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whats best 4×4 car or winter tires on an ordinary car for bad winter scottish snowy weather
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Hi Martino
ive used Achilles winter tyres for a few years now on both a Vw cc and my current Vw golf gtd and they have been superb and are reasonably priced ?
Winter tyres.
A good set of winter tyres combined with sensible/cautious driving wins over the false sense of security 4×4 gives which Doesn’t stop you skidding (personal experience) of course 4×4 with a good set of winter tyres and sensible/cautious driving would be the optimum combination.
How do you tell if the car tyres are winter tyres
A 4×4 with winter tyres ?
Of course you could always move to the west coast, more rain than snow.
moreton5
when you buy them??
SaintsMan :- sounds nice but i think somewhere warmer like Spain would be better
Winter tyres are the same as summer tyres, stick with a premium brand and you won’t go far wrong.
But don’t forget some 4×4 vehicles are not great in certain situations, it depends on the type of 4wd system used, lockable diff etc. So the choice of vehicle is just as important in really bad conditions.
What vehicle do you have?Winter tyres are the same as summer tyres, stick with a premium brand and you won’t go far wrong
Phil,
I do have to disagree with your statement. There is a huge difference between normal summer and winter tyres. This ranges from the obvious tread pattern differences, to the different temperatures the rubber is designed to operate at, to the actual construction of the tyre. The Michelin ‘Cross Climate’ type tyres are a bit of a hybrid between the two – but do neither summer or winter as good as a decent brand of proper summer and winter tyres.
When one of the leading mags did a ‘back to back’ summer/winter tyres test a few years back, they found that summer tyres start to lose efficiency at or around +8 degrees C, whilst winter tyres come into their own below this temperature and continue to operate down to about -12 degress C.
Living in the wilds of the Dales in winter, summer tyres, even with 4×4 are pretty useless. Infact I would go as far to say that winter tyres on a FWD vehicle are better than having summer tyres and 4×4 in snow and ice conditions, and are better in lower temperatures overall.
As JS says above, the optimum in winter conditions are winter tyres coupled with 4×4.
Dave
I have had winters on a bmw (rear wheel drive) and laughed as I have passed 4×4’s trying to get up thick snow hills as I pass them (the look on their faces is what made it funny). why they are slipping and sliding lol
i asked motability if i can get winter tires on my car last year they said they would not put them on , but if i wanted to put them on at my own expense then thats ok, i was going to put 2 on the front but kwik fit would not just put them on the front they said you need to put 4 on think it was about £900 and i couldn’t afford that , well i suppose i could if i didn’t eat for a few months
How do you tell if the car tyres are winter tyres
Tyres are marked M&S )mud and snow) and usually have a snowflake icon on them
Tyres, a good Mud&snow will usually be narrower in width which allows you to get traction by digging though the mud/snow to the road.
I used to teach off road driving technics and the first thing we used to teach is about tyres and tyre pressure’s.
This is a very good demonstration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfuE00qdhLA
Cars On Motability
2009 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso
2012 Vauxhall Antara
2013 Skoda Superb Estate
2016 Seat Alhambra
2020 Seat Tarraco
2021 Ford Kuga
2024 Nissan X-Trail left in Sep 25Tyre tests in magazines or online are normally sponsored by a certain brand, I use Michelin pilot sport summer tyres and Michelin latitude winter tyres they’ve never let me down.
Even in the Scottish highlands in a foot of snow.Nokian here for last few winters. Our fwd Alhambra sailed past a Range Rover on summer tyres on hill out of town which i think upset him 🙂
Cars On Motability
2009 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso
2012 Vauxhall Antara
2013 Skoda Superb Estate
2016 Seat Alhambra
2020 Seat Tarraco
2021 Ford Kuga
2024 Nissan X-Trail left in Sep 25I had a 2wd Vw touran with winter tyres and I to tow vans cars and 4×4’s out of a snow covered muddy car park one year at a my kids rugby tournament.
They were convicted my touran was 4wd.
I just had the right tyres and knew how to drive in bad conditions.The following year a had an Audi S4 estate and got roped into doing it again, a 15 year old estate car towing brand new BMW X5’s and Mercedes 4×4’s made my day.
i dont know now what to do , think i will just give up driving my kids would loved me
Generally, I would favour winter tyres, unless you absolutely need 4wd all-year round.
Factor in that a 4WD car is more complex (ergo, expensive – bit like automatic gearboxes cost more) and they are also heavier, which along with the way the work, means the use more fuel. So, if you only need 4WD for occasional bad/inclement weather, you are paying a lot extra for little benefit.
Winter tyres you can keep locked away in storage, have them fitted for winter driving and then swap back when the seasons change. As they aren’t used all-year, they will last you a long, long time – and you can also buy snow chains for really bad weather.
I hasten to add that if you do get 4WD, if there is snow/ice, you should still be taking every precaution and that might include winter tyres and/or tyre chains. Don’t assume 4WD on standard tyres and normal driving is okay.
If the weather is really bad, I don’t venture out, even if I think the car can handle it. I only go out for essential journeys. Why? I trust myself, I drive appropriately for the conditions, but it is a risk at the end of the day and I absolutely do not trust every other road user to drive safely or maintain control.
Best of luck whatever you do!
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