I'm shortly off to the French Alps to work in a ski resort over the winter and wanted to buy snow chains to comply with current French legislation. However, according to my Owner's Manual it's not permissible (for 'technical reasons' ) to fit snow chains to the wheel /tyre combination on my '06 reg Elegance. The tyres are pretty standard 205/55/R16's and the wheels are the 6.5J Vega alloys so conventional snow chains are not recommended. Roofbox have advised me to buy Spikes Spiders or Maggi Trak which are suitable, but at around £200 are quite pricey. Anybody out there with the same car had the same experience and found a way around this problem - other than by fitting steels and winter tyres which isn't practical in this case... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The technical reason as I understand is the chains might hit the suspension of your octavia if you hit a bump, then the wheel might block (due to hitting the chain) and your car might get out of control and crash. And/or the chain will brake and wrap around the axe. In the risk calculation a fully loaded car is used hitting a big bump, although I think it is too risky, you can try driving with the chains at very slow speed and hoping not to hit any bumps.

Is the negative advice also for chains with smaller (9 mm) hight? That can make the difference.

Maggi Traks are incredible expensive but fit on in a minute!

I've just bought myself an '06 elegance estate with what I think may be the same wheels as yours. I'm also heading to the Alps for a bit of skiing straight after new year so had a quick look into snow chains last week.

Having never bought/used chains before, the ones I settled on were from from Needed4. They sell the correct size to fit my 205/55/R16 tyres and cost £35 inc delivery (cheaper than any ebay or Halford ones I could find), it also says that they are 9mm chains so there shouldn't be an issue with clearance.

I also looked at the textile 'bag' alternatives but decided that I couldn't justify paying over double the price.

I'm away from home at the moment so I'm not sure if they have been delivered yet / if they will be a good fit but I will let you know when they arrive.

Does anybody else have any snow chain advice?

Yay, I get to post my snowchain pic again...

That's my old '05 Elegance Octy on 16" Vegas with cheapo, 50quid RUD Grip chains on (from roofbox). Totally fine combination. Drove it in the French Alps with them on in Jan and over here in the heavy snow in Feb. No damage to the wheels by the chains and chains nowhere near the arches or suspension.

Much more useful than chains though are winter tyres. You'll see Brit cars getting stuck over there and having to faff about putting chains on whilst locals on proper tyres have no problems. That's why I bought a set of second hand Vegas and stuck winter tyres on them for when I go back to the Alps next Feb.

Edited 17 November, 200916 yr by wega3k

I've also been reading about winter tyres and how people feel very strongly both for and against them.... Ideally I would get a set now but I think that they will be a purchase for next year.

I bought the chains as the local Police can specify that only vehicles with snow chains (or textile equivalent) are allowed up to the ski resort if the snow is too bad, anybody without them can be told to abandon their car. Walking up a snowy road to a bus stop wouldn't be the best start to a holiday!

P.S. Nice snow pic.

Yay, I get to post my snowchain pic again...

Wow, I've never seen so much snow, it's almost covering the ground.

Were the chains really needed for that?

No matter if there is snow or not, drivers need to have chains in their cars in some marked areas during the winter as I noticed on a road signs in the French mountains.

I also noticed last February that chains wont help much if you have wide Summer tires, an Audi (R16 or R17 tires) could not get up a (5%?) road with chains. Summer tires with chains still have about half the traction of winter tires (without chains).

If the topic starter only needs his car incidentally and the resort is close to the main road, he can risk it. However the last time I took this calculated risk, I got in a very nasty snow storm (powder snow, so slippery while driving!) for the last 200 miles and almost crashed on my Summer tires. On the snow chains performed disappointing on my tires. Thats why I over-invested in 4WD + wintertyres, I got a shocking near-accident-experience.

I got spike spiders for my vRS for last Christmas and Easter, they're ok, but they are pricey and not the most robust system, as quite literally you cannot drive them on tarmac at all. The alps last Christmas were dreadful driving conditions too.

My advice would be to buy a set of steel wheels with winter tyres, with cheapo chains in the boot that will fit if you need them, as it is a legal requirement to carry them. Also be warned in France if stopped you need high vis vests for if you break down (1 per passenger) and a set of bulbs etc. UK tyres don't operate too well at temperatures below about -2

Jealous as hell as I can't go skiing this year as we're waiting for a delivery from the stork:D Roll on Christmas 2010!

I've also been reading about winter tyres and how people feel very strongly both for and against them.... Ideally I would get a set now but I think that they will be a purchase for next year.

I bought the chains as the local Police can specify that only vehicles with snow chains (or textile equivalent) are allowed up to the ski resort if the snow is too bad, anybody without them can be told to abandon their car. Walking up a snowy road to a bus stop wouldn't be the best start to a holiday!

P.S. Nice snow pic.

The textile equivalents you talk about are still not 'legally' accepted as a substitue for chains, so you really are best off with chains IMHO.

I'm shortly off to the French Alps to work in a ski resort over the winter and wanted to buy snow chains to comply with current French legislation. However, according to my Owner's Manual it's not permissible (for 'technical reasons' ) to fit snow chains to the wheel /tyre combination on my '06 reg Elegance. The tyres are pretty standard 205/55/R16's and the wheels are the 6.5J Vega alloys so conventional snow chains are not recommended. Roofbox have advised me to buy Spikes Spiders or Maggi Trak which are suitable, but at around £200 are quite pricey. Anybody out there with the same car had the same experience and found a way around this problem - other than by fitting steels and winter tyres which isn't practical in this case... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steels and winter tyres are 100% the right thing to do, regardless of cost. All the locals in the alps drive steels with winter tyres, they do that for a reason. Summer tyres are totally useless. Have a look on ebay, you might come across a set of steels with winter tyres second hand!

I will never drive over to the alps with summer tyres again after last Christmas.....Horrendous.The car snaked on the slightest gradient, it was the heaviest snowfall in Northern Italy for 25 years.

Yep, some steelies with Wintracs/Snowprox or similar, plus some reasonable chains just in case..

Have fun

Steve

Were the chains really needed for that?

Nope, they weren't necessary in the slightest. I just put them on for a laugh to see how many sarcastic comments I could pick up on internet forums.

Thanks to everyone for the input so far. I would have gone for steels and snow tyres now but I leave for Morzine at the weekend and getting everything ordered and fitted here in the UK proved difficult in the time frame as I'm working up until Friday. I will be checking out snow tyres when in France (hopefully before I hit any snow and ice!) and will post prices and availability in due course just in case anyone else might be interested. Spoke to my new (French) boss last night and he confirmed that the french police will want to see metal chains in snow resorts - not textiles. Thanks once again...

The weird thing about the Autosocks / other textile solutions and their legality is I've seen them heavily promoted and sold IN Morzine. Seems a bit weird that they'd sell something which wouldn't be legal to use literally 1/2 mile up the road, out of the town centre.

Edited 18 November, 200916 yr by wega3k