Performance in the snow

[Mickey43]

First real test my Superb has had in proper snow (in wintry Scotland) and I have to say I'm impressed.

 

Got the front wheel drive 190 diesel DSG with 19" wheels and it's going up and down very snowy icy hills no problem at all.  Find myself using the manual override quite a bit which helps.

 

Compared to other cars I've had it's very good.  Wry smiles all round at BMW's and Mercs skidding all over the place.

[Kenny R]

This one was not so good in the snow...

 

[Mickey43]

Oh dear!

[dg360]

I bet his/her underpants aren't as white as that snow anymore....

[Auswede]

Maybe they left their lane assist on.

[RickTT]

55 minutes ago, Auswede said:

Maybe they left their lane assist on.

 

Or driving at summer speeds on summer rubber

[Mickey43]

32 minutes ago, RickTT said:

 

Or driving at summer speeds on summer rubber

More likely the case..... seen some idiots the last couple of days going far too fast on snowy roads.  Usually van drivers i may add.

 

I'm going very carefully at winter speed..... on summer rubber  

[Ootohere]

Maybe that driver will be along here to say what happened.

I can then ask if he is the one that likes to be right up every car he follows jacksy and with a full compliment on front lights on.

I keep watching him being brake tested by others and i wash his windscreen the few time he has tailgated me as i follow the car in front.

(I would be passing them if the road was clear, or if they were not just in a line of traffic like the rest of us.)

[Bud]

8 hours ago, Kenny R said:

This one was not so good in the snow...

 

C'mon Kenny, lets not mix up the abilities of the car and the lack of awareness and potentially arrogant attitude of the driver.

[GAG]

What a load of arrogant know it alls you are coming across as. What makes you so sure it was the drivers fault. For all you know it could have been struck by another vehicle or had to swerve because of another vehicle. Hopefully nobody was hurt.

[Ootohere]

Maybe, who said otherwise?

[GAG]

If you need to ask you would appear to have not read the posts. Have a look at Auswede, RickTT, Mickey43, Bud and your self by what you want to ask the driver which by implication infers the driver was to blame.

[dg360]

I didn't pass judgement, could have been any number of things.

Got to ask - GAG, are you from Ayrshire by any chance?  

[GAG]

No. I find that it is usually best to engage your brain before your mouth when you do not have all the facts.

 

dg360, You will have noted that I did not include you in my post.

Edited 17 January, 2018 by GAG
Clarity

[penguin17]

We've got an overnight dump promised so I'm getting ready to get out early in the morning and see what these Vredestein Quatrac 5's are up to.  

 

LED DRL's would have prevented that ^^^ accident, fact*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Not strictly true or factual. 

[Ashmount]

59 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

I'm getting ready to get out early in the morning and see what these Vredestein Quatrac 5's are up to.

Interested to know how the tyres perform. I like Vredestein and these tyres get good reviews.

Let us know how it goes.

[penguin17]

11 hours ago, Ashmount said:

Interested to know how the tyres perform. I like Vredestein and these tyres get good reviews.

Let us know how it goes.

The overnight snow around us was very wet and slippy!  I think it started raining heavily at 0400 this morning which made things interesting after a few hours of freezing time.  

 

TBH the only time I felt any loss of front end grip was rolling the car around T junctions that had compacted snow/ice on them.  The really shiny, smooth stuff!  My previous Winter tyres also did too. I think only studded tyres are going to dig in on that type of surface though.  As soon as they hit some deeper snow they just pulled straight back in to line.  

 

Traction whilst pulling away was same as usual.  Braking was fine; even a little test on a quite residential road with some harder braking and the car just stopped no fuss and no ABS intrusion.  

 

Overall I'm quite pleased with them as none of our local roads had been cleared and there was mixture of thicker snow, really churned up mounds and that horribly black slushy stuff.  I also hit a few short, sharp hills at low speeds and the car carried on as usual.

 

Obviously things may be different at 'out of town speeds' but I'm very happy with them.  I hope they are up to scratch in the warmer months too as that would make them something I'd defo consider buying again.  The CrossClimates must be pretty damn good! 

[Jon TDI]

First real outing in the snow with CrossClimates this morning. A seven mile commute to really test them, and I was impressed.

 

They actually worked really well for a summer tyre with mud & snow marking. Traction on hills was good, grip whilst braking was OK. Didn't have any concerns.

 

They're not outright winter tyres though. I've had a few sets of specific winter tyres on previous cars that perform better.

But they are far better than a summer tyre in winter conditions.

I would say a good compromise between the two types of tyre, which is exactly why I bought them.

[Ashmount]

Thanks both

I was interested in this comprehensive test below.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2017-Auto-Bild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

 

While Cross Climates take first place and Quatrac 5s come in fourth in the individual test graphs they seem much closer.

Both will be on the shortlist when the time comes.

 

[penguin17]

2 minutes ago, Ashmount said:

Thanks both

I was interested in this comprehensive test below.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2017-Auto-Bild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

 

While Cross Climates take first place and Quatrac 5s come in fourth in the individual test graphs they seem much closer.

Both will be on the shortlist when the time comes.

 

You may be limited to the Vredestein's for the Sportline as there's only the Quatrac 5's or Maxxis AP2's available as an all-season tyre for R19 wheels.  (Does NI spec have Vega's as standard?).  Michelin and Goodyear only go up to R18 in their offerings.   The Maxxis aren't meant to be that good though so really I had a choice of 1.  

[Ashmount]

2 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

You may be limited to the Vredestein's for the Sportline as there's only the Quatrac 5's or Maxxis AP2's available as an all-season tyre for R19 wheels

Thanks, Yep, Vegas 235/40 R19

Agree on Maxxis...but not at all disappointed with the choice of 1 

My wife's Mazda 3 alloys were in really poor shape  and just to clean it up I bought a set of alloys and tyres which were Vredesteins. Wife thinks they are great tyres. Hard wearing, good grip  and very quiet. - respect is also being given to the alloys which remain 'unkerbed' a year and a bit later.

I remember long ago and far away fitting a set to a BMW 3 series E46. First time I'd heard of them and I was impressed then. 

[Ootohere]

GAG,

maybe it is a member on here that can put their hand up if they are regularly on the A713 & A77 in their Superb 3 and right up peoples jacksy.

Maybe they could explain what it is all about, or maybe someone just borrows it and the owner or their boss might be on here.

So why i mentioned it really.

 

I will be keeping an eye out to see if he is still about doing it.

[GAG]

AwaoffSki

 

If it happens as regularly as you make out, why have you not just let the car overtake you so that you could see the Reg.No. That way, as well as being safer for yourself because there would be no danger of the car running into the back of you,  you would know if its the same car in the photo rather than just assuming it might be but I suppose that wouldn't be the done thing. Much better to have somebody tailgating you! 

 

EDIT: My mistake. Just noticed the Reg.No. in the photo is covered in snow. 

Edited 18 January, 2018 by GAG
Clarity

[Ootohere]

I know the Tailgaters Reg Number, i have a camera front and rear.

I do not post the vids online, but could do.  Could also just keep for the future incase ever needed, so i do that.

[Bud]

@GAG  Please do tell us the story then.  

 

We could all benefit from understanding the incident and any particular character traits or handling anomalies for the vehicle, especially if sharing the knowledge prevents any of us ending up in the ditch.