I've just brought a new vrs last week and it has been real fun in the dry! However the tiny amount of snow we have had on the south coast and I barely had any grip. New continental sport contacts but seemed rubbish today with the weather. Think I may have to look into winter tyres but was hoping to wait untill later in the year( hoping that the bank account has recovered from the purchase of the car!). Anybody else had fun today. Any recommendations for good, cheap winter tyres? Guess I'm also going to have to look for a set of alloys. Is it much cheaper to get 17"s?

I used 16inch steel wheels with Goodyear ultragrip 8's on. Not great looking but worked well. Took them off last week (prematurely it seems) ;-)

I've managed through the two appalling winters on summer tread (-17C, 2' of snow) so it can be done. My tyres were/are MAxxis which are cheap but do seem to work well in rain and snow.

If you can afford a set of steel wheels and winters that's always best. Depends where you are I suppose. I'm used to driving in the snow since I'm so far north.

Ive managed ok on mine the last few days. Well truth be told it was a bit wayward on some icy roundabouts but seeing as i was aware of the conditions then speeds were low enough to cope. Although my VRS isnt great on summers its still better than my last car (BMW) so i still think positively of it despite it still probably not being great overall. Thats the price you pay for 225 low profile tyres im afraid.

I would buy winter tyres in a heart beat IF, Its a big if, we had more consistent snow and ice year upon year. Thats 2 years on the trott now that the winter has been pathetic and basically 2 years i have never even been close to getting stuck and have never slid off the road under braking and i did have to conduct an emergency stop a few weeks ago and all was controlled safely.

I just think our winters are too mild to fully justify the expense. Saying that i would buy and fit "all season" tyres if i could find any to fit and leave them on all year. I cant find any though.

I think that this thread may run the risk of turning into another "debate" regarding winter tyres v summer tyres. I'm of the opinion that if you want to purchase a second set of tyres for winter use then go ahead. I have made the choice not to and run one set of (summer) tyres all year round and have not got myself into trouble yet (kiss of death?).

Living in a relatively flat part of the country that gets very little snow generally, and covering quite a low annual mileage in my own car I cannot justify the expense of another set of tyres for winter use. That said, up until last week my second car was a Land Rover - but that only really came into it's own once in over 6 years of ownership when the snow was higher than the bottom of most cars bumpers.

I've just ordered the wife a little C1 so I may be tempted to get a set of all season tyres eventually for that as it will very rarely be used out of town - mind you the tyres are that narrow that I'm kind of hoping that it will dig into snow anyway.

As a side note, my car previous to the vRS was a 1 series BMW which I never had the pleasure of using over winter. My mate has a 3 series automatic and eventually managed to get out of his street yesterday - sideways!

I think that this thread may run the risk of turning into another "debate" regarding winter tyres v summer tyres. I'm of the opinion that if you want to purchase a second set of tyres for winter use then go ahead. I have made the choice not to and run one set of (summer) tyres all year round and have not got myself into trouble yet (kiss of death?).

Living in a relatively flat part of the country that gets very little snow generally, and covering quite a low annual mileage in my own car I cannot justify the expense of another set of tyres for winter use. That said, up until last week my second car was a Land Rover - but that only really came into it's own once in over 6 years of ownership when the snow was higher than the bottom of most cars bumpers.

I've just ordered the wife a little C1 so I may be tempted to get a set of all season tyres eventually for that as it will very rarely be used out of town - mind you the tyres are that narrow that I'm kind of hoping that it will dig into snow anyway.

As a side note, my car previous to the vRS was a 1 series BMW which I never had the pleasure of using over winter. My mate has a 3 series automatic and eventually managed to get out of his street yesterday - sideways!

Mine was a 3 series auto. I can confirm you do feel cool as hell when leaving the culdesac sideways at 1 mph after fannying about for about 20 minutes trying to even get out the drive. You also get a lot of freindly hand getsures when stuck at the side of the road and cant even overcome the camber to allow you to rejoin the carrigeway. Those are great BMW moments, the ultimate driving machine it most certainly wasnt. They should come with a standard issue paper bag for your head.