Tips for driving big automatic in snow?

[key76]

Do the all season tyres wear at a faster rate than summer tyres? Wondering why almost no marque fits them as standard.

[Lozzingers]

Originally Posted by key76

Do the all season tyres wear at a faster rate than summer tyres? Wondering why almost no marque fits them as standard.

My cross climates lasted 20,000 Miles on my old 66 xc90 and had 5mm left, so about half way. I was pretty impressed I have to say. Previous bmw's would wear so unevenly half the tyre was always wasted!
There are the odd report of 38 degree heat over a long period increases wear, but not too badly I do t believe

[Fursty Ferret]

The cheapest I have seen a winter tyre for 20 inch rims

I had a set of Vredesteins listed here with 8mm tread which went for £160 in the end. They're cheap on eBay too.

[Nippy]

Originally Posted by Fursty Ferret

I had a set of Vredesteins listed here with 8mm tread which went for £160 in the end. They're cheap on eBay too.

How did you find the Vredesteins? I’m thinking about the Quatrac All Seasons for my V90.

[Fursty Ferret]

How did you find the Vredesteins? I’m thinking about the Quatrac All Seasons for my V90.

Excellent, if expensive to buy.

Quiet, fuel efficient, and excellent handling of standing water on the motorway. They barely seemed to wear and were also fine in the summer.

Driving on fresh snow was like being on a dry road. Good on slush too. I made my own lane down the A1 when everyone else was sliding around at walking pace.

Would buy them again.

[Old Amazonian]

First thing for any car I've owned is fit winter tyres. Even my Amazon was a star performer and great fun in snow with winter tyres and a few bags of sand in the boot. I now live in the NE and my present drive is a 65 S60D4 Bussiness model, latest in a long line of Volvos starting with a 343 too long ago to remember,121, 240, 245, 340, 360GLTs (3 all black) 740 estate S90 and finally the S60. Anyway all of them performed well on winter tyres, even the estates. Gentle throtttle think ahead and avoid braking as much as possible. My most memorable snow drive was from Aberystwyth along the A44 to Llangurig the mountain road, at 4 in the morning and blizzarding, in my 240 gl automatic estate. No one else on the road. When I reached Llangurig the police were there turning traffic around. The road was closed. They wouldn't believe that I had come over from Aber and they had closed it at that end just after I had started out. Snow tyres fitted because I was on my way to Scotland. Anyway we had a bit of snow the week after I fitted my snow tyres and I live on a bit of a hill but reversing up was no problem while the neighbours parked at the bottom after giving up. I'm looking for a spare set of 16inch rims now to fit my summer tyres so I don't have to go to get them swopped over come spring.
P.S. check out the Swedes driving in snow on YouTube if you already haven't!

[olszewm]

Originally Posted by Nippy

How did you find the Vredesteins? I’m thinking about the Quatrac All Seasons for my V90.

I have them on my xc90 and currently testing them on snow and ice covered roads in the mountains of Poland. Handling is excellent and will handle many roads where snow chains are recommended. Would fully recommend them. Used to have Goodyear Vectors on a XC60 and they were equally good but they don’t come in 21 inch size.

As for starting on fresh snow or ice, I always select Off-road mode and then switch to Comfort once going. ABS does not work in those conditions and the only option is not to lock the wheels and release the break if you loose traction. Hill descent in Off-road Mode is brilliant and will allow you to go down iced-up slopes with full control. However, there are situations when the only option is to put on snow chains, although most people won’t need to resort to them in the UK.

[PaulBendall]

Resurrecting an old thread but it has a lot of good information.

I was wondering what the optimal combination of technology selection was for driving in wintery conditions (note: I'm down South so wintery may mean different things to those in other parts of the company).

I think everyone agrees that the best technical option is to fit winter tyres, or failing that all season tyres.

After the important tyre selection, and for reference I'm on Summer tyres (yes I know), what are the next options?

Starting Off
The worst part of my drive is the very start, I come off a small tarmaced drive onto an estate road. Basically, the car is on almost full-lock from the drive onto the road. Oh and the estate road is on an incline and curve as I join it. Just prior to this the road bottoms out from a decline to the other houses in the estate. Usually well polished by the BMW drivers.

I've found selecting Constant AWD as the driver mode has provided good grip.

If it got worse I might opt for Off-Road, although I note the recommendation of using Eco.

Stopping
I try to anticipate much more by leaving a greater gap and making small movements of the accelerator and steering wheel.

Selecting between D and B allows greater or lesser engine braking, and actions of the drivers in front.

One situation I thankfully haven't had to deal with is deceleration on an icy slope. What would the recommendation be here? Maybe worst case use Off-Road for the hill descent and low speed control?

Paul

[Discoman]

Originally Posted by PaulBendall

Resurrecting an old thread but it has a lot of good information.

I was wondering what the optimal combination of technology selection was for driving in wintery conditions (note: I'm down South so wintery may mean different things to those in other parts of the company).

I think everyone agrees that the best technical option is to fit winter tyres, or failing that all season tyres.

After the important tyre selection, and for reference I'm on Summer tyres (yes I know), what are the next options?

Starting Off
The worst part of my drive is the very start, I come off a small tarmaced drive onto an estate road. Basically, the car is on almost full-lock from the drive onto the road. Oh and the estate road is on an incline and curve as I join it. Just prior to this the road bottoms out from a decline to the other houses in the estate. Usually well polished by the BMW drivers.

I've found selecting Constant AWD as the driver mode has provided good grip.

If it got worse I might opt for Off-Road, although I note the recommendation of using Eco.

Stopping
I try to anticipate much more by leaving a greater gap and making small movements of the accelerator and steering wheel.

Selecting between D and B allows greater or lesser engine braking, and actions of the drivers in front.

One situation I thankfully haven't had to deal with is deceleration on an icy slope. What would the recommendation be here? Maybe worst case use Off-Road for the hill descent and low speed control?

Paul

Yep tyres are it. Setting off is easy enough in most AWD cars, its the stopping which is difficult without winter tyres due to ABS kicking in. The best you can do is as you say with larger gaps and engine braking. Also brake early and cadence brake. How does the T8 cope with the fact that both axles are not connected like on the Haldex versions? I guess if your battery dies then you are running a purely FWD car.

[Kugaman1]

Originally Posted by key76

Do the all season tyres wear at a faster rate than summer tyres? Wondering why almost no marque fits them as standard.

Some do? We had an Evoque (not recommended, poor quality car) that came with all season tyres from new.