Driving in icy conditions

[seesixtythree]

Sooo...my daily driver is a C63 with the overnight snow I thought best to leave it at home and borrow my dads x5. Long story short it was absolutely sh!te on an icy bit of road. I appreciate nothing works well on ice but I'm talking about it veering off the road the minute I came off the brake whereas the FWD brigade pointed and laughed at me and drove past. Why are they so bad? Can I just not drive? What am I missing? Should have just taken the c63 couldn't have been much worse

 

[kjb1]

Its all to do with tyres, people fail to really click with this. Winter tyres are key to performance of any vehicle in icy / snow conditions. X5 no doubt would have been totally different animal with correct tyres on.




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[kjb1]

To note, an x5 saved my bacon with a heavily pregnant wife who I collected from work one day 8 miles from home, traffic was at a stand still, I took a country road everyone was staying away from, long story short we were home with no drama on a heavy snow fall / snow filled road. Her workmate on the other hand who had declined a lift from myself in the car park, called us 7 hours later to inform us she had abandoned her car halfway home and had walked the remaining 4 miles!! really upset and angry at fact she hadn't accepted a lift.

I loved that car.


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[Delayed Steve]

Has it got summer tyres fitted? 4x4 on summer tyres aren't much better than a normal car on snow and ice. There's plenty of videos on YouTube showing this .

 

[seesixtythree]

Your right it has summer tyres which worn as well. So I will look to replace, is it really worth winter tyres for the snow we get in Birmingham? I assume even a good set of normal tyres would be better than what I have at the moment?

 

[Dizzy]

You could look at "all season" tyres seesixtythree, though I'm not sure if they're available in the x5 size - perhaps another member may know? Anyone??

 

[daveenty]

Your right it has summer tyres which worn as well. So I will look to replace, is it really worth winter tyres for the snow we get in Birmingham? I assume even a good set of normal tyres would be better than what I have at the moment?

Winter tyres aren't just for snow though, this is a misconception which most don't seem to get. Winter tyres are a different compound with extra sipes and are designed to work in a temperature from 7 degrees C or less.

Been out in my Jeep this morning with Nexen winters fitted. It was -5 up here, yet no drama, just felt normal, even round all the side roads which haven't been gritted.

Wouldn't have risked the Merc in it mind.

 

[190]

Tyres are a compromise. We want them to last 30,000 miles yet still grip in the wet and snow. Hard compounds will last and Softer compound tyres perform better in the winter. We could use soft compounds all year round if we were prepared to have them wear out faster. It's also a market variable. Americans expect their tyre to last longer than we do. Some tyres are sold over there with a tread wear warranty of 90,000 miles. I assume that's because they are made from a hard rubber compound.

The other issue for winter driving is age of the tyres. If you have a low annual mileage vehicle the rubber can get hard before the tread is worn out and the harder they get the slower they wear until it feels like they'll last forever. Tyre like that are hopeless in the winter and even if you don't want proper winter tyres fresh rubber will make a noticeable difference.

 

[kjb1]

To note, an x5 saved my bacon with a heavily pregnant wife who I collected from work one day 8 miles from home, traffic was at a stand still due to a heavy snow fall ( discharged from work early due to weather ), I took a country road that everyone was staying away from due to the huge traffic jam on main road, long story short we were home with no drama on a heavy snow fall / snow filled road. Her workmate on the other hand who had declined a lift from myself in the car park, called us 7 hours later to inform us she had abandoned her car halfway home and had walked the remaining 4 miles!! really upset and angry at fact she hadn't accepted a lift.

I loved that car.


Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

 

[carat 3.6]

Whichever tyres you choose, just drive to the road conditions and you'll be fine.

It's surprising the amount of people that think they are invulnerable because they have winter tyres fitted, they normally think this just before they slide off the road due to excess speed for the conditions.

Winter tyres do help in cold weather, but are not essential.

 

[TKvS]

My tyres are fairly new, about 2500 miles on them, but they're hard compound with very little sidewall, 9J 245 / 35 /20 front and 12J 305/ 30/20 rears....when the snow hit just recently, I took her out for a spin (being the operative word), it was like Bambi on ice, twitchier than Bugs Bunny's nose, needless to say I headed straight home and phoned my order in to Tescos for home delivery....they can afford the insurance !!!

 

[jotter22]

To note, an x5 saved my bacon with a heavily pregnant wife who I collected from work one day 8 miles from home, traffic was at a stand still, I took a country road everyone was staying away from, long story short we were home with no drama on a heavy snow fall / snow filled road. Her workmate on the other hand who had declined a lift from myself in the car park, called us 7 hours later to inform us she had abandoned her car halfway home and had walked the remaining 4 miles!! really upset and angry at fact she hadn't accepted a lift.

I loved that car.

Sent from my iPhone

SPX has a cracker for sale drop him a pm

Tony.

 

[GLK]

I knew, theoretically, FWD would have some advantage, but until recently never had a chance to test it - well, it does Not a huge amount I'd imagine, but enough to feel that little bit more comfortable in current weather.

I think I may even forgive the 50 yrd turning circle now ... nah, that's still pants!

 

[Wayne.clk]

Personally I've never used winter tyres and don't see the need for them either, no winter tyre is ever going to grip on ice or heavy snow. This is my third Mercedes and previous I had a supra twin turbo all with 'summer' tyres fitted and always managed to get to work etc Just drive to the road conditions keep the wheels in motion and have ur whits about u

 

[moonloops]

Personally I've never used winter tyres and don't see the need for them either, no winter tyre is ever going to grip on ice or heavy snow. This is my third Mercedes and previous I had a supra twin turbo all with 'summer' tyres fitted and always managed to get to work etc Just drive to the road conditions keep the wheels in motion and have ur whits about u

Winter tyres work beautifully on snow and ice, my CLK wouldn't get off the driveway without winter tyres when there was ice everywhere. On winters it just drove off normally. That said, I've only ever fitted winters once as they are not really justified unless we have a real bad winter.

 

[MrKenny]

My tyres are fairly new, about 2500 miles on them, but they're hard compound with very little sidewall, 9J 245 / 35 /20 front and 12J 305/ 30/20 rears....when the snow hit just recently, I took her out for a spin (being the operative word), it was like Bambi on ice, twitchier than Bugs Bunny's nose, needless to say I headed straight home and phoned my order in to Tescos for home delivery....they can afford the insurance !!!

The Tesco dotcom fleet use Michelin Alpin tyres (they may have changed since I did some project work for them, though) which are either a winter, or an all season tyre (not sure now). These are changed at between 3-4 mm tread depth, also. Although - couple that with a preselect gearbox, rear wheel drive, and a 3.5 tonne vehicle … I have pictures to make your teeth curl, as to where we took those vans on test during a snowy winter! For those that know Tideswell Moor in Derbyshire, double manned, we found a BMW Z3/Z4 parked on the side of the road once. Trouble is, he was off the road, had crossed a ditch filled with snow, and was sat longitudinally on top of a dry stone wall … the top of the wall was level with the road, with a fairly deep ditch from the road! The road was closed after we came through, and we were followed by the highways team putting on the closure. Local Police weren’t able to do anything as their 4x4 had road tyres on, and they couldn’t risk getting stuck.

As already said, drive sensibly, and be prepared to find clowns like the one in an M5 who found that on very cold wet roads (in Aberdeenshire this time), if tyres look like slicks, they’ll behave like slicks. Two nights ago, I was overtaken on a left hand bend (yep, really!) whilst driving a Mitsi pickup wearing winter tyres and the option of 4 wheel drive, and giggled as he slid gracefully into the off side kerb, and hit it with both wheels (NOT just the tyres, the kerb was high). He survived, his wheels and possibly his underpants didn’t!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Personally I've never used winter tyres and don't see the need for them either, no winter tyre is ever going to grip on ice or heavy snow. This is my third Mercedes and previous I had a supra twin turbo all with 'summer' tyres fitted and always managed to get to work etc Just drive to the road conditions keep the wheels in motion and have ur whits about u

Prepare to have your socks blown off when you see or better still experience (good) winter tyres in action. You won't believe me or anyone else until you do, and then you will become an evangelist. But you won't believe me, yet.

 

[StuartK]

[YOUTUBE]vOv2g5qTpvA[/YOUTUBE]

That's how much difference winter tyres make

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Accelerating from standstill is a visible demonstration of how good they are, but the difference they make when stopping and steering is equally profound, but often overlooked compare to the ability pull away.

 

[jotter22]

[YOUTUBE]vOv2g5qTpvA[/YOUTUBE]

That's how much difference winter tyres make

And LSD!

Tony.