Worth considering winter tyres perhaps. They're compulsory in some European countries, and the additional cost is not great (compared to even a minor accident). The Vredestein Snowtrac 3 look pretty good (on www.mytyres.co.uk at 46.50 for 165/70/14) plus fitting.

bought 4 vredestein snowtrac 3s 175 65 14s and 4 second hand steel wheels

total cost £250 for my 1.4 16v and fitted them last sunday

had the car out yesterday in 3 to 4 inches of snow with ice

underneath and i must say amazing grip and traction

went a bit gingerly at first as i have never had snow tyres

before but well impressed a little bit of experimental

braking and acceleration and i had to try realy hard for it to lose grip

big believer of snow tyres from now on

Just spent the last 5 hours looking on ebay,every tyre company going and the rest of the web and setteld for some Sunny SN3830 205 55 R16 yes i know there not 45's but i dont think the extra hight in tyre will hurt as i have lowerd the car anyway since last year and i will be useing my sat nav to check what speed i am actualy doing to what is shown on the speedo but at a total of £157.20 i can live with that.

They also rated well in tyre tests so come next week when they arrive at my local garage i will get them fitted to my audi A3 alloys and on the car fingers crossed they arrive before we get the bad snow here in Bradford im determend im not getting stuck again this year :no: £340 in total for my alloys and tyres thats less than 4 new 205 45 R16 winter tyres :yes:

sunny tyres link

Sunny tyre test

Edited 26 November, 201015 yr by Si Vxr

That's a big change Si.

A bit of maths suggests just over 1.56 inches on the diameter and 7% change on the speed.

yes i know but funds are limited so as i said sat nav will be used to check speed and as i already know the speed read out is lower than actual speed it shouldnt be massivley over

tried 205/55 on a fabia and the rears rubbed constantly on the arches and couldnt get lock on fronts, standard suspension too

on what alloys?

16" octy alloys as the 205/55 is standard fit on them, wanted to see if they fitted and they did but they almost totally fill the arches

wasnt a vrs though wether the vrs has more clearance or not ??

after checking with a tape measure i would say they should be ok after all they will only sit 0.78inch further in the arches

I'd be worried about them rubbing, especially on -30mm springs.

Having had a play with my Autosocks last night there's not a lot of clearance under the arches even on a standard vRS.

Edited 27 November, 201015 yr by MagicBoy

im in the south east and so far now snow where i am.It is very frosty though. I hope it does snow a bit and i get to try out my snow tyres.

went out this morning at 7 am in 6 to 7 inches of snow up and down some very steep hills

not a flicker from the car just went where i pointed it hardly any loss of traction

winter tyres best money i have ever spent

Keep a lighter on you at all times encase you locks decide to freeze over. Heat the key for 10 seconds and stick it in!

bought 4 vredestein snowtrac 3s 175 65 14s and 4 second hand steel wheels

total cost £250 for my 1.4 16v and fitted them last sunday

had the car out yesterday in 3 to 4 inches of snow with ice

underneath and i must say amazing grip and traction

went a bit gingerly at first as i have never had snow tyres

before but well impressed a little bit of experimental

braking and acceleration and i had to try realy hard for it to lose grip

big believer of snow tyres from now on

What width rims did you put on 5.5 or 6's?

What width rims did you put on 5.5 or 6's?

6 inch

First gear is fine, it's all about being very very smooth and gentle with the clutch for pulling away, and smooth with the breaking and steering. There is a certain amount of traction in any conditions, the key is not to break that.

All this start in 2nd gear rubbish is for people that have no clutch control.

All this start in 2nd gear rubbish is for people that have no clutch control.

The vRS has always been OK in snow. Sometimes I turn ASR off but not often.

The vRS has always been OK in snow. Sometimes I turn ASR off but not often.

I found the Fabia OK in snow, considering the wide summer tyres. The Leon is *awful* though: my cars have got steadily worse in snow over the years as the tyres have got wider and high performance.

I found the Fabia OK in snow, considering the wide summer tyres. The Leon is *awful* though: my cars have got steadily worse in snow over the years as the tyres have got wider and high performance.

Back in ye days of olde when I'd just passed my test I had a Vauxhall Nova 1.0. We had a bit of snow that year and I couldn't work out how my crapbox was running circles around 205 GTI's and the like. Now I know - 135 section pram tyres were useful for something! I could probably buy another Nova for less than a set of winter tyres.

I work at the bottom of a really steap hill and I found using my traction control I got double the distance up the hill . It was going nowhere with the traction off .

Edited 28 November, 201015 yr by dazjenks

So pleased with my winter tyres

Only problem is other people wheel-spinning and sliding all over the place and getting stuck. When they finally give up they look quite upset to see a little red furby just drive past them

my first car was a 1Litre fiat panda they go any where in the snow i even went past a land rover who was stuck on a steep hill that was coverd in a foot of snow awsome for the snow and the 4 x 4 version my dad and brother in law both have now ( my dads a geek he has 12 panda's old school ones and one show condition one?????)

my first car was a 1Litre fiat panda...

Snap - me too! Mine was 1.0 CLX. It was dead sophisticated with its pop out rear windows and fuel injection!!!

mine was a fizz no injection for me lol my mum has a 1.1 litre auto panda its not bad to drive for a panda to be honist only automatic old school car i dont mind driveing fairly nippy as well hand brake is still crap though.

my dad has 2 projects on the go at the min one is he is make one into a van to take to fiat car shows like this

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn.wn.com/pd/63/42/28e2cca86f65dbe5d93e2d25d893_grande.jpg&imgrefurl=http://article.wn.com/view/2010/07/10/Fiat_confirms_new_Panda_will_be_produced_in_Italy/&usg=__gI46heSgtywyPvPV41ZQmy6Ial4=&h=351&w=468&sz=42&hl=en&start=30&zoom=1&tbnid=gWigI5VF3Z9okM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=199&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfiat%2Bpanda%2Bpolice%2Bvan%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1149%26bih%3D582%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=125&ei=KnnyTPy5NcWdOtXaobcK&oei=IHnyTMjbKdKwhAerx_CRBw&esq=3&page=3&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:30&tx=114&ty=72

but it will be styled like dog police van from italy he has the van doors they just bolt on and a donor car ready

his other project is a uno 1.2 litre engine conversion with webber carbs ported and polished head stainless steal exhaust and manifold ect ect we are trying to get tablets for him :wonder: