Awd useless. Waste of time. Why did i bother!

[barrybritcher]

I was advised to only fit the winter tyres when the temp is below 8.

Which I did. My driving is mostly wet B roads. They definitely inspired less confidence (less grip) at sub 8 degrees temps in the wet.

Aquaplaning, spinning up more easily etc.

[Gazdok]

Originally Posted by NigelDay

Just to add a further comment. FWD with winter tyres works. AWD with winter tyres works better. But, where I live in the North Pennines, the limitation is often not the tyres or the driven wheels, it is ground clearance which determines whether you will make progress in snow. Last winter I had to turn back in snow and use another route home not through loss of traction but because it was too deep. The XC60 is not a snowplough. AWD might have got me a little further down the road than my FWD wearing Nokian Weatherproofs, but I would still have grounded myself in the process. I didn't even bother to fit my Thule Easy-Fit SUV chains for the same reason.
Bottom line. In winter, fit winter or all-season 'snowflake' tyres.

We had a V70 AWD in 50 cm of snow. It only went so far and I could not go any further. I had beached. I asked the passengers to get out so my "little legs" would touch the ground again and I could go again.

Originally Posted by barrybritcher

Disagree. Fitted winter tyres last year to fwd. Drove like sh1t. Not worth the money. Stick to normal tyres.

Barrybritcher,
What make of winter tyres did you use? There are some cheap mainly chinese "winter" tyres on sale which have got appaling test results and are not worth the little money you pay for them.
There are many tyre tests out there where good winter tyres beat summer tyres in the wet below 8°C.

[barrybritcher]

Originally Posted by Gazdok

We had a V70 AWD in 50 cm of snow. It only went so far and I could not go any further. I had beached. I asked the passengers to get out so my "little legs" would touch the ground again and I could go again.




Barrybritcher,
What make of winter tyres did you use? There are some cheap mainly chinese "winter" tyres on sale which have got appaling test results and are not worth the little money you pay for them.
There are many tyre tests out there where good winter tyres beat summer tyres in the wet below 8°C.

Sunny Snowmaster!!

[Packard999]

I use cheap remould winter tyres from Mytyres, every winter, on the Octavia, they are very good; 'Wintertact' I think they are called
My missus says they are better in snow than the Disco

[Ninja59]

In regards to Winter tyres both my cars have them*, I will agree with the above that in some circumstances (like in the wet) Winter tyres actually give worse performance than a Summer tyre, I think there was a test somewhere not long ago and All Seasons actually won the test.

So why do I still fit Winters (discount all seasons for a moment)? Either way for my two both RWD cars anything is better than their Summer tyres at gaining additional grip in the colder temperatures (and the MX5 has no TC). They do introduce additional "vagueness" to the steering. On my BMW (20's for Summer and RFT's) with EPAS it really makes little difference, the MX5 more so.

Flipside all seasons do not exist for either of my cars in the correct specs so pointless, but I can see benefits for many and more so down South where a full Winter is possibly a little "hardcore" and unnecessary (although many at least around me struggle to replace tyres in time for an MOT it appears to).

As for AWD only useful to get going pointless if you cannot stop or steer (equally a problem is how many "AWD" cars are fully "AWD" not half cocked Haldex systems)...

*Note have them, only the BMW is currently wearing them, the MX5 I have not got round to (and it does so few miles so time is on my side there).

[GrahamHR]

My wife's car ( Mazda 3 2.2 185 diesel; seriously quick) has winter tyres. My daughter's car, a Mazda 2 ( nippy but seriously not fast ) has them as well. My previous Mondeo ST220 estate had some as well. All FWD, all coped really well in snow and icy conditions.

I now have a AWD Volvo. A Polestar. I was looking forward to getting winter tyres for it My wife has decreed I can't have winter wheels and tyres for it, I can drive her car when conditions require it. Bugger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Ninja59

In regards to Winter tyres both my cars have them*, I will agree with the above that in some circumstances (like in the wet) Winter tyres actually give worse performance than a Summer tyre, I think there was a test somewhere not long ago and All Seasons actually won the test.

So why do I still fit Winters (discount all seasons for a moment)? Either way for my two both RWD cars anything is better than their Summer tyres at gaining additional grip in the colder temperatures (and the MX5 has no TC). They do introduce additional "vagueness" to the steering. On my BMW (20's for Summer and RFT's) with EPAS it really makes little difference, the MX5 more so.

Flipside all seasons do not exist for either of my cars in the correct specs so pointless, but I can see benefits for many and more so down South where a full Winter is possibly a little "hardcore" and unnecessary (although many at least around me struggle to replace tyres in time for an MOT it appears to).

As for AWD only useful to get going pointless if you cannot stop or steer (equally a problem is how many "AWD" cars are fully "AWD" not half cocked Haldex systems)...

*Note have them, only the BMW is currently wearing them, the MX5 I have not got round to (and it does so few miles so time is on my side there).

Do your reading.... premium brand winter tyres out perform summer tyres in all circumstances except stopping distance in the dry at summer temperatures. Yes they do have a vague feeling caused by tread block distortion as a result of siping but that's about the only down side.

And a haldex system with full traction control is more capable than a full time 4WD system which is prone to cross-axle. I've towed a stuck Defender (towing a horse box) off a muddy farm track with my "half cocked haldex" XC90 in the past.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by GrahamHR

My wife's car ( Mazda 3 2.2 185 diesel; seriously quick) has winter tyres. My daughter's car, a Mazda 2 ( nippy but seriously not fast ) has them as well. My previous Mondeo ST220 estate had some as well. All FWD, all coped really well in snow and icy conditions.

I now have a AWD Volvo. A Polestar. I was looking forward to getting winter tyres for it My wife has decreed I can't have winter wheels and tyres for it, I can drive her car when conditions require it. Bugger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You need to work on your missus a bit... if it snows it would be a shame to find your XC the poorer relation to your winter shod Mazda...

[GusGecko]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfLTTnjT8A

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by GusGecko

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfLTTnjT8A

Oh yeah - another trio of "half cocked Haldex cars" generally not getting stuck...