I would deffo go for that.

Kwik fit offer a tyre “hotel” for summer/winter tyres

BMW/Merc/MX5 RWD cars should just be banned when it snows. It was ridiculous. I helped push two mercs up a hill on the A3 ffs.

Our Mazda has been ace in the recent snow with bog standard tyres. Does have an LSD though, which seems to help.

Did our village to Farnham, Hogs Back in the blizzard to Guildford, then A3 back home. No problem, other than sitting in all the queues of traffic stuck behind the buses and HGVs that were struggling to get up Stag Hill.

i just had a guy and his wife parked sideways outside out house, not sure you can drive that way in 5” in snow
i was just staring out the window at them in disbelief and they just looked at me and waved ❓

Theres no way you drive through a foot of snow in a berlingo!

Powder snow, no probs. I broke my Mondeo out through a foot of snow back in January with fairly minimal digging. Berlingo’s have nice narrow tyres, a heavy diesel lump in the front and not too much power, they’re very capable. I used to have a Berlingo a few years ago, good car.

I miss my Mondeo though, that was so good in the snow, it’d get anywhere.

So when they bring in this law about winter tyres and we have 10 years like the previous 10 before this one (where there’s been negligible snow in the S of England), you lot will then be moaning about having to store an unnecessary set of spare wheels. Bearing in mind that given normal temperatures for southern England, there are only about 2 months of the year where you’re even likely to do most of your driving when it’s <7C.

only 20k? are you a lottery winner or something?

Are you a taxi driver or something? 😛

I believe in the winter tyres, I will be getting some in the future. I think the big difference is the compound is designed to work in temps less than 7degC, and come summer the compound doesn’t last as well or as well suited to the warmer temps. If this kind of weather is becoming a regular feature of the british winter, then we should have the same tyres rules as most of Europe does.
Check this if you still doubt their effectiveness.

Can’t see it ever being law as it’s virtually un-policeable. Especially when they reckon there are one million cars on the road without tax and/or insurance.

Haven’t seen the temperature above 7C up here in the N.E. of England since about mid October when going to or from work (mind you I do leave and come back in the dark) so I reckon mine will be good for a minimum of 5-6 months a year.

Is it really that warm in the south ie. <7C for only 2 months a year?

“BMW/Merc/MX5 RWD cars should just be banned when it snows. It was ridiculous. I helped push two mercs up a hill on the A3 ffs.”

Why?This is why:

If I was only getting 20k miles out of a set of tyres i’d be either taking them back or going a little bit easier on the screeching noises round corners.