In a few weeks I'll be moving to a new house (with a garage!!!). However, the town I'm moving to gets a lot more snow than Edinburgh city and the current owners told me yesterday that they have not been able to use their car for over two weeks (due to sheet ice on the step exit road from the culdesac). The culdesac is private so the council won't touch it and the salt put down by the locals didn't make much difference this year anyway. Although this is a pretty extreme spell of cold and snow, the owners reckon this happens once or twice a year even in milder winters.

So, short of trading the vRS in against a 4x4, what can I do?

Having just soent a week in Sweden and marvelling (as I always do) at how their cars keep going in all types of snow and ice, I was thinking of sourcing a set of studded tyres for the vRS (to keep in the garage for very bad cold spells). The ones they use in sweden allow a normal 2wd car to easily outperform a normal tyred 4x4 on the snow and ice.

There are a few threads querying the legaility of these tyres in the UK but I don't think it is an issue provided you only use them on very snowy/icy days.

The main issue then, where do you buy them? There are loads of places selling winter tyres but none seem to stock studded ones. Does anyone have any ideas?

Additionally, do non-studded winter tyres help at all?

Cheers,

iep

In a few weeks I'll be moving to a new house (with a garage!!!). However, the town I'm moving to gets a lot more snow than Edinburgh city and the current owners told me yesterday that they have not been able to use their car for over two weeks (due to sheet ice on the step exit road from the culdesac). The culdesac is private so the council won't touch it and the salt put down by the locals didn't make much difference this year anyway. Although this is a pretty extreme spell of cold and snow, the owners reckon this happens once or twice a year even in milder winters.

So, short of trading the vRS in against a 4x4, what can I do?

Having just soent a week in Sweden and marvelling (as I always do) at how their cars keep going in all types of snow and ice, I was thinking of sourcing a set of studded tyres for the vRS (to keep in the garage for very bad cold spells). The ones they use in sweden allow a normal 2wd car to easily outperform a normal tyred 4x4 on the snow and ice.

There are a few threads querying the legaility of these tyres in the UK but I don't think it is an issue provided you only use them on very snowy/icy days.

The main issue then, where do you buy them? There are loads of places selling winter tyres but none seem to stock studded ones. Does anyone have any ideas?

Additionally, do non-studded winter tyres help at all?

Cheers,

iep

Non studded winter tyres are a world apart from normal "suumer" tyres. Would far out perform a 4x4 on standard tyres. Studded tyres would be a no go in the UK. Not only illegal to use but would invalidate any insurance too. Plus they would be no use where there is no snow.

Non studded winter tyres are a world apart from normal "suumer" tyres. Would far out perform a 4x4 on standard tyres. Studded tyres would be a no go in the UK. Not only illegal to use but would invalidate any insurance too. Plus they would be no use where there is no snow.

if it's that bad why not use a set of snow chains it will only be for a few minutes at a time and you wont have to worry about the legality of studded tyres and you can get them on and off in minutes.

Good suggestion. Never used snow chanis before. Couple of questions:

1. Do they really work?

2. How easy are they to get on/off?

Cheers,

iep

There are a couple of videos on You Tube showing that Winter Tyres offer better grip on icy roads than studded tyres. It was put down to the enormous strides made in the materials and technology of the winter tyres, as studded tyres apparently have not evolved much over the last couple of decades.

Having tested my 4x4 in FWD mode and on winter tyres (Vredestein Snowtac 2s) I can safely say they will perform as well as most 4x4s on normal road tyres, if not better. I certainly never managed to get stuck on the snowy hills of the North East (mostly Co Durham) while trying them in FWD. They really are that good, but you must not use them once the weather becomes warmer as they wear out very quickly. Keep your car, get some Winter wheels and a set of 4 winter tyres (don't just put them on the front)

Good suggestion. Never used snow chanis before. Couple of questions:

1. Do they really work?

2. How easy are they to get on/off?

Cheers,

iep

Spider Spikes are probably the easiest and most convenient way of attaching Snow Chains or even temporary Spikes. A plastic Hub Spider is attached by the wheel lugs/nuts to the hub of the wheel during the winter months. When the weather demands chains one simply snaps the outer spider complete with attached chain or what ever type of Spider Spike has been chosen to the already attached spider hub. No need to rotate or elevate the wheel and it comes off just as quickly. Their is only one disadvantage, they are not cheap when compared to normal chains.

http://www.spikes-spiders.com/

Different types of chains and devices

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/snow-chains/

Put your car details on this site then choose what type

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel1.php?emulate=snowchains

Really though winter tyres should be fitted at this time of the year. They give phenomenal performance on snow laden and icy roads. They even work better in the rain and on roads under 4 deg C as the rubber compound is very soft, far softer than normal tyres.

Edited 4 January, 201016 yr by Anthony 1

Good suggestion. Never used snow chanis before. Couple of questions:

1. Do they really work?

2. How easy are they to get on/off?

Cheers,

iep

I've not used chains, but I heartily recommend these,

http://www.autosock.co.uk/

I've used them for two winters now when Scarborough and surrounding areas have been badly hit by snow and they're amazing. I've gone past struggling 4x4 vehicles (on summer tyres I assume) in the vRS up quite steep inclines and down the other side with total confidence. Bonus is they take up no room in the boot and can even be washed in the machine afterwards. Have a look at the videos on Youtube, they really do work!

I've not used chains, but I heartily recommend these,

http://www.autosock.co.uk/

I've used them for two winters now when Scarborough and surrounding areas have been badly hit by snow and they're amazing. I've gone past struggling 4x4 vehicles (on summer tyres I assume) in the vRS up quite steep inclines and down the other side with total confidence. Bonus is they take up no room in the boot and can even be washed in the machine afterwards. Have a look at the videos on Youtube, they really do work!

Never heard of that before! seems like they work too........... very interesting !

Never heard of that before! seems like they work too........... very interesting !

chains are so easy to use mate can be put on in around 5 minutes for all 4 tyres just have to be careful that u dont ride on the normal roads as the chain will dig into the tyres, the grip u will get from them is amazing in the snow and ice. ( used them loads of times whist in bosnia on winter tours doing snow and ice clearnace ) :yes:

Anyone tried snow socks?

Are they to add grip to the tyres or just to stop snow build in the wheel spokes?

Here are the official Skoda versions:-

http://www.accessories.skoda.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?p_no=Snow%20Socks

Edit - additional information.

Just looked on google and YouTube and discovered snow socks provide an effective alternative to snow chains for UK conditions. Typical cost is around £40

Edited 5 January, 201016 yr by pikpilot

Anyone tried snow socks?

Typical cost is around £40

They look very similar to the ones I use,

http://www.autosock.co.uk/

If you can get them for forty pounds, then that's a lot cheaper than the Autosock.

Ive used winter tyres on various differnet cars over the years in Germany, infact now its law.

Studded tyre are nt road l;egal and you wouldnt get an benifit from them unless on compacted snow or ice

Normal Mud/snaow tyre like what all of europe use are not expensive and make a hell of a difference ie you can still do 80 on the motorway in snaow safely!

That would be the best way to go.

After a day in very heavy snow, I still can’t think of a bad thing to say about winter/snow tyres. I think they are a much better alternative to the snow nappies.

After a day in very heavy snow, I still can’t think of a bad thing to say about winter/snow tyres. I think they are a much better alternative to the snow nappies.

I agree with you on that one. However, not everyone can stretch to the cost of a second set of tyres and if you live in a flat or small house, there's nowhere to keep a second set of wheels either. They (the nappies) are a compromise which seem to do very well for the brief time they are needed each year. Although this year is different I suppose as we've had far more snow.

They look very similar to the ones I use,

http://www.autosock.co.uk/

If you can get them for forty pounds, then that's a lot cheaper than the Autosock.

£70 for Autosock

Only problem, small though it is, is that 90% of my journey to work is via motorway. I'd have to keep stopping to take them on and off. Great in an emergency though.

Agreed, they wouldn't be very safe on motorway journeys I guess.

£70 for Autosock

From uk distributor of autosocks, £49.75 plus 3.75 postage inc free hi Vis vest

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-accessories/autosock_high_performance_size_580_one_pair_no_as580/njNA_v1i%60l%60#items [will not always load as there are very busy - popular sizes sold out]

Alternative make £44.95

http://www.rockshore.uk.com/snow-socks-by-multi-grip-269-p.asp

Some other suppliers have added £5 - 10 pounds since yesterday!

Last February. snow socks would have made the difference between getting out of my drive and along the 300 yds to a main gritted road and the reality of being stuck for 3 days until my neighbours and I had cleared the road of snow to make a barely passable single icy track.

I did not know about snow socks until this week but am considering them now.

From uk distributor of autosocks, £49.75 plus 3.75 postage inc free hi Vis vest

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-accessories/autosock_high_performance_size_580_one_pair_no_as580/njNA_v1i%60l%60#items [will not always load as there are very busy - popular sizes sold out]

Thanks, yes seen that vRS ones are £69 though.

A friend of mine uses the snow socks on his Mercedes and raves about them. He only uses them in emergencies, but when he does he apparently goes places that 4x4's with summer tyres can't touch.

I've also seen people in Austria using the Spider Spikes. I wondered at first what the hell they were! They look a bit weird with just the plastic hub thingy attached. I thought it was some weird anti wheel theft device to begin with!

I agree with you on that one. However, not everyone can stretch to the cost of a second set of tyres and if you live in a flat or small house, there's nowhere to keep a second set of wheels either. They (the nappies) are a compromise which seem to do very well for the brief time they are needed each year. Although this year is different I suppose as we've had far more snow.

I agree with you about storage, it is a problem. I’m lucky enough to have a friend who is storing my regular tyres for me, although I could have put them in my garage as I can’t fit a car in it

I thought about the expense too, but came to the conclusion that I am doing about 5-6K a year on my Winter tyres, so if I keep my car for 3 years they should run up 15-18K of use. That’s tyre wear that my standard tyres wont experience and I will be driving around on much safer tyres for the winter each year. It is a bit of a long term strategy though. So the only expense really is the price of a second set of wheels (unless you have tyres changed over at your local tyre fitters) and perhaps some unused mileage in your winter tyres. Of course you might your car longer or buy a car that you can reuses the wheels on.

One of the British outlets is down due to overuse, Here is another one, USA, which gives some information.

http://www.spikes-spiderusa.com/

Just been watching some videos of those autosocks and they look surprisingly effective - there's one with a guy driving a FWD car up a fair old slope with the back wheels locked and dragging just to demonstrate the grip. They seem like a pretty good emergency solution for getting you up that dodgy driveway, or out of the carpark so you don't get stranded

Avon Ice Touring Tyres as used by the guys in Finland & Sweden. At £50 a corner you cant go wrong.

In every respect the Ice Touring is engineered to make light work of winter road conditions. For starters, its rubber compound is specially formulated with a high silica content. Silica not only gives extra traction on wet and snow-covered surfaces, it's also very resistant to cold temperatures; this is important to keep the tread blocks flexible enough to provide optimum roadholding and to clear snow from between the grooves. Towards its outward-facing edge the Ice Touring features Avon's patented 'Snow Groove'. This circumferential groove is serrated on its inner surfaces for extra traction on snowy roads. Meanwhile, the innermost two rows of tread blocks feature octalinear' sipes that also aid traction and help to rid the tread pattern of unwanted build-up of snow in its grooves.

If it was me, I would go for a set of mud and snow tyres on a cheap set of steel rims. I worked in Poland for a few years and I can remember being humiliated by old Skodas (the ones with the engine in the back) making my Golf GTI look like a hippo on iceskates. The only difference was that they fitted winter M&S tyres and we stupid brits tried to keep going on our normal summer tyres. Paul