Driving In Snow

[lizzie2]

We've had our galaxy one year and in the snow it seems useless compared to our old renault espace which went though slowly without slipping. Otherwise really happy with the car. Is it the car that is useless in snow or is it the tyres. We have the Michelin tyres which came with the car/

[chrispb123456]

Hi and welcome to the forum
Have to agree mine is quite bad in this weather, have to fit snow chains to get on and off our estate as it's quite hilly, had the dunlop 2020 originally now on avons on the front, I would say not a lot to choose between them albeit the avons are wearing out quicker.

[v6mikey]

And yet mine just wafts in and out of our estate, up and down hills with 8 inches of snow without any wheelspin at all.

[chrispb123456]

[quote name='v6mikey' timestamp='1292840152' post='159452']
And yet mine just wafts in and out of our estate, up and down hills with 8 inches of snow without any wheelspin at all.
[/quote]
Hi Mike
Out of interest what tyres you got on yours, as am due for some soon.
Chris

[v6mikey]

Got the Nexen N3000 on at the moment. I would recommend them as well. Not too bad. Although my fuel consumption has got worse since they were put on. This maybe down to the car having the incorrect size of tyre in the first place. Should have 215 55 16 but it had 205 55 16. Worse still they were only rated as 91H tyres.

I am looking at some winter tyres at the moment because its all well and good having plenty of forward traction you still have to be able to stop.

Dont mind swapping them over in March and November.


Oh and don't forget mine is 4 wheel drive! Edited December 20, 2010 by v6mikey

[blackstone]

I fitted Mastersteel winter tyres to mine last week and they have been excellent. We live up a lane that is not gritted and the performance of the car with these tyres has been better than the 4 x 4 that I was driving in the snow in January this year. So saying that car had Pirelli P Zeros fitted that were absolutely useless in anything other than summer conditions.

[trigreenotter]

[quote name='lizzie2' timestamp='1292756216' post='159424']
We've had our galaxy one year and in the snow it seems useless compared to our old renault espace which went though slowly without slipping. Otherwise really happy with the car. Is it the car that is useless in snow or is it the tyres. We have the Michelin tyres which came with the car/
[/quote]
hi
i am pleased that it's not just me!. i thought my girlfriend was just making it up until i tried to drive it this morning.I dont know why it should be so bad though hope someone comes up with an answer. would it be because of the weight being quite light over a long wheel base?

[Mirez]

Weight distribution is probably the second biggest influencing factor, with the first being the tyres.

If you have ESP then its possibly worth turning it off as well, the VW system is stupidly aggressive and both the golf and galaxy suck in this weather when its on - it acts very digitally in that the brake it either on or off for the wheel thats slipping, ie its not smoothly applied. In normal conditions that works quite well but on snow/ice with little traction the wheel just locks, ESP detects that, releases the brake fully and, if you still have your foot on the accelerator, the wheel then gets a surge of speed and hence spins up again. Of course ESP detects that, brakes the wheel, locks it up again and the cycle repeats until you either stall because both front brakes are being applied at the same time or have lost all the momentum and just spin out.

[Sher]

I have no complaints about my 2002 115bhp Tdi Ghia when on snow. I have not needed to fit my snow chains to get to the main road from my house in the 8 years I've had it.
Since 1974 all the other cars I've had needed chains at some time.

(The only car I've had that was better was my 1966 Hillman Imp which was fantastic fun in the snow)

[seatkid]

Performance on Ice/snow is all down to the tyres fitted.

[Dave-G]

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&Cookie=tyrepriceadvisor&F_F=1&details=Ordern&typ=R-185142&ranzahl=4&nichtweiter=1
I fitted a pair of these to steel wheels on the front. It's my first time with winter tyres and I have to say the are a true eye-opener. I shall put the alloys back come march or whenever it warms to consistently above 7 degrees C again as that seems to be the temperature that summer tyres will regain their usefullness - and winter tyres will start wearing out quicker... allegedly. Edited December 24, 2010 by Dave-G

[bingo nightly]

Fed up with getting stuck My V6 Galaxy is I think slightly better than my wifes Renault Scenic, which we have just extracated from the snow yet again.
I'm deffo going to look into winter tyres for next year or buy a Range Rover instead!

[tomba]

I'd love to buy at least 2 ''winter tyres'' on plain old steel rims....anyone know of a supplier of two tyres WITH wheels please? i suppose e-bay is best bet for ''used'' ones but few want to deliver ('collect' only) and I'm up in Edinburgh! At

[kebrina]

[quote name='tomba' timestamp='1293905762' post='159819']
I'd love to buy at least 2 ''winter tyres'' on plain old steel rims....anyone know of a supplier of two tyres WITH wheels please? i suppose e-bay is best bet for ''used'' ones but few want to deliver ('collect' only) and I'm up in Edinburgh! At £126 per plain old winter tyre alone it may be too expensive for 4 but someone did tell me that YOUR INSURANCE POLICY may be affected by changing the specification of tyres (even 'though still 215/55/R16 REINFORCED)??? Anyone else hear of this???
[/quote]


With regard to the insurance side of things, I saw this on WatchDog (BBC) not so long ago. You do have to inform your insurer (though it would never have occurred to me) as it is technically a modification. However, the insurance regulator said it was out of order for individual insurers to increase their premiums because of a safety minded mod. So, if it should raise your premium, the advice was to complain in the first instance and follow the industry procedure for complaining all the way to the top. From what I understand the big names were the worst offenders and should have had their wrists slapped by now. Having said that, my premium has gone up by over £100 (25%) this year and is still the lowest price I can find (despite NO policy alterations/claims/etc), so I imagine they're just putting all premiums up to garner a bit more dosh from defending themselves in this case. However, if they find you driving about in your winter tyres in June, I guess they'd have cause to invalidate the premium entirely.

EDIT: Just another thought, would you be insured at all driving on a combination of tyres? Two winter and two all weather I mean - that might cause problems with insurance. I imagine they'd want an all or nothing situation. Edited January 1, 2011 by kebrina

[seatkid]

[quote name='kebrina' timestamp='1293906482' post='159820']
EDIT: Just another thought, would you be insured at all driving on a combination of tyres? Two winter and two all weather I mean - that might cause problems with insurance. I imagine they'd want an all or nothing situation.
[/quote]

Two winter and two summer tyres are a dangerous combination I would think. Highest grip tyres (i.e winter) should always go on the back axle Edited January 2, 2011 by seatkid

[tomba]

[quote name='seatkid' timestamp='1293930037' post='159828']
[quote name='kebrina' timestamp='1293906482' post='159820']
EDIT: Just another thought, would you be insured at all driving on a combination of tyres? Two winter and two all weather I mean - that might cause problems with insurance. I imagine they'd want an all or nothing situation.
[/quote]

Two winter and two summer tyres are a dangerous combination I would think. Highest grip tyres (i.e winter) should always go on the back axle
[/quote]
Thanks guys. Thought there was something i'd heard. A friend's wife, incidentally, is getting 2 (yes, only 2) winter tyres fitted at the suggestion of her Mercedes Main dealer...they're on order...think i'll get him to check her policy and contact her insurance first now!

[bingo nightly]

Two winter and two summer tyres are a dangerous combination I would think. Highest grip tyres (i.e winter) should always go on the back axle
[/quote]
Thanks guys. Thought there was something i'd heard. A friend's wife, incidentally, is getting 2 (yes, only 2) winter tyres fitted at the suggestion of her Mercedes Main dealer...they're on order...think i'll get him to check her policy and contact her insurance first now!
[/quote]

I would assume her Merc is rear wheel drive and so the 2 winter tyres would go on the rear driving wheels. More grip on the back than the front would not be a problem would it? I have seen vids of winter tyres fitted on the front driven wheels only and in an emergency stop the less grippy back end swings round. With the tyres on the back this would not happen.
Not sure what the law has to say about it though?

[David-is-on-the-road-again]

Hi Lizzie.

I live in Germany and as from November last year it was Law to use WINTER Tyres between November and March.

I know this is NOT the case in the UK, but it makes a Big big difference using Winter tyres (OR M&S tyres Mud and Snow)

The Main Difference is when you BRAKE;

But like anything, they cost money.However a good set of Winter Tyres will last you 3 Winters, so worth it in the Long Run.

Best regards,

David.

[mobile armchair]

Later this month I will be putting my Winter tyres back on until March.
They are Vredestein Quatrac 3.



Downside?