The weekend's snow was a perfect opportunity to see what the Yeti's winter tyres can do. So with a cottage booked in the Peak District we set of on Friday expecting the Google predicted trip of 3:09 to take about 4,5 hours. We got there in 3:13 doing the M11 and A1! The roads were very lightly trafficed and all the main roads were gritted. The ungritted roads through the Peak District and the farm track to the cottage were all done as if we were driving on carpet in the middle of the summer. Not once did the Yeti falter or stumble. The farmer was well impressed that we made it since had not yet had time to get his snow plow out to get rid of the snow on the last bit of track! Ot was a foot or more deep!

Coming back yesterday we did the M1 as there was less falling snow predicted going back that way than the A1/M11. In places the fast lane was totally white with the Yeti the only car travelling there. Yay. Utter joy to pass all the RWD and summer tyred sloths in the other two lanes. Trip back took 2:55. I've never ever done that same journey in so little time!!!

Welcome back Johann, glad you had a good trip.

Winter tyres make a huge difference, eh.

That and all the other drivers not even bothering to go out.

Agreed, the traffic was minimal over the weekend and I also managed trips quicker than I had previously. The Yeti looks very purposful on its steels. Hope you enjoyed the weekend, thanks for sharing the photos.

A satisfying expedition for you, Johann. Your sig doesn't say which winters you are wearing - or did I miss that info somewhere else?

A satisfying expedition for you, Johann. Your sig doesn't say which winters you are wearing - or did I miss that info somewhere else?

I used to have the rollerskate baby winter tyres and then bought a ready set from a Briskodian that sold his Yeti in the bigger better looking size. So I had had no choice in what the tyres were. They are Kleber Krisalp HP2 (by Michelin) 215/60 R16 99H XL on 7J ET45 wheels.

....They are Kleber Krisalp HP2 (by Michelin) 215/60 R16 99H XL on 7J ET45 wheels.

They apparently do the job!

Looks like it was a good weekend Johann.

They apparently do the job!

They sure did, but I would say they are a bit noisier than my previous winter tyres (Semperit Speed Grips - which the dealer supplied) in the dry - and certainly much noisier than my summer rubber.

Looks like it was a good weekend Johann.

It was Graham. But as the saying goes: "There is no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothing!" So same holds for the car you use to travel with in the snow... A winter tyred Yeti is perfect come what may!

Johann said:

Coming back yesterday we did the M1 as there was less falling snow predicted going back that way than the A1/M11. In places the fast lane was totally white with the Yeti the only car travelling there. Yay. Utter joy to pass all the RWD and summer tyred sloths in the other two lanes. Trip back took 2:55. I've never ever done that same journey in so little time!!!

Ultimate driving machines (except in the snow).....:-)

JeZ

Perhaps Jez could explain that last posting, because it doesn't seem to make sense!

Rwd sloth = BMW saloon = ultimate driving machine = useless in snow.

Rwd sloth = BMW saloon = ultimate driving machine = useless in snow.

You got it..... ultimate driving machines (BMW)....pretty crap in the snow :-) well the rwd ones that is.

JeZ

<br /><br />You got it..... ultimate driving machines (BMW)....pretty crap in the snow :-) well the rwd ones that is. <br /><br />JeZ

<br /><br />I have friends and family with rwd BMWs and mercs with winter tyres and they manage just fine even in deep snow <br /><br />Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

<br /><br />I have friends and family with rwd BMWs and mercs with winter tyres and they manage just fine even in deep snow <br /><br />Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

With winter tyres fitted, there's no reason they shouldn't!

With winter tyres fitted, there's no reason they shouldn't!

Erm, apart from there being less weight on the driven wheels compared to a FWD car that has a nice heavy engine out front helping with grip... This is the main reason RWD cars suffer in the snow. A few sand bags in the boot and they'll get around far easier in snow (even with summer rubber).

You got it..... ultimate driving machines (BMW)....pretty crap in the snow :-) well the rwd ones that is.

JeZ

Who says the Beemer is the ultimate driving machine?

I have a customer who lives in Blubberhouses, a few years ago he had an X5 on wide low profile wheels, when it snowed he couldn't get the X5 up the hill to his house and even more of a problem was going down the hill to the A59 to get out!

At his company he had a 1.9 tdi Fabia MK 1, he paid to have winter tyres put on that, the Fabia went anywhere in the snow with them tyres on!

X5 was sold in favour of a Range Rover, last month he swapped that for another X5 M50! I haven't heard how that has been in the snow.

The mention of Kleber Krisalps reminds me of what I saw when I spent a couple of hours inside a Michelin factory last year - not an opportunity that arises very often with that most secretive of companies.

I saw Kleber Krisalps, Michelin Alpins, and BF Goodriches coming off the same production line, all mixed up together. I am certain that exactly the sames carcases were going into all three tyres, as I saw them being made and feeding the line. Obviously the three brands have different tread patterns. The 64,000-dollar question for me was whether they also have different tread compounds. On that question the production managers were coy. All they would admit to was that the Michelins were finished by hand to a higher visual standard than the other brands, so there were people trimming the little tags of excess rubber off the Michelins.

Next time I go into the factory, if there is a next time, I'll be paying better attention to the the tread feedstock and rubber processing to see if I can answer the question. Are the differences in performance (and price) really just a matter of the tread pattern and nothing else? I wonder. Anyway, you are getting a quality tyre with any of the three brands. Made in the UK too.

One of several other things I learned to my surprise was in the despatch department. Before being loaded on a pallet, all the new tyres were put in a big press and squeezed down to occupy only 70% of their normal volume. As we are always told to avoid deforming tyres that are off the rim, I asked how long they could survive this squeeze before taking on a permanent deformation. The answer was that it didn't matter - a week, a month, a year made no difference - but, they said, they had trouble persuading their customers of that. (And their customers may be right - a friend of mine who owns a tyre-fitting business hates getting tyres that have been squeezed because it is apparently much harder to make the beads pop out into contact with the rims when inflating them for the first time.)

I have a customer who lives in Blubberhouses, a few years ago he had an X5 on wide low profile wheels, when it snowed he couldn't get the X5 up the hill to his house and even more of a problem was going down the hill to the A59 to get out!

At his company he had a 1.9 tdi Fabia MK 1, he paid to have winter tyres put on that, the Fabia went anywhere in the snow with them tyres on!

X5 was sold in favour of a Range Rover, last month he swapped that for another X5 M50! I haven't heard how that has been in the snow.

Some people never learn.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Who says the Beemer is the ultimate driving machine?

BMW themselves.

It's the strap line from their adverts

I never look at BMW adverts! :giggle:

Why would I need to? I drive the ultimate car (for me).