Winter Tyres

[DJP]

What does the 'Snow' button do?

I presume this is connected to the car's traction control..

Very little I'm afraid. It sets the car off in 2nd rather than 1st, to use a manual analogy. I'm sure it's more technical than that, but it is intended to help stop rear wheel spin. Nowt to do with the traction control.

Unfortunately a combination of auto and real wheel drive equals useless snow and ice control, unless you do the really sensible thing and put on winter tyres.

[F Sport Marcus]

What does the 'Snow' button do?

I presume this is connected to the car's traction control..

Very little I'm afraid. It sets the car off in 2nd rather than 1st, to use a manual analogy. I'm sure it's more technical than that, but it is intended to help stop rear wheel spin. Nowt to do with the traction control.

Unfortunately a combination of auto and real wheel drive equals useless snow and ice control, unless you do the really sensible thing and put on winter tyres.

What with all that trickery on board too..

Last winter I was pushing my friends M Sport in the snow as Golfs were driving by wondering what the fuss was all about - I took the rise then and guess he may get his own back then!!

[DJP]

What does the 'Snow' button do?

I presume this is connected to the car's traction control..

Very little I'm afraid. It sets the car off in 2nd rather than 1st, to use a manual analogy. I'm sure it's more technical than that, but it is intended to help stop rear wheel spin. Nowt to do with the traction control.

Unfortunately a combination of auto and real wheel drive equals useless snow and ice control, unless you do the really sensible thing and put on winter tyres.

What with all that trickery on board too..

Last winter I was pushing my friends M Sport in the snow as Golfs were driving by wondering what the fuss was all about - I took the rise then and guess he may get his own back then!!

I ate humble pie too, driving either my daughters X reg manual Ford Ka or the other daughters 02 plate Toyota Yaris. Thoroughly enjoyed both if I'm honest. Ka has gone for a brand new Audi A1. Not sure I'll be allowed near that!

[Silver Arrow]

I went with Admiral this year, then cancelled as they wanted admin fees for everything, and when I asked about winter tyres they quoted me £30 too, which was 15% of the annual premium! You really do have to be careful with low cost insurance. It makes you wonder what might happen if you do need to claim.

I've found Privilege (owned by Direct Line) to be one of the best. DL state that are not on comparison sites - and they are not, but they do trade under Privilege on Confused.com etc. Elephant are Churchill and Diamond I think is Admiral.

I swear by Winter tyres and I was a sceptic. You only have to try them once on a rear wheel drive car to realise just how much safer you are. Even in cold damp/dry conditions they feel better.

OFF TOPIC - DJP - how is the A1? We are thinking about it - a new Sportback is £199 a month at the mo (as a town run-around).

[DJP]

Silver Arrow, a great car, she loves it. We were very lucky as apparently Audi UK have used their allocation so the lead time is months. She loved the one in the showroom and it was only because they knew they had one more on the way she could take delivery.

I'd say that's salesman bull except for the fact the sales guy only told me after we'd picked it up. It was all quite amusing as I was considering an S5 before settling in the IS and was talking to the same guy.

[Silver Arrow]

I've never ever trusted anything a salesman has ever told me, before, during or even after a sale.

The industry rewards them for selling, and the sales patter is part of the deal, whether we like it or not….

[Rob64]

I had my winter tyres fitted by Lexus Stoke 12 days ago, and immediately noticed a significant reduction in tyre noise. There is very little engine noise or wind noise, so tyre noise predominated (albeit at a low level). But with winter tyres, the car really is whisper quiet. Has anyone else had the same experience?

[Silver Arrow]

I have too on the GS, but this is what I found :

As the temperature went up to over 12 degrees, the winters did become a little more raucous. That was mid spring last year with the bad weather having taken March and a bit of April over - once i changed over to summers the car was much quieter and the grip much better; this year I changed from the same summers to the same winters, the temperature was 6 degrees, and the car felt much quieter and sharper to drive - in the dry. So that could be the sign that tells you it's time to change….

Might just be a placebo thing too….

[Skench]

Hi Rob64

Which winter tyres did you have fitted and what the cost?

[Alexch1974]

Hi Rob64

Which winter tyres did you have fitted and what the cost?

Hi Skench

FYI - I had winter tyres put onto my car from outset (as only just collected it last week) they provided a set of Hanook winter tyres to go on the standard 18" F Sport alloys for £650. These were the full size 225/40 R18 at the front and 255/35/ R18 at the rear and therefore also keep the aesthetics of the F-Sport.

[Rob64]

Hi Skench,

The dealer fitted Hankook Winter i*cept evo tyres onto the original alloys. I can't give you a precise cost because I negotiated a deal which included the winter tyres and 3 yrs servicing. I also got the labour and storage costs for the first two tyre swaps thrown in. I would estimate about £700 for the tyres.

[Silver Arrow]

I have used www.mytyres.co.uk several times now and they are brilliant!! nThe tyres arrive in pairs within 3-5 days and at a fraction of the price.

[Lexus Si]

My F-Sport gets delivered this Friday. Due to go skiing end if March so thinking of 17" winter wheels as Lexus rules out snow chains for the 18's. Any idea what the wheel size is, maybe 17x7 with a 40 offset but not sure and 225/45 tyres. Is anyone able to check their 17's I really need the offset. Does anyone know other Lexus models that would have the same offset so I can eBay some. Thanks.

[Silver Arrow]

My F-Sport gets delivered this Friday. Due to go skiing end if March so thinking of 17" winter wheels as Lexus rules out snow chains for the 18's. Any idea what the wheel size is, maybe 17x7 with a 40 offset but not sure and 225/45 tyres. Is anyone able to check their 17's I really need the offset. Does anyone know other Lexus models that would have the same offset so I can eBay some. Thanks.

Try THIS

[IS 300h]

Hi Wicksy,

You may recall that I held off on winter tyres, we have not had much cold weather so maybe not an accurate picture but at this stage they would have been an extravagance. A few days ago the roads were icy after rain then freeze, the traction control light flashed several times but no loss of traction. My dealer will not hold the spares when not in use and the tax man also wants to do me for having another set, even though only one set can be used at a time.

Hoping for mild winters!

[Alexch1974]

I would agree that we have had a mild winter so far but the winter tyres have been life saver for the few days that it was cold and icy.

There was black ice on the road on my way to work and whilst I slid slightly, the tyres gripped and I went round the corner and was able to carry on. The 2 cars behind slid off the road and went down the ditch and created a bit of mess.

Whilst it seemed an extravagance at the time - it saved me time, money and hassle of a painful claim that the two drivers behind me had to make.

[IS 300h]

Do you think the F sport suspension set up is more prone to slip than the other variants?

[Alexch1974]

I might have misunderstood what you meant but its a difficult one to judge to be honest as whilst I have driven a the various trim levels including the standard F-Sport, it was in the dry during the summer. Having said that I felt that the F-Sport actually gave better mechanical grip that the other trim levels because it had F-Sport suspension which has been set up specifically for handling and so helped the car corner flatter than the standard set up. I was able to go 10-15% faster with the F-Sport than with the standard.

If this is not what you meant and you referred to the stability control settings allowing for greater slippage for handling then again, I was not driving the car hard enough during the test drives to activate any of the systems to see if this was the case.