I thought I'd ask how people got on.

 

This is my 4x4 vRS DSG which coped very well in 4-5 inches of snow on Bridgestone summer tyres.

 

I kept it in manual and let the engine do the braking as I know from loads of ski-ing trips that anything without winter tyres can't stop in the snow.

You end up mashing the pedal while it slides away into the distance.

 

I reckon with winter tyres it would be almost as good as my Subaru

 

 

I fitted Michelin Cross Climate Plus tyres all round on my 184DSG Scout a couple of weeks ago, so this was a good opprortunity to test them out!. Had no trouble dealing with the snow, including doing a three point turn on a steepish hill, but still couldn't get anywhere as the road was blocked by everyone else!

 

 

 

i drove back from north devon to oxford yesterday.. heavy rain when we left but gradually came into snow the further north we drove.

 

a420 swindon/oxford road would be our normal route back, that was clogged up according to google.  plan b would be to stay longer on the m4 and come up the a34 (being a pretty significant route, bound to be gritted) but that was shut apparently.. so we came cross country, lechlade, burford all the little roads basically.

 

the car is a stock 230 vRS loaded up with roof box, kids, dog etc.  glad i fitted my winter boots before the trip - these are excellent, goodyear ultragrip performance - drives like its on normal tyres when the roads are just damp but these can cut through snow and slush really well too.

 

Snow December 2017 by Rob E, on Flickr

 

Snow December 2017 by Rob E, on Flickr

 

Snow December 2017 by Rob E, on Flickr

 

 

1 hour ago, StuartB said:

I fitted Michelin Cross Climate Plus tyres all round on my 184DSG Scout a couple of weeks ago, so this was a good opprortunity to test them out!. Had no trouble dealing with the snow, including doing a three point turn on a steepish hill, but still couldn't get anywhere as the road was blocked by everyone else!

 

 

 

Great combo ! That was exactly our problem - an hour to do a 20 minute round trip to the kennels, at which point we took the dogs home and abandoned any ideas of doing the 2 hour round-trip we had planned.

 

The old stereotypes were out there - 3 series BMWs facing backwards, idiots driving with no gap, mega-rev wheel-spinners at junctions, Skoda 4x4s taking it all in their stride. Even got a thumbs up from some yoofs on mountain bikes as we were the only vehicles on one road.

 

 

 

Edited 11 December, 20178 yr by Prezafab

2 hours ago, Prezafab said:

I thought I'd ask how people got on.

 

This is my 4x4 vRS DSG which coped very well in 4-5 inches of snow on Bridgestone summer tyres.

 

I kept it in manual and let the engine do the braking as I know from loads of ski-ing trips that anything without winter tyres can't stop in the snow.

You end up mashing the pedal while it slides away into the distance.

 

I reckon with winter tyres it would be almost as good as my Subaru

 

 

 

facelift looks much better when it's mostly covered up in snow ;-)

 

2 hours ago, Prezafab said:

I thought I'd ask how people got on.

 

This is my 4x4 vRS DSG which coped very well in 4-5 inches of snow on Bridgestone summer tyres.

 

I kept it in manual and let the engine do the braking as I know from loads of ski-ing trips that anything without winter tyres can't stop in the snow.

You end up mashing the pedal while it slides away into the distance.

 

I reckon with winter tyres it would be almost as good as my Subaru

 

 

 

Where is this?

Have to say my 4x4 vRS was excellent on Sunday morning with 5-6 inches of snow, running on Vredestein Wintrac's.

 

By lunch time it was in danger of beaching as the snow was that deep so out came 'The Beast' for a play, and the Octavia got all tucked up...

 

 

17 minutes ago, rob_e said:

 

facelift looks much better when it's mostly covered up in snow ;-)

 

It does make it look more like a snow plough / rally stage special.  Even in North Bucks. 

I wanted, but due to other reasons couldn't afford the initial outlay to buy a spare full set of tyres and somewhere to store them when not in use   

As such general experience of the Octavia in the snow is rather grim; running on Eagle F1's on the front and Pirelli P7's rear (as I bought the car) a few things I have found compared to previous petrol cars:

 

• General steering wheel feedback is very little when driving normally which is nice, on snow however I find it very difficult to judge what the wheels are doing due to a lack of feedback which is a negative in this instance. 
• A drawback I find with the diesel in the winter is that it takes a long time to get up to temperature likewise I find the water temperature dropping when the heaters are pumping out max heat for a length of time.  This situation is of course exacerbated by the conditions where there is snow and ice and travelling speeds have dropped to less than 30-40mph.
• Handling with the car is crap when running on summer tyres in snow and does not inspire confidence.  Yes; my fault entirely.
• Due to where I live I go snowed in yesterday and works transport would not come and collect me due to the distance I live away from the hospital, as such I lost out on a 12 hour overtime shift which ironically would have covered the cost of 2 full winter tyres and rims.  False economy on my part.

 

Overall I really like my Skoda, I like the effortless way the diesel drives and the economy I get with it as opposed to petrol but this time of year does highlight the negatives.  Next purchase for the car will be either a full set of winter tyres as I do now have somewhere to store them or a set of cross climates and run them all year round.

 

In a nutshell I am grumbling about an otherwise great car which has its downsides which can be remediated as others have done by not being a di*khead and buying the right tools for the job, ie all season or winter tyres as summer tyres do not mix well with this car in the snow; previous cars I have got away with or had little issue running summer tyres in winter; can't do it with an Octavia as I have just learned.  

 

On the plus side, car is not damaged and no harm has been done, learning experience noted.

I really like the Cross Climate tyres idea. 95% of the benefits of a 'winter tyre' with none of the drawbacks of having to change them or use separate rims, while wearing out at a similar to normal summer performance tyres.

Tried out snow socks yesterday in 4 inches of snow. They work really well but don't arf take some effort to get on in the first place. Easily climbed a 1 in 6 gradient with signs of other ejits having tried and failed to negotiate. More than capable for this weather and stood up to tarmac better than expected. vRS 4x4 was one of the only things not a Land/Range Rover moving round here with any confidence.

 

@rob_e Just been checking out the ATS Emotions you have vs Dezent TD dark. How much of an effect does the ET45 have over the standard offset and how do the spigot rings work? Couldn't quite make them out in your pics.

OK - I'll be the token stuck guy! I had to get back from the Cotswolds to London on Sunday - with my winter wheels tucked up in the shed 100 miles away. Initially, not too bad - petrol VRS on newish Goodyear F1 Asymmetrics. It was all about the choice of road however - I went for a route which was less trafficked but also less hilly - but that turned out to be a mistake. There had been enough traffic to compact the snow in the tracks and knock down the 200mm mountain in the middle, but no grit. Obvs OK downhill and on the level, but failed to climb about a 1in10. Fortunately, a kindly Defender driver rocked up and towed me to the nearest T junction. The busier road up to Chipping Norton was just about OK on the steepest sections but the town itself was a nightmare of stuck cars and tractors trying to help. Climbing out of Chipping Norton was dodgy but OK then 30 mph at best the rest of the way home. Quite an adventure but got there in the end - if there is any grip at all, the fake diff lock does help a bit I think. 

29 minutes ago, BigEjit said:

Tried out snow socks yesterday in 4 inches of snow. They work really well but don't arf take some effort to get on in the first place. Easily climbed a 1 in 6 gradient with signs of other ejits having tried and failed to negotiate. More than capable for this weather and stood up to tarmac better than expected. vRS 4x4 was one of the only things not a Land/Range Rover moving round here with any confidence.

 

@rob_e Just been checking out the ATS Emotions you have vs Dezent TD dark. How much of an effect does the ET45 have over the standard offset and how do the spigot rings work? Couldn't quite make them out in your pics.

Glad the snow socks worked. I have some in the boot to use in an emergency, but I had a Scout in 2008 and they were brilliant in the Alps - especially for braking.

 

I know what you mean about fitting. I gave up on my other halfs Audi A5 in the last big snow in 2010 because there just wasnt enough room to get your hands in to stretch over the tyre. Also if you are fitting on the hoof rather than in your drive its hopeless with snow and ice in the arches

https://twitter.com/Seales67/status/939933413762633728https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I picked up a small half scissor jack to add to the snow socks kit just to lift the body away from the wheels a little. That really helps get them on. 

1 hour ago, BNT1985 said:

A drawback I find with the diesel in the winter is that it takes a long time to get up to temperature

 

One good thing though is they plod through the snow and grip the slippy stuff quite well on the torque, I find they tend to break traction a bit less than the more revvy petrols.

 

9 minutes ago, London Les said:

with my winter wheels tucked up in the shed

 

 Always the way isn't it! These days I change them with the clocks, don't really think about it. Not saying I still haven't been caught out but it seems to work. Glad you got back in the end though  

I do like the ESP on the Octy more than the Fiesta. The Fi is more "fun" - it will allow a quarter turn of lock and foot on the pedal and ESP's not even thinking about doing anything, where the Octy will be "NOPE!" and just either slide sideways or be braked with ESP depending on rotation or not. It's pretty good. 

 

We had the full-on ice thing on Friday with the melting compacted snow on roads in some places - excellent for showing my daughter just how long braking distances can be from 40km/h on wet ice, less so for getting places quickly. 

 

I do like roundabouts in the snow

 

@BigEjit - spigot rings just clip over the center hub and keep the rims locked down in the centre. They can be a pain to put on and get off again (I have them on the A2 for both sets of rims), but as long as the design takes them into consideration, they should be great. Normally plastic, you can get custom ones made if desired.

 

 - Bret

My VRS 230 has 235/35/19 Goodyear Asym 3s on, so it was hilariously bad in the snow ... As in the worst car I've driven in these conditions. Ever.

 

I couldn't even touch the throttle to get out of my road up a tiny incline as the wheels just spun. Had to take my feet off the pedals and let the auto box drag me along.

 

Might invest in some winter tyres next year!

 

Oh, one good thing, the LSD helped me park up on the kerb outside my house 

Edited 11 December, 20178 yr by stu83

8 minutes ago, stu83 said:

My VRS 230 has 235/35/19 Goodyear Asym 3s on, so it was hilariously bad in the snow ... As in the worst car I've driven in these conditions. Ever.

 

I couldn't even touch the throttle to get out of my road up a tiny incline as the wheels just spun. Had to take my feet off the pedals and let the auto box drag me along.

 

Might invest in some winter tyres next year!

 

Oh, one good thing, the LSD helped me park up on the kerb outside my house 

I was trying to explain to my other half about narrow tyres with lots of grooves being best in the snow, but I gave up because a bigger tyre must dig into more snow apparently!

I had two days , well few hrs , digging out drive.  Don't know why because I'm sure car would have got of and up out of the close. It is steep but under the snow, about 5", the road was wet so winter tyres dug down well. I left dsg in 1 manual , worked well. The  car was grounding but not heavy so think was near limit.  Steering and Brake all performed good on heavy sluch in car parks[sorry re spelling].   

  All this said any thing must be better than the merc c220 Ihad for last12 years. no winter tyres very helped that. So if all failed I have old Scooby with has never been stopped yet.

 

tyres are standard size Nokian WR D3  which came with winter wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 11 December, 20178 yr by prichards1234
missing tyre type

15 hours ago, BigEjit said:

Tried out snow socks yesterday in 4 inches of snow. They work really well but don't arf take some effort to get on in the first place. Easily climbed a 1 in 6 gradient with signs of other ejits having tried and failed to negotiate. More than capable for this weather and stood up to tarmac better than expected. vRS 4x4 was one of the only things not a Land/Range Rover moving round here with any confidence.

 

@rob_e Just been checking out the ATS Emotions you have vs Dezent TD dark. How much of an effect does the ET45 have over the standard offset and how do the spigot rings work? Couldn't quite make them out in your pics.

 

ET45 is fine, in fact is a better fit than the standard wheel IMHO.  I've run different wheels on pretty much every vehicle i've owned, aftermarket, oem swaps etc and in the past i'd always avoided anything that needed spigot rims to fit correctly, but when i bought the ATS they were such a good deal i thought i'd take a chance, and you know what, it's absolutely fine - they came pre-fitted and tbh you hardly notice they're there - its just a hard plastic insert in the centre bore which you cant see unless the wheel is off the car.  they stay in place when you're swapping the wheels over so you honestly don't even notice they're there.  

 

very pleased with the ats wheels - they're easy to clean with such a simple design.  they've taken some pretty heavy knocks in the last few winters and are showing some dings on the rim but they're holding up very well, nothing other than cosmetic damage.  i purposely didn't want a winter rim i was going to worry about, so they're doing their job just fine.  Did i mention they were CHEEEP

15 minutes ago, rob_e said:

 

ET45 is fine, in fact is a better fit than the standard wheel IMHO.  I've run different wheels on pretty much every vehicle i've owned, aftermarket, oem swaps etc and in the past i'd always avoided anything that needed spigot rims to fit correctly, but when i bought the ATS they were such a good deal i thought i'd take a chance, and you know what, it's absolutely fine - they came pre-fitted and tbh you hardly notice they're there - its just a hard plastic insert in the centre bore which you cant see unless the wheel is off the car.  they stay in place when you're swapping the wheels over so you honestly don't even notice they're there.  

 

very pleased with the ats wheels - they're easy to clean with such a simple design.  they've taken some pretty heavy knocks in the last few winters and are showing some dings on the rim but they're holding up very well, nothing other than cosmetic damage.  i purposely didn't want a winter rim i was going to worry about, so they're doing their job just fine.  Did i mention they were CHEEEP

 

Did you buy them direct from ATS?

 

1 hour ago, waaar said:

 

Did you buy them direct from ATS?

 

 

No, i actually bought them through mytyres.co,uk.  I did some shopping around and those guys were the best price.  IIRC they were only about 80 quid each at the time.

 

 

Just did a quick search, looks like exchange rates have made them a bit more expensive, now 100-ish each:

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/komplettrad.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=98904657.110.5338&CGISESSID=b7f2ab031d7b5363d8fee93cb62a9dee&Cookie=&Session_Clear=&Session_Detail=&typ=alu&TypeCode=&ModelCode=&language=EN&RadHerstellerFilter=ATS&Zoll=18&Einpresstiefe=EM70648B74-5&Session_Detail=

 

ok, link above doesnt' completely work properly, takes you to the 16" version of the wheel.  Mine are 18x8 ET45 Mattschwartz 109 each plus 9 for postage.  

 

A bit more than i paid but still cheaper than say rimtsyle:

https://www.rimstyle.com/alloywheels/wheel/ats_emotion_mb

 

Edited 12 December, 20178 yr by rob_e

20 hours ago, stu83 said:

Oh, one good thing, the LSD helped me park up on the kerb outside my house 

 

I would'nt have thought it would help you park anywhere, too busy looking at all the pretty colours

1 hour ago, Miz said:

 

I would'nt have thought it would help you park anywhere, too busy looking at all the pretty colours

 

LSD would probably help you park on Mars