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Hi all,

Had my GS for about 3 months and covered about 8000 faultless miles. I have to say even driving to Scotland and back in a day for a meeting was not a problem. Luxury and comfort and wafting every where i go.

I have had a few cars, and this one was brought with big miles in mind, and seems perfect. I just have a small concern about driving in the snow and ice with rear wheel drive and a heavy car.

Has anyone any thoughts / advice.

I was concidering getting some snow chains. Has anyone else tried them?

Any feedback would be good, just so i know if i have to pinch the wifes X3 when the snow comes.

Cheers PGLEX

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Hi all,

Had my GS for about 3 months and covered about 8000 faultless miles. I have to say even driving to Scotland and back in a day for a meeting was not a problem. Luxury and comfort and wafting every where i go.

I have had a few cars, and this one was brought with big miles in mind, and seems perfect. I just have a small concern about driving in the snow and ice with rear wheel drive and a heavy car.

Has anyone any thoughts / advice.

I was concidering getting some snow chains. Has anyone else tried them?

Any feedback would be good, just so i know if i have to pinch the wifes X3 when the snow comes.

Cheers PGLEX

HI, I haven ever used snow chains to much trouble putting them on ? I have had all big heavy cars rear drive apart from the sabb, and have my gs300 for 3 years now and as long as you keep your revs down and your traction conrol off and use low gear where needed you will get where your going, if your in dout put a couple of bags of sand in boot , I have no problem just drive slower over reving just dont get you anywhere .

happy driving

Don

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Hi all,

Had my GS for about 3 months and covered about 8000 faultless miles. I have to say even driving to Scotland and back in a day for a meeting was not a problem. Luxury and comfort and wafting every where i go.

I have had a few cars, and this one was brought with big miles in mind, and seems perfect. I just have a small concern about driving in the snow and ice with rear wheel drive and a heavy car.

Has anyone any thoughts / advice.

I was concidering getting some snow chains. Has anyone else tried them?

Any feedback would be good, just so i know if i have to pinch the wifes X3 when the snow comes.

Cheers PGLEX

Hi,

I have an LS400 (a bit heavier than the GS300, I suspect) with traction control and snow mode! They were both useless last year, in London, on the flat, but then I was running the wrong kind of tyres - summer ones (Pirellis at that). I have already put on the snow tyres for this year - will see how that works out, but the car is now more sure-footed in the wet. Alternative to snow chains are so called "socks" (here is a link, but there are several companies just google it. www.snowchains.co.uk/main/weisssock.htm ) - they are supposed to be easier to fit - can't say because I have not used them. They were all sold out last year.

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Traction control isn't much help in snow because there is so little traction that effectively it stops the car moving at all - by preventing wheelspin completely, you end up getting nowhere at all.

Last winter, and for the first time, I bought some winter tyres for my (now ex-) GS430. It completely transformed it from utterly useless, to 'bearable' in the snow. Brakes, steering and throttle all worked more or less as expected, though obviously you still need plenty of care! I bought some 'GT Radial Champiro WT AX' from www.mytyres.co.uk - I'm sure there are better winter tyres, but they were cheap and the difference between them and the Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tyres I have was absolutely unbelievable...

So in a nutshell, buy winter tyres! Snow socks and chains are all very well but you *must not* run them on tarmac (especially chains), so with the sort of weather we get in the UK, where you get patches of snowy roads and then snowploughed tarmac, you end up getting in and out the car every 5 minutes to remove them, else the chains or socks will get work out after a week! Whereas the winter tyres work just like ordinary tyres on tarmac and you don't have to worry about them again until March!

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Traction control isn't much help in snow because there is so little traction that effectively it stops the car moving at all - by preventing wheelspin completely, you end up getting nowhere at all.

Ah, I see. Should the traction control work in reverse, as I atempted to reverse on some really soggy grass on a holiday site this year, but it just kept spinning up?

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Traction control isn't much help in snow because there is so little traction that effectively it stops the car moving at all - by preventing wheelspin completely, you end up getting nowhere at all.

Ah, I see. Should the traction control work in reverse, as I atempted to reverse on some really soggy grass on a holiday site this year, but it just kept spinning up?

Well we had quite a bit of snow last year in Telford, I had no problem driving even passing cars that was stuck in snow but I did have new tyres on a fews months earlier ( Toyo T1R) and they have been brill I cant fault them, at the end of the day it all upto the driver, I used my switches accorded to road conditions and using gears also and only problem I had was reversing on to my drive which is a slight incline, IT all depends on weather condtion and road condition at the time and the idiot in front of you.

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has any one used the snow socks or know any one that has ?

if so are they any good ?

i have spent the past few hours looking on youtube at them and they seem to work

but can only find videos of the companys that are selling them

there are a few reviews online about them but again they are big companys selling them,

dont want to go spending £60 odd on them and they are rubbish

but at the same time i have'nt had a rwd car in the snow only fwd and 4wd

and i dont want to end up putting my much loved is300 into a kerb or the back of sum one eles !!!

thanks.

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has any one used the snow socks or know any one that has ?

if so are they any good ?

i have spent the past few hours looking on youtube at them and they seem to work

but can only find videos of the companys that are selling them

there are a few reviews online about them but again they are big companys selling them,

dont want to go spending £60 odd on them and they are rubbish

but at the same time i have'nt had a rwd car in the snow only fwd and 4wd

and i dont want to end up putting my much loved is300 into a kerb or the back of sum one eles !!!

thanks.

My understanding is that they work quite well - in the ice and snow. Where they aren't so great is the snow/tarmac/snow/tarmac/snow/tarmac sequence of surfaces that characterise a typical British journey after a couple of days of winter weather. That's because the socks wear out very quickly on tarmac - meaning that although they might be OK for a trip to work, they will be worn out after two or three days unless you keep stopping to put them on and take them off!

They would be good to keep in the boot though!

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ok thanks mike,

we are due sum snow later this week down in the southeast,

hope it will give me any idea on how the car will handle will go from there,

if i do end up getting them and using them will post how good/bad they are

safe driving to everyone if we do get the snow !!!!!!

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i had a frontera for the snow last year - went everywhere i wanted , one road i got to was sheet ice and cars crashed in a pile , i helped drag everyone out after digging the ice down to tarmac so i had grip then rather then take a chance i decided not to go that route as didnt want to dig the whole road,,, just as im turning round a couple pulled up in a clio,, popped a set of socks on and went to go up the sheet ice road,, i said you wont make it mate look at all these cars that slid down and crashed ,,, the driver said no worries mate im used to this from the ski slopes and promptly drove straight up the impassable road !! snow socks defo work on sheet ice

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has any one used the snow socks or know any one that has ?

if so are they any good ?

i have spent the past few hours looking on youtube at them and they seem to work

but can only find videos of the companys that are selling them

there are a few reviews online about them but again they are big companys selling them,

dont want to go spending £60 odd on them and they are rubbish

but at the same time i have'nt had a rwd car in the snow only fwd and 4wd

and i dont want to end up putting my much loved is300 into a kerb or the back of sum one eles !!!

thanks.

This is the place to buy them, http://www.roofbox.co.uk/car-snow-socks/ASsize.php

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has any one used the snow socks or know any one that has ?

if so are they any good ?

i have spent the past few hours looking on youtube at them and they seem to work

but can only find videos of the companys that are selling them

there are a few reviews online about them but again they are big companys selling them,

dont want to go spending £60 odd on them and they are rubbish

but at the same time i have'nt had a rwd car in the snow only fwd and 4wd

and i dont want to end up putting my much loved is300 into a kerb or the back of sum one eles !!!

thanks.

This is the place to buy them, http://www.roofbox.co.uk/car-snow-socks/ASsize.php

Alternatively Goodyear Snow Socks can be bought through fleabay [item Number: 380261006680] or directly from the Company [Credit Card sales on 0208 441 1436] and they are only £49.99 with free postage :)

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Alternatively Goodyear Snow Socks can be bought through fleabay [item Number: 380261006680] or directly from the Company [Credit Card sales on 0208 441 1436] and they are only £49.99 with free postage :)

thanks best price i could find for goodyear was £65 :lol:

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I tend to leave the car at home if it snows but going to get a pair of snow socks just in case I get caught out by a sudden snow shower like last year :hehe:

Don't care if they get worn out, as long as they get me home :)

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i bought my lex the night the snow came down bad here- 4th jan last year-knew id have to park it up 4 a while and had a 4x4 as well so that was ok but the snow stayed for ages and i was dying to drive the lexus so when i thought there was enough tarmac showing i took it out ,,,,, briefly,, by the end of my road i knew it was less then pleasant to drive in the snow,, i think all the tc,abs everything was kicking in and doing its stuff but it made it feel even more horrible as i felt a bit removed from feeling the road if you see what i mean ,,, needless to say i turned straight round and used the 4x4 until the thaw - as parthibian says i think socks would be a good thing to have in the boot even if it is just to get you home in an emergency

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has any one used the snow socks or know any one that has ?

if so are they any good ?

i have spent the past few hours looking on youtube at them and they seem to work

but can only find videos of the companys that are selling them

there are a few reviews online about them but again they are big companys selling them,

dont want to go spending £60 odd on them and they are rubbish

but at the same time i have'nt had a rwd car in the snow only fwd and 4wd

and i dont want to end up putting my much loved is300 into a kerb or the back of sum one eles !!!

thanks.

This is the place to buy them, http://www.roofbox.co.uk/car-snow-socks/ASsize.php

Alternatively Goodyear Snow Socks can be bought through fleabay [item Number: 380261006680] or directly from the Company [Credit Card sales on 0208 441 1436 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              0208 441 1436      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              0208 441 1436      end_of_the_skype_highlighting] and they are only £49.99 with free postage :)

I understand that Goodyear contravened the patent on Autosocks and thats the reason they no longer make them, although they are on eBay they are discontinued stock.

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With a GS: turn on Snow mode and turn off Traction Control (keeps revs down and allows wheels to spin).

Be (VERY) gentle on the throttle.

Get winter tyres (or, at the very least, new tyres - I need some so will be doing that).

Snow socks work (and they are relatively easy to get on and off). A pair for the rears is the minimum but front as well if you want to be able to steer. They wear out quite quickly on tarmac though.

DON'T do what all of the people down here in Reading (in their rear wheel drive BMWs, Jags and Mercs) did - i.e. drive like plonkers. I took 3 hours to drive 2 1/2 miles because no-one knew how to drive on snow. You would not believe the stuff I saw (well - you might).

My GS 430 (new shape - 05 plate) got me to within 5 feet of my normal parking spot (before becoming beached in a foot and a bit of fresh snow in the car park in front of the house), driving down roads where other people had got very stuck. It just takes a gentle touch and the knowledge that you have to anticipate much further ahead, keep moving where possible (wheels turning = good, stopped = bad), don't brake or accelerate or turn suddenly. Generally use common sense.

A few tips here:

BBC snow tips

2pass tips

AA snow tips

Hope that helps,

Mark C

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Annoyingly, doesn't look like either make a snow sock to fit the 275/35/18 rears of the Sport cry1.gif

I tried to find that size when I had my 300 Sport but unable to get any. Am considering getting for my 430 but realistically they are best fitted front and rear, not just rears. Having driven the 300 Sport for 6 years and 430 2.5 yrs without socks/chains I am still not certain that I need them as I have had no problem in snow/ice other than other drivers who need some winter driving lessons.

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I had new summer tyres fitted recently. I should get a spare set of winter wheels as the GS is awful in the snow, absolutely useless. Today my GS would not go up a snowy slightly icy hill, snow mode on, trc on and off, I just sat there teasing the throttle, nothing, just wheel spin. I reversed down the hill and managed to find a 'better' road to go up.

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If anyone's interested, I'm selling my winter tyres on eBay at the moment. I bought them last year and they made an amazing difference in the ice and snow - the difference really was like night and day... But the Alfa takes a different size, so they are no good to me this year.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link to the auction on here, but they are the 'set of 4 GT Radial' ones located in Tonbridge! 235/45 17, size-wise...

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If anyone's interested, I'm selling my winter tyres on eBay at the moment. I bought them last year and they made an amazing difference in the ice and snow - the difference really was like night and day... But the Alfa takes a different size, so they are no good to me this year.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link to the auction on here, but they are the 'set of 4 GT Radial' ones located in Tonbridge! 235/45 17, size-wise...

cant see on eBay. are they on wheels? any more info on tread, cost etc.

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