[ChrisM]

My wife's 4motion has 17" Santa Monicas with Eagle F1 tyres. We guessed that they would be fairly poor in snow and ice given the low profile , width and pattern of the tire but nothing has prepared her for just how bad they are. She seems to spend most of her time sliding down hills with no control despite being in the correct gear and having abs. I've been in the car with her and it's nothing to do with her driving style.

I'm going to buy another set of alloys with winter tyres. I know ideally they should be thin and high profile so what do people think? Should I get a second hand set of Mkiv gti 15"s which seem fairly cheap on ebay at the moment or just get some 15" steels?

Or should I just get some Santa replicas with snow tyres on?

 

[blazedoobie]

dude, do you really have that much snow every year that you need to spend ?xxx on a second set of wheels and tyres?

 

[boon752003]

Hat to tell you I have F1's on 17 inch rims on my 1.8t and I would say they are really good in the snow. Is there any point in spending up to ?500 for two days snow a year??

 

[ChrisM]

Rather spend ? on wheels and tyres than stuff the car or even more annoyingly have it slowly slide into stationary cars and crease the bodywork which does cost ?xxx. Yes, I know the snow only lasts a few weeks but given the muppetry that goes on round here when there is snow on the roads I think it's worth having a car that we can actually control reasonably. Besides nowadays most winter tyres are not just for snow they are also for extremely wet conditions too.

I live at the top of a steep hill. The gritters can't get up or down it. It turns into an ice-rink. We (I don't mean my wife and I, I mean the general public) have loads of low (and high speed accidents)occuring on the road every time there is snow or a frost

 

[blazedoobie]

buy an old banger for the winter and sell it to some chav in the spring. Snow tyres wont guarantee some other idiot not crashing into you.

Alternatively get together with your neighbours and grit the hill yourself. ?100 of rock salt a year and a safe hill for everyone might be a better solution all round

 

[boon752003]

It would be much cheaper to buy a set of snow chains which go over your existing tyres and improve grip massivly!

 

[klauster]

i believe snow chains are illegal on UK roads (damage the tarmac)??

 

[Stevoraith]

I think you might struggle to get 15's over the 4mo brakes.

See if you can pick up some 16in Bora steelies from the scrappies. Although the 16in might not make much difference from the 17 in the snow.

I wish I'd kept my 15's for the winter, 18's are crap.

 

[tylerama]

Get some of those foldable snow covers for your tyres. Josh has some I think and posted a link a short while back.

 

[Malky]

It's not the tyres...

Tyres wont make too much diff in the snow.

Low profile tyres are the prob.

Try letting the tyres down in the snow...

 

[Foxy]

Good lord.......just get out there and have some careful fun.

If you can't get out of the road - stay at home - it's cheaper than a set of snow tyres!!! LOL

 

[Jace]

They are quite poor, well they are when their almost down to the wear markers [:O]

They are the fastest wearing tyres I have ever known [V], bloody gripy most of the time though [^]

 

[Carlos]

What about some snow socks like what Josh has?

 

[asifR123]

i noticed this recently with my eagle f1's....spent about five mmin's spinning up a hill covered in snow / ice.

i hear turning esp off gives better traction....is this true???

 

[rfsteel]

As Carlos has said, Auto Sock will be the cheapest way of try to achieve traction in the snow

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

I suffered last year in the snow due to my F1's beening near the wear bars, though this year I've not suffered as I have a new set on F1's on.

 

[tylerama]

http://www.autosock.com/index.html

I have found ze link, yes !

 

[vrooooom]

How about just getting some snow tyres!!! I did, but then i'm not normal.

Put em on a set of steelies just for the rock salt to eat.

I've got some pirelli snowsport things and they are unbelievable!! Gave them a test up a steepish snow covered road with the ESP light flashing away as it dragged itself to the top!! Only other vehicle to get up was a Landrover and another 4x4 with proper tyres.

 

[Displaced]

its legal to drive in the uk on snow/ice with "summer" tires? wtf?

grip with proper winter tires isnt "great", grip with "normal" summer tires is bloody awful.

if you have a "spare" set of tires that will fit on your 17inch rims, stud them yourself, will increase grip nicely and it doesnt cost much more than a tenner a corner. (then again those tires will be winter only for the remainder of their lifespan)

 

[Uzi9]

has anyone tried the autosock thingy? Seems like a good idea. I nearly had an accident the other day in a car park at about 3mph. Bloody scary. Fun yes when there is no ice under the snow

 

[ChrisM]

I would not advise anyone to let their tire pressures down a bit to improve traction in the snow. This only works with the old cross-plys and is something that has been passed down from that generation of drivers as fokelore. Itis dangerous with radials and does not improve grip. It just makes the car unstable.

Cheap 16" and proper winter tires it is then.

My F1s aren't worn at all 4 pretty much brand new. Still awful.