I've actually got myself organised and just bought a set a snow socks in preperation for the winter. They seem to have got rave reviews during the bad weather at the start of the year, but quickly went out of stock when the snow came (and doubled in price).
Time will tell if they match up to expectations, but I simply can't justify a set of wheels with winter tyres, 'just in case'. Fifty quid doesn't seem a bad investment, even if they ultimately fall apart. The ones I bought are made (or were-patent issues seem to be in play) by Goodyear, so I'm hoping they will be reasonable quality.
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are we expecting or forecasted another tough winter?
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...are we expecting or forecasted another tough winter?...
Probably will be on here. :)
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Has some friends from Broken Hill NSW over for the week. I had great fun telling them how bad it was last winter. They could not concieve it being so cold and wintery that car doors were frozen shut.
He did say however that his mate had a garage sale, and sold a rain guage that was three years old, never been used he said.
So keeping it on link, I have some silicon spary for the door seals.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 19 Sep 10 at 15:11
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No-one expected the last one, even the south ground to a halt.
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I thought that was what floor mats were for.
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Just out of curiousity mlc, do police cars get fitted with winter tyres in the bad weather ? I know your sock post was referring to your private car but it just triggered a musing really.
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You can often see the snow chains hanging under fire engines. (When not in use, Z.)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 19 Sep 10 at 15:15
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Baden-Powell would have approved.
Seeing how quickly winter tyres sold out and the price of snow socks went up i don't blame you.
Winter tyres and wheels are great if you envisage 5+ years from a car, though a used set of alloys from fleabay does help with costs.
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...Fifty quid doesn't seem a bad investment...
It's nowt even if the socks only keep you mobile on one day.
It's even less than nowt if the extra grip saves you a bump, even a minor one.
It's also very wise given that many people seem to find the large German executive cars are useless bordering on dangerous on snow.
(Assuming the socks are for your A5 and it's not front wheel drive.)
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Humph- we don't fit winter tyres (which led to some interesting moments in our BMWs) There are only a few Volvos lingering now and we're pretty much all RWD now. We go through a set of tyres every 7-8 weeks and all the ones we use go through numerous type approval processes before we can use them. I dread to think how long it take to go through all the bureaucratic nonsense in order to get the winter stuff.
(Iffy- they were for the A5 and it is FWD)
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Last winter in the worst of the snow one of our Police BMW's failed miserably on an average hill. I managed to get an Astra over it, but despite my smug feedback to the BMW driver it's not something i'd have wished to repeat, because when I say I just made it, it was by a gnat's wotsit...and despite not being my car, the resulting shunts would have been a good one.
They really did need winter tyres...but...only for 2 days then and maybe 2 days in the late 80's, so 4 days in 25 years. Not worth it, is it.
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>> They really did need winter tyres...but...only for 2 days then and maybe 2 days in
>> the late 80's, so 4 days in 25 years. Not worth it, is it.
>>
I'd have thought that police cars would benefit over the whole of winter by having winter tyres, they are for all cold weather use not just snow and are available in virtually all speed ratings.
Would have no cost penalty so a win only situation, MLC says a set every couple of months so put a set on in late Nov or Dec and they'll probably last just right.
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That makes commonsense GB. If there is one thing the Police do struggle with at times is commonsense. Not unlike other government agencies I'm sure.
Late 80s we were running Grandads and some winter rubber was sourced, to replace the TRXs, which allowed us to go out quadruple crewed with shovels and try and keep things moving as best we could.
Never got winter rubber again.
I was embarrassed one day after a flurry when my Volvo Estate shod with Michelin Pilot Sports struggled to climb a slight incline and just slid from side to side. I did eventually get to the top but with an excess of wheel spinning and swearing.
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I'm on 'snowflake' marked tyres now. All I need is some decent snow to try them out on!
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The solution for the Police (and others) is to use winter tyres all year round. Our VW Transporter came fitted with them from the factory. They work the same as normal tyres in the summer, and then work just as well in the snow.
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>>We go through a set of tyres every 7-8 weeks
Wow. Really?!
I know my 520d is a tiny bit down on power than the 3.0d in the police 5 series tourings, but I am still on the original fronts on mine at 65,000 miles and the rears lasted over 60,000 miles.
My previous car was a Volvo S60 D5 (163) and I only got 10k from the fronts and 20k at best on the rears before I needed new ones.
I suppose my right foot gets used in anger rarely (autobahns only I hasten to add!), but with the traction control system how are you getting through the tires so fast?
Also, out of curiousity, how are they for reliability (the car that is)?
Mine has had all sorts of glitches and is on it's second self leveling suspension set-up (a common problem I am told).
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...or preferably snowflake-marked all-season tyres. There are plenty of tyres around these days that are suitable for year-round use. The problem with using pure winter tyres all year is two fold - one, they are usually a softer compound and wear quicker (imagine the tyre change frequency if it's 8 weeks now!), and two, the grip is optimised for temperatures below around 7 degrees meaning that there could be problems in the summer months. Quite how the all-season tyres get round this I don't know but I guess there is some sort of compromise.
Edit note: this post seems to have attached itself to the wrong post! It was referring back to the use of winter tyres all year round!
Last edited by: Mike H on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 10:37
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>> Edit note: this post seems to have attached itself to the wrong post!
Looking at the thread in threaded view, it's attached to the correct post. Also hovering my mouse over the arrow at the start of the subject header of your post confirms it too.
That's of course if you're referring to Boxterboy's post written on Mon 20 Sep 10 12:02 ?
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>> We go through a set of tyres every 7-8 weeks .............
Wow! Who is we? Presumably you're not a normal family.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Wed 22 Sep 10 at 07:06
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>> (Assuming the socks are for your A5 and it's not front wheel drive.)
The only Audi's that are not front wheel drive will be all wheel drive.
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Our 5 series have been very reliable so far. Far, far better than the useless Volvos. The only real issue we have is the run flat tyres. They are so stiff that we have 'issues' over 120mph. We did get some softer Dunlops which solved the problem, but they wore out after 4000 miles (which is 7-8 days of normal use) so they were ditched pretty rapidly.
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Interesting. I have a Friday afternoon special then! Argh!
Still amazed at how you can get through the tyres so fast. Apart from chasing after a few dodgy people I cannot see how 4,000 miles would eat through them. Unless you replace whilst the tread still has more than 2mm on them?
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>> Our 5 series have been very reliable so far. Far, far better than the useless Volvos. The only real issue
>> we have is the run flat tyres. They are so stiff that we have 'issues' over 120mph. We did get some softer
>> Dunlops which solved the problem, but they wore out after 4000 miles (which is 7-8 days of normal
>> use) so they were ditched pretty rapidly.
I regularly drive my 530d at over 120mph and have never had "issues" with the run-flats. Of the 60,000km I've covered, around 40,000km have been on the run-flats (the winter tyres are not run-flat) and I reckon they'll be good for another 20,000km or so. What the hell do you guys do to the tyres?
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A steady 120mph is a far cry from accelerating like mad to 120+mph, slowing full on the brakes, rinse+repeat.
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>> A steady 120mph is a far cry from accelerating like mad to 120+mph, slowing full on the brakes, rinse+repeat.
...and you do that a lot? I'm curious as I actually rarely use my brakes when driving at 120mph+.
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Yes but you are rarely chasing someone through heavy British motorway traffic, are you.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 14:12
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>> Yes but you are rarely chasing someone through heavy British motorway traffic, are you.
>>
I think the road surface has a lot to do with it. SFD above says he only got 10k out of his fronts, I have the same car and still have the same tyres on after 24k miles with 3mm left and like Bagpuss regularly do speeds that would have me behind bars in the UK.
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>> Yes but you are rarely chasing someone through heavy British motorway traffic, are you.
Well, it's been a while since I was in the UK, but last time the motorways weren't full of police cars being driven in a lunatic fashion through heavy traffic.
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No true, BUT as we were referring to a police car, that's doing 500 miles per day, there is a fair chance he is one of few who's job it is to be a lunatic, don't you think?
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 15:01
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Don't think it's anyone's job to be a lunatic on the roads. I would hope the police drive in the same smooth, careful way, using lots of anticipation like I learned during my high speed driving courses. 4,000 miles life out of a set of tyres is crazy though. I managed it once, it was my MR2 when the tracking of the rear wheels was out.
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Well you will have to ask the guys how they do it, but i supsect the scenarios they drive in is nothing like yours, or mine.
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...i supsect the scenarios they drive in is nothing like yours, or mine...
Big, heavy cop car loaded with lots of equipment, not to mention a couple of well-fed constables.
On t'other hand, much of the driving must be trundling along the motorway at legal speeds with little in the way of braking or cornering forces.
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I was thinking more of screaching to a halt at Krispy Kreeme donuts drive through.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 26 Sep 10 at 17:56
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...Krispy Kreeme donuts drive through...
One of the motorway service areas near me does a custard-filled donut covered in chocolate.
Dunno if coppers like them, but I do.
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>> Our 5 series have been very reliable so far. Far, far better than the useless
>> Volvos. The only real issue we have is the run flat tyres.
What's the problem with the Volvo's? And out of interest, are the run flats on BMW's affected by stingers?
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Organised for once-snow socks - Zero
