vRS useless in the snow

[Jules59]

My Octy VRS got stuck on a hill on the way to work today. Along with 5 other cars I might add. Nobody was going anywhere. I rang the wife who'd gone to work earlier and she came and towed me up the hill no problem at all - gloating she was !. She's got a freelander.

I must admit after more than 10 years driving Discoverys I'd quite forgotten how bad some cars are on compressed snow. Its the tyres IMO. I had a metro a long time ago and it would have easly got up that hill this morning

[Petr]

I have winter tyres on 15'' narrower wheels on my fabia vrs and have no problem in this weather, I suppose it would work if you fitted smaller wheels on your Octavia for winter?

[fireftrm]

Well, despite all the chaos yesteday, I managed a 36 mile journey and along roads with Corsas, Fiestas, and other small cars in ditches, hedges and each other including one basic Corsa (little torque and narrow tyres) spinning off a 100yards in front of me). Yes the vRS suffers from wide tyres, but so do a lot of cars today. My neighbours Focus Tdi has 17" 225 tyres. I also had one, or two difficult spots but managed the lot with care and attention.

[sms]

after this weeks snow i doubt we will see any more for a few years and certainly not as bad, personally i would say grin and bear it as once this week is over it probably be it for a long while.

[djgritt]

Mine's been fine! Been managing the 6" of snow and ice on our 1.25 mile UNTREATED lane with no worries - 17's and ESP on

And was fine on the badly treated main roads etc for another 50-odd miles

[richie]

Another for the "not just me.....!" camp My shocks and spring felt awfull this morning on the way home. Parked the car in the sunlight, had a blatt down the motorway and all fine

[dan_the_v8man]

Well this morning the vRS stayed at home and focus took me to work like the roads where clear :P

[dieseldarren]

'vRS is useless in the snow' or 'vRS TYRES are useless in the snow' ?

Considering we have 'proper' snow once in a blue moon it isn't worth having proper winter tyres lying around to be used 3 days every 3 or 4 years.

For the record, my Falken FK452s were crap today.

Contrary to the quality BBC journalism whereby they show people in Moscow with studded tyres as the only possible option for snow driving. The winter tyres that myself & our friends in Germany use are studless, the differences are different rubber compound and improved tread design for displacing more water / snow.

Summer tyres are generally not designed to work fully below +5-7c. As I live "oop norf" and work bizarre shifts, (e.g. 0100 starts) I swap tyres over Oct / Nov - March / April. so that's hardly a few days is it?

cheers .. Darren

[Oli]

I'm not considering a spare tyre set for the winter a it's just a pain in the bum and a waste of cash for the odd day every few years as has been said.

Anyway, for the record my Eagle F1 GSD3s were also shocking in the snow. I had two mild slide outs and limited traction. Even on gritted motorway it was possible to see the traction light pop on when the throttle was used a little too much over 30mph.

I could take the Corsa into work, but it's nowhere near as comfy to drive....

Anyone got any recommendations for decent all weather tyres for the Vrs 225/40/18s ? Might consider changing to an all weather next tyre change.

[PSM]

Surely if the problem with the tyres are that they are too wide then letting the pressure down just makes them wider and hence more traction problems. I thought in snow you were supposed to increase the pressure so making the effective tyre area on the road narrower. I thought lowereing pressure was if you were in mud or on sand (so spread the pressure and you sink in less).

As an aside I am in S Wales so only had snow this morning and got into work fine in my VRs this morning. So they are not that bad in the snow!

[magic62]

No matter how much you alter the tire pressure, these summertires (Y rated), will never really work on snow

[vRS Ian]

I had my front tyres changed (mich Pilot primacy) at the weekend in readiness. Managed to get them replaced with Conti Sport contact 3's ( a result as its a lease car - thanks to the tyre depot for that ).

The conti's are rubbish in the snow, but are in a different league to those hard wearing mich's in the wet :-) Can actually accellerate relatively hard now without inducing wheel hop.

Struggled up a hill yesterday, going nowhere with the gentel approach, small amount of right boot got some heat into them and away I went. I wish the ECU on VW group cars would allow left foot braking - its very useful in the snow at keeping the front end in around corners....

[bahnstormer vrs]

There is one factor that no-one has yet mentioned that is IMHO relevant to this situation; WEIGHT

All our cars are 50% heavier than a similar sized one of 15 - 20 years ago, an Octy vRS weighs about 1500kg

[SIameseDuke]

My Octy VRS got stuck on a hill on the way to work today. Along with 5 other cars I might add. Nobody was going anywhere. I rang the wife who'd gone to work earlier and she came and towed me up the hill no problem at all - gloating she was !. She's got a freelander.

I must admit after more than 10 years driving Discoverys I'd quite forgotten how bad some cars are on compressed snow. Its the tyres IMO. I had a metro a long time ago and it would have easly got up that hill this morning

I swiped my wife's old 2000 model Micra, and it was brilliant in the snow. Gentle power (it's only the 1-litre engine) and nice narrow tyres. No ABS, but it's of limited use on snow and ice anyway, IMHO

[fireftrm]

bahnstormer - true, so why are they seemingly worse in snow? The weight shopuld be an advantage. The reason? C**p driving, unfamiliar with such conditions.

[dan_the_v8man]

well considering i've spent the last 3 days driving in the snow out in the works van most of the time and im rather a big fan of getting my unimog muddy, i wouldnt say it was my crap driving at fault :P

[Karlos69]

I'm on ContiSportContact 3s and have had no real trouble in the snow. The ice, however, is another story!

Thankfully, work have been making us use 4x4 vehicles which have winter tyres. Despite this, you can still feel them struggle in the ice.

Just goes to show that despite tyres, prudent careful smooth driving is the main factor in pointing in the car in the straight ahead position.

[cheezemonkhai]

No matter how much you alter the tire pressure, these summertires (Y rated), will never really work on snow

What about the V rated winter tyres or all season with snowflake markings.

Eg the Wintrac Xtreme (winter), the Quatrac 3(AS), the Goodyear Vector 4 season(AS) or the Nokian WR (AS)?

I'm guessing while they won't be as good as a pure snow tyre, but they'd be a large amount better than a standard summer/performance tyre.

[magic62]

Haven driven Conti TS810 in H spec and now am driving Dunlop 3D in V spec, all I can say it depends on the technology (compound, how much silicas, lammellar built, tread pattern etc).

The 3Ds are at least as good as the TS if not better, in spite of the V spec.

Both tires bought new with a recent built date (not older than half a year when mounted).

A real oldfashioned snow tire will be better in the snow, but these conditions are even rare in wintersport areas. Another (for me) BIG disadvantage, they are mostly limited to 160km/h.

I especially wanted V spec tires, as I got tired of backing of at 220 tacho. (In good weatherconditions here in Germany) Now I dont have to look after that restriction anymore

Also drove all season tires on a GrandVoyager before the VRS. Those tires are better than summertires in winter, but are, in snow, far less than real wintertires (with the snowflake). It does save you changing the tires twice a year though.

[vRS Ian]

I'm on ContiSportContact 3s and have had no real trouble in the snow. The ice, however, is another story!

Thankfully, work have been making us use 4x4 vehicles which have winter tyres. Despite this, you can still feel them struggle in the ice.

Just goes to show that despite tyres, prudent careful smooth driving is the main factor in pointing in the car in the straight ahead position.

Again this morning, my new ContiSportContact 3s have proved rubbish.... and it isn't my driving. Couldn't even drive up the most gentle slope of compacted snow that a Corsa just drove straight up, may have made it in reverse, but there was another route out of the estate.

Have you looked at the tread pattern left by these tyres in fresh snow? All you can see is longitudinal grooves, all the others remain blocked with snow. So may as well be running on slicks near enough!

Great tyres in the wet still though, well impressed.

[Yeti_Man]

VRS rubbish in the snow?

No more so than any other 200bhp front wheel drive car running 225/18" performance rubber.

Lee

[Karlos69]

Have you looked at the tread pattern left by these tyres in fresh snow? All you can see is longitudinal grooves, all the others remain blocked with snow. So may as well be running on slicks near enough!

True. But looking at the tread pattern made by mine, I seem to have all the little side grooves there too, but my tyres have only done 2000 miles so I don't know if that makes any difference?

[cheezemonkhai]

Also drove all season tires on a GrandVoyager before the VRS. Those tires are better than summertires in winter, but are, in snow, far less than real wintertires (with the snowflake). It does save you changing the tires twice a year though.

Obviously full winter wins over all season, but I'm thinking some all season with the snowflake on should do the job about as well as an all season can.

[andypandypoos]

Well this morning the vRS stayed at home and focus took me to work like the roads where clear :P

my 215 section Parada shod Focus got me to work no worries and I didn't notice bengie's lass in her 200bhp Vectra that's fitted with 18's getting stuck at all either :confused: bengie's RWD tranny on the othe hand...I believe it had issues

[suze]

Whats a 4x4 Octy like in snow? I'm reluctant to move mine considering i've never even seen this much snow before in my life!!