Opinions/advice please

[gizzywizzy]

Hi all

Would appreciate your help please.

I am an extremely nervous driver in the snow, due to a nasty little accident 2 years ago when I had a nasty skid and damaged my car to the tune of £1250.

I am considering whether to get a set of winter tyres at present I have 18" Bridgestone Potenzas but if a winter set would give me better traction in snow and sleet covered roads I'd consider a set.

Does anyone think they are worthwhile, what would be a good set and what kind of prices should I be looking at?

Thanks all for you help.

Gizzy

[Graeme1978]

I've got 17" Potenzas on my GTD and I have to say they were superb in the recent weather. With a slight camber on the road cars in front were slipping down into the gutters but the Golf sat just fine on the road.

They're not snow tyres obviously but they handle pretty well on the snow and ice.

[simonpolly]

To be honest i would`nt bother with the expense and hassle involved in changing the tyres,just go easy in the snow no sudden braking and keep the revs low,if you get into a situation where you need to brake suddenly in the snow winter tyres may help abit but it will still be down to lady luck if you damage your car or not. IMO

[p3asa]

These socks get a good write up:

http://www.autosock.co.uk/

http://www.amazon.com/AutoSock-Standard-X30-Traction-Passenger/product-reviews/B000ZJYF48

[SilverChariot]

I am seriously considering getting some of these:
http://www.autosock.co.uk/

Once you get to the main roads, everything's fine. But the minor roads are lethal with ice at the moment.

[gizzywizzy]

Guys

Well thanks for some of your comments think I may try some autosocks.  anyone have them or has tried them?

Gizzy

[mac7]

I've been told by a Swiss colleague not to bother with autosocks, but I'd be interested to hear about them too.

Volkswagen recommend a set of 6x16 steel wheels with narrower 205/55R16 winter tyres for the GTI. Having used them in the past they do make a huge difference when driving in snow and ice. I've used Continental Wintercontact which worked well, but my Swiss friend recommends Vredestein Snowtrac 3's. A set of wheels and tyres would cost around £550 though.

[gizzywizzy]

I've been told by a Swiss colleague not to bother with autosocks, but I'd be interested to hear about them too.

Volkswagen recommend a set of 6x16 steel wheels with narrower 205/55R16 winter tyres for the GTI. Having used them in the past they do make a huge difference when driving in snow and ice. I've used Continental Wintercontact which worked well, but my Swiss friend recommends Vredestein Snowtrac 3's. A set of wheels and tyres would cost around £550 though.

At least someone from Switzerland would be clued upon driving in snow and ice, so if he says no to autosocks I guess there must be something in it.  Regards £550 it seems a bit steep what with just getting through Christmas and all that expense.  Might just have to hold out for now and pray for no more snow.

[Rolfe]

I've been holed up for six days now.  I took the car out on Sunday when it thawed, but only to collect something in the village, and back within 15 minutes.  If it doesn't thaw by next Tuesday when I'm supposed to be back at work, I'm in trouble.

It's not the main roads that are worrying me.  It's the final 40 yards.  The country lane my road turns off still has a lot of snow on it, but as it's flat I'm not really worried about that bit.  However, just where my turnoff is, there is a huge puddle of meltwiter which has come from the road where I live, flowing down the hill and pooling among the slush.  It has predictably frozen solid.  Once past that I'm on the home straight, but it's uphill (fortunately a shallow gradient) and the road is covered in snow and slush.  I then have to turn into my drive, over another ice-rink of a puddle of meltwiter.

I think it's doable, but I just hate getting stuck on that road or the entrance to my drive, and my poor neighbours having to come out and push me.  The DSG refusing to let me pull away in second isn't exactly helping.  And if it snows again over that ice, which is entirely possible, I dread to think what it will be like.

I know 18 inches of snow is unusual here, but it happened and it's not the first time either.

I need either an appropriate set of winter tyres, or some sort of sock.  I'm following this discussion closely.

Rolfe.

[Exonian]

I don't know anything about the car socks but I do know that the best thing you can spend your money on if at all unsure about certain road conditions would be some proper driver training. Skid pan training or similar to teach you how to drive in more or less zero grip situations would be money very well spent.
As for winter tyres, they don't really get used much in most of the UK. Winter tyres only work properly in very low temperatures, as it warms up their performance deteriorates markedly. Now, I don't live up in Scotland where you get real winters, so winter tyres may well be more widely used there.
As said above by mac7, winter tyres are normally fitted to smaller wheels and in narrower sizes so a new set of alloys would be required or 16'' steels if you can find any.
But here's the thing with British winters, a couple of days ago it was sheet ice everywhere for a few days where I live (very, very seldom get snow near the south coast of Devon), it rained a few times a day and this would promptly freeze. I've now just completed a night shift and it's been raining all night and is mild enough to walk outside in shirtsleeves, albeit briefly! This, tonight, is not really ideal conditions for winter tyres and is fairly typical of British winters, a few days of very cold followed by a few days of being quite mild, hence why not many of us use winter tyres.
In mainland Europe and other proplerly 'wintered' countries they get more predictable periods of cold weather and thus equip themselves accordingly, us Brits just 'make do' as usual.
So in short I still reckon that unless you live out in the wilds and get prolonged very cold weather driver training would be the best option.