Hi,

So I have been toying with the idea of a new set of tyres on the car this winter. The tyres are 245s which a pretty wide and really worried they will act as T trays in the icy conditions.

Anyone have any experience driving the bravo in the snow last year and how did it fair?

My commute is only 8miles which is the outskirts of the town and dual carriageway so I'm not going to be stuck in deep snow like last year when I lived in the countryside (the panda was awesome in the snow).

If anyone has any suggestions on how to change the tyres on the cheap, I really can't afford to be spending huge amounts of money on this.

Thanks,
Jon

Two space savers on the front...

Jonboy582 said:

Hi,

So I have been toying with the idea of a new set of tyres on the car this winter. The tyres are 245s which a pretty wide and really worried they will act as T trays in the icy conditions.

Anyone have any experience driving the bravo in the snow last year and how did it fair?

My commute is only 8miles which is the outskirts of the town and dual carriageway so I'm not going to be stuck in deep snow like last year when I lived in the countryside (the panda was awesome in the snow).

If anyone has any suggestions on how to change the tyres on the cheap, I really can't afford to be spending huge amounts of money on this.

Thanks,
Jon

Click to expand...

You answered your own question

If you can't change properly don't change at all, doing n the cheap and tyres are mutually exclusive

I have winter tyres of normal size and the car performs great in snow

my 150 was pants in the snow. any slight traction loss without ASR off, turbo spools up and spins the wheels, i went nowhere

any slight traction loss with ASR on then it did the same, only the ASR through cutting power cut it out.

this was in really silly amounts of snow. Slight snow, or ice or slush, i found to be ok.

the year before when it snowed i clocked this, and now i use our 306HDi in the snow instead and i never get stuck in that.

Last year my 90 was a trooper. Got stuck twice, but only in snow deep enough to come halfway up the bottom grille! This was on 2 and a little bit mm tyres, and as discussed elsewhere in the forum, it's not what you drive, it's how you drive.

Gonna be interesting to see how it fairs this year if it snows half as bad, what with me now being lowered.

With the car being lowered, you should have better grip but see the build up in the middle of the tyre tracks on the road... your car will probably act as a snowplough.

ascott92 said:

Last year my 90 was a trooper. Got stuck twice, but only in snow deep enough to come halfway up the bottom grille! This was on 2 and a little bit mm tyres, and as discussed elsewhere in the forum, it's not what you drive, it's how you drive.

Gonna be interesting to see how it fairs this year if it snows half as bad, what with me now being lowered.

Click to expand...

You will replace the councils snowplough (and probably do a better job!!)

I used to have a lowered car, with huuge wide tyres, absolutely useless in the snow

RobW said:

You answered your own question

If you can't change properly don't change at all, doing n the cheap and tyres are mutually exclusive

I have winter tyres of normal size and the car performs great in snow

Click to expand...

very true, cheap tyres are about as good as driving with slicks on the snow...

wegi said:

With the car being lowered, you should have better grip but see the build up in the middle of the tyre tracks on the road... your car will probably act as a snowplough.

Click to expand...

johndoe said:

You will replace the councils snowplough (and probably do a better job!!)

I used to have a lowered car, with huuge wide tyres, absolutely useless in the snow

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's the underside I'm worried about. I have good tyres on this year, with 6mm across so it should be even better. Which is all very good if I'm sitting like a beached whale on a lump of snow

I agree with jimboy use space saver wheels. On rally cars in the snow they use narrow wheels but they do have studs in theres

I had a set of steelies with winter tyres on last year, and worked very well, I was getting stuck a hell of a lot using just the normal Bridgestone’s.

I wouldn’t recommend using two space savers they are designed for 50mph and to be on one wheel only, fitting more than one to a car is asking for trouble, especially if it stops snowing and you use them at normal speeds.

If you’re really worried about getting stuck, get a pair of auto socks, and shove them on when the going gets tough. I had these on my old Clio and they worked great, just don't run them on bare tarmac even for a few metres.

On a related note:

Has anyone tried Vredestein Quatrac 3 'all-season' tyres?

Obviously the ideal solution would be a set of full winter tyres on steelies, but I don't really have the space to store the redundant wheels & tyres, so the Quatracs were suggested as a solution, but I'm just a bit woozy about ending up with something that is still no good in snow, and is noisy and draggy in dry weather.

I've tried the Quatrac 2 tyres in 13 inch size and was mighty impressed with them.

ascott92 said:

it's not what you drive, it's how you drive.

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yes and no.

Low revving torquey diesels are easier to drive on ice and snow than a fast revving, high powered petrol unit, especially if the petrol is turbo'd as a slight loss in traction in an NA car doesnt result in a quick burst of power, which is what happens in a turbo petrol car as it hits boost when you lose traction.

Big Black Stilo said:

yes and no.

Low revving torquey diesels are easier to drive on ice and snow than a fast revving, high powered petrol unit, especially if the petrol is turbo'd as a slight loss in traction in an NA car doesnt result in a quick burst of power, which is what happens in a turbo petrol car as it hits boost when you lose traction.

Click to expand...

so your point is that it IS how you drive it... Don't rev it too much, perhaps try to drive off in second gear, that is about the best you can do. Actually, the best you can do is not drive at all if possible...

point is, some cars are easier than others, i find the bravo t150 to be on the scale of not so easy, and our 306HDi a piece of ****

I'll find out in a month or so, no doubt; I'll be driving to Berlin. If like last year, that will be a 24 hour trip with ten hours stationary because some idiot disarticulated his lorry and got it all sideways in six inches of snow.

I was in a coupe 20vt with snoproxes on, and had no problems with snow (it's a powerful petrol turbo engine, but the viscous coupling does help) except when I parked it in slush and it froze *through* the spokes...

The same wheels are going on the Bravo 150 Diesel in a week or two, now I've got the overtightened locking wheel nuts removed.

Neil

As much as i like my Bravo i have got to say that my 1.4 active with the standard steel wheels and tyres is pretty useless in the snow - in fact its probably the worst car I have had for snow driving. Thankfully my panda (1.1 Active with standard tyres) is brilliant - so on really snowy days the Bravo stays at home and my wife and I share the panda. Had thought of getting winter tyres but to be honest the amount of really snowy days we get can usually be counted on one hand - so happy to leave the bravo at home on those few days.

cowimars said:

As much as i like my Bravo i have got to say that my 1.4 active with the standard steel wheels and tyres is pretty useless in the snow - in fact its probably the worst car I have had for snow driving. Thankfully my panda (1.1 Active with standard tyres) is brilliant - so on really snowy days the Bravo stays at home and my wife and I share the panda. Had thought of getting winter tyres but to be honest the amount of really snowy days we get can usually be counted on one hand - so happy to leave the bravo at home on those few days.

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Winter tyres are not just for snow but all conditions below 7c, and they can't be counted on 2 hands!

im not saying the bravo is the worst to drive in the snow.... thats anything without ABS...