Hello all, we went to the Haywards Heath (west sussex) 999 day today and I pretty much signed up to join the sussex 4x4 response scheme, apparently they run these in most areas to help doctors, nurses, midwifes & equipment reach their destination, its all voluntary, they pay for fuel & you (hopefully) get them where they need to be in your 4x4 in times of bad weather. This has got me thinking of last winter and the snow, I know we didnt get it as bad as some but it was still 6-7" deep and lasted a while. Last year I thaught of getting some snow socks, (after spinning 180 going up a hill, low range, diff lock on) most of the reviews say 'get you home in emergency' the snow was too hit & miss for chains and i've just come accross winter tyres. What do you all think the best cost effective solution is considering the odd weather we get these days.
Dont want to get the dr stuck!

Welcome to Landyzone

Its good to see that you have done a noble thing and joined, it not all fun, last lot of snow we had I run a couple of doctors home from work then just run a few carers about. As far as driving on slippery surfaces get some practice on some slippery stuff, its not so much the tyres fault but the drivers.

Have a search.... and get ready for some other hints as well, theres loads of threads about best tyres for winter/snow....

You've hit the nail on the head.
If you KNOW that you're going to be driving in snow then snow tyres are the answer but they overheat and don't last long on tarmac.
If you KNOW that you're going to be driving on hard packed snow or ice then studded tyres are the answer but they're illegal in this country.
Snow chains? Good in snow, useless on ice, disastrous on tarmac and a right pain in the neck to put on, take off, put back on etc.
Snow socks? Not a bad compromise as long as you keep driving. Stop for too long and they freeze and give interesting effects. So you end up putting them on, off, on . . .

So what are you left with? Get the best tyres that you can afford. If you can, get a second set of wheels and mount them ready for a relatively quick switch. Then, at every opportunity get yourself into slippery situations. Skid pans (if you can still find one) off-road days (leave the holes and deep water for others) and just drive. Learn how your car feels, talk to anyone who's doing it better than you. Make lots of mistakes and learn everything you can now. Then, when those delicate little white flakes start drifting down you'll be one of those guys with a big smile on your face.

Commendable for volunteering. Last post sums it up. Good luck.

Thanks for your replys, been to a couple of off road days, bit slow and bumpy for speed though, had a bad day last year, going up icy hill, low range, diff lock on but had to stop, then tried to brake and the car slid down the hill, touched the right hand banked side, spun 180 degrees and we just drove back the way we came, very slick if you were watching, bloody scary for the driver & front passenger!

dogsbody, sorry to say it, but most of what you've written is tosh.

The OP talked about getting a set of Winter Tyres, not Snow Tyres. it's perfectly OK to run Winter Tyres all year round in the UK, with only marginal drop in performance in the Summer. They don't overheat and wear rate is only marginally higher than a Summer tyre in Summer.
If you're only going to to fit one set of tyres, Winter ones are a better bet.

Snow chains on ice work very well, especially when used with Winter Tyres.

I change all of my cars tyres to Winter tyres in October, the benefits are huge.

Spyderman said:

dogsbody, sorry to say it, but most of what you've written is tosh.

The OP talked about getting a set of Winter Tyres, not Snow Tyres. it's perfectly OK to run Winter Tyres all year round in the UK, with only marginal drop in performance in the Summer. They don't overheat and wear rate is only marginally higher than a Summer tyre in Summer.
If you're only going to to fit one set of tyres, Winter ones are a better bet.

Snow chains on ice work very well, especially when used with Winter Tyres.

I change all of my cars tyres to Winter tyres in October, the benefits are huge.

Click to expand...

He knows tha knows!

I brought a second hand pair of chains today, Weissenfels Rex-Tr from a firm in Kent. Other than not driving on tarmac, any other advice. Thanks, Ian