Small 4wd suggestions please

Iceweasel

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Agreed, Quatracs have been on many of the family hacks and kept the girls safe and sure footed in all weathers.

On the subject of the one that haunts our nightmares, i have a horrible feeling he's turned up on another forum i've been on for years, some indecipherable posts from a newby there i can't make head nor tail of, please send the yellow van someone.

I have a suspicion that that very same person has recently appeared on a single marque forum that I'm on.

Iceweasel

tortoiseshellcat wrote: »

Thanks for all your helpful replies it's definitely giving me something to think about. I really like Renault Captur signature although not 4wd it sounds like it will grip well as it has advanced traction control system. Think out our price range though...

Yes - with advanced traction control it may grip well - but NOT necessarily on ice and snow.

It's essential that you read the handbook very carefully.

I have an advanced traction control system on my 2WD car- two different types in fact DSC (Dynamic Stability Control and DTC (Dynamic Traction Control)

The DSC is on by default and limits wheel spin (among other things) but the handbook clearly states that it is advantageous to select the DTC by pushing the button when encountering deep snow or slush.

Don't just assume that the car will perform magic on it's own without driver input.

bacono

The Jimny is a dog that's been terribly outdated for years now... but every dog has its day and the Jimny's is when it snows, it's pretty amazing. God awful the rest of the time though.

Minrich

£12k will get you a Freelander 2 . Try to get the HSE version. We have one and vastly different to the earlier version . Winter tyres improve all vehicles traction , but how often is the extra traction actually needed ? A set of wheels and new winter tyres will cost quite a bit . Depends how much mileage you do too.

bigjl

dannyrst wrote: »

I've been driving for 8 years (not a long time compared to some I appreciate) and not once have I struggled in the winter with normal tyres on my car.

Yes, I haven't driven with winter tyres. I'm not saying that they are worthless or that they don't work. Clearly they do.

Perhaps where I live the winters haven't been as bad as other places.

I remember driving up to my parents house in the snow, the road has a steady incline, nothing too steep, and hadn't been gritted. I put the car in 2nd and took the hill steady and maintained a constant speed, no problems. Got out at the top of the hill and saw blue flashing lights at the bottom. Walked down to see what was going on and a fire truck was diagonal across the road at the bottom and the crew were putting snow chains on.

I was of a similar opinion until I put a set of GoodYear winter tyres on my V50 a few years ago, Ultragrip 8 I think.

They were a revelation in the wet, amazing the way they cut through standing water.

You could certainly feel that they had a softer compound to normal tyres which you adapted to after a few days.

If you have the spare cash they are a good investment. And overall the costs are similar to just having one set of tyres all year, as you will save wear on your other tyres.

I am also fortunate in having somewhere to store tyres/wheels.

bigjl

Minrich wrote: »

£12k will get you a Freelander 2 . Try to get the HSE version. We have one and vastly different to the earlier version . Winter tyres improve all vehicles traction , but how often is the extra traction actually needed ? A set of wheels and new winter tyres will cost quite a bit . Depends how much mileage you do too.

From a cost perspective you can't compare spending £12k with a few hundred quid.

You do realise that you can only transmit the acceleration and braking forces that your tyres will allow?

Every SUV/4x4 I have owned/driven has had all season tyres (M&S) fitted from what I could tell, and they were more of a middle ground which were not much better in the snow/wet weather than a summer tyre.

Actually the one I am driving today has Pirelli Scorpions and I just looked and I couldn't see a M&S rating so they are likely just a summer tyre.

A proper 4x4 such as the Freelander with winter tyres on would be almost unstoppable in the snow. As would a Forester/Legacy/Impreza and to be honest any AllMotion VAG vehicle would be pretty much unstoppable aswell.

Iceweasel

I understand completely the cost and storage problems with an extra set of wheels and tyres that could well put some folks off.

If I was to have only one set of wheels and tyres it would be the winter ones.

Some people seem to think that they will wear out in no time if you run them in the Summer.

Of course being a different slightly softer compound they will wear a tad quicker - but that's not a major issue.

The disadvantages of running Winter tyres all year is as nothing compared to the safety implications and drawbacks of having Summer tyres in Winter conditions.

laidbackgjr

Iceweasel wrote: »

I understand completely the cost and storage problems with an extra set of wheels and tyres that could well put some folks off.

If I was to have only one set of wheels and tyres it would be the winter ones.

Some people seem to think that they will wear out in no time if you run them in the Summer.

Of course being a different slightly softer compound they will wear a tad quicker - but that's not a major issue.

The disadvantages of running Winter tyres all year is as nothing compared to the safety implications and drawbacks of having Summer tyres in Winter conditions.

Winter tyres in Summer conditions will give you longer braking distances than Summer tyres in Summer conditions - so although the difference isn't as big as the other way round - there are further drawbacks to using winter tyres in summer conditions.

Iceweasel

laidbackgjr wrote: »

Winter tyres in Summer conditions will give you longer braking distances than Summer tyres in Summer conditions - so although the difference isn't as big as the other way round - there are further drawbacks to using winter tyres in summer conditions.

That is true, and people need to be aware of that.

There is some good info and charts on the Continental info site:

http://conti-central.co.uk/winter-tyres/

bigjl

Iceweasel wrote: »

I understand completely the cost and storage problems with an extra set of wheels and tyres that could well put some folks off.

If I was to have only one set of wheels and tyres it would be the winter ones.

Some people seem to think that they will wear out in no time if you run them in the Summer.

Of course being a different slightly softer compound they will wear a tad quicker - but that's not a major issue.

The disadvantages of running Winter tyres all year is as nothing compared to the safety implications and drawbacks of having Summer tyres in Winter conditions.

I would just clarify the wear issue.

It isn't just the compound that should be considered.

The actual tread pattern contains more channels. I think they're called sipes. The extra movement due to these will create more heat I suspect.

At my previous job they ran winter tyres for the first time ever, unfortunately somebody "reappropriated" several of the summer tyre shod alloy wheels from the storage and as a result a fair few vehicles were ran well into summer with winter tyres.
Admittedly these were driven under harsher conditions than most privately used vehicles, but they all wore extremely heavily on the outside edge (to a lesser extent the inner edge) on the front.

I noted this on my V50 aswell to a much lesser extent.

If you don't have the time/money/storage to run winter and summer tyres then a good half way house would be All Season tyres.