Powerful rwd and snow tyres

[scorchio]

So getting seriously tempted by the offers on the M5 and on the E63 estate car but the lovely Aberdeen winter weather kinda bothers me. For the past few winters it's been fwd on normal tyres and I coped perfectly fine unlike some drivers up here that thought the best way to get up a slightly snowy road is to spin the wheels flat out in third or fourth gear thus polishing the road nicely for everyone else.

Last year it was dealt with a s4 again on normal tyres but no issues, but for the rest of the year the 4wd really wasn't needed. I know success in slightly snowy roads is proper tyres but has anyone tried a set of winters on a powerful rwd car and actually been able to utilise the car when it snows, I have started seeing ALOT or bmw,s in Aberdeen now wearing winter tyres so hopefully there should be less stuck at the side of the road .

Yes I used to own a s14a 200sx that was lively even on dry roads so I am used to the rear end moving about ( not admitting I am a driving god but I don't just panic and scream......the wife usually does) but never had the chance to try it out on the snow, the other thing is you no longer seem to get a snow setting on most modern automatic/dsg boxes for pulling away in a much higher gear

Your thoughts are welcome guys

[gizlaroc]

I had winter tyres on my M3 and went to Switzerland in it, and the mountains, not Geneva.

No problem at all.

[Kawasicki]

scorchio said:

So getting seriously tempted by the offers on the M5 and on the E63 estate car but the lovely Aberdeen winter weather kinda bothers me. For the past few winters it's been fwd on normal tyres and I coped perfectly fine unlike some drivers up here that thought the best way to get up a slightly snowy road is to spin the wheels flat out in third or fourth gear thus polishing the road nicely for everyone else.

Last year it was dealt with a s4 again on normal tyres but no issues, but for the rest of the year the 4wd really wasn't needed. I know success in slightly snowy roads is proper tyres but has anyone tried a set of winters on a powerful rwd car and actually been able to utilise the car when it snows, I have started seeing ALOT or bmw,s in Aberdeen now wearing winter tyres so hopefully there should be less stuck at the side of the road .

Yes I used to own a s14a 200sx that was lively even on dry roads so I am used to the rear end moving about ( not admitting I am a driving god but I don't just panic and scream......the wife usually does) but never had the chance to try it out on the snow, the other thing is you no longer seem to get a snow setting on most modern automatic/dsg boxes for pulling away in a much higher gear

Your thoughts are welcome guys

I tested winter tyres on powerful rwd cars for both the car and the tyre companies. They were fine/massive fun. BMW will have completed a massive winter test plan on the M5.

[Snowboy]

I had a 6.5l v8 RWD van in Canada in winter.

On normal tyres it was like a kitten on a frozen pond.
Great fun, but impossible to control.
On snow tyres it was absolutely fine.

One thing I would suggest is you aim for snow tyres rather than just winter/all season tyres.

You'll probably want to take them off earlier in the spring - but you'll notice a lot better grip in the snow and ice.

Snow tyres will have more siping than all seasons.

[Bluebarge]

scorchio said:

has anyone tried a set of winters on a powerful rwd car and actually been able to utilise the car when it snows
Your thoughts are welcome guys

not personally but any Alpine ski resort will contain large numbers of big BMW/Merc saloons etc on winter tyres that get up and down the hills without any difficulty. These are often what the local taxi drivers will drive.

I suspect that the only time you would struggle is if the snow is too deep for a normal car

[PowerslideSWE]

A friend of mine ran his e39 M5 for a few winters in sweden on winter tyres, unstudded, worked fine.

[Zod]

gizlaroc said:

I had winter tyres on my M3 and went to Switzerland in it, and the mountains, not Geneva.

No problem at all.

Same with M3 and M5.

[matthias73]

e34 525i, ski resort, normal tyres.

I would say that an LSD made a huge diference, as well as some weight in the boot.

You also need to be a driving god, which fortuantly we all are.

[Zod]

You should take chains too. If there is a blizzard while you are driving up, you will not make it without chains. In those circumstances, the Swiss Police will generally be out turning back people without chains unless in 4WDs, but I'd put chains on a 4WD in those circumstances too.

[matthias73]

Snowboy said:

I had a 6.5l v8 RWD van in Canada in winter.

On normal tyres it was like a kitten on a frozen pond.
Great fun, but impossible to control.
On snow tyres it was absolutely fine.

One thing I would suggest is you aim for snow tyres rather than just winter/all season tyres.

You'll probably want to take them off earlier in the spring - but you'll notice a lot better grip in the snow and ice.

Snow tyres will have more siping than all seasons.


Where where you, if I may ask?

[gazchap]

I tried an E60 M5 on summer tyres in the snow last year, completely and utterly useless.

Have winter tyres on my E61 M5 at the moment, but haven't yet had much use for them. Here's hoping :/

Not having a manual clutch pedal really seemed to make it hard to get going.

[Matt UK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OdJy3a84UU

This M5 seems to cope just fine!

[scorchio]

Just the kind of responses I was hoping for, more so when I am offshore and it's just the wife driving the car herself

[AndyBrew]

my C63 is on Michelin alpins and whilst im sure things would be fine if the temperature dropped below 3 degrees, however without the lsd and Barbados temperatures its like driving with marshmallow for tyres!

[Snowboy]

matthias73 said:

Where were you?

With that van I was in Fernie.
I've lived in Whistler too, but when I lived there I had no car one season and an AWD the next.

[matthias73]

Snowboy said:

matthias73 said:

Where were you?

With that van I was in Fernie.
I've lived in Whistler too, but when I lived there I had no car one season and an AWD the next.

Go on, when where you in whistler and what were you doing for work..

[Snowboy]

matthias73 said:

Snowboy said:

matthias73 said:

Where were you?

With that van I was in Fernie.
I've lived in Whistler too, but when I lived there I had no car one season and an AWD the next.

Go on, when where you in whistler and what were you doing for work..

I'd have to check my diary.
I was there when the Canadian Ladies won the Olympic Ice Hockey, that was either 2002 or 2004 according to google.

And I was there a few years ago too for 4 months. 2010 I think.

I didn't work on either season there.
I just saved my money and spent the whole season on the snow with my GF, who is now my wife.
Although we did some volunteer work on the world championship events, that was a laugh - going up the hill at 5am to get things set up and seeing the sun come up.

Anyhow, tyres.
Tyres are good.

[Motorrad]

I run my supercharged Mustang on Bridgestone Blizzaks in winter and given the appropriate level of respect it performs well in snow and ice. Limiting factors are ground clearance and morons who cannot drive to the conditions making me garage it

[Motorrad]

I run my supercharged Mustang on Bridgestone Blizzaks in winter and given the appropriate level of respect it performs well in snow and ice. Limiting factors are ground clearance and morons who cannot drive to the conditions making me garage it

[Motorrad]

I run my supercharged Mustang on Bridgestone Blizzaks in winter and given the appropriate level of respect it performs well in snow and ice. Limiting factors are ground clearance and morons who cannot drive to the conditions making me garage it