I can recommend Pirelli Sotto Zero tyres, almost embarrassing levels of grip in the snow.

 

I'm pretty sure that Subaru was on on compulsory winter tyres as was the lorry.

 

in my defence i have got one normal tyre so i can go round right had corners with out to much trouble

 

fookin hell, it gets worse

 

i have 3 space savers on mine, does this explain slight understeer??

 

this side of the water mostly we use studed tyres for the winter but friction tyres are also very popular and work very well in fact in slush/wetter snow they tend to be slightly better, have a look out for some nokian hakkpelitta matey they are extremly popular here in sweden/scandinavia, might want to have a look on http://dackonline.com/ as also suggested drop your wheel size down to 15/16s.

 

i think the guy lives in the uk where we get 2 weeks of snow a year, buying 4 new tyres and smaller wheels is possibly overkill,
maybe cheaper to get a taxi everywhere for the 2 snowy weeks,

 

 

Had Nokians last winter on mine. Made a huge difference, one of the only cars on the road going anywhere.

Would definately recommend nokians for UK roads, if we are going to have another (if not worse) winter then last year.

However, you may stop in the snow, but it doesnt prevent other people failing to stop...

 

Classic mini with snow tyres on, cant beat it.
Year before last i was passing 4x4's in mine was amazing to watch their faces, every aspect even braking with the low weight is really good.

Still a little more expensive than four new winter tyre, to keep on topic i can also recomend pirelli sotto zero's very good tyres.

Regards Matt

 

hmmm, not always a bad thing

 

We did this with the summer tyres but would recomend to get the winter or all season ones as the climat is changing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdkDnqFlE4g

 

i found the back kicks out as the 4wd on the new ones anyway is 42F 58 B, so with the diff i move to more frontal wheel drive to keep in control

Brakes same as all other cars ****ley.

As the guys above say get small wheels and snow tyres or if you cannot afford wheels just get snow tyres.

I managed with my normals in the snow we had and out of 9 cars stuck in snow that was halfway to my door handle, IE to my numberplate nearly, after a bit of digging i was the only one to get out

I disabled all traction as this didnt help one bit

 

Agreed!

I found the scoob was very good at moving off, but unless you have the proper tyres, stopping and cornering I found was the same as the fwd Ibiza I had. Infact - a little too much gas going round a corner, and the back would step out, of course I didnt exploit this in the empty car park, or the one way system at work.

 

Listen to anybody from Sweden, Finland etc. who has to cope with proper Winters every year. Our Winter last year was unusual so our tyre requirement is not for snow tyres but for Winter tyres and the difference they make is quite remarkable.

 

@Harvey

Tbh its even different here in sweden what type of tyres people tend to use north its studed tyres mostly and south they tend to prefer friction its all down to the snow conditions you normally get and of course how you drive most importantly just because you've got 4wd dont think you can drive like a dick and get away with it for to long on snow.

Having spent 12 yrs in sweden 5 of which in the north of sweden where we drive on ice roads for 4-5 mnths of the year of course your tyre choice is crucial, now down in the middle of sweden tbh i still use the same type of tyre because i know it works and to what lvl i can push them , as i posted earlier nokian is a very popular make here, you guys arnt allowed studed sadly but there friction tyres are still extremly good in fact thats what i used to use on my people carrier till recently going studed.

i have no idea of prices in the uk surely they would be way less than what i crashed scooby would cost you in time plus extra insurance etc etc, from what i gather england is starting to get its winters back if it was me then i know what id be doing

p.s what ever you do dont ever use the friction tyres all year round the rubber will get over heated with constant warm use and you might as well sling them away for next winter.

 

lol i bought the scooby just for winter,

currently have some 16" wheels sat here ready for paint then for winter tyres, i need to get out and we get bad snow near us, i know its madatory in some countrys but lets face it, our government are so useless when winter gets here im relying on myself rather then them!!

 

I got a set of wheels for £40 and fitted Nokian winter tyres, changed them onto the car in Novemeber.
At first the car was very different to drive, but after a few hundred miles they scrubbed in and were fine, then the snow arrived!
They were excellent, never had any issues either with pulling away or stopping or cornering (obviously driving to the conditions) ABS hardly ever cut in even on icey roads and they were great in wet and also cold dry conditions.

Looking forward to getting them on again this year.

 

Im defo investing in winter tyres and smaller wheels, last year was fun with 350bhp 18's and summer tyres, spent most of it going round in circles lol

 

its the salt this year im not looking forward too, as still not had the ra undersealed, it may just live in the garage and the runaround used though as its mint underneath, hoping to keep it that way lol

 

Ah but this year they should cope much better. Now in all the main 'Highways Agency' depots are at least 3 or 4 fully kitted out multipurpose winter trucks. They sit there throughout spring, summer, autumn, never moving, in order to be fully prepared to move out at a moments noitce.

Just goes to show how well thought out our winter plans are!

 

Ive always wondered, would winter (softer high friction ones) last throughout the British 'summer' If you look at this year, we havent had much in the way of warm summmer days, mostly been overcast and between 16-18oC.

 

I have a set of winter tyres on my Vito van and they are very good, better than the DingDong ditchfinders that were fitted when I bought it late last year.

 

Maybe get another 3 space savers and run on a full set of them! Nice and skinny!

 

just so people know though, if you do fit winter tyres, a quick phone call to the ins is required just to note them that your running them, as most snow/winter tyres are not speed rated for the impreza and could potentially invalidate the ins,

 

Just looked on ebay, and a set of new 225/45 17 nokians for my 03sti are £480!
Anyone found some cheaper alternatives?

dipster

 

i had these on my old impreza last year and they didnt fail once..

they are excellent value for money and will be buying some more in the next few weeks.

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.p...110&sowigan=Wi

 

Big NO NO.
Winter tyres, ie friction are not efficient above 7 or 8C. Run winter tyres in the summer and they will not perform in terms of road holding and will probably self destroy. Life is also less than "summer" tyres.

Best plan is to fit November and remove March but unless we get another winter like the last one, they are probably not worth the investment for most people, unless you live on high ground.

Buy a set in October or expect the price to rise substantiall with the first snow showers.

 

A question for tyre fitters...
If I bought some winters for my car, and changed to winter tyres every Nov and changed back to summers in April say. How many times can you swap tyres without damaging the bead?

dipster

 

As often as you want.
By April, ambient temperatures are usually into the teens.