X did me proud in the snow...just

[g60renshaw]

Evening all,

We are over in Yorkshire at the inlaws (between Leeds and Harrogate) this weekend and while dropping my sister in law to Leeds station today the skies opened and a very very heavy, very quick snow shower dropped. The inlaws live in a little village off the main roads and I had to negotiate an unsalted 5 mile long, windy, hilly road to get back.
I am running 20s with normal road tyres and was a little nervous to say the least. A couple of the down hills were really quite steep and even with incredibly gentle braking I was getting some slewing on the ice/snow. So as a bit of a last ditch attempt to avoid gaining too much speed and it all getting nasty, I decided to try hill decent, which actually worked really well, if a little nerve racking.
Now I would normally avoid driving in these conditions at all costs, but as I was trying to get home I had no choice. The uphills we no issue at all and I passed a couple of stranded cars and was thankfull I was in the X.

So in conclusion, you can just about manage on 20" road tyres in the snow on some quite steep stuff, but its certainly not invincible as we know! The worst bit being the stopping rather than the getting going!

Jay

[X5Sport]

Well done! I bet you learned a lot about the limits of the X from that little trip... just think how much more fun it would have been in a RWD BMW!!

There's nothing like a bit of snow and ice to test the nerve of most drivers, I hate these conditions and mainly because of the challenge that stopping a 2-tonne vehicle that's running on skis (wide tyres and low ground pressure) seems to bring

[x555]

Glad your home safe Jay they are a bit of a beast to stop these x's

[Turks]

I found my X on the 20's to be ok in the snow too... getting it moving and going up steep hills was a breeze but stopping it was just as difficult as any other car I would say. HDC is really useful and works really well so long as you do nothing but steer.

Last year when the snow hit I had to drive an M6 back home from Manchester Airport, the snow was about 6 inches... took me half an hour to get the car out of the car park!! Useless in the snow, and it struggled on even small gradients... had to get towed up one hill in Lymm by a farmer having fun in his disco!


Turks.

[CondorX5]

There's a world of difference when the 20s are swopped out for 18" winter tyres.......in fairly torrid conditions this wekend and todays long commute, the X was lovely.....no-one else at work wants to dare use the snowy car park, so my X has it all to herself today! Handled every bit like a "real" 4x4 and I've had over 20 years of driving 4x4S in total. Our RWD cars are packed away for the winter ATM....
The new Vredies have just bedded in nicely and the grip is excellent, but apparently no UK dealers have Vredie stock at present. The KIA dealership phoned me about my company car (new Sportage, delivery January) to wail that they couldn't find Vredies and would I mind if I had Pirelli Snow and Ice or Contis Winter tyres instead........

[millerman1ac]

nice one for the control ;o)
never thought of using hill decent in my last outing!!

[Dave R]

[quote=""CondorX5""]There's a world of difference when the 20s are swopped out for 18" winter tyres.......in fairly torrid conditions this wekend and todays long commute, the X was lovely.....no-one else at work wants to dare use the snowy car park, so my X has it all to herself today! Handled every bit like a "real" 4x4 and I've had over 20 years of driving 4x4S in total. Our RWD cars are packed away for the winter ATM....
The new Vredies have just bedded in nicely and the grip is excellent, but apparently no UK dealers have Vredie stock at present. The KIA dealership phoned me about my company car (new Sportage, delivery January) to wail that they couldn't find Vredies and would I mind if I had Pirelli Snow and Ice or Contis Winter tyres instead........ [/quote]

I believe tyremen.co.uk have stocks of Vredestein. You might want to try there if your still looking!

[Turks]

[quote=""CondorX5""]There's a world of difference when the 20s are swopped out for 18" winter tyres[/quote]

For the short amount of time a year that winter tyres would be useful to me, I couldn't justify changing from my 20's. I don't do a daily commute in the UK so my jouneys are through choice... if I was in your situation and I had to rely on my tyres getting me to work then I think i'd consider it.

Do you have any pics of your 4.8is with the 18's on? Are they the same width front and back?


Turks.

[g60renshaw]

Has anyone ever used snow chains on 20s? You can buy ones very cheaply to fit 275/40/20 which would fit the front and that's to me where the X suffers the most i.e under braking. The only issue then might be the back end being too loose...

Jay

[Turks]

I'd be worried about damaging my alloys with the chains... or am I just being daft?


Turks.

[gobiman]

I'm off to the Alps on 10 Dec and was checking the tyre pressures for the 18s with Vred snow tyres yesterday. I seem to remember it saying in the handbook that chains should only be fitted to rear.
The other issue is that I don't think it would would work with the rear 20s due to lack of clearance so you have to both get 18s AND THEN get snow chains.
I'm not going to bother as I've found winter tyres more than a match for all the snow and ice I've encountered - even soft snow where I thought I might struggle.
I'll post a pic of my 18s - once it stops snowing!

[dwgwyther]

Hey Condor what size wheels and tires are you running on your 4.8 may look into getting some 18's if they are a bit cheaper than the 19's. Cheers Darren

[pvr]

Strange, the website I was looking at recommended on a 4x4 to have the chains on the front wheels as they were the steering ones.

I would have thought the same that if you come down a steep slope, I would rather be able to steer properly with the chains on, and if going up a slope, the front chains will bite anyway.

[ITBarbie]

Do you know I'm sure the handbook says on the rear but I've ordered socks for the front only as they can only get that size.

Just had to abandon car and walk home as car went for a burton again . There were so many it looked like a roller skate party. The only thing that made me feel better were there were industrial Landies in the same boat as me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gobiman]

PVR, I would be inclined to agree with you but I have the manual on my desk and page 149 states-

Snow chains may only be fitted in pairs and on the rear wheels in conjunction with the following tyre sizes:
4.8iS 255/55 R18
All other models 235/65 R17

I'm guessing but the majority of power goes to rear wheels hence it gives the best traction? Your risk with them on fronts only (uphill at least) is that rears spin and take all the power (with no diff locks). Going downhill, the risk is that the back end slides round. Most of the serious kit I've seen in ski resorts has chains on every axle. For standard wheels, there is, I suspect, limited clearance.
In short, X5 on standard rims does not lend itself to chains!

IT Barbie, sorry to hear about your day. My Father was in the RAF at Kenley and I went to junior school there in the late 70s - remember it being an old-style airfield right on top of a big flat-top hill with steep sides.