winter tyres

[Rolfe]

how much      thought the mk6 owners were the only ones daft enough to pay that.

winter tyers arn't all that IMO     a high quality summer tyer that's not track orintated will outperform a winter tyer untill it's on snow,  yes on snow the winter tyer will fair a bit better but not that much better and ice bugger them up anyway.

i had winter tyers last year and was quite disapointed with them so i sold them and went back to £24 round black things made by kingpin.  it got a bit further up some of the hills with the winter tyers than it did with the nasty cheep kingpins  but further up is not good enough unless its the top 

I have a set of chains in teh car and when snow and ice is involved  i have found myself needing them or not needing them regardless of what tyers are on the car.

I still don't think £120 a tyre is especially expensive for those fat MkVI tyres.  Certainly not compared to what I hear some other people shelling out.

Snow.  Well, that was the problem, wasn't it.  Heaps and piles of the stuff.  And the MkVI wasn't going anywhere in it thankyouverymuch.  At best it was bloody embarrassing (the neighbours were laughing at me from their SUVs) and at worst it was verging on dangerous.

I got a set of AutoSocks which were bloody marvellous and would be just the job for the occasional emergency get-you-out or get-you-home.  But when they come off they're soaking and filthy, and although they're easier to handle than snow chains, I still found them a bit of a struggle to get on - worse when I developed a frozen shoulder.  The great thing about the winter tyres is that they're on all the time, no "oh my God look at that I'm going to have to shovel six inches of snow from the driveway just to run the car out to get the space to fit the AutoSocks."  And you're not restricted to 30mph while you're wearing them either, and you don't have to stop once you get to the gritted road and haul the filthy soaking things off.

The difference with the winter tyres is phenomenal.  They have turned a car which was a static, wheel-spinning waste of steel into something that performs better than the 4WD SUVs in summer tyres.  Best £240 I spent in a long time.  Especially since we have just had a decree at work that if we can't get in and the place isn't officially closed (and they've just employed a different contractor to clear the estate roads and say it will NOT be officially closed again short of a couple of feet of the white stuff), then it's on our own time.  Take holiday or don't get paid.

So I'll ask again.  Are the earlier GTi models better in the snow than the MkVI?  Why is it only the MKVI owners who are reporting such a phenomenal improvement?

Except, IRL outside the forum, it isn't just them.  The people round here who have fitted the things are all raving about them, irrespective of the make or model of their car.  So what's going on?

Rolfe.

[Rolfe]

Just to let you see what we're up against.



The summer tyres needed that drive scraped down to the tarmac, pretty much, before I could get out.  With the winters, I can ignore even a couple of inches.  And then there was the little matter of what lay beyond the cleared drive.  With the summer tyres it was anybody's guess whether I'd even get out of the cul-de-sac.  With the winters, I just drove the car at it and the wheels kept turning.

What's not to like?

Rolfe.

[Ess_Three]

I don't care what anyone says, if you can't drive very well then you aint going to get much use out of winter tyres

Utter rubbish.
My Mother has got winter tyres on her Fabia and gets about as if there is no snow.
Without them she couldn't get out of her driveway.
She's my Mother FFS and drives a 1.2 Fabia...hardly a great driver in a fancy car.

Winter tyres make winter driving safer for people without any special knowlewdge of driving in very dodgy conditions.
That's the point of them.

[Diamond Hell]

The people round here who have fitted the things are all raving about them, irrespective of the make or model of their car.  So what's going on?

You don't spend hundreds or thousands of pounds/Euros on fandango tyres and then NOT tell everyone how great they are, do you?

What's not to like?

Your driving by the sounds of it.  

So I'll ask again.  Are the earlier GTi models better in the snow than the MkVI?  Why is it only the MKVI owners who are reporting such a phenomenal improvement?

Probably, yes - no ESP to interfere with the two driven wheels, skinnier tyres, less power, owners with more common sense.  The only vehicle I've driving with effective ESP in snow is my Passat, because it has drive to all four wheels to manage, so it can make a much better fist of it - even Ess_Three's Mum would do better in her Fabia.

As a 4WD addict this weather has just vindicated my stance - four driven wheels is hugely superior in pretty much all conditions.  The end.

[R32UK]

4wd is the daddy... never had any trouble in any snow in the R32. The GTi however is... well a 2WD liability

[Rolfe]

For me, it's about actually going somewhere, as opposed to being stuck in my drive, in a car park, or in some random snow drift.  If I can move, then I can be careful.  But if I can't even get the traction to start rolling, it's all a bit moot.

I don't care what special knowledge you have, if the car won't move at all without wheel-spinning no matter what you do to the controls, you ain't going anywhere.

Doesn't happen with the winter tyres.

Rolfe.

[Ess_Three]

4wd is the daddy... never had any trouble in any snow in the R32. The GTi however is... well a 2WD liability

Until you brake...
The worst experience I've ever had in bad weather was in my S3...no traction issues...but 4 sledges under the brakes when you try to lose speed.
Summer tyres don't find as much traction for either accelerating or braking. Simples.

[Ess_Three]

Probably, yes - no ESP to interfere with the two driven wheels, skinnier tyres, less power, owners with more common sense.  The only vehicle I've driving with effective ESP in snow is my Passat, because it has drive to all four wheels to manage, so it can make a much better fist of it - even Ess_Three's Mum would do better in her Fabia.

If VW didn't follow the fashion of fitting big wide wheels and tyres to all modely, things would be somewhat easier in winter.
The Mk3 GTIcame on 195s to start with...
The Mk2 185s...

Polos now come on 195/55/15s...with light engines giving low nose weights, and overly wide tyres, it's got crap winter progress written all over it.

Mothers old Polo 1.4TDI on 155 tyres went everywhere in winter...the 1.2T Fabia on 195s goes nowhere without winter tyres.

Personally, I don't find ESP/TCS/XDS a problem...it's simply the width and compound of the tyres.

[Rolfe]

The people round here who have fitted the things are all raving about them, irrespective of the make or model of their car.  So what's going on?

You don't spend hundreds or thousands of pounds/Euros on fandango tyres and then NOT tell everyone how great they are, do you?

I would if they were crap.  I'd say so.  Loudly and complainingly.

They've actually surpassed my wildest dreams.  I've got a car that will take me places and get me home again in the snow, which I sure as hell didn't have last winter.

And again, I don't think £120 a tyre, for two tyres, was that much to spend.  I needed new tyres anyway, and putting a couple of summers on in November would have been insanity.  OK, I'll need a new pair of summers in March or April, but heck, you can only wear out one set of tyres at a time.  The extension in tyre life for the summers through not using them for four or five months in the year has to be factored in too.

What's not to like?

Your driving by the sounds of it.  

Srsly, come up here and see if you can do any better.

So I'll ask again.  Are the earlier GTi models better in the snow than the MkVI?  Why is it only the MKVI owners who are reporting such a phenomenal improvement?

Probably, yes - no ESP to interfere with the two driven wheels, skinnier tyres, less power, owners with more common sense.  The only vehicle I've driving with effective ESP in snow is my Passat, because it has drive to all four wheels to manage, so it can make a much better fist of it - even Ess_Three's Mum would do better in her Fabia.

As a 4WD addict this weather has just vindicated my stance - four driven wheels is hugely superior in pretty much all conditions.  The end.

That probably makes a lot of sense.  But looking at what's going on with my neighbours, several of whom have SUVs, I'm getting on better with just two winter tyres on the FWD Golf than they are with summer tyres on the SUVs.

And being as I'm stuck with the MkVI (OK I love it to bits), I'm stuck with FWD and the ESP and the power and the wide tyres.  Just two winter tyres simply eliminated all the problems caused by the modern bells and whistles.

Over in the MkVI section, one owner in Yorkshire with a very exposed journey to work had actually decided to sell the GTi and buy a Freelander because he really really couldn't afford to be stuck.  It's virtually certain that a set of winter tyres will allow him to keep his pride and joy, and still make it to work in the winter.

Rolfe.

[Guy]

has insurance been mentioned in this thread at all? (i really cba to read it)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11969958