My Felicia copes really well. It did struggle a bit last year on grass/ice/snow on a slope, but apart from that, it was really good. Ended up towing my Mother's Vauxhall up the hill in our village. Just curious, really.

Snow not too bad, hardened ice too dangerous to risk driving at all. (Fabia VRS MK1.)

Fantastic..Go anywhere!!

Up hill, down..Thick snow...Ice...and stops well too!!

In fact you would never know it was cold or snowing!!

both my fabia and felicia had summer tyres on all winter last year, the fabia got stuck round a mates house for 5 days(he lived in a valley)

but my Felicia was surprising good, i only had one hill steep hill that i couldn't get up in the ice, but i managed to reverse it up there eventually to the dismay of a RAV4 owner stuck half way up with his wheels spinning.

Using a Ford KA this winter and garaging the Felly and selling the Fabia(advert soon to be placed in classifieds)

I don't trust the KA's abilities in the snow so i've purchased some secondhand winter tyres for it just to be extra safe.

I think the driver has a huge part to play in a car's ability in the snow, not to sound to sexist; i certainly wouldn't trust my Mum or Girlfriend in ANY car in the snow, whereas my Dad was simply amazing in his RWD mercedes Sprinter out doing deliveries in the thick of it.

Edited 5 October, 201114 yr by Sonner

oh yesssssss........agree with you there sonner,its more to do with the driver than the car,i think we all know that,my pick-up never got stuck last year whilst all around people were struggling,for a light car it was realy good ,the front wheel drive helps,all the weight over the driven wheels and all that.....theres lots of mention of winter tyres , is it worth the expence for just a few days a year ?............think i`ll stick to my summer tyres and change about my driving method

theres lots of mention of winter tyres , is it worth the expence for just a few days a year ?............think i`ll stick to my summer tyres and change about my driving method

at the risk of starting another winter tyres thread ....

1) winter tyres are not just for snow

2) the difference is much more about stopping and cornering than just getting going (yeah you can still get going in summer tyres but it will take you muuuuuch longer to stop than with winters)

3) they offer much better grip when the temperature falls below 7 degrees

4) lets face it for the last two years we have had weeks on end of snow, not a few days. Last year we had snow from November through to April , not continuous but on and off. The longest it lay was about three weeks

But yes technique and knowing not to rev the nuts off a car when on ice or snow does also help but only with getting going. When it comes to stopping no amount of technique can match a tyre that grips

In West Lothian yes you had lots of Snow,

In Eastbourne the sunniest town in England we only had about 4days of snow, most people i know just walked to work, didn't go in or got a lift with someone who had an off roader.

even in december and january temps rarely go below 7 degrees at except at night here.

Excluding the bout of snow we had i only experienced ice on the roads once all winter last year in my area.(i happened to be in my mr2 that day as well and that was one scary slide)

Whenever you look at safety aspects the arguement statement like 'Whats a few hundred pounds in exchange for keeping your family safe' or ' £200 to save your life, you would have to be stupid not too!'

i think people in Scotland and the colder parts of the england have a huge case for winter tyres,

Anyway, surely we should keep to the original post, so domnhall, whats your car like in the snow>?

In West Lothian yes you had lots of Snow,

In Eastbourne the sunniest town in England we only had about 4days of snow, most people i know just walked to work, didn't go in or got a lift with someone who had an off roader.

even in december and january temps rarely go below 7 degrees at except at night here.

Excluding the bout of snow we had i only experienced ice on the roads once all winter last year in my area.(i happened to be in my mr2 that day as well and that was one scary slide)

Whenever you look at safety aspects the arguement statement like 'Whats a few hundred pounds in exchange for keeping your family safe' or ' £200 to save your life, you would have to be stupid not too!'

i think people in Scotland and the colder parts of the england have a huge case for winter tyres,

Anyway, surely we should keep to the original post, so domnhall, whats your car like in the snow>?

Fair points, if it rarely gets below 7 degrees then walking is a better option

I have no idea what my car is like in the snow, it's only three weeks old, but they are forecasting possible snow for next week. If that happens the winter wheels will be going on.

My Octavia was great in the snow with Nokians fitted, but couldn't get off my driveway with the OEM Bridgestone Potenzas fitted. Once I had the Nokians on we even used it to pull a Touareg out that got stuck in the snow. But still my point stands, the question is not what a car is like in the snow but what are yiur tyres like in the snow? Some summer tyres are definitely better than others in the cold and wet.

Dark green, with a side order of very dirty, so much like the other 11.5 months of the year really!

Can we have the "If you do not fit Winter tyres when the air temperature is below 7C you will crash and die" lobby banned please?

Can we have the "If you do not fit Winter tyres when the air temperature is below 7C you will crash and die" lobby banned please?

not what I said, I was just trying to say that instead of asking "what's your car like" maybe a better question might be "what are your (non winter) tyres like?"

that would be a useful thread, especially for those who don't want or can't fit winter tyres. Knowing which sumnmer tyres are better than others would be useful I reckon.

(but for the record my estelle was the most "interesting" drive in the snow I have ever had)

My pickup handles surprisingly well in the snow, but it is fairly low slung so the exhaust manifold touches on the little snowy hump in-between the tyre tracks, but I guess if it werent lowered it wouldn't be a problem.

in contrast to this, I was driving about in a golf vr6 auto during the last heavy snowy period and that was an absolute handful, heavy engine and a clonky automatic gearbox are not good I the snow.

I think the driver has a huge part to play in a car's ability in the snow, not to sound to sexist; i certainly wouldn't trust my Mum or Girlfriend in ANY car in the snow, whereas my Dad was simply amazing in his RWD mercedes Sprinter out doing deliveries in the thick of it.

I'm a woman, and I have no problem driving in snow.

No winter tires, either, though I have been thinking about getting them this year. Which ones do you all like best? (For a Felicia 1.3 estate).

I'm a woman, and I have no problem driving in snow.

No winter tires, either, though I have been thinking about getting them this year. Which ones do you all like best? (For a Felicia 1.3 estate).

LOL, funny that, a woman who can drive and not just when it's warm and sunny, who'd have thought it eh?

Have a look at what would fit on the likes of mytyres and then see what sort of reviews the available types get. There are plenty threads on here that will point you to review sites though they are often in German. Personally only have experience of Nokians on an Octavia but they are a well known brand and I'm sure they make them in Felicia size. I never really had any issues in snow when I was in a felicia - I think the problems people have been having in snow are due in large part to the big fat low profile tyres that manufacturers fit to so many cars these days. Not so long ago these would have been the exception but they now seem to be the rule. :wonder:

I think the problems people have been having in snow are due in large part to the big fat low profile tyres that manufacturers fit to so many cars these days.

Exactly! My Roomy Scout (even with electronic wizardry) is carp in the snow. My old Allegro would run rings around it.

Exactly! My Roomy Scout (even with electronic wizardry) is carp in the snow. My old Allegro would run rings around it.

but with big tyres your allegro would be carp too :-)

Which ones do you all like best? (For a Felicia 1.3 estate).

On the Felicia 1.3 estate we used to have -- now sold to another younger family member -- we had all season Vredestein Quatrac 3 tyres fitted. We'd experienced them throughout last winter on another larger rwd car and they were very good, and they've been good during the summer, so I'm thinking they should be even better on the Felicia during the winter since the tyres are much narrower, the car is lighter and fwd. I like that they can be fitted either side so if the spare has the same tyre, (and it has), then there's no need to be pussy-footing around in slippery conditions after using the spare.

If you were thinking of having two sets of tyres, and possibly two sets of wheels, I'd probably consider getting Vredestein Snowtrac 3 since they're also available in 165/70R13. We've had experience of them on our Octavia over the last two winters and found them to be very good.

We tried the winter tyres first but after having experienced the all season tyres I'm not certain I'd bother again. We go out driving for fun in wintery conditions -- for example on roads south of the M4 just before last Christmas -- and our rwd car with all season tyres went everywhere the Octavia with winter tyres went, up and down hills on country roads that hadn't been cleared or salted.

Thanks! I'll check those out.

Now, I just need something to stop it blowing all over the road in the wind... :lol:

I'm a woman, and I have no problem driving in snow.

No winter tires, either, though I have been thinking about getting them this year. Which ones do you all like best? (For a Felicia 1.3 estate).

wow..........a woman that can drive in the snow !!!!..........and can tow aswell...........are you married !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

thats going to upset a few people...it was the voices in my head wot dun it

Lol, I'm liking MorrisPaul's act of desperation??

Morrispaul; Are you married!!!!!!!!!!!

say this then happens

Distraced_Writer; NO

What you gonna do next? propose to her???

Go on do it on the Forum!?

Lol, I'm liking MorrisPaul's act of desperation??

Morrispaul; Are you married!!!!!!!!!!!

say this then happens

Distraced_Writer; NO

What you gonna do next? propose to her???

Go on do it on the Forum!?

this is going off topic now.....anyhow i know she can drive and tow but can she cook,clean and iron

this is going off topic now.....anyhow i know she can drive and tow but can she cook,clean and iron

IRON!!! Clean?! I don't know these words...

Sorry to disappoint you folks, but I'm spoken for.

Back on topic- any thoughts on snow chains? Boss offered me a set today, but they seem like overkill to me. (For England, at least.)

Horrendous!

Which bit?

I ran last winter on 225/50/17 Hankook evo 12's and apart from heavy pedal induced 4 wheel donuts in the snow while waiting to pick SWMBO up from ASDA (nice empty carpark as no one was out for some strange reason ) I had no issues getting going or NOT stopping in time, obviously driving style was adapted to the conditions (I was raised by a trans-continental HGV driver though )