Hi all,

My dad recently bought a nice Volvo V50 R-design with black heated leather and a rather nice (and rather rare) set of alloys. As we all know, winter is upon us, and he tells me his two front tyres are on their way out. Rather than just replace them, he tells me he is considering buying snow chains for when the white stuff arrives

Surely these would make a mess of the wheels, and am I right in saying they aren't even legal in the UK?!

Having a spare set of cheap wheels or winter tyres, or even snow socks in the boot, I can understand...but chains?

For added strangeness, he is an observer for the Institute of Advanced Motorists. He should know this stuff, right? (I'm not slagging him off, I love him dearly, but he is occasionally prone to odd ideas!).

They are legal but would make a mess of his alloys and only any good in deep snow as soon as he came to tarmac he would have to take off again. Knew someone who had a volvo 240 in the early eighties who this happened to. Luckily only wheel trims on steelies in those days !

Ah right, thanks for that. He's an excellent driver, including in adverse conditions, so I think it's just our steep driveway that's causing him concern

How often do you even see a significant depth/duration of snow in the Hebs? I can only remember about twice in the last 16 years getting enough that it wasn't gone in a day or 2.

How often do you even see a significant depth/duration of snow in the Hebs? I can only remember about twice in the last 16 years getting enough that it wasn't gone in a day or 2.

In all honestly, last winter was the only time in my 20 years on this earth that it lasted any longer than a week. Whereabouts are you located? You can PM me if you'd rather not say on here

Hence why I think it's a daft idea.