Hello
We decided to have a week off and head to the Alps to show our Children what Annecy is like in winter as we normally go there in summer...
I had already organised a set of winter tyres for this trip before we left, last time we were in an ML so a RWD estate with 18" 265 rears I wasn't too sure would be best for the job... so 16" alloys with 225 winterconti's were fitted.
Car was packed, and I mean packed ! you can imagine 2 small children and the kit that goes with them, then extra stuff just in case... I had a spare battery, snow chains, shovel, torches, blankets * several, enough food to survive a month!!! you get the picture...
Anyway it seems on the ferry it was a bit of a Merc carpark...
Journey to Annecy was easy, pretty much 80mph all the way and the car was doing 38 mpg which given it was at times -10.5 outside I thought pretty good !!, we also kept seeing the R class's we last saw on the ferry some 400 miles before which was odd.
While in Annecy we did a few trips out and have to say the winter tyres were superb. I never span the wheels once and given even where I park at the house its quite steep and was thick compressed ice it just worked.
This was the road to the house, and does not show how steep it is.
this is outside the house.
It was made more obvious when we went to a ski resort and parked in a large carpark covered in snow / ice compressed and I just parked up no problems, we were getting out stuff out when a nissan quashqi ?? came and tried to park next to use and front wheels just spinning as it tried to get up the slope. He soon gave up and went lower down !!!
The scenery was awesome and snow so thick !!!
The resorts were in full throw and the kids loved watching the skiers
arty shot from inside the car looking through mirror
Annecy itself was lovely and quite different than in summer, we walked down to the front and the scene where we would normally swim !
The roads in general were suberb and clear, athough watching the temperature display up to -12 at times and then on some bends out of the sun... I just took it easy. Again though I felt I made a wise choice with the tyres.
The car did very very well, the rear wash wipe which I sorted after 14 months of owning the car must have popped off again. Not to worry it was so cold none of the jets worked and the headlamp wash jet was frozen stook out at one pont??
On the way home from Dover I cruised back at 70 mph almost all the way back to Cheshire, weather at times was like driving through a river it was raining so much. On the way back I was getting 43 mpg !!! which given the load is pretty good in my book.
I've never seen my car so dirty, I have not got a good picture but it looked like it was crying, salt, dirt, ooozing out of the panel shuts it was a right state !!
Millage now close on 135K and its done this trip (in much nicer weather) many many many times before. Total distance just shy of 2000 miles in a week, average 38.4mpg over this distance.
happy days
We decided to have a week off and head to the Alps to show our Children what Annecy is like in winter as we normally go there in summer...
I had already organised a set of winter tyres for this trip before we left, last time we were in an ML so a RWD estate with 18" 265 rears I wasn't too sure would be best for the job... so 16" alloys with 225 winterconti's were fitted.
Car was packed, and I mean packed ! you can imagine 2 small children and the kit that goes with them, then extra stuff just in case... I had a spare battery, snow chains, shovel, torches, blankets * several, enough food to survive a month!!! you get the picture...
Anyway it seems on the ferry it was a bit of a Merc carpark...
Journey to Annecy was easy, pretty much 80mph all the way and the car was doing 38 mpg which given it was at times -10.5 outside I thought pretty good !!, we also kept seeing the R class's we last saw on the ferry some 400 miles before which was odd.
While in Annecy we did a few trips out and have to say the winter tyres were superb. I never span the wheels once and given even where I park at the house its quite steep and was thick compressed ice it just worked.
This was the road to the house, and does not show how steep it is.
this is outside the house.
It was made more obvious when we went to a ski resort and parked in a large carpark covered in snow / ice compressed and I just parked up no problems, we were getting out stuff out when a nissan quashqi ?? came and tried to park next to use and front wheels just spinning as it tried to get up the slope. He soon gave up and went lower down !!!
The scenery was awesome and snow so thick !!!
The resorts were in full throw and the kids loved watching the skiers
arty shot from inside the car looking through mirror
Annecy itself was lovely and quite different than in summer, we walked down to the front and the scene where we would normally swim !
The roads in general were suberb and clear, athough watching the temperature display up to -12 at times and then on some bends out of the sun... I just took it easy. Again though I felt I made a wise choice with the tyres.
The car did very very well, the rear wash wipe which I sorted after 14 months of owning the car must have popped off again. Not to worry it was so cold none of the jets worked and the headlamp wash jet was frozen stook out at one pont??
On the way home from Dover I cruised back at 70 mph almost all the way back to Cheshire, weather at times was like driving through a river it was raining so much. On the way back I was getting 43 mpg !!! which given the load is pretty good in my book.
I've never seen my car so dirty, I have not got a good picture but it looked like it was crying, salt, dirt, ooozing out of the panel shuts it was a right state !!
Millage now close on 135K and its done this trip (in much nicer weather) many many many times before. Total distance just shy of 2000 miles in a week, average 38.4mpg over this distance.
happy days