Folk pondering winter/all-season tyres might want to consider running a pair of each and swapping them between seasons. On my old MPV (now probably just a cube of metal) I ran Cross-Climates on the front and winters on the back most of the year and swapped them round for Nov to April. Being front-wheel drive, the rear tyres take very little load so the winters were fine on the back in warm weather. Conversely, as soon as it got a bit cold and wet, the winters were good on the front and noticeably better than the C-Cs in real winter conditions. Also, driving on snow, the C-Cs gave more braking grip on the back than standard tyres.

Obviously this saved the one-off cost of buying additional tyres, as well as no storage issues. However, I live in Surrey and drive out to the Alps a couple of times in the winter so it was a good solution for me but would not suit harsher climates and/or high summer mileages.

 

As I have posted elsewhere, anyone looking for spare/winter wheels might want to have a chat with their local VAG garages about vehicles being taken in under scrappage schemes. There seems to be a lot of commonality of wheel/tyre sizes across the VAG brands so, for example, a full-size spare from a Passat going for scrappage could fit a Superb or Octavia.

 

10 hours ago, Jaco2k said:

We have a little bit of snow here right now

 

 

I like mine better. Škoda.

 

 

24 minutes ago, Petunet said:

 

I like mine better. Škoda.

 

 

 

Your trip was longer than mine - btw, this was my first time in 16 years of Finland that I really wished I had 4WD.

Yesterday it was tough out there.

yesterday was bad here, too, but I was working from home so avoided most of the chaos

 

Even got someone else to clear it off the drive, which was a result!

 

 - Bret

 

Finally got around to fitting the winters, yes I know it’s February already. Need to get a set of locking wheel nuts (different bolt profile) and black covers.

Edited 4 February, 20188 yr by waaar

Yes late but the road holding at low temps is still worth fitting them. I have same make, but the early model, tyres on mine they are very good when wet to.

I'm leaving them on until end of March, or temp goes passed that magic 12*. 

Looking like a dusting of snow next week. 

Happy Motoring

I now have a confession to make after going through the whole winter from snow in Dec to snow in March. We also have a Subaru Forester 2.5 XT Turbo AWD in the household and I prefer the predictability of it in the snow over the Octavia. Its down to the permanent 4wd system rather than a FWD plus quick acting haldex. What brought it home to me was being loaned an old Impreza 2.0 (57 plate) while the Forester was in the garage during the latest dump of snow. It also was stable, super predictable,progressive and well, mechanical feeling. 

 

The Octavia system is very good, but I think the Subaru's is still better when the weather is bad. To rub salt into the Skoda wound, this evening I breezed past a local on our estate in a 13 plate Octavia Vrs fwd estate which was stuck on a very slight incline while the old Impreza dug in and got on with it. Not much style but lots of substance!

Where darn Sarth is that? Have you tried setting off in 2nd

Left my 4x4 vRS on the drive today.

 

Probably just as well - as @CCTaylorsaid in another thread, ground clearance can be an issue...this was on my way to work this morning 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Prezafab said:

Where darn Sarth is that? Have you tried setting off in 2nd

Luckily not mine, saw it on the news ,up North

Wow to both photos. We need more frequent winter weather events (every 5 years not every 20) like this for resources and attitudes to change in the Uk. AND it can be fun at the right moment in the right 4WD car 

Must be your location.

Parts of the UK had winter weather events that were notable in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and just usual winter the other years.

... agreed in pockets. But this one has affected most of the country and got everyone's attention. A lot of us on here who have driven on the continent in conditions that are worse than we 've (most of the time) had  know that  they just get on with it, without all the sensationalism from the media and people moaning that noone had rescued them despite the warnings...

 

Anyway, cars - Skoda 4x4 very good, Subaru excellent......

8 hours ago, Prezafab said:

... I prefer the predictability of it in the snow over the Octavia. Its down to the permanent 4wd system rather than a FWD plus quick acting haldex.

The Octavia system is very good, but I think the Subaru's is still better when the weather is bad.

 

Having a MY17 Octavia RS 4x4 and a MY93 Legacy RS Turbo I agree.

2 hours ago, Petunet said:

 

Having a MY17 Octavia RS 4x4 and a MY93 Legacy RS Turbo I agree.

I absolutely loved my Legacy Turbo (mine was a 93 also) - you are very lucky to still have one!  It is the only car I owned that I immediately regretted selling! Such a "Q car"

The only issue I have had this week in my standard 1.4 Octavia SEL FWD has been the huge numbers of people stuck or sliding around. My best moment was when I got stuck behind an almost identical Octavia Taxi. The guy was revving the living daylights out of it trying to get up a hill. When he started sliding towards me I just pulled out and overtook him. I abandoned the main roads as they were too clogged and used the back roads to get home. Got to love Michelin cross climate tyres.

 

Not really extreme snow since we have winter service but not bad snow conditions.

In first video snow is dry, second one snow is more wet. First video is time laps. Second one is longer.

Not sure maybe dry snow is bit more dangerous and slippery. Wet snow winter tire handles good more like rain.

 

 

I really wanted to go and test how my O3 performs in snow conditions. Happy with the performance and handling.

I also tried some handbrake maneuvers and drift once. And hard breaking to see and know what to expect.

OFC I made sure no one was behind me or in front of me for saftey.

 

 

Personally I think its better to drive in D mode with DSG rather than S. S is maybe good in deep snow if your stuck IDK.

Edited 3 March, 20188 yr by Croat

Have a FWD VRS. Fitted Cross Climates. I was the only car to get out of my village on Weds in horrendous conditions.

 

Got stuck a few times but luckily the car brought up a fault with the traction control as it was on constantly and it turned itself off. That allowed me to wheelspin to a main road.

 

Was completely cut off by further snow but ploughs and blowers cleared it eventually

 

 

Also have a Quattro with full winter tyres for when the snow gets really bad.

.. whereabouts in the country are you, just out of interest

43 minutes ago, Prezafab said:

.. whereabouts in the country are you, just out of interest

North east Cumbria. Near carlisle but up on the fell side.

Am I right in thinking that area got a mention on Tues/Weds on the national news - before it all hit the SW as it had the record snow depth in England? Your photos look that way ! Is flooding likely in Carlisle again when it turns warmer ?

This is what I would call snow foam. After 30 minutes of backroads in Estonia

3 hours ago, cocoa said:

This is what I would call snow foam. After 30 minutes of backroads in Estonia

 

 

Can confirm. Even worse on dirt roads in summer. As a Brit living here it's rather amusing to see my own country failing to sustain itself in some snow. Here's my back garden yesterday.

Edited 3 March, 20188 yr by lulzyboy

4 hours ago, Prezafab said:

Am I right in thinking that area got a mention on Tues/Weds on the national news - before it all hit the SW as it had the record snow depth in England? Your photos look that way ! Is flooding likely in Carlisle again when it turns warmer ?

 

Yes and Yes. Carlisle is bad for flooding at the best of times