25-07-2011, 04:58 PM
Hi,
It might sound strange bringing winter tyres up in the middle of summer but sometimes a bit of forward planning pays huge dividends. I always ordered a ton of rock salt in September when I was working so never got caught out for gritting the works.
Bron and I have lived on this valley side for 24 years and every winter it has been a nightmare wondering if I could return home in the car due to snow and ice.
Last winter was the worst winter on record and like many we were forced to drive on untreated roads covered in sheet ice. The crunch came when I drove to Morrison's supermarket and had to abandon the car at the bottom of the valley; I thought it was going to kill me carrying the shopping home; once the JCB digger had cleared the road I managed to retrieve the car.
Fed up with this I emailed Avon Tyres for advice and Avon recommended their Ice Touring Pattern Tyres. By now though all winter tyre stocks to fit our Toyota Aygo were depleted in the UK. After many hours of surfing the web I found a company advertising the tyres as in stock so I ordered a pair; this company was just brilliant; the tyres arrived extremely quickly having been shipped directly to me from Germany; I was most impressed and at a total of £108 they were not expensive.
http://www.mytyres.co.uk/
I bought a pair of almost new steel wheels through Gumtree costing £20 the pair and for good measure bought snow chains through eBay costing about £28.
I had the tyres fitted onto the wheels and balanced costing £7 each and fitted the wheels to the car at home.
I'll never forget driving down to the lane that runs up the valley side; I had to stop at temporary traffic lights to let a single decker bus come down the lane and it was being driven extremely slowly; the lane was sheet ice; as the bus drew level the driver waved me through and I bet he thought I didn't have a chance of going up the valley.
I set off in first gear accelerating gently and left the car in first gear whilst I drove as if on dry tarmac at 10mph right up the valley to the post office; cars were abandoned at both sides of the lane.
On the way back down the valley I was worried in case I got into a slide as it is very steep so once again I engaged first gear and kept the speed very low by just touching the brakes. I reached the steepest part and had to stop; a guy was snaking his way up and almost reached me when the car suddenly spun around to face down the valley; he abandoned the car and set off walking; next up was a young lady; this time she completely lost traction; just sitting there with the wheels spinning so she gave up and because the roadside was completely full of abandoned vehicles she had to back all the way down; I ensured there was a good space between us and again selected first gear and followed her down; fortunately a driver had enough sense to leave a gap allowing me to drive up onto our private estate; all the while the little Aygo was behaving as though it was on dry tarmac.
The looks on the faces of the people walking whilst I drove past was worth the money alone; I didn't feel smug but I did think this was money well spent. These tyres and wheels should last many years as I now fit them to the car in November and remove them in April; I don't travel much in winter.
I've told the story before but think it worth repeating; it's too easy to forget what winter is like when it is warm and sunny but leave it too long and the winter tyre stocks quickly run out and it is a pain anyway having to obtain and fit tyres when everything is frozen up.
It worked for me; one point worth mentioning is that our car is front wheel drive and I got away with fitting two of these tyres to the front driving wheels; for a rear wheel drive car four tyres will be needed to ensure the car goes where it is pointed. With just two tyres fitted speed needs to be kept low whilst cornering because the back of our Aygo was entertaining with the standard tyres fitted; I don't mind driving slowly in such conditions as long as I return home safely. I hope this is of use.
Kind regards, Col.
It might sound strange bringing winter tyres up in the middle of summer but sometimes a bit of forward planning pays huge dividends. I always ordered a ton of rock salt in September when I was working so never got caught out for gritting the works.
Bron and I have lived on this valley side for 24 years and every winter it has been a nightmare wondering if I could return home in the car due to snow and ice.
Last winter was the worst winter on record and like many we were forced to drive on untreated roads covered in sheet ice. The crunch came when I drove to Morrison's supermarket and had to abandon the car at the bottom of the valley; I thought it was going to kill me carrying the shopping home; once the JCB digger had cleared the road I managed to retrieve the car.
Fed up with this I emailed Avon Tyres for advice and Avon recommended their Ice Touring Pattern Tyres. By now though all winter tyre stocks to fit our Toyota Aygo were depleted in the UK. After many hours of surfing the web I found a company advertising the tyres as in stock so I ordered a pair; this company was just brilliant; the tyres arrived extremely quickly having been shipped directly to me from Germany; I was most impressed and at a total of £108 they were not expensive.
http://www.mytyres.co.uk/
I bought a pair of almost new steel wheels through Gumtree costing £20 the pair and for good measure bought snow chains through eBay costing about £28.
I had the tyres fitted onto the wheels and balanced costing £7 each and fitted the wheels to the car at home.
I'll never forget driving down to the lane that runs up the valley side; I had to stop at temporary traffic lights to let a single decker bus come down the lane and it was being driven extremely slowly; the lane was sheet ice; as the bus drew level the driver waved me through and I bet he thought I didn't have a chance of going up the valley.
I set off in first gear accelerating gently and left the car in first gear whilst I drove as if on dry tarmac at 10mph right up the valley to the post office; cars were abandoned at both sides of the lane.
On the way back down the valley I was worried in case I got into a slide as it is very steep so once again I engaged first gear and kept the speed very low by just touching the brakes. I reached the steepest part and had to stop; a guy was snaking his way up and almost reached me when the car suddenly spun around to face down the valley; he abandoned the car and set off walking; next up was a young lady; this time she completely lost traction; just sitting there with the wheels spinning so she gave up and because the roadside was completely full of abandoned vehicles she had to back all the way down; I ensured there was a good space between us and again selected first gear and followed her down; fortunately a driver had enough sense to leave a gap allowing me to drive up onto our private estate; all the while the little Aygo was behaving as though it was on dry tarmac.
The looks on the faces of the people walking whilst I drove past was worth the money alone; I didn't feel smug but I did think this was money well spent. These tyres and wheels should last many years as I now fit them to the car in November and remove them in April; I don't travel much in winter.
I've told the story before but think it worth repeating; it's too easy to forget what winter is like when it is warm and sunny but leave it too long and the winter tyre stocks quickly run out and it is a pain anyway having to obtain and fit tyres when everything is frozen up.
It worked for me; one point worth mentioning is that our car is front wheel drive and I got away with fitting two of these tyres to the front driving wheels; for a rear wheel drive car four tyres will be needed to ensure the car goes where it is pointed. With just two tyres fitted speed needs to be kept low whilst cornering because the back of our Aygo was entertaining with the standard tyres fitted; I don't mind driving slowly in such conditions as long as I return home safely. I hope this is of use.
Kind regards, Col.
