I drive a RWD car and the Fabia is the wifes...

At times the Z4 nearly killed me (coming up to T-junctions, ABS locked on and sliding aimlessly towards my death!)...thus I have just invested in some Blizzacks for the oncoming winter...

Regarding the VRS, how is it? In my experience FWD cars ain't to bad. However, the car is pushing 185bhp, and at times the front wheels slip occasionally as it is...

Would the VRS fair well on all weather tyres??

Thanks

Don

BMW 'Z' cars are known to be pretty lethal in snow. I know two people that sold them and vowed never to have another because they scared the whatsits out of them in bad weather.

All front wheel drive cars should be better. All weather or (preferably) a second set of winter tyres makes them even more capable.

A VRS on winter tyres will often be better than a big heavy 4x4 on all weather tyres, if you can abstain from using the performance.

When I had Goodyear F1s on the vRS I intentionally made excuses not to drive in the snow. And if I did I, honestly, expected to die.

Not had that with any other tyre though. Even the Toyo's cope reasonably well in general driving. I wouldn't expect to get up and steep hills that weren't swept or gritted though. As long as you're careful I wouldn't really expect any hair raising moments.

BMW 'Z' cars are known to be pretty lethal in snow. I know two people that sold them and vowed never to have another because they scared the whatsits out of them in bad weather.

All front wheel drive cars should be better. All weather or (preferably) a second set of winter tyres makes them even more capable.

A VRS on winter tyres will often be better than a big heavy 4x4 on all weather tyres, if you can abstain from using the performance.

I have to agree that the Z4 is very dangerous in snow. And it was due to my sheer stupidity that i could have got myself killed. Never again will i put myself in that situation again....

The T-junction experience was terrifying. Moreso as it was a declining hill leading to the junction. poor tyres+ RWD+ sheet ice on a decline = Near death experience.

At the time i was popping out for a 90p bag of chips! I remember sliding into the T-juntion and traffic just missing me from both sides... :no:

Will look at getting some blizzacks for the VRS...

Edited 9 September, 201015 yr by Beancounter1980

2 lots of snow ago... A combination of REALLY cheap rubber, fresh snow,... My Inexperience, False confidence and a round about saw me spending £1500 to put a wheel back in the right place.

I don't think the vRS is so bad in the snow though if your tyres are good and you don't allow your self to gradually speed up.. that was my down fall... hence the false confidence and inexperience comments.. It's amazing how much damage you can do at 15 mph when ya brakes have no effect.

Through last year's pretty bad spell I thought it coped pretty well. And that was with Pilot Exaltos up front, which aren't exactly aimed at the snow traveller!

I just took it fairly easy, as you'd expect, and only had a few moments. Generally coming upon compacted ice. Was good to be able to rely on the low-down torque to pull away without using any throttle, build up momentum gradually and all was well :yes:

It's always the tricky one of whether to shell out for some winter tyres - who knows what this winter will bring? It could be mild and they'll not really be needed as much. At least in the Scandinavian countries it's a given that the weather will change, so you can properly prepare in advance...

Cheers,

Steve

Although mine isn't a vRS, during the heavy snows of last winter I was running 16'' vRS wheels and a 140-ish bhp remap, so I reckon some comparisons can be made. I made 2 long-distance journeys, both of which encompassed fresh powder, compacted snow and ice, and frozen slush. The tyres were Sava Intensas. The distance? 225 miles both times

Both times I was able to make steady uninterrupted progress, with the exception of whiteouts. It was fairly easy to get the car rolling, and at no point did it feel unsafe or out of control. Obviously, speeds were lower than normal, but it was still possible to make progress. A couple of times, when space and visibility allowed, I played with the throttle. When the tyres spun up, the car pulled strongly to the left. Something to be wary of in the more powerful vRS, especially a remapped one.

In summary, it's tricky obviously, but it can be done!

I then tried driving in snow with my current 17'' Evolo alloys. That was a bit more unpredictable...

Andrew

300ft-lb + snow bad times i got stuck so many times i do beleave its all about what tyres you have on i had eagle F1's in the dry there spot on in the snow there pants so this year i will be putting snow tyres on ready for the white stuff

My vRS on Toyo T-1Rs was pretty bad last winter - took three goes getting into the drive one day when it didn't look too bad...

Useless!!

Although it depends on what black round rubber things you have got. Both my Goodyear GSD3 and Toyo T1-R were useless in last winters snow. However the Toyos were better in the cold and frost than the Goodyears. Proper winter tyres are the way to go. :yes:

If you have Goodyear GSD3 like i have on mine you are better off taking the bus or walking

However, i find in the wet and dry they are spot on so i would never choose a set of tyres based on their snow performance for the few days of snow every year in the south ish..

I actually said last year i dont see why people are getting stuck etc as my car was fine.

But then i had to do a hill start with snow hammering it down, ice and snow on the road. The situation was a transit van couldnt get up the hill so i had to stop until the traffic had gone past and pull out. It was the hardest thing ever, i could not get any grip and ended up in like 3rd gear nearly stalling to limit the power. I tried everything, if it gets that bad this year i will bike the 60 kile roubd trip, will be safer haha.

Useless!!

Although it depends on what black round rubber things you have got. Both my Goodyear GSD3 and Toyo T1-R were useless in last winters snow. However the Toyos were better in the cold and frost than the Goodyears. Proper winter tyres are the way to go. :yes:

Indeed, and my Leon is the same. The Fabia was a struggle, but expect it would be fine on winter tyres.

On Goodyear's mine was rubish!!! The worst car I have used in the snow in 24 Years of driving (My old 525I BMW on Uniroyle Rainsport's was better!)

I still think its down to the tyre's rather than the car.

Simon

It will all be down to local gritting I only managed to fail getting to work on

one accasion, but if I needed to I could have worked around it.....

Octavia vRS is still crap in snow though....

I got summer tyres, so absolutely lethal on snow.

Luckily I live in Cornwall so we don't get a lot of the stuff, but on saying that I did lay the car up for a few days, because of the unusual fall of snow last winter 2009.

My vRS had Uniroyal rainsport2 fitted to the fronts last year and it coped just fine in the snow in the East Midlands.

The Ford focus at work has what ever HiQ have in stock when they need new shoes and they got up some pretty bad looking hills where buses and other cars were getting stuck and we got to a number of jobs in a focus that colleagues couldn't reach in volvo V70s, so having big wide tyres and more power is not the way to go in the snow.

Good as winter tyres are on snow, they are not going to save you on sheet ice.

I had goodyear F1's last winter and although I had to leave my car once or twice half a mile away from where i lived. i thought i did pretty well.

Good as winter tyres are on snow, they are not going to save you on sheet ice.

With personal experience of driving using both all season and winter tyres, in snow, compacted snow and ice, I'd say that winter tyres offer a lot more grip in all three conditions - and in wet cold conditions (below +7C) as well. Obviously nothing will work extremely well on sheet ice - other than spikes, but if you drive with caution, good safe progress can be made, both in starting to move + keeping moving + slowing down and braking when using winter tyres as they have higher silicon content in the rubber and are covered with sips to offer a degree of grip on ice.

I had only just bought mine when we had the snow early this year, so it was a bit of a baptism of fire! haha. I thought it was absolutely sh** until a friend advised me to turn the traction control OFF (ASR thingy), seemed to make the world of difference.

If it snows again this year I moght be tempted to try running 4 super skinny steel wheels. bit like WRC style lol

I live in southern temperate Bucks. Whilst I've driven my car on snow and/or on frozen or untreated roads, it was not a pleasant experience.

Combination of the wide summer tyres, turbo diesel torque and stiff suspension leaves one with little clue where the limits are and they're usually low.

IMO winter wheels and tyres are a must for driving on snow or in snowy or very cold conditions.

J.