Winter is approaching.

Has anybody experienced driving on snow yet?
A part the tyres that play an important role (the M+S fitted on most models are not really thermal snow tyres), how do you compare your experience with other SUVs or 4x4 cars?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

attox wrote:

Winter is approaching.

Has anybody experienced driving on snow yet?
A part the tyres that play an important role (the M+S fitted on most models are not really thermal snow tyres), how do you compare your experience with other SUVs or 4x4 cars?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stick there terrain response on Snow and head out into the blizzard with a big silly grin from ear to ear

Goldstone69 wrote:

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stick there terrain response on Snow and head out into the blizzard with a big silly grin from ear to ear

Well, yeah..... But terrain response will not be of too much help if your tyres are wrong. (useless)  2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

Quote:

ery important: Choose 16" rims for your tyres. They will give you the best grip

I believe that it's to do with the tyre width - i.e 18" rims are wider than 16" rims.

Lower profile, wide tyres merely "float" on the surface due to the vehicle weight being distributed over a larger surface area.

However in the snow, more grip is obtained with narrower tyres. If you watch the WRC Rally for example - then when they are driving on snow / ice they use very thin tyres to cut into the snow.


Basically - it's pretty sensible to use the correct tyres for a 1800Kg FL2

npinks wrote:

Quote:

ery important: Choose 16" rims for your tyres. They will give you the best grip

Why are smaller rims better than a set of 18" rims, I would have through more tyre making contact would be better

I say this as i have seen those big brutes in Iceland with hugh tyres and there go all over in snow conditions

The easy answer is: More rubber in contact with the snow, -the better the grip.

The recommended tyresize for FL 2 from Land Rover is: 215/75/16.

However, this size does not excist. Pirelli doesnt have this size, and no other "good" tyre-manufactorer either.
So I dont understand why Land Rover recommend a dimension that does practically not excist.

(I found one obscure manufactorer who had this size, but I had never heard of them before.)

So: 225/70/16 is then to be the recommended size for winther-tyres for FL 2.

Re Iceland: Next time you see this, watch not only the rims, but how much rubber is put on the rims.
16" rim would not be too ideal for a tractor......  2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

VIKING wrote:

A test performed here in Norway showed that S+M tyres are totally useless (almost dangerous) on snow and ice. So whatever you do do, dont use that.

Well the snow we had in the UK early this year (it was very bad for a couple of days in Shropshire / Worcs and Herefordshire) was tackled very safely with the stock M&S rated Wrangler HP's in 18" on the D3... she never lost grip once even on the slippery bits where others were having big issues.

Even managed to tow a few cars up these slopes without even the TC kicking in

Our snow is I would guess far wetter than the dryer very cold snow you get over there... probably makes a difference.

Low range also helps a huge amount too... not that you have that option on the FL2.

Just wanted the UK folk here not to panic too much if they have mud and snow rated tyres

Goldstone69 wrote:

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stick there terrain response on Snow and head out into the blizzard with a big silly grin from ear to ear

sorry i should have said.......

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stop ....walk back get there set of 4x4 IceContact (without dubs) in dim: 225/70/16 tyres which they had sensibly purchased earlier in the year change all the tyres then head out into the blizzard (actually 2cm of snow ) with a big silly grin from ear to ear

simon wrote:

VIKING wrote:

A test performed here in Norway showed that S+M tyres are totally useless (almost dangerous) on snow and ice. So whatever you do do, dont use that.

Well the snow we had in the UK early this year (it was very bad for a couple of days in Shropshire / Worcs and Herefordshire) was tackled very safely with the stock M&S rated Wrangler HP's in 18" on the D3... she never lost grip once even on the slippery bits where others were having big issues.

Just wanted the UK folk here not to panic too much if they have mud and snow rated tyres

That could be. Maybe if you only have a little bit of snow for a short period of time. Wet & slushy, -melting away at once.

Here the tyre-tests are performede in severe winther-conditions on:

Snow. Lots & lots of snow.
Ice: Slippery and wet, and dry ice. Often performed on frozen lakes both for snow and ice.
Asfalt: Dry and wet.

No tyres are perfect for all conditions, so everyone has to evaluate for one self which conditions is most applicable.

But the ones concidered overall best is Conti, Nokian, Bridgestone and Michellin. Michellin not so good for SUV's though.

Here are some photoes

http://www.motor.no/tester/dekk/article164070.ece

Wanna take a spin?  2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

Goldstone69 wrote:

Goldstone69 wrote:

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stick there terrain response on Snow and head out into the blizzard with a big silly grin from ear to ear

Not likely to get any snow until January/February even then it won`t be much but i can guarantee two things will happen 1. The country will grind to a halt 2. FL2 owners will rush out to there cars stop ....walk back get there set of 4x4 IceContact (without dubs) in dim: 225/70/16 tyres which they had sensibly purchased earlier in the year change all the tyres then head out into the blizzard (actually 2cm of snow ) with a big silly grin from ear to ear

Hmmm... I really think you got it right. You only forgot to mention your skies heading back for the tyres.  2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

see picture 10 - does this look wide or narrow .........

Quote:

Hmmm... I really think you got it right. You only forgot to mention your skies heading back for the tyres.

skis no way i`ll be snowboarding (will also pack huskies and sled just in case)

Goldstone69 wrote:

Quote:

Hmmm... I really think you got it right. You only forgot to mention your skies heading back for the tyres.

skis no way i`ll be snowboarding (will also pack huskies and sled just in case)

For two centimetres of snow? Hmmm... I'm still having my summer-tyres on then.  2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

VIKING wrote:

npinks wrote:

Quote:

ery important: Choose 16" rims for your tyres. They will give you the best grip

Why are smaller rims better than a set of 18" rims, I would have through more tyre making contact would be better

I say this as i have seen those big brutes in Iceland with hugh tyres and there go all over in snow conditions

The easy answer is: More rubber in contact with the snow, -the better the grip.

The recommended tyresize for FL 2 from Land Rover is: 215/75/16.

However, this size does not excist. Pirelli doesnt have this size, and no other "good" tyre-manufactorer either.
So I dont understand why Land Rover recommend a dimension that does practically not excist.

(I found one obscure manufactorer who had this size, but I had never heard of them before.)

So: 225/70/16 is then to be the recommended size for winther-tyres for FL 2.