Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Mr Skrunts on 08 November 2009, 17:26:05
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I dont do that much driving anyway, last time out I had a play with the car in all modes, TC on/off and winter mode on/off and a combination of the 2. I tried it on a slight incline with a of iced over snow.
The car was truly pathetic no matter what I did.
Yes I have a better chance in snow, bit of extra weight in the boot, or even just a full tank of fuel (half full no good - might slosh arround and break traction (even though it may be baffles))
Can lower tyre pressures etc. (Not quite sure what PSI would actually be best)
Any way just replied to a thread on michelin pilots and found they have tread variations. This pattern caught my eye, ot a winter tyre, but not a s sporty as the other designes (more grippy tread on out side with smooth band in middle etc)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/195-50-15-Michelin-Pilot-SX-1955015-Part-Worn-x-2_W0QQitemZ320442796453QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cars_Tyres_RL?hash=item4a9be109a5
With this more intense pattern in mind it got me thinking of winter tyres, or a set of road tyres more suitable for winter.
I have a spare set of rims for each car, and dont mind even going to a full set of mus and snow tyres for the snow use if the weather gets bad ( as I have to come in via the country side to were I live now - part of the journey if I vist some of my mates is not a bus route so require quite a detour to get home)
What do members recommned.
Road/winter tyres wise
and depending on cost, even full winter tyres.
Also which would fair better.
GLS wheels on 15" rubber
or
Eliite wheels on 16" rubber.
TIA. :y
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I got some all season tyres when I was in germany and they are great! It is very hard to spin the back wheels any more even in the wet. They were only 55€ a pop too! No extra noise either. I just hope I can get the same over here, otherwise I may have to have a trip to the Fatherland :y
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I got some all season tyres when I was in germany and they are great! It is very hard to spin the back wheels any more even in the wet. They were only 55€ a pop too! No extra noise either. I just hope I can get the same over here, otherwise I may have to have a trip to the Fatherland :y
They sound interesting. What make were they?
All season makes sece, am off to have a look round.
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imho,these are worth checking
Gislaved: (they are very good)
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/gislaved/automobile/themes/pc_tyres/winter/nord_frost_5/technical_details_nf5_en.html
bridgestone blizzak: (I'm using them)
http://www.bridgestone.com/products/passenger_tires/blizzak/index.html
goodyear ultragrip 7+ (I'm using UG 500 on miggy and they are great but production finished and 7+ is a better model)
http://eu.goodyear.com/tr_tr/tires/repository/UltraGrip7/index.jsp
here is ug 500 (studded)
http://eu.goodyear.com/tr_tr/tires/repository/UltraGrip500/index.jsp
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All season sound good --- snow and ice around this fair land is patchy and is only on the ground for a few days effectively, so a more versatile set of rubber would be better than a dedicated set.
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All season sound good --- snow and ice around this fair land is patchy and is only on the ground for a few days effectively, so a more versatile set of rubber would be better than a dedicated set.
blizzaks are also very good on dry.. :y
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I got some all season tyres when I was in germany and they are great! It is very hard to spin the back wheels any more even in the wet. They were only 55€ a pop too! No extra noise either. I just hope I can get the same over here, otherwise I may have to have a trip to the Fatherland :y
They sound interesting. What make were they?
All season makes sece, am off to have a look round.
Found em :y
http://www.tyresite.com/product.asp?numPageStartPosition=1&P_ID=1154&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&strSearchCriteria=&PT_ID=32
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imho, I dont like all season tires..
not efficient in summer and also on ice..
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imho, I dont like all season tires..
not efficient in summer and also on ice..
Not had any probs on these at all during last summer, great in the wet too. I seem to be getting a bit of understeer in the wet from the lesser able front tyres. Oversteer seems to be gone in the wet and dry no matter how hard I try
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I tried it on a slight incline with a of iced over snow.
What do members recommned.
No amount of electronics (which were only invented for those who can't read the road IMO), or choice of rubber is going to help you on an ice surface.
IMO the best you can hope for is that you know how your car performs under given conditions, and you drive accordingly.
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I tried it on a slight incline with a of iced over snow.
What do members recommned.
No amount of electronics (which were only invented for those who can't read the road IMO), or choice of rubber is going to help you on an ice surface.
IMO the best you can hope for is that you know how your car performs under given conditions, and you drive accordingly.
Very Wise words :y
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Totally agree KW
Deep snow I have no problem witk especially when it's fresh. But we havent had that sort of snow since the 70's and 80's.
Last 3 cars have been Carlton/Omega auto's but have not had the snow to go out and play. ::) hence seeing/trying out traction options ifitted to the car.
I certainly have no need to out if I dont want to, but now that I have a garage and outbuilds I have the chance to summer/winter tyres options and store the spare set. Which is what I am looking into at the moment.
THere is of course the other option of snow chains, last year Debs posted up a thread about hers for use on the farm etc. These could well be the better option and would be in the car if the case of us having a sudden snow fall caught us out like it has done in the past.
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Summer or winter..........I find my Wanli Ditchfinders ::) ::).....pretty good.........at only £50 ...a corner... :y
I presume that they are a hard compound.....so even if they don't grip like the best premium tyres......at least they should last quite well.... :y :y
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
If you can only get the car to do what you want, when you want in the winter months only....maybe it's time to reappraise just how much control you have ;)
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
If you can only get the car to do what you want, when you want in the winter months only....maybe it's time to reappraise just how much control you have ;)
Never said i could not do it in the summer, but winter = free donuts. :y
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
I understand that you dont have snow problem Tunnie ;D
Here, in this city winter snow mostly catch us at midnight and the next morning its impossible to clean everywhere at once.. so you are on your own with the snow :-/ and I dont like skating with a 1.5 ton car..
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
I understand that you dont have snow problem Tunnie ;D
Here, in this city winter snow mostly catch us at midnight and the next morning its impossible to clean everywhere at once.. so you are on your own with the snow :-/ and I dont like skating with a 1.5 ton car..
So far in about 9 years of driving, only encountered serious snow twice. Last year was the worst, when we had that big dump.
I just worked from home, no point going in.
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
I understand that you dont have snow problem Tunnie ;D
Here, in this city winter snow mostly catch us at midnight and the next morning its impossible to clean everywhere at once.. so you are on your own with the snow :-/ and I dont like skating with a 1.5 ton car..
So far in about 9 years of driving, only encountered serious snow twice. Last year was the worst, when we had that big dump.
I just worked from home, no point going in.
you are lucky..
I have two options , by metro or car.. as I wake up generally late (with surprise) metro takes long time..
so within 2 weeks I'll make both cars ready with snow tires..
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
I understand that you dont have snow problem Tunnie ;D
Here, in this city winter snow mostly catch us at midnight and the next morning its impossible to clean everywhere at once.. so you are on your own with the snow :-/ and I dont like skating with a 1.5 ton car..
So far in about 9 years of driving, only encountered serious snow twice. Last year was the worst, when we had that big dump.
I just worked from home, no point going in.
Did we have snow last year. FFS, that was just a dusting.
In the 70's we usded to open the door to be met with a white wall of snow and 2/3 feet of snow on the ground. "The good ol days" 8-)
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
If you can only get the car to do what you want, when you want in the winter months only....maybe it's time to reappraise just how much control you have ;)
Never said i could not do it in the summer, but winter = free donuts. :y
Why would you want to cause the car to lose grip to start with?
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whats the point in grippy winter tyres? Whole point in RWD is you can pull donuts in the winter ;D
I understand that you dont have snow problem Tunnie ;D
Here, in this city winter snow mostly catch us at midnight and the next morning its impossible to clean everywhere at once.. so you are on your own with the snow :-/ and I dont like skating with a 1.5 ton car..
So far in about 9 years of driving, only encountered serious snow twice. Last year was the worst, when we had that big dump.
I just worked from home, no point going in.
Did we have snow last year. FFS, that was just a dusting.
In the 70's we usded to open the door to be met with a white wall of snow and 2/3 feet of snow on the ground. "The good ol days" 8-)
Got to remember i am 'sprog' ;D
Last year was the biggest dump i have ever seen, on one of the days i made it in, i was 3rd in the office. I commuted 80 miles on train and car, people 5 miles away could not get in ;D
Apart from the phone, everything i do at the office is remote based, and i could do it anywhere! So no real urgency to get into the office.
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I tried it on a slight incline with a of iced over snow.
What do members recommned.
No amount of electronics (which were only invented for those who can't read the road IMO), or choice of rubber is going to help you on an ice surface.
IMO the best you can hope for is that you know how your car performs under given conditions, and you drive accordingly.
I agree entirely. Lost the back end of my omega on a roundabout in the wet about two years ago. I wasn't messing around, omegas are sh!te in the wet. Anyway, got it straight back with a reverse twitch of the front wheels. The missus was amazed, didn't know what even happened. But she's never driven a rear wheel drive, and neither have many youngsters these days.
That little event taught me exactly what the car would and wouldn't do in the wet, and there's no substitute for experience.
Edit: I had cr@p tyres on as well. :-[
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Have tested to find the break away point in the wet and dry in my car, (have done that on most cars over the years) even had it sideways on a mini S bend setup locally where I can see the whole road and surroundings quite a way.
Even tested the limits of one of the cars suspension by seeing if it could fly and how soft the landing was (impressed - but the car is really too heavy for that sort of thing)
Also learnt (on a few cars now) that the ABS brakes need a good sharp stab every now and again. Have had the wheels lock up for longer than they should till the ABS realised it actually had a job to do.
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omegas are sh!te in the wet.
I knew that before I bought ours Steve.
The sheer physical size, combined with the weight, drivetrain arrangement, and suspension setup told me all I needed to know before I even got behind the wheel.
Anyway, got it straight back with a reverse twitch of the front wheels. The missus was amazed, didn't know what even happened. But she's never driven a rear wheel drive, and neither have many youngsters these days.
I'm sure that's why so many of the kids screw up these days mate.
All this front wheel drive, abs, traction control, electronic stability 'dangle berries'.....it's just that, it's 'dangle berries' because it isn't making a driver better....it's just compensating for the shortcomings.
We should forget all this theory and multi choice questions for the driving test, and do the following....
Take one old school M3 with bugger all electronics
Insert test candidate behind wheel
Make test candidate drive in central london (or any other crowded city) for 8 hours in the pissing rain/snow/ice
If they get through the day without screwing up (too much), then they've earned the license!
and there's no substitute for experience.
Spot on :y
I had a slight advantage as I started riding in competition from an early age, but I still f**ked up more than once when I finally got on the road.
Like you say, the ONLY thing that taught me (and still teaches me today) is experience....and there is NO test for that and NEVER will be.