Winter Driving

[chan110]

Sorry a bit long-winded or not to the point, so wondering what others are doing abt winter driving....

[Briano]

drive everywhere and car hasn't let me down, slides a bit in deep snow but down to the width of the tyres

225 45 17 on continental sport contact 2 (run flats)

[izzzzythedog]

if it starts ill use it including running a winter in a vert ... snow and the roof down isnt as bad as it sounds

prep is 2 snow footprints in the boot , theses are 2 3 foot long bits of plastic you slot under the wheels to get grip if your in the shit , i also drop tyre pressures down to 20 , everything else is listed under starting

tyres are whatevers fitted , the wider the better , my brilliance of driving knows no boundries or in reaity i aim pint , cross fingers and hope for the best , im no stranger to going out to play with the handbrake

[GreyRacer]

Winter driving for me - Celica in garage and use my RAV4 with Pirelli Scorpions Winter Tyres.

[rpsmith79]

Mine just gets used whatever the weather, i don't have the luxury of a second car

And i just use whatever tyres i have fitted, seems rather expensive buying Winter tyres just for the 2 weeks of the year we have snow bad enough to warrant them

[chan110]

drive everywhere and car hasn't let me down, slides a bit in deep snow but down to the width of the tyres

225 45 17 on continental sport contact 2 (run flats)

That's amazing with those wide tyres - u must be trained on skid-pans etc

if it starts ill use it including running a winter in a vert ... snow and the roof down isnt as bad as it sounds

prep is 2 snow footprints in the boot , theses are 2 3 foot long bits of plastic you slot under the wheels to get grip if your in the shit , i also drop tyre pressures down to 20 , everything else is listed under starting

tyres are whatevers fitted , the wider the better , my brilliance of driving knows no boundries or in reaity i aim pint , cross fingers and hope for the best , im no stranger to going out to play with the handbrake

Hats to u sir for braving in a 'down' hood vert in winter snow!

Nice on on the down pressure - I should do that to mine too - driving hopefully no-snow tomorrow to Bristol from Yorkshire!

I thought the narrower the tyres the better in snow? No?

Winter driving for me - Celica in garage and use my RAV4 with Pirelli Scorpions Winter Tyres.

Yes, me too for now (Gen4 at home, Subaru to commute)

Mine just gets used whatever the weather, i don't have the luxury of a second car

And i just use whatever tyres i have fitted, seems rather expensive buying Winter tyres just for the 2 weeks of the year we have snow bad enough to warrant them

I am lucky so far, as to have a summer car (gen4) and a everyday/winter car (Subaru) - for now, until my Subaru gets sold.

I agree - I still need to justify on winter tyres.

When I am down to one car (just Gen4) - I may have to fork out on winter tyres just to protect my baby vert that little more from accidents

[Alistair_GT]

Get a second set of cheap alloys and use them as winter wheels....put some winter tyres on them, you can even get part worn winter's if the budget won't stretch to new ones. Winter tyres are far far better in snow and cold weather than summer ones plus you won't be so bothered if you have a little slide into a curb as you won't be messing decent alloys up.

[chan110]

Get a second set of cheap alloys and use them as winter wheels....put some winter tyres on them, you can even get part worn winter's if the budget won't stretch to new ones. Winter tyres are far far better in snow and cold weather than summer ones plus you won't be so bothered if you have a little slide into a curb as you won't be messing decent alloys up.

Do we need to TRACK the winter tyres?

Then re-track the normal tyres when we swop again?

After the strong vote of confidence taking the celica's out in all seasons (plus izzy even with the hood down) -

I am incline to take mine out too!

Any Gen4's out there in the snow today?

[Bill T]

Winter driving???

That's soooo last season

[arizona]

For driving in snow yes narrower is better than wider

Goodyear Ultragrip are good , and no need to buy new, plenty of partworns around. Even though we didnt have so much snow this year the performance of the winter ones in the colder weather and ice was great

[chan110]

For driving in snow yes narrower is better than wider

Goodyear Ultragrip are good , and no need to buy new, plenty of partworns around. Even though we didnt have so much snow this year the performance of the winter ones in the colder weather and ice was great

I agree - winter tyres are better for when temp below 7degrees - so snow does not have to be factor....

[Wolfie]

Get a second set of cheap alloys and use them as winter wheels....put some winter tyres on them, you can even get part worn winter's if the budget won't stretch to new ones. Winter tyres are far far better in snow and cold weather than summer ones plus you won't be so bothered if you have a little slide into a curb as you won't be messing decent alloys up.

x2 Total agree.

[chan110]

x2 Total agree.

Hmmm....always thought if I get a set of winter tyres I will put on a set of steel rims coz cheaper.

Never thought about alloys...

Did anyone compare the cost of your winter alloys to steel rims and what was the price difference?

Even more interestingly....did anyone buy a different size winter alloys and different profile winter tyres too?

[Wolfie]

Yeah I normally run 18" 225 x 40 Pirelli Rosso

But they are to wide for my likeing on snow, I go narrower.

Lets face it with the wheels their going to get messed up with salt, grit and kerbing if you can't see it in the snow.

So I buy secondhand cheap wheels and a good set of winter tyres, I like Goodyear best. But that's just me.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Wolfie

[Razorjack]

Haven't tried the cavalier in snow yet, but I did try the Nova once with the XE - that was bad enough so never tried it with the V6. Usually the Celica goes out in the snow.

As for tyres, I normally use my summer tyres (at the moment, 225/40/18 KU31) and just go steady. Keep meaning to put winter tyres on the standard wheels but don't really get poor enough weather to warrant it. I do disable the ABS though and avoid going out on roads with other cars on if possible as people round here can't drive for crap on snow - couple years back I drove round a Corsa whilst it was in process of crashing

[chan110]

Haven't tried the cavalier in snow yet, but I did try the Nova once with the XE - that was bad enough so never tried it with the V6. Usually the Celica goes out in the snow.

As for tyres, I normally use my summer tyres (at the moment, 225/40/18 KU31) and just go steady. Keep meaning to put winter tyres on the standard wheels but don't really get poor enough weather to warrant it. I do disable the ABS though and avoid going out on roads with other cars on if possible as people round here can't drive for crap on snow - couple years back I drove round a Corsa whilst it was in process of crashing

great pics mate - wher is it?

And thks for ABS tip!

[Razorjack]

Near Ham Hill (which is sort of made from ham ).

[chan110]

Near Ham Hill (which is sort of made from ham ).

Really? Why so?

Is it in somerset? Didnt kno snow reached ther yet...

[silver gt]

I've been driving for 35 years and in that time I have never not driven because of the conditions, in whatever car I've had at the time. Seriously, I've never really got what is so scary about winter driving. Snow, ice, sun, rain, every day's weather is different in this country, you just get on with it.

Nowadays I run Goodyear winter tyres from December through to March, and I usually chuck a shovel in the boot, but tbh I've only ever used it to help other people who have got stuck.

[Razorjack]

Really? Why so?

Is it in somerset? Didnt kno snow reached ther yet...

Yeah, Somerset. That pic was from early 2010 though when I had nothing better to do with my time than pootle round in the snow Had some more last winter:

Nothing yet this season though - in fact its wall-to-wall sunshine out there at the mo!