It seems that the winter tyre threads are starting. I think there is a lot of good historical info to sort through from previous years to help inform us.

One thing I've never heard referred to is the effect of winter tyres mildly off road e.g. Parking at a point to point or agricultural show is frequently on wet and greasy fields sometimes on up slopes.

Anyone got any direct experience or evidence to say whether winter tyres help with traction/control on slippy surfaces but not snow.

I've now lost my Audi Quattro and wonder if the Octavia with winter tyres would improve things when I go onto farmland in Jan to March.

You will find Winter or Snow tyres that work well at below 6 celcius & also have a tread that might work OK on Grass & poor traction surfaces.

You will need to find ones with a suitable 'Speed Rating' for your vehicle & with good enough Road manners,

but they are out there.

Slightly different but i use All Terrain tyres that work OK in the Cold/Snow and for some light off road use.

These ones in the Picture are not going to be any use for the Octavia, but just as an Example.

(These are Remoulds, Insa Turbo Mountain.)

You can get the likes of 'Yokohomo Geolanders' in a similar tread Speed Rated to suit the Octavia.

http://www.camskill.co.uk

http://www.4site4x4.co.uk

Go to 'tyre selector' & tyre size.

george

Some of the Less Aggressive tyres i use are as good on Grass as the very aggressive tyres,

Treat Grass just like it is Green ice, but even less predictable.

yes, chunky treads, bigger blocks, greater tread depth will all help in mud but it won't be as good as a proper 4x4.

BTW there is a common misconception that the M+S marking on winters refers to mud and snow. it's actually the german initials for the words snow and SLUSH iirc.

I've been wondering the same recently since I got my Octy 4x4. I regularly have to tow up wet/slimy slipways and sometimes across the stones/mud at the bottom of the slip too. I'm currently thinking of some all season tyres to run all year round in the hope that they are better than the summer tyres I run now.

Yes they do. I fitted some winter tyres to my 4wd this year and on a whim took them up through the mud and slush into the snow up the mountains to make a snow-man. They worked far better than the BFG A/T's despite not being as chunky. I took my chains along but didn't need them as the other vehicle ran out of traction first.

The main place I've found winter tyres to be woeful is on the warm and wet.

My Pirelli Snow Control have been on my car all year round for 5 years,

used in warmish weather sometimes but in the rain quite often.

Great tyres in the wet.

Still like new after 20,000 miles.

Also the Avon Ice Tourers i have on another run about, they have done around 25,000 miles, 8 years on now.

Only small hatch backs tho.

Not used much across Show grounds or such, but better than Summer tyres on the grass.

george