Driving C45 to the alps…. advice needed please

[Clawhamer]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm going to La Rosière, France.

The rules appear to have changed a couple of times since 2021 and will change again in the future. Winter tyres or snow chains are compulsory during winter (1st Nov to 31st Mar). From 1st Nov 24 you will need tyres with the Alpine or M+S marking. If tyres are the M+S marking then you need to have snow chains. This rules affects certain 'departments' in France. The roads will have signage to let you know that you're entering/exiting a zone where these rules apply. There is also the blue snow chain sign that tells you snow chains are required if there is snow on the roads but I believe these apply all year.

Anyway, this is the cause for confusion. They've made so many changes and keep moving dates so it's note as straight forward as it used to be. Information that's out there is quickly out of date.

I know it would be easier to just take my wife's car and I should probably so this. It's an Evoque so more than capable in snow and has tyres marked M+S and we already have the snow chains for it. I just prefer the comfort of my own car and wife prefers hers but the hassle, uncertainty and added cost outweighs our preferred choice.

 

[Skd884]

c45?

 

[fabes]

You have the solution ; take the Evoque.

Adequate car for a single return trip, better on fuel, potentially a better 4WD system (hill decent etc?) certainly with M&S tyres on, chains if necessary and should either you, some other unlucky soul or a tree decide to have a collision with you, its only an Evoque and not a hard to replace C43!.
It has roof rails for the ski cross bars as well

Job Jobbed!

Have a great trip !

 

[SpikyMikey]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm going to La Rosière, France.

The rules appear to have changed a couple of times since 2021 and will change again in the future. Winter tyres or snow chains are compulsory during winter (1st Nov to 31st Mar). From 1st Nov 24 you will need tyres with the Alpine or M+S marking. If tyres are the M+S marking then you need to have snow chains. This rules affects certain 'departments' in France. The roads will have signage to let you know that you're entering/exiting a zone where these rules apply. There is also the blue snow chain sign that tells you snow chains are required if there is snow on the roads but I believe these apply all year.

Anyway, this is the cause for confusion. They've made so many changes and keep moving dates so it's note as straight forward as it used to be. Information that's out there is quickly out of date.

I know it would be easier to just take my wife's car and I should probably so this. It's an Evoque so more than capable in snow and has tyres marked M+S and we already have the snow chains for it. I just prefer the comfort of my own car and wife prefers hers but the hassle, uncertainty and added cost outweighs our preferred choice.

Here you go, this may help ( or cloud the issue even further ) Useful area map if you scroll down the page
France TYRE law- DO YOU Need Winter tyres in France?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

You have the solution ; take the Evoque.
Have a great trip !

+1

Snow chains are a pain in the harris but if you have them and are prepared to fit them, use them and avoid the faff of doing anything else
Again: the law is the minimum, but really it's about making sure that you don't slide off the road on a tight corner, or into another motor.

 

[tonysmb]

The latest rules I've seen state winter tyres OR snow chains or socks, and that was from Nov '21 but I accept it might have changed since.

I don't know whether you've driven a similar trip before or not but, based on what you've said, I'd take the Evoque with its winter tyres. Putting snow chains on can be a real pain, especially as doing it for real when you need them is not quite the same as doing it at home in the garage. For me, the worst thing is when the conditions are poor but might not justify chains, hence winter tyres.

From my experience they do police it but, irrespective of that, you really don't want to be on mountain passes in winter in a car without the proper tyres, IMHO. In addition, you might feel more 'relaxed' with winter tyres, particularly as you know enough about it to have considered them in the first place.

The weather there can change very quickly, catching you out; you might be lucky, you might not - having said that, it will probably be clear, dry, blue sky and warm

 

[sgregory124]

The latest rules I've seen state winter tyres OR snow chains or socks, and that was from Nov '21 but I accept it might have changed since.

I don't know whether you've driven a similar trip before or not but, based on what you've said, I'd take the Evoque with its winter tyres. Putting snow chains on can be a real pain, especially as doing it for real when you need them is not quite the same as doing it at home in the garage. For me, the worst thing is when the conditions are poor but might not justify chains, hence winter tyres.

From my experience they do police it but, irrespective of that, you really don't want to be on mountain passes in winter in a car without the proper tyres, IMHO. In addition, you might feel more 'relaxed' with winter tyres, particularly as you know enough about it to have considered them in the first place.

The weather there can change very quickly, catching you out; you might be lucky, you might not - having said that, it will probably be clear, dry, blue sky and warm

Chains aren't that difficult, particularly if you buy/rent a set which doesn't need to go behind the wheels. I've used both traditional and those I mention and neither was particular difficult to put on or remove - provided you practice before a trip. The socks are useless and don't cut any ice (no pun intended) with the French police, i.e its chains or you're going nowhere.

(For context i've used chains on a Audi A5 and A6 with 19 and 20-inch rims respectively).

 

[Stratman]

La Rosiere is nice although it can be rather windy. The trip across to La Thuile in Italy is literally a bit of a drag but you do get a stunning view of Mont Blanc. If it's open the Fontaine Froid piste is very pretty and worth doing a few times, but it's at the mercy of the snow coverage as it drops quite low.

Have a great time.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Regardless of the legality, if I was planning to an area which I know will be cold, icy and snow covered - and requires snow chains - then I really wouldn’t want to be driving a car with high performance tyres.

I’m sure better drivers than me can pull it off, but it’s not a risk that I would personally take as it requires a generous helping of luck. As suggested, the Evoque with M&S tyres sounds like the better choice if buying the right tyres is not an option.

Lightly used premium winter tyres (like the Pirelli Sottozero tyres which someone provided a link to) would be my preference over the budget winter tyres with questionable reviews.

The Pirelli tyres will be worth as much when you get back, so it may not cost you anything as there will be a secondhand market for them. The budget tyres won’t be worth anything.

 

[Clawhamer]

c45?

Yep

 

[Clawhamer]

You have the solution ; take the Evoque.

Adequate car for a single return trip, better on fuel, potentially a better 4WD system (hill decent etc?) certainly with M&S tyres on, chains if necessary and should either you, some other unlucky soul or a tree decide to have a collision with you, its only an Evoque and not a hard to replace C43!.
It has roof rails for the ski cross bars as well

Job Jobbed!

Have a great trip !

Yeah, the Evoque has all the bells and whistles and is an extremely capable machine. I know they have bad press but we’ve had it from new since 2015 and it’s not missed a beat…. of course, now I’ve said that, it’ll have some kind of major malfunction that’ll affect this trip

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Yep

I had assumed it was a typo and you owned C 43, C 450 or CLA 45 …intrigued now!

 

[Clawhamer]

Here you go, this may help ( or cloud the issue even further ) Useful area map if you scroll down the page
France TYRE law- DO YOU Need Winter tyres in France?

Bizarrely it was her YouTube video that I watch at lunchtime that made me believe I don’t need winter tyres if I have snow chains.

 

[Clawhamer]

+1

Snow chains are a pain in the harris but if you have them and are prepared to fit them, use them and avoid the faff of doing anything else
Again: the law is the minimum, but really it's about making sure that you don't slide off the road on a tight corner, or into another motor.

Yeah, agreed. I think it just took a while to realise taking the sturdy old Evoque is the safest option. Would love to have taken the C43 though.

 

[Clawhamer]

The latest rules I've seen state winter tyres OR snow chains or socks, and that was from Nov '21 but I accept it might have changed since.

I don't know whether you've driven a similar trip before or not but, based on what you've said, I'd take the Evoque with its winter tyres. Putting snow chains on can be a real pain, especially as doing it for real when you need them is not quite the same as doing it at home in the garage. For me, the worst thing is when the conditions are poor but might not justify chains, hence winter tyres.

From my experience they do police it but, irrespective of that, you really don't want to be on mountain passes in winter in a car without the proper tyres, IMHO. In addition, you might feel more 'relaxed' with winter tyres, particularly as you know enough about it to have considered them in the first place.

The weather there can change very quickly, catching you out; you might be lucky, you might not - having said that, it will probably be clear, dry, blue sky and warm

Yeah, the roads will be bone dry and the sun will be shining…. if I take the Evoque. If I take the C43 there will be the heaviest snowfall for March on record. The law of sod

 

[Clawhamer]

Chains aren't that difficult, particularly if you buy/rent a set which doesn't need to go behind the wheels. I've used both traditional and those I mention and neither was particular difficult to put on or remove - provided you practice before a trip. The socks are useless and don't cut any ice (no pun intended) with the French police, i.e its chains or you're going nowhere.

(For context i've used chains on a Audi A5 and A6 with 19 and 20-inch rims respectively).

We have the Thule snow chains for the Evoque. ‘Normal’ snow chains won’t fit on the Evoque as it’s on 19” wheels so not enough space between tyre and well. I’ve tested them out here but that was a few years ago. I’ve never needed the though as the French keep the roads clear so I guess it’s for those times when it just dumps it down overnight and it takes them a few days to get the roads cleared again. Probably more likely to happen early on in the season.

 

[Clawhamer]

La Rosiere is nice although it can be rather windy. The trip across to La Thuile in Italy is literally a bit of a drag but you do get a stunning view of Mont Blanc. If it's open the Fontaine Froid piste is very pretty and worth doing a few times, but it's at the mercy of the snow coverage as it drops quite low.

Have a great time.

My friend booked this trip. It was all kind of a rush. Told me it was Val d’isere which is a great resort so I jumped at the chance. Then he realised it was 30 km away from Val d’isere

I read up and it says it’s more beginner to intermediate which doesn’t make much sense to me as it’s mostly red runs. Anyway, it’ll be the first non-working holiday I’ve had since COVID and the hotel appears high end so I’ll take it.

Not keen on the drag lifts though… snowboarders nightmare

 

[sgregory124]

My friend booked this trip. It was all kind of a rush. Told me it was Val d’isere which is a great resort so I jumped at the chance. Then he realised it was 30 km away from Val d’isere

I read up and it says it’s more beginner to intermediate which doesn’t make much sense to me as it’s mostly red runs. Anyway, it’ll be the first non-working holiday I’ve had since COVID and the hotel appears high end so I’ll take it.

Not keen on the drag lifts though… snowboarders nightmare

What’s the resort called? 30km’s from Val D’Isere is like Tignes, Les Arcs or somewhere like that? Just being nosey as I’m a skier myself

 

[Clawhamer]

Regardless of the legality, if I was planning to an area which I know will be cold, icy and snow covered - and requires snow chains - then I really wouldn’t want to be driving a car with high performance tyres.

I’m sure better drivers than me can pull it off, but it’s not a risk that I would personally take as it requires a generous helping of luck. As suggested, the Evoque with M&S tyres sounds like the better choice if buying the right tyres is not an option.

Lightly used premium winter tyres (like the Pirelli Sottozero tyres which someone provided a link to) would be my preference over the budget winter tyres with questionable reviews.

The Pirelli tyres will be worth as much when you get back, so it may not cost you anything as there will be a secondhand market for them. The budget tyres won’t be worth anything.

Don’t think I have the skill to drive on summer tyres in the snow/ice especially when I’ll be tired from 16 hours driving. My friend is sharing the driving so he’s not even familiar with the car. With just over a week to go it’ll be tough to get tyres and fit them etc as I’m working, etc too.

 

[sgregory124]

We have the Thule snow chains for the Evoque. ‘Normal’ snow chains won’t fit on the Evoque as it’s on 19” wheels so not enough space between tyre and well. I’ve tested them out here but that was a few years ago. I’ve never needed the though as the French keep the roads clear so I guess it’s for those times when it just dumps it down overnight and it takes them a few days to get the roads cleared again. Probably more likely to happen early on in the season.

I had Koenig K44 Summits for the A6, very slim, nothing down the back of the wheel and attached directly to a wheel bolt. That was on 20’s.