With the threat of another bad winter I'm looking into contingency plans as Goodyear F1s are a bit useless in ice and snow. The Furby got stuck a number of times last January due to the combination of ice/packed snow and uphill driveways.

My mate who has family that hail from Scandinavia recommended winter tyres, but I'd rather not go to the expense.I can kinda see the point a set of steelies with studded tyres in Finland, but it's not quite that bad here. Someone at work suggested snow chains as an alternative, but the clearance looks a bit slim on the vRS. Any other bright ideas?

With the threat of another bad winter I'm looking into contingency plans as Goodyear F1s are a bit useless in ice and snow. The Furby got stuck a number of times last January due to the combination of ice/packed snow and uphill driveways.

My mate who has family that hail from Scandinavia recommended winter tyres, but I'd rather not go to the expense.I can kinda see the point a set of steelies with studded tyres in Finland, but it's not quite that bad here. Someone at work suggested snow chains as an alternative, but the clearance looks a bit slim on the vRS. Any other bright ideas?

I was looking at winter tyres on the standard alloys a while back. Couldn't find anything decent in the standard vRS wheel size though!

Interested to hear of suggestions.

Snow socks, but they won't work miracles.

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

I have used chains on my standard vrs wheels a number of times - Weissenfels 9mm Klack & Go Pro-Tech

Not had any clearance issues but they do damage the alloys (only slight scuffing of the face but it is damage)

My link

Grip in packed snow is obviously very good.

Quite a pain to fit - klack and go pro-tech's are fairly good ones but they still take a while to fit and unfit.

FWIW i have just bought a second set of wheels and winter tyres for my other car with the hope of not using chains unless it is very bad (i drive to the alps)

The best you can do in the UK is use winter tyres, and hope the authorities keep the roads clear, tyre chains are illegal in the UK.

Thanks guys.

The snow socks look interesting, will investigate further.

Snow chains are only any use on packed snow - they will damage the road if you can see tarmac. Snow socks are also supposed to be used on snow or ice and will overheat and wear on clear tarmac (akthough they will not damage the road surface). Both will be a PITA to fit and take off again, especially when it's cold, snowy and possibly raining or snowing too.

I've gone for a set of 15" alloys from an Audi A3 and fitted 195/50/15 winter tyres - they are much cheaper and easier to find than the 205/45/16 winter tyres. Provided your are still on the factory vRS brakes, 15" alloys will just clear the brakes. There are loads of 5x100 15" wheels from the VAG group that will fit.

Winter tyres have an advantage when the temperatures drop below 7 degrees (not just when it snows). They can be used over that temperature, but regular all weather or summer tyres are better and the winter tyres will wear more heavily. I can already feel the extra grip on cold damp mornings. Have a search for winter tyres on youtube and you'll find loads of videos comparing winter and summer tyres in the snow.

Had my Winters fitted today as well as buying a new set of wheels for them. Sheldons in Manchester do very reasonable rates for Alloys and I got a set of 4 x18” S5 replica alloys for £380 (he even wheel sealed them for me) and I put a set of Vredestein Wintrac Extremes on them.

The way I look at it is, if I am wearing out my winter tyres, I am not wearing out my regular tyres. So over 3 years of use the winter tyres do not cost any more than running regular tyres for that period ie they pay for themselves. The downside is you have to stump up for the extra set in advance, but the upside is you are always on the optimum tyres for the conditions. I reckon after 3 years I will be able to sell the wheels and get a reasonable amount of their initial cost back too.

Sadly I prefer my new replica wheels to my OE ones :(