(03-01-2021, 08:08 AM)Romahomepete Wrote: Remember wider tyres give less traction in snow.
Peter
That's a bit of a myth, really.
In the early days, thread patterns were ... worse than crap...
And the thought was that narrow tires 'cuts through' to the bottom and grip there.
Yeah, right...
And my aunt was the Norwegian short-track ice racing champion sometime in the 70s with her VW Beetle...
Weird stuff shappens.
But even if she was a champion, that doesn't make the beetle a good winter car...
And it doesn't make narrow tires good, either...
On a SNOW covered road you want wide tires with a good pattern. See those tiny zig-zag cuts going into the knobs on modern winter tires?
Those are what gets you your grip on snow.
You want as many as possible of those over as wide area as possible.
Snow-covered ice?
The same, really, but slow the eff down!
Studs may help a bit, but they're no wonderweapon.
Dry ice?
Eh, keep on driving with the same tires.
Wet ice?
Studs! As many as legal, and in a spread-out pattern. You do NOT want one stud 'cutting a groove' for the next stud to fit into when braking.
If studded tires are out, get a good set of chains to keep in your car. And practice putting them on. Odds are that it's dark, cold and miserable when you have to do it for real. If you know how to do it properly, you look like less of a chum, and also you can get back inside to thaw out your hands so much quicker..
those 'easy on' snowchains can be used most of the time, but remember that they tend to disintegrate quickly, and they're useless on wet ice. Also, if the lock fails or they otherwise shifts, they tend to wrap around the hub and can even take out brake lines.
(Install and tighten, spin the wheels half a turn or more, retighten the chains)
There's also the AutoSock.
These even get traction on wet ice. And they're really easy to fit. So easy that even Jaguar owners buy them...
Mythbusters 'disproved' the myth that it was better to drive in reverse on icy roads...
A pity that they didn't check why it was supposed to be so much better...
It's going uphill.
You get a lot more weight on your drive-wheels, and crucially...
When you lose traction and have to get back down, you'll be driving forwards, not frantically fighting your car to stop it from going off the road ass-first...