In message <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:I've spent the weekend in Aberdeen intending to walk the Munros south
of Loch Muick, Broad Cairn etc., but the snow scuppered that idea. The
road out along Deeside was relatively OK, but none of the side roads
were clear and my car even struggled to get up to the car park at
Scolty Hill in Banchory for even a short walk, so I doubted I could get
along Glen Muick. My car is front wheel drive, and I was wondering if
snow chains or snow tyres would have been enough of an improvement to
get to the good walks. Does anyone use these; snow tyres or chains?
How good are they, and when do you put them on? And what are they like
to drive with on tarmac?
I do a fair amount of driving under winter conditions and also summer
in the Alps. I usually do two winter driving trips to the Alps for
skiing and ski-touring. I also visit Wales and the Lake District and
sometimes Scotland throughout the year.
Until 5 years ago I drove a front wheel drive Astra estate. I purchased
a set of chains and used them in anger a few times on mountain roads in
the Alps and once or twice during winter in the Lake District. They
really do make a huge difference on snow covered roads, but you have to
take them off whenever you meet bare tarmac. They also require practice
to put on and take off, particularly during bad weather in the dark! For
the variability of conditions you'll meet in the UK they are a good
option to consider. Bear in mind that the cheapest chains will probably
be the most difficult to fit and the quickest to break or wear out.
Winter tyres are another possibility. They work better than summer
tyres under various conditions including just cold and damp. They aren't
only for driving in the snow, and they will cope much better with a
variety of winter conditions. Snow tyres generally aren't rated for
high speed use in warm summer conditions so you need to bear in mind
where you live and the types of driving you expect to do. You can of
course still combine winter tyres with chains for extreme conditions.
What you probably should consider regarding winter tyres is do you have
somewhere to store the wheels that aren't in use? If you do then buy a
new set of cheap steel wheels and have winter tyres fitted to them.
Steel wheels are best because if you do fit chains you won't run the
risk of damaging expensive alloy wheels. As to the running expenses it
shouldn't be too great so long as you expect to keep your car for
several years, since you will even out the wear on the summer and winter
sets of tyres during that period.
Five years ago I took a different option. After observing what were the
popular vehicles in the mountain regions of Switzerland I traded in my
Astra for an all wheel drive Subaru. All the current models of Subaru
are pretty good under snow conditions, including Legacy, Imprezza and
also the model I opted for, the Forester. The AWD on the Forester
combined with the standard UK fit Highway/Terrain tyres has coped well
with all the conditions I've driven under. So far I've only had to
resort to using chains once and that was to get through a deep snow
drift on a hill just south of where I live in Cambridge!
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"
