Yeti hates snow :(

[CharlieB72]

' the lack of weight over the front wheels does not help traction'

....Whereas I found, this weekend, to the great annoyance of my children, the abundance of my extra 'Christmas' weight over the plastic sledge helped me whizz further and faster down the icy hill than anyone else....

[redandwhitepauly]

My winter boots are dunlop winter sports and have to say have been superb in the snow !??

Seems strange for a yeti to struggle in snow when I have found the complete opposite ???

[CharlieB72]

My winter boots are dunlop winter sports and have to say have been superb in the snow !??

Seems strange for a yeti to struggle in snow when I have found the complete opposite ???

Our Yetis are poles apart! You have a 4x4 on winter tyres and I have a 2wd on summer tyres with the least powerful engine. It was really embarrassing when the Kas and Corsas in my work car park tootled off and I was stuck in the not-so-aptly-named Yeti! It is costly too not being able to get to the office. Phoning the skoda garage tomorrow to check out prices of changing tyres.......

[Totally Square]

...! You have a 4x4 on winter tyres and I have a 2wd on summer tyres with the least powerful engine. It was really embarrassing when the Kas and Corsas in my work car park tootled off and I was stuck in the not-so-aptly-named Yeti! .....

Prevailing opinion seems to be that 4x2 + winter tyres beats 4x4 + summer tyres, and high profile tyres beat low profile tyres, in Winter use.

[Bobdog]

Prevailing opinion seems to be that 4x2 + winter tyres beats 4x4 + summer tyres, and high profile tyres beat low profile tyres, in Winter use.

4x4 with all season low profile tyres here - used to live up a very steep farm track in the pennines, unmade road flanked by drystone walls. Up and down in the Yeti in snow, no worries. Now I'm back home in Norfolk - easy peasy!

[Yeti_Man]

Prevailing opinion seems to be that 4x2 + winter tyres beats 4x4 + summer tyres, and high profile tyres beat low profile tyres, in Winter use.

I totally agree with that and just to add to that formula - Id also say you want skinnier rather than wider tyres. Both my 16" 205 width snow sets were marginally better at certain things than my current 17" 225 width ones - theres just slightly more 'float' on slush - presumably as they cant expel it to the sides as effectively on the wider tyres (?) but having said that, they've done everything Ive asked of them this weekend and Ive asked a lot of them!

[domhnall]

Yeti butt of lots of jokes. Yeti and snow hate each other. Stuck in drive for 2nd year running as we live up a farm track now and we had to abandon the car last year because it couldn't get us back up the track. Next door's 2wd Peugeot fine and happily chugs up the track.

My husband drives an XK8 so we're scuppered!

Tyres don't help - I have just scraped off enough snow to read Dunlop 225/50R17 Sport 01 or possibly 07. (the 01 looks a bit like a 07 but I think it is the font).

I have Dolomite alloys .

I know quite a few briskodians have mentioned different tyres. Anyone have a snow tested tyre they would recommend to me?

I've used Nokian WRG2 tyres on my Octavia and they were amazing (they're now on my wife's golf) and my Yeti (2WD like yours) is on Vredestein WIntrac Extreme tyres. 2 years ago when we had really bad snow my 2wd Octavia on the Nokians was driving happily around while my neighbour's VW 4x4 was stuck. MY neighbour had nokians on his mercedes (rear wheel drive) which was running around just fine.

[Duck_Pond]

I've got 4x4 and the 4 seasons tyres on. The rears are nearly new but the fronts are down to close to the snow tread markers (they're reading about 4.5 to 5.5mm across the tread though).

On Friday coming back from work, Saturday bored so wanted to test and yesterday, taking family to the airport and later to a pub, the Yeti has been brilliant in the snow. On Saturday, i took it down some narrow country roads, deep in snow, covered in compacted ice, steep slopes and it just trundles along. Still have to be careful braking and cornering, but other road users aside, it's not really bothered by the white stuff.

Still might put on the new set for the front before I head to Scotland soon... but so far it's a massive thumbs up for 4 seasons tyres.

[900000]

I'm surprised by everyone saying their All Season tyres are so good in the snow/cold... In this thread in the second video they test some All Season tyres against a proper set of winter tyres:

http://www.briskoda....r-tyres-thread/

And well... to my eyes the All Season tyres performed extremely badly......... Akin to summer rubber in fact! Well maybe if there was a third car in the test with summer rubber it would have been clear the All Seasons are better than those, but they are by no means comparable to proper winter tyres in my book in terms of their winter performance.

[Sporky McGuffin]

Prevailing opinion seems to be that 4x2 + winter tyres beats 4x4 + summer tyres, and high profile tyres beat low profile tyres, in Winter use.

I reckon that's true (in terms of winter grip, and particularly on snow) - the winter tyres made more difference on my Yeti than did the swap from the previous FWD car.

But 4x4 with winter tyres is better still. It should be seen as an argument in favour of winter tyres, whereas it's often (not accusing you of doing it, mind) used as an argument against 4x4!

Edited 21 January, 2013 by Sporky McGuffin

[Duck_Pond]

That may well be the case, and judging by the speed of the Yeti on the snow-covered roads in the video on another thread, the 4 seasons don't offer that level of grip for cornering or braking. Well, not that I've tried driving that fast.

They're a compromise afterall - good all year round. As far as I'm concerned, as long as they offer adequate grip in the snow and ice, then they're good enough. The Yeti with them on offers far better grip than my Impreza on summer tyres does, and that isn't that bad in the snow.

I am tempted by the Continental Winter Contact TS850, as that seems to outperform the 4 seasons in winter and summer tests...

[wakev]

All I can say is the all season Goodyears got me through snow mud and ice on Sunday to go shooting (sporting clay's). The road had patchy snow and ice, then through the woods deep snow and mud not a problem never lost traction at all, but I do tend to drive with the conditions in mind and adjust my speed and use of the other controls to the conditions.

Returning home the road outside my house never gets gritted and was a sheet of ice with a rough surface, so i did try braking hard at around 10-15mph and was surprised how good the stopping distance was, 2m with a few clonks from the ABS, so they work for me.

On smooth polished ice winters will be better but as with anything they will only be as good as the person operating them, The only things that go very well in the snow and ice is small cars with a little old lady at the wheel when I see them coming toward me on bad roads it makes me till they have gone past

[The Plumber]

The Goodyear Vector 4Season and Hankook Optimo 4S are as the name suggests 4 season tyres. Both carry the full winter pattern mountain and snowflake symbol, therefore should be being decent brands, be at least in not better than a budget winter. Not all 'all season' tyres carry this more rigours mountain/snowflake standard, relying instead on the M+S standard which doesn't really mean a great deal, other than having a more open tread block pattern.

Have run the Goodyear on a Fabia I and found it more than capable of doing a decent job throughout the year, so it's worth recommending.

TP

[bargee1759]

I'd highly recommend Vrederstein Wintrac Extremes. They give premium tyre performance but are around 15% cheaper than Premium brands. A friend of mine has "Goodride" winters on a XC70 & OMG they're worse than bald summers! I got a set of 16" Audi A4 alloys off ebay for £100, got the Vredersteins from Oponeo on the internet (they can supply direct from their head office in Poland so there's no shortage of supply) & our local tyre place charged me £45 to fit & balance all 4. The car's fantastic with no problems in the snow & some of the untreated lanes around here have drifts about 8" deep at the moment. (The snow is higher than the silver "skid plate" on the bumper & keeps filling up the lower radiator apperture!) & I've got through it all completely drama free. I just engage the off-road button primarily to reschedule the ABS to allow the snow to build up infront of the wheels, but last night coming down off Mow Cop, the hill descent control took over too. How well does that work! First time have used that. Would also like to try the Continental TS850s too, but they don't do them as a 215/60/16 which is the correct size compared to the 225/50/17 on the "big wheel" Yetis. In fact this is starting to become a bit of a problem, I want to use Vrederstein's Sportrac 5s as summers too, but they don't make them large enough for my SM. Neither can you get Goodyear F1 Assymentric 2s (they're good, got them on my good lady's A3) So looks like the SM's got odd-sized feet! Doh!

[oldstan]

I'd highly recommend Vrederstein Wintrac Extremes. They give premium tyre performance but are around 15% cheaper than Premium brands. A friend of mine has "Goodride" winters on a XC70 & OMG they're worse than bald summers! I got a set of 16" Audi A4 alloys off ebay for £100, got the Vredersteins from Oponeo on the internet (they can supply direct from their head office in Poland so there's no shortage of supply) & our local tyre place charged me £45 to fit & balance all 4. The car's fantastic with no problems in the snow & some of the untreated lanes around here have drifts about 8" deep at the moment. (The snow is higher than the silver "skid plate" on the bumper & keeps filling up the lower radiator apperture!) & I've got through it all completely drama free. I just engage the off-road button primarily to reschedule the ABS to allow the snow to build up infront of the wheels, but last night coming down off Mow Cop, the hill descent control took over too. How well does that work! First time have used that. Would also like to try the Continental TS850s too, but they don't do them as a 215/60/16 which is the correct size compared to the 225/50/17 on the "big wheel" Yetis. In fact this is starting to become a bit of a problem, I want to use Vrederstein's Sportrac 5s as summers too, but they don't make them large enough for my SM. Neither can you get Goodyear F1 Assymentric 2s (they're good, got them on my good lady's A3) So looks like the SM's got odd-sized feet! Doh!

Having used Oponeo, agree about their good service. Have mentioned them here once or twice. My local fiiting was similar to you at £40 cash.

Surprised that someone who has bought a XC70 would put Goodrides on it..... would have thought that if you could afford the Volvo and it's attendant costs, you'd put decent tyres on it.

I see they do the Conti. TS 830P in 215/60/16 for £125 delivered but not the 850, as you say. The Wintrac Extreme is currently £116 delivered.

[900000]

Interesting article from Autocar about 4x4 and traction in the snow:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anything-goes/myth-about-four-wheel-lateral-drive

[briskycat]

Interesting article from Autocar about 4x4 and traction in the snow:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anything-goes/myth-about-four-wheel-lateral-drive

A 4WD generally tends to loose grip abruptly when cornering while a 2WD either understeers or oversteers depending on the drive layout. Which makes 4WD somewhat dangerous. As far as I can judge, Yeti behaves more like a front-wheel drive car (thanks to the Haldex unit I guess).

[7415963]

i have the goodyear vecter 4 seasons on the front only and i have had no trouble in this snow.

would reccommend them

i will be getting another 2 when the summer tyres on the back need changing

matthew

[mikep]

I've driven 300+ miles in my winter tyre equipped 4x4 Yeti since Friday, all of it on wet, icy and snow covered roads.

The most fun was driving past 2 lines of cars on the M25 in driving snow in the snow covered outside lane, thinking ' why are they only doing 30mph?'. But the most important consideration was still, anticipate what's ahead, and make sure the guy behind has enough time to respond if I have to brake suddenly. Then I realised I was the only person in the outside lane! They must have been thinking 'what's that nutcase doing driving at 50mph on the snow in the outside lane?'.

The answer was simple, I was driving at 10-15mph slower than I figured was safe, given the conditions and the capabilities of the car.

My snow driving training, 30 years ago, has never been forgotten and now I have the right tool for the job, never been as much fun!

But it's always important to remember the laws of physics, in snow and ice, stopping and cornering are always to be treated with respect!

My 2p worth.

[900000]

i have the goodyear vecter 4 seasons on the front only and i have had no trouble in this snow.

would reccommend them

i will be getting another 2 when the summer tyres on the back need changing

matthew

Matthew: I'll just point you to video two in the thread linked in post #34 above. You are playing with fire having completely different levels of grip on your car front and rear...

[grahamar]

Hi

To date, I've had two sets of Nokian WInter tyres on the Yeti. The second set new on this winter. I replaced the first set after they got down to 4mm wear mark.

These were purchased via mytyres.co.uk. I figured if they work o.k. in Finland they should be o.k. for Aberdoomshire.

Have same brand on the Fabia too. They make a world of difference where I live, atop a steep hill, on bendy road.

The ride is softer than Summer tyres - and dont forget to give then more air pressure ( in my book it states an extra 0,2Bar).

graham

[7415963]

Matthew: I'll just point you to video two in the thread linked in post #34 above. You are playing with fire having completely different levels of grip on your car front and rear...

yes i know that having different levels of grip front and back can be dangerous but my finances only permit the change of tyres as and when they need replacing to stay legal so when the fronts tyres were at there wear marks (2mm) i changed them for vector 4 seasons.

i will be replacing the back ones when they wear but as i have only done 18000 miles in 3 years and the back tyres still have 5.5mm of tread, it wont be anytime soon. i know that when the snow comes i have to drive accordingly with the grip levels that i have. i try not to do high speed corners or emergency stops as that video shows.

matthew

[domhnall]

yes i know that having different levels of grip front and back can be dangerous but my finances only permit the change of tyres as and when they need replacing to stay legal so when the fronts tyres were at there wear marks (2mm) i changed them for vector 4 seasons.

i will be replacing the back ones when they wear but as i have only done 18000 miles in 3 years and the back tyres still have 5.5mm of tread, it wont be anytime soon. i know that when the snow comes i have to drive accordingly with the grip levels that i have. i try not to do high speed corners or emergency stops as that video shows.

matthew

are your insurance company happy to cover you with different types of tyre front and rear? I was driving a courtesy car last week with winters on the front and summers at the back and at 10mph turnign into my driveway the back end broke free and overtook the front of the car (which was gripping nicely)

[r999]

yes i know that having different levels of grip front and back can be dangerous but my finances only permit the change of tyres as and when they need replacing to stay legal so when the fronts tyres were at there wear marks (2mm) i changed them for vector 4 seasons.

i will be replacing the back ones when they wear but as i have only done 18000 miles in 3 years and the back tyres still have 5.5mm of tread, it wont be anytime soon. i know that when the snow comes i have to drive accordingly with the grip levels that i have.

The old fallacy again. It's not just in the snow that your car will have dodgy handling.

Have you had much experience of dealing with the back end coming round on a car that is (largely if not entirely) driven by the front wheels? If not, perhaps you'd do better to put the all-season tyres on the back until you can afford two more.

[loftypeak2]

If you want a cheaper option - Weissenfels Snow socks. Had a V70 which spun to a stop on our snow/ice covered hill; cover the front (drive) wheels with the snow socks and straight up the hill, stop and reverse up our steeper drive without slipping at all.

It is a bit of a faff putting them on and removing them when back on reasonable surface, but at under £70!

There is much more clearance between the wheel and the wheel arch on the Yeti than was on the V70.

I have replaced the V70 with a 4x4 Yeti and winter tyres and a have had a lot of fun this week in Derbyshire.