Winters on !

[1600cr]

This is where I got stuck last week (along with a dozen or so others just out of sight).

I couldn't believe how bad the Octy was being FWD, on swapping to the winter wheels I could see why, my factory fitted Sport maxx RTs at 4-5mm are literally just 3 continuous ridges of rubber - great for dispersing water and lateral grip but unbelievably bad in snow.

Edited 16 December, 2014 by 1600cr

[Orville]

Sorry, I see that I'm repeating what others have already said. With the mileage that I do and the wear rate so far it looks like my winter tyres will last 4 or 5 winters, so I wouldn't want to be using them any less really.

All tyres hardern over time, but I would rather be on 5 year old winters on snow/ice/cold wet roads than on new summers. The tread patter makes just as much difference (probably more) than the compound. The less contact area the better on slippery surfaces.

[toni8b]

This is where I got stuck last week (along with a dozen or so others just out of sight).

I couldn't believe how bad the Octy was being FWD, on swapping to the winter wheels I could see why, my factory fitted Sport maxx RTs at 4-5mm are literally just 3 continuous ridges of rubber - great for dispersing water and lateral grip but unbelievably bad in snow.

You are crazy, diving with those Dunlops in such snow

[susi]

 The less contact area the better on slippery surfaces.

 

Maybe you should call Nokian to share your knowledge. Tell them they need to develop a special 125 width tyre for driving on ice 

[Telboy5]

My Wintrac extreme S's have just gone on and what a difference!!

 

I know things are really mild at the moment, however I do a lot of late and early morning driving and fear in January when the temps usually drop the winters will come in to their own,

 

What a difference in the cold/wet though, feel like I'm stuck to the road.

[Orville]

Maybe you should call Nokian to share your knowledge. Tell them they need to develop a special 125 width tyre for driving on ice 

Perhaps you should try wider tyres during winter wether and see what a bush looks like from the inside? Look at the tyres Rally cars use on snow and ice. 135's are often used because they provide much more purchase per square inch than wider tyres. Why do you think VAG suggests narrower winter tyres than summer tyres for the same car?

[toni8b]

Rally car use studs.

 

Narrower tyre is only better in fresh untrodden snow and against aquaplaning in heavy rain, because obviously its easier to pass through something being narrower.

 

If the snow is already trodden and hardened without being cleaned, wider tyre is again better, because narrower trye will not pass through such snow, so the only querstion is how much grip you have.

 

Wider tyre has more grip.

Edited 17 December, 2014 by toni8b

[toni8b]

double post

Edited 17 December, 2014 by toni8b

[blahde2]

Perhaps you should try wider tyres during winter wether and see what a bush looks like from the inside? Look at the tyres Rally cars use on snow and ice. 135's are often used because they provide much more purchase per square inch than wider tyres. Why do you think VAG suggests narrower winter tyres than summer tyres for the same car?

If you look closely you will see that most of the super skinny WRC winter / ICE tyres have studs fitted. They provide the drive by digging into the ice after the narrow high pressure tyres have cut through the soft snowy surface . Big fat rubber with studs would just steam roll the snow, i.e. they spread the load over a wider area and ride up on top of the snow compacting it rather than cutting through it. This in turn puts the compacted snow between the tyre and the ice which the studs need to dig into to provide drive.

 

If its deep semi compacted snow you are driving in, then a similar sized winter tyre to your summer one would suffice and work well. If you go too narrow in tyre width you will struggle more as you are trying to grip snow (which isn't solid like ice) but you will still some form of make progress. However, with our fickle British winters, when there is zero snow on the ground and you are driving around on two super narrow rubber bands, your stopping performance especially will be greatly compromised due to less rubber in contact with the road. That is your compromise, wet and dry performance in the cold will suffer greatly. 

 

Your Options:

1. You live in the frozen North where it snows lots and they don't bother to salt / grit the roads because its too cold for that to work = fit narrow winter rubber with studs. (Some of our Scandinavian members will testify to this I am sure).

2. Live near the frozen North but not the frozen North and have plenty of super cold artic chills blow in, a good amount of snow fall but where gritting and snow ploughing is a common and regular occurrence and works = Fit normal winter tyres.

3. Live in N / W / central Europe (UK etc) where winters can be and are normally cold 0*C to -15*C, wet, with unpredictable rain sleet or snow, and when it does snow it doesn't hang around for months at a time = Winter tyres will out perform summer rubber by a good margin in almost all conditions.

4. Southern Euro zone (Spain, Italy (not Alps side)) where winter barely scrapes down into the single figure +#* = Stick with your summer tyres. You wont see any real benefit for more than a month if that.

 

I fit winters here in Germany because 1, the conditions every winter warrant it & 2. Its the law when the temp Avg is 7*C or lower for extended periods. 

 

People forget that driving in the winter in conditions such as that seen in the picture kindly posted 8 posts up by 1600cr, that it isn't about being able to drive wherever and whenever you want to reliably. If you can't drive to work because the roads are far too slippery or are blocked by the summer tyre shod 4X4 Chelsea brigade, no one gets hurts or dies. However, if you are driving in snowy conditions (such as the picture above) and have to stop in an emergency or wipe out a bus shelter / slide through a red light into the traffic etc), that is the only time you will wish you had winter tyres fitted. They DO MAKE A MASSIVE difference in conditions like those in the pic above and in the cold and wet sh**ty conditions we normally experience every winter.

 

I was a naysayer once and became a disgruntled (law enforced) convert who would now never go back to running summers in the winter! Been there, done that and was embarrassed on many many occasions. I will now fit Winters every year regardless if its going to snow or not. Cold and wet, winters are on even when they cost me 750 Euros straight out for my VRS. The safety of my young family and other road users matters to me first and foremost. If i still cant make it to work then no harm comes to anyone / thing (apart from my pocket maybe). 

 

Winters to me now are a no brainer. If I move to Australia in the next few years, then no, I will not be fitting winter tyres ever again! Tinted windows maybe, but not winters!!!!

[blahde2]

Apologies for the large post, got sort of got carried away a bit...... I'll get mee coat.... 

[octavia55]

There always seems to be a huge debate about winter tyres, seems to me all tyres are a compromise. the best tyre for Hot dry conditions is a racing slick, unfortunately first drop of rain means they are useless, as soon as you put grooves in them for the water you reduce contact area and make the tyre more flexible, Rain tyres are what is needed but in hot weather they will overheat, best tyre for high mileage will have less grip and so on.

Fact is in the south our weather is so variable you need a compromise tyre. This year On my journey to/from work on shifts I have only driven a few times when the temperature is below 7 degrees so would have been disadvantaged by fitting winter tyres.

The Bridgestone A001 blurb says it was specifically designed for temperate European climates, covering light snow and slush, rain and not excessive temps so would appear to be a good compromise for those living in the south.

 

It would be so simple if like some countries come November the temp dropped and everyone fitted their winter tyres (or studded tyres if you know there is going to be snow on the ground for 4 months) but the UK is just not like that which is why I think we have never gone for winter tyres.

 

best regards and a happy Christmas regardless of what tyres they have on.

[fabdavrav]

Winters you defo need up here!

 

As for size...........any size within the size range for your car, so up a size, same size or down a size! VAG do not state if you do not use this size you will die! ( everything else, yes by the amount of warnings in the handbook)..................I have the same size 225/45R17 for summer & winter so that the handling does not change! I have in the past on my old Fabia had bigger for summer & narrower for winter, but got fed up with re-adjusting each time!

[Shermo]

Snow is coming down nicely here, lots of people driving around like Grandmas!

 

First time driving this car in snow and it performed fantastically, the combo of 4x4 and winter tyres and I could hardly tell much difference in traction to a regular day, only issue I had was a little sideways squirm when going a little too fast on a roundabout but TBH I was being a bit silly as the road was empty.

[Dempsek]

Fed up, was really looking forward to trying my winter tires in snow, we get some and I cannot drive due to too much festive spirit.

[jemtheflute]

Well, it has snowed here in N Wales on Boxing Day - nasty, slushy, very slippery stuff - and I had to take myself off the road (private hire driver - damn expensive pain on what should have been a peak night!) in my 13 plate MkIII Octavia 1.6 diesel Estate with normal tyres. It just didn't want to know. Handled atrociously and no traction at all on even quite moderate slopes (and we have plenty of steep ones around here!). I guess it was partly the tyres, but I've driven other vehicles in worse conditions in the past on normal tyres with far less problems, including my previous MkII Octy, and other vehicles were doing noticeably better. Is it the lighter engine and general build? Anyway, I suppose this means I need to investigate winter tyres for the first time ever.

Edited 27 December, 2014 by jemtheflute

[classic]

Well, it has snowed here in N Wales on Boxing Day - nasty, slushy, very slippery stuff - and I had to take myself off the road (private hire driver - damn expensive pain on what should have been a peak night!) in my 13 plate MkIII Octavia 1.6 diesel Estate with normal tyres. It just didn't want to know. Handled atrociously and no traction at all on even quite moderate slopes (and we have plenty of steep ones around here!). I guess it was partly the tyres, but I've driven other vehicles in worse conditions in the past on normal tyres with far less problems, including my previous MkII Octy, and other vehicles were doing noticeably better. Is it the lighter engine and general build? Anyway, I suppose this means I need to investigate winter tyres for the first time ever.

Same car as you but with winter tyres on, 70 mile trip home across Midlands last night with no problems. Had to overtake several cars which were sliding along at 10 mph holding me up....

[billybskoda]

Rural Gloucestershire, slight altitude, snow and ice each winter. My winter tyres for my octy are.... a bog standard 15 year old imprezza wagon that I got for £1k... tbh, my skoda is far too valuable to me to drive in snow and ice and the imprezza will bounce off snow banks and keep going...

 

Made the mistake of moving my mk2 vrs in the snow to get the imprezza out, took me an hour to dig the octy back onto the drive!!!!

[1600cr]

Well, it has snowed here in N Wales on Boxing Day - nasty, slushy, very slippery stuff - and I had to take myself off the road (private hire driver - damn expensive pain on what should have been a peak night!) in my 13 plate MkIII Octavia 1.6 diesel Estate with normal tyres. It just didn't want to know. Handled atrociously and no traction at all on even quite moderate slopes (and we have plenty of steep ones around here!). I guess it was partly the tyres, but I've driven other vehicles in worse conditions in the past on normal tyres with far less problems, including my previous MkII Octy, and other vehicles were doing noticeably better. Is it the lighter engine and general build? Anyway, I suppose this means I need to investigate winter tyres for the first time ever.

See a few posts back from me, if your on OEM Dunlops forget it - they're fantastic in the wet or Dry but useless in snow as they're just not designed for it.

[Andy P]

I was out in my combi yesterday with my kumho kw27's on and I was squirming all over in the snow and ice. I admit they aren't brilliant tyres but these wheels & tyres are what I had supplied for my yeti for the past 2 winters and the yeti handled so much better. I think it's because the extra length and torsion beam rear of the octy. Made me want my yeti back.

[Squirrelz]

I've been out and about in my VRS the last couple of days in Sheffield. Many roads covered in snow or ice and the Vredestein Quatracs have been excellent

[TheWanderer]

What's this weird stuff called snow? Just a little bit frosty here, so it's just a case of driving with due diligence. 

[V6Jules]

The frost here is so thick it almost looks like snow! Seeing as I normally do most of my driving before 07:00 and after 16:30 the car hasn't seen temps above 5 degrees on the road for some time so I'm glad my winters are on. I'm pretty impressed with their performance so far

[Web Ferret]

See a few posts back from me, if your on OEM Dunlops forget it - they're fantastic in the wet or Dry but useless in snow as they're just not designed for it.

+1

I have the same car (but with the auto box) and the dunlops are useless in the snow. I run Nokians WR D3 on steels 16". Got the lot for £ 450 (in October).

 

Went out for a drive on Friday night. Drove into a car park with 4" fresh snow. Stopped. Three point turn . Drove back out. Went down a hill, tried the brakes and the car stopped pretty much as normal. drove back up. No problems.

 

Winter tyres really do work.

[Gabbo]

I've just returned to Switzerland after a 2000km trip around Europe & back to the UK for Christmas.

It may my smile at all the comments about the weather in the UK not being as extreme as the rest of Europe.

 

By far the worst conditions for the whole trip were for the week I spent in the UK.

The roads are anyway in pretty poor condition but add to that the rain, snow & ice which was not cleared & all the major roads covered in salt/grit which makes a complete mess of the car.

 

On the contrary, driving through Europe (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany & Switzerland) the day after the heavy snow, the highways were completely clear & the drive was very pleasant.

 

 

I don't think it will be long before insurance companies & traffic agencies push for wet weather or winter tyres in the UK in the same way it is in mainland Europe.

[thebobster]

Don't see the point of putting on expensive alloy wheels & winter tyres until absolutely necessary, make the most of them. 

Neither do I that's why I'm rolling on steelies , don't give a **** if they don't look stunning. Keeping the bloody car clean this weather is impossible.