Well I can state, categorically that Michelin Pilot Sports are CRAP in the snow. I've got them on my Octavia vRS and it can't get up the slight incline to our estate.

On the other hand, Toyo Proxes as fitted to my wife's A3 1.8T Sport are excellent. Must be the chevron tread direction on the Toyos where as the Michelins have circumferential grooves which are great at getting rid of water but useless at biting into snow and slush.

Steve

Toyos are pooh in this weather, well 225/45/17's are anyway

What size does the A3 wear ??

Crap cheap biscuits on the mrs's doodlebug FTW !!!

205 55 16s on the A3. It's going up hills that the vRS is running away from

Steve

Proxes t1r = rubbish, but on ice I don't expect any tyre without metal studs to get any grip at all.....

Strange I thought you were going too say they skinnier than that.

Grip levels seem completely random in this weather, I'm confused lol

Maybe I'm looking at them through rose tinted glasses after the sheer hopelessness that are the Pilot sports :D

Steve

My girlfriend has Uniroyal Rain Expert's on her 12 year old rusty Fiesta with dodgy suspension and an oil leak...

I don't know if it's the car/chassis, or the tyres, but it's literally an unstoppable machine!

It's quite funny watching peoples reactions as they slip about in their posh cars with ESP etc and you drive straight past in a rusty old rot box!

Any tyre that is black will be rubbish

Any tyre that is black will be rubbish

I think this is true especially with the low profile tyres on the VRS. I have Falken 452's and despite my previous good reports they were absolutely useless in the snow.

My girlfriend has Uniroyal Rain Expert's on her 12 year old rusty Fiesta with dodgy suspension and an oil leak...

I don't know if it's the car/chassis, or the tyres, but it's literally an unstoppable machine!

It's quite funny watching peoples reactions as they slip about in their posh cars with ESP etc and you drive straight past in a rusty old rot box!

Never a truer word said...all the ESP and drivers aids mean that whatever tyres you wearing, you can do feckall when you slide on ice. My ma's K reg 205 rocks in this snow........drift it mother!

I have Falken 452's and despite my previous good reports they were absolutely useless in the snow.

They are slightly better than toyos. not much though

I think this is true especially with the low profile tyres on the VRS. I have Falken 452's and despite my previous good reports they were absolutely useless in the snow.

I have Michelin Pilot 225/45/17 on my Toledo TDi Sport DSG and have struggled with silly icy inclines.

Although I have now mastered the DSG use - must be in manual mode which by default pulls away in 1st gear, then a bit of wheelspin allows selection of 2nd to handle some of the torque and try and get some traction.

Also, I have found that switching off ESP can help as it allows full power to the wheels - otherwise, you get wheel braking and power limiting which isn't always helpful.

My wifes Hyundai Getz with skinny 14" tyres is superb in comparison.

John.

They are slightly better than toyos. not much though

Michelin Exalto 2s are utterly utterly dismal- then they are a SUMMER tyre and not recommended, as they'res no suitable tread and the compound just freezes and doesnt grip.

Hence having to fork out a big wedge for snowies

My 225/40/18 Kumhos were surprisingly good in the snow and ice today, pulled off from an icy incline with relative ease, no ESP light, no nothing. Seemed to take much more effort to spin up the wheels than my old Contis during the last bout of snow.

The Falkens on the front of the vRS are crap in the snow

General rule of thumb - narrow tyres will always do better than wider road tyres that most new cars *have* to have these days. That's why cars with narrow tyres work ok in this weather, the old geezer in the skinny wheeled Kia behind me was going great guns

I reckon a set of 205/16 winter wheels + winter tyres wouldn't be a bad idea if this weather pulls a stunt like this again.

You want an old Panda 4x4 in this weather - perfect

My girlfriend has Uniroyal Rain Expert's on her 12 year old rusty Fiesta with dodgy suspension and an oil leak...

I don't know if it's the car/chassis, or the tyres, but it's literally an unstoppable machine!

It's quite funny watching peoples reactions as they slip about in their posh cars with ESP etc and you drive straight past in a rusty old rot box!

It's a combination of the tyres, which are excellent, and the skinny wheels- probably 145/70 13s at a guess.

And your girlfriends undoubted skill and heroism!!!!

I think this is true especially with the low profile tyres on the VRS. I have Falken 452's and despite my previous good reports they were absolutely useless in the snow.

The 452 are even worse on ice than they are on snow.

Problem you have is that in snow you want a flexible (to get heat in) fairly open tread, but to get summer performance you need as much rubber down as possible.

It's a combination of the tyres, which are excellent, and the skinny wheels- probably 145/70 13s at a guess.

Just my guess too! She used to have a rusty old Ka that was on its last legs before this, which she sold as it was about to fail its MOT. She got the Fiesta for £200 with 100k miles on it. Both are horrendously slow, rattly, uncomfortable, rusty cars bordering on being unroadworthy. But to give them their credit, neither has ever had a mechanical fault and they are a hell of a lot of fun to drive. The chassis (I think it's the same for both the Ka and Fiesta) is so communicative, you can just chuck them around (when the weather is good) and hold them right on the limit, feeling the understeer. You're only doing 30mph but you feel like Nigel Mansel .

And your girlfriends undoubted skill and heroism!!!!

I'll tell her that, she'll be chuffed

Michelin Pilot Sports - 225/45/18 and gotta say, they are doing quite an impressive job. However, that could also be that I have been driving a BMW 525d that fish-tailed all over the place at the first sign of snow!

You want an old Panda 4x4 in this weather - perfect

Ahh hehe my friends dad used to have one of those - was the only thing on the roads when the weather used to be bad

I've got 225/45/17 Michelin Pilot sport 2's on my mk1 Octavia vrs and they are absolutely useless in the snow so the car is parked on the drive and that's where it's staying until the snow has gone. If I want to go anywhere, it's by Ford Transit, it just wont get stuck!

My Dunlops are seriously crap in all this !!

My Dunlops are seriously crap in all this !!

My Octavia RS 2010 came with Bridgestone Potenza. Utter c**p tyres for snow.

Well I can state, categorically that Michelin Pilot Sports are CRAP in the snow. I've got them on my Octavia vRS and it can't get up the slight incline to our estate.

On the other hand, Toyo Proxes as fitted to my wife's A3 1.8T Sport are excellent. Must be the chevron tread direction on the Toyos where as the Michelins have circumferential grooves which are great at getting rid of water but useless at biting into snow and slush.

Steve

I will 100% agree with that!

Mine has pilot sports on, maybe that is why it's so bad in snow :wonder:

I think this is true especially with the low profile tyres on the VRS. I have Falken 452's and despite my previous good reports they were absolutely useless in the snow.

They are slightly better than toyos. not much though

The 452 are even worse on ice than they are on snow.

You boys just can't drive!

Worn 452's on my VR6 seem fine to me! Yeah, they're no winter tyre, but if you're carefull they're ok - I've not had a problem with them!

Must be the Canadian in me