S90 FWD Traction in Ice/Snow

[Haldex]

Tires aside (as everyone said, summer tires in snow- regardless if FWD/RWD/AWD- you won’t get far..), a FWD S90, barge or not, will be better in snow/wet/slush than a RWD Merc.

[Deman77]

Winter tyres 90%, AWD/FWD 5%, driving technique 5%. AWD and FWD will only beat RWD off the line but when it comes to cornering and emergency breaking tyres will be the deciding factor. Get winter tyres.

[airforced]

Originally Posted by Haldex

Tires aside (as everyone said, summer tires in snow- regardless if FWD/RWD/AWD- you won’t get far..), a FWD S90, barge or not, will be better in snow/wet/slush than a RWD Merc.

Just as I thought but no harm in asking the question. I'm now retired so don't need to use the car in the event of poor road or weather conditions. Before retiring I used to do between 25 and 30,000 miles a year in whatever weather conditions were about at the time and all without incident in RWD cars. Going back a few years winter tyres were like hens teeth, if they were available at all, so the question of fitting them never arose. The sensible drivers just adapted their driving techniques accordingly and stayed out of trouble.

It seems that these days many people stick winter tyres on and think that they can drive as per in snow and ice and do it with impunity. Good luck to them but I for one don't want to be around them on the road.

Even with the small improvement FWD will give me I'll stick with my summer tyres (it isn't worth the hassle and expense of doing otherwise) and park the car up as necessary.

Thanks for the imput and comments though.

[MCV60]

Originally Posted by S90

My S90 in the bad snow we had in April was, in a word, SH*TE lol

Get some winter tyres!

Same here for FWD V90 on Michelin Primacy, absolute nightmare even on slush. I’ve now got CrossClimates on, will be interesting to see how they perform when the temps drop.

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by MaDProFF

I came across this video the other day, Sums up pretty well in the real world how good some winter tyres are:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOv2g5qTpvA

Very good video would like to see the bmw on the left move to the right just to prove it’s an even playing field

There isn’t a situation in poor winter conditions where winter tyres won’t help....

That said I had a corsa plan some years ago with cheap M+S tyres and that wasn’t great on snow.....they weren’t proper “snowflake” tyres just cheap ones with m+s on the side which I think any manufacturer can add regardless of the compound and tread pattern performance. Auto express do some good tyre tests...

Last dec my FWD xc60 was awful in the first snow we had... by March I had nokian suv WR3 and it was night and day... next door couldn’t get a qashqai off the drive.....I had no issues getting to the main roads an Audi Q something(4wd but summer tyres) had to put chains on to get to the main road

[apnicolle]

I’ve used Nexen winter tyres for a while, on a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Mark 1 XC90 and currently on a Focus ST and V90CC. They’ve got me everythwhere I have needed to go in snow ranging from slight slush up to “bugger that’s a little deep” up, and more importantly also down all the steep hills around here. I just drive in a gentle manner with a little more anticipation than usual, which helps avoid those that are stuck and all is fine. The difference between summer and winter tyres is so much more noticeable on the Focus, which is known for having slight issues putting any power down on a dry summers day.

[JC888]

Thinking of snow tyres myself but hard to find affordable options for 20" wheels...

[simonjedrake]

Originally Posted by JC888

Thinking of snow tyres myself but hard to find affordable options for 20" wheels...

Try these Nokian WR 4 255/35 20" at £188/corner delivered.
https://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk...0-97-w-xl.html

[HDAV]

Not sure if suitable for your car but seem a good price https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rs...ber&Country=UK

[Crockers]

If you only use your car occasionally then consider popping a set of snowsocks in the boot. Better still two pairs. At around £50'a pair not a bad alternative.