I'm supposed to be driving from Norfolk to Middlesbrough tomorrow for a wedding on Saturday.
I took the Mini for a spin around the village to see what things are like - some packed ice/snow, some gritted road and as it turns out some ungritted, drifted & packed snow data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7.
Turns out the snow traction is much better than the previous Bridgestones.
Also turns out that the ground clearance on a Mini Cooper S is not good enough to clear more than a couple of inches of drifted snow.Ended up comprehensively stuck data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Discovered that the Traction Control switch doesn't really disable TCS and you can hardly spin the wheels to rock yourself out of a hole.It turns the wheels a bit then it brakes the wheel and starts to slip the clutch instead data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Ended up towed out backwards by a 1985 Landrover - nice chap, glad he was passing.
Took the MkV Golf GTi out Michelin Pilot Sport 4 - not pleasant.All over the shop on the packed ice/snow, didn't try the road I got stuck on for very obvious reasons data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
If Minis are like a BMW, a quick press of the TC button disables TC and a 3 second press turns off TC AND DSC. Give that a try. And needless to say, forget about 1st gear, pull away in 2nd.
I was out in the 335 earlier and trying to pull away in 1st was pointless, but 2nd, no worries.
Useful info - I was in the process of pulling the fuse when the Defender came to my rescue!
TC button is like snow mode on BMW's, I use it all the time in cold weather to help get going that little bit quicker.
I put a set of CrossClimates on my V70 in November, my first 'old man' tyre decision which has turned out to be one of my best! data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I've normally always used either Toyo T1s or Goodyear F1s which although great tyres are both terrible in slippy conditions, the CrossClimates are positively naughty in comparison.
I had a little drag race with a friend yesterday on a snowed out industrial estate road, him in his mapped Audi TTr and me in £3000 worth of FWD Volvo..
I hit the finish line at about the same time as he started moving forwards heheh. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Used the Golf to collect my partner from the station around 5pm - no taxis - hit some drifted snow on the B roads closing them to one lane, which would have been fine except for the Navara towing a livestock trailer coming the other way - needless to say he couldn't reverse and my FWD car behaved like a RWD going backwards in the snow.
Now I have the choice of taking the low car with CrossClimates or the better clearance with worse grip Pilot Sports.
Most of the journey is dual carriageway A road so I'm thinking the Golf is better.
And I know some of you think we should give in but the trains aren't running and I believe that death wouldn't be an adequate reason to miss the niece's wedding data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
How do the crossclimates wear compared to other tyres? Are they still OK in the summer?
I've got them on my VW Caddy, so far I've done about 14,000 miles and the fronts have around 5mm left.
Definitely better than the Vredestein Quatrac 3's I had on before, although they were better in slippery conditions, including muddy roads.
Sounds promising and may well look to get them next time I need new tyres.
Also looking at these as my rears need changing. Fwd so worth sticking them on the front? Front tyres still have about 4mm thread