Posted this on a climbing forum as there was a sort of discussion about them, but people on here might want some info on them too as there are a few threads about winter tyres and snow driving.

I only got them a few weeks ago, and as i was in S wales for xmas i didnt have any chance to use them until today when there was a nice dump of fresh snow on top of well packed ice in the lakes.

My normal commute is pretty much ok at the moment its only the last 50m or so up a gentle slope thats a bit iffy. Anyway i decided after i got home tonight i would give them a proper test out on some of the shoot steepish streets around windermere. The roads are ungritted and have heavy compacted snow on top of ice down the centre and a few inchs of loose snow at the edges. My car is an A3 with a 2 litre 140bhp very torquey diesel with wide low profile tyres (225/45/17) and normally starts spinning at the slightest hint of ice.

Anyway – fitting takes about 1-2 mins per wheel. Put sock on as far as possible around the wheel, roll car forward or back about half a metre then finish fitting. Climb in car and find some hills 🙂

I am really impressed with the performance, didnt get stuck once, no displacement of the sock at all even after 3 point turns using power steering to moove the wheels as it was a tight space. Steep hill starts on comapcted snow and ice no problem, and i got up the steep sections on some of the streets that had cars abandoned below them. Looked like very few cars had made it up some of the streets i managed. I tried stopping on the steepest bits and doing hill starts but they still gripped!

Coming down hill was ok too, just put it in 1st and engine braking, still ok using the brakes gently, although i did do some hard braking to see what happened (on a nice clear wide bit). I only have socks on the front and predicably the back started to swing out a bit, but was fairly controllable.

Taking them off takes less than a minute and just give them a shake and bung them in the boot.

Only question will be durability, although i know someone who's had a pair for a couple of years now and no cuts or tears. They start to get a bit fluffier but this helps improve grip even more apparently.

At the moment i'd reccommend them if you need them say for getting out of a village or uncleared side streets and onto main roads, or for sections of country roads where you know it wont be cleared of snow. I think if you used them on cleared roads they may wear out quite quickly, but as they're so easy to put on + off its not too much hassle if you do have to remove them now and again.

I had a couple of people asking me what they where at the top of one hill (they had walked up as car was stuck at the bottom, and i had got out of the car to check they were still aligned ok on the wheel as it was only about 200m after fitting them), anyway they were pretty impressed too.

Hope this doesnt sound like an autosock advert lol just giving my thoughts 🙂

I used my pair of Autosocks in the Peaks before Christmas. Big thumbs up from me too.

My misses's sister has just been on the phone raving about how the good pair she's bought are. They got her home tonight in Sheffield and normally the fudging big hill she lives on is dire with snow.

There were some mixed reviews the other week on this subject on here, so interesting to hear more favourable reports.