A question for those in the know ... let's say I can't afford four (or even five!) winter tyres - is there anything to be gained by fitting a pair to the driven wheels only, or is that a no-no?

I firmly agree that Driver skill/judgment are the key factors in winter driving it is this driver skill/judgment that enables you to decide IF you need to wear a set of winter rubber or take a 4x4 etc. I live in South Wales and mostly as long as I don't have to venture up the Valleys any snow that does manage to fall is normally gone in a couple of hours. However when it comes down and hangs around for a few days/weeks it is nice how quiet the roads get

I am planning another winter on summer tyres though as the 4x4 in the Octy mk1 is very good. The wifes Passat is wearing winter rubber though as that was shockingly bad, PD130 with too much tourqe and summer rubber not a good combination.

Hasanyone any experience of these?

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/car-snow-socks/

Yes..I have some. They are great on snow but would shred on a hard surface.

John

Being a farmers son of 51 years of age and driving for some 33 over some 500,000 miles, without incident............. I would fit two winter tyres to the front of a FWD and stuff the rear.

the front drives........................ the front steers.................................. and the front does most of the braking.

The rear should follow.

PROVIDING one drives reasonably sensibly.

cheers

M

Edited 22 October, 201015 yr by dieseldogg

I think that is a recipe for a 180 going down icy hills, but each to their own.

It obviously works for you!

Remember if you lose control of the rear in a front wheel drive, you're in big trouble.

Winter driving... let me see ... what you need are the following

1 Less heavy right foot,

2 Selction of the right gear to start off on,

3 Stay clam and drive smooth.

And lastly An Old Banger ......Why risk killing a Yeti??????

PS I know I missed spelling 'calm' and my old banger is a 98 honda civic .Already got a few knocks in it from where the kids have learnt to drive ... But I am awaiting delivery of my SM in mid november.(1.2dsg SE in blue).Got to pick it up in london so looking forward to getting familiar with it on the road back home . Then i will take great heed of my learnered collegues suggestions on how to successfully drive her with out ending up in a ditch..

Winter tires is the only one of these options that will actually increase the amount of grip between the tires and the ground - the others are simply more or less effective ways of maximizing the available grip. Even a skilled driver in a 4WD can't change the laws of physics!

This is the most important single factor, sure a highly skilled driver may not get stuck but the ONLY thing connecting you tp the ground is the tyres, so with winter tyres on even an unskilled driver will make better progress.

The Yeti is the first vehicle I've driven in quite heavy snow with anything wider than a 205 profile tyre and if it wasn't for the 4x4 I probably would have got stuck like others I pasted at the time. However on steeper descents they lacked any grip at all, resulting on one occasion in a 180 spin; we were very lucky to get away without damage to ourselves or the Monster. After this incident I came to the conclusion that these modern wide profile summer sports tyres are unlike older tyre designs totally incapable of coping with the occasional snow falls.

After switching to winters there was a very noticeable improvement in grip not just in snow but on those cold icy mornings too. The last snowfall I had to deal with demonstrated the benefit of these winter tyres (with the added advantage of 4x4 and the off-road function obviously); I was the only vehicle besides a couple of Land Rovers moving on that part of the Wolds, everything else had ground to a halt. To get round cars often involved taking to the grassed road edges, which at one point did result in momentarily get stuck as the front nearside 'sank in' quite deeply into a soft patch of earth, however I just had to back out and I was on my way again.

My own view on this topic is yes skill and experience have a big part to play, as does 4x4 in particular situations but if you have no grip your going nowhere. Therefore my vote went on winter tyres.

Regards,

TP