Snow socks/chains

[Welly]

If this guy does part-worns can't you do a deal where he takes your 7000 mile tyres and discounts the winters for you? you need 4 x Winters on a car for it to be correct in my opinion.

[scotty73]

If this guy does part-worns can't you do a deal where he takes your 7000 mile tyres and discounts the winters for you? you need 4 x Winters on a car for it to be correct in my opinion.

To be fair I'm being a bit of a tight arse here on something that could last me nearly 3 years of driving because if stored right the two that come off will be good replacements for my alloys when they wear down.

I should just bite the bullet and get the 4 because £80 for 3 years worth of tyres (baring punctures) is pretty good going.

[Welly]

That's how I'm looking at it too, I was looking at my Summer tyres removed and they still look like new! I didn't even bother to measure the tread, they've done about 4,500 miles, I don't think I'll need any new tyres for another 3 years using this rotation method.

[DaiRees]

My summer tyres are shot, but I don't need to buy any until the spring now

[Welly]

Good god you must be driving like an idiot man seriously though how many miles can you get from the fronts? I've been getting 15,000 at least but am very careful with them.

[scotty73]

Good god you must be driving like an idiot man seriously though how many miles can you get from the fronts? I've been getting 15,000 at least but am very careful with them.

Must be all this off road farm land driving Sam keeps talking about
Seriously though Dai how many miles have they done?

Well i have a new (to me) set of winter daps on now and fair play to the boy he done it the hard way none of this windy gun malarky all done by hand to the right torque settings... Even though he had a windy gun there.

Bloody good tread on them too for £80.

[DaiRees]

Good result there Scott!

The Summers have done 16700 ish. The fronts were down to 3.5mm at 9K so I swapped them front to back, now they're all between 2 and 3mm at their lowest points with the tread wear markers looking even , still I might squeeze another 1000 miles out of them in the spring before I get new ones, depending on the amount of rain around in March & April. They're wearing quicker in the middle too which would imply that they're over inflated, but they aren't. Guess it's really hard to get a tyre that wide to wear perfectly evenly.

In other news, the winters are great. Call me an old man (I'm usually called worse on here anyway ), but the 17s with a decent sidewall are so much more comfortable and quiet than the 18" rubber bands on the summer wheels. Much, much less road noise and alot better on the speedbumps and otherwise crappy road surfaces that we're blessed with here in the valleys. Of course it's also noticably less precise than the balding summers, even in these cold conditions, and I haven't had cause to try "pressing on" yet, just a 60mph straight run to work and one short business trip this morning... so time will tell!

Much as I love the look of the Fortuna 18" rims I could be tempted to punt them on and get another set of 17s , ask me again in the spring

[Welly]

On the S40/V50 almost everyone agrees 18's are too big (because of the reasons you say). Winter rubber is quite 'squishy' so your steering input isn't repeated as quickly and makes the car feel, well, squishy. It's quite comforting when you get used to it

Try a few (safe) sharpish left-right-left's with the steering and you'll feel it straight away, also the back end will move more.

[scotty73]

I'd say mine is driving better the steering feels tighter and I ain't noticed any extra road noise... My alloys needed balancing mind you the steering would shake dropping down from 70 to 65mph so that might have something to do with it?

[grasmere59]

Much as I love the look of the Fortuna 18" rims I could be tempted to punt them on and get another set of 17s , ask me again in the spring

My last bmw was on 17's and had a lovely quiet ride but when I changed it for my present bmw with 18" elastic bands I was also thinking of going back to 17's but I ditched the Bridgestone so2's (due to cracking sidewalls) and fitted Goodyear F1's and the difference was amazing,it felt like I was on comfy 17's again.

[DaiRees]

My last bmw was on 17's and had a lovely quiet ride but when I changed it for my present bmw with 18" elastic bands I was also thinking of going back to 17's but I ditched the Bridgestone so2's (due to cracking sidewalls) and fitted Goodyear F1's and the difference was amazing,it felt like I was on comfy 17's again.

Hmmm, interesting. The current summer tyres are Pirelli PZeros and I haven't been impressed for a number of reasons, so I'll probably give something else a try in the spring. Thanks for the tip mate.

[grasmere59]

I started suspecting I had wheelbearing problems with the Bridgestones on as they were that harsh,with the Goodyears on it's like driving a different car.

[MacWomble]

I bought socks off ebay for my 2.1 estate. Absolutely amazing !!
My partner lived in Stroud which is really hilly. Her driveway must have been 1 in 3.
I got up it by reversing, putting the weight on he front. On ice snow and also mud they are amazing.
They fold up really small so you can carry them in the rear cubby holes all year. Like I say I even used them to get out of a muddy field on one occasion.
Loop them over the top half of the wheels, drive forward a bit and loop the rest over. They self centre as you move along.
Removing is easier as most comes off in one go. Keep a bin bag to put them in cos they get soaked.
I'd say a front wheel drive diesel with these is actually better than a 4WD with road tyres.

[jonny81191]

Winter tyres on the front, disable the ABS, off you go. I've never seen the need for winter tyres on the rear, they're there to aid traction not to allow you to drive beyond the conditions.

I'm also of the opinion that if you're not used to controlling a car beyond the limit of grip, then find yourself a big empty car park and get used to it. Learn to slide the car in control, stop with and without ABS in snow (you'll soon see why I say disable it, it's a hindrance), and to pull away in snow. Too many accidents are caused by people panic braking and sliding into a wall/car/tree.

IMO of course.

EDIT;

Chuck some chains in the boot as well, they're great for the really bad bits.

[mjb]

Got my ContiWinterContact TS830P winters last week (£450 virtually brand new!), and got them fitted for £10/corner. Score!

So far, performance is very variable. In the damp at 8c, they've got noticeably less grip then the all-season tyres, but when the temperature is down below 4c, they're fantastic! Handling's very good too, and the noise level's about the same