Winter wheels for the ZS EV

[Mike]

Hi all,
I’ve just uploaded another video on fitting winter wheels.

 

[AbuG]

Winter wheels are nice, especially moreso on rear wheel drive cars. I'm selling some used ones for BMW E90 if anyone interested.

Being in the Midlands, we at the most get a week of snow only. This time I bought some snow socks on Friday night when the snow started and recieved on Sunday. Amazon had a £5 off offer at the time too, so paid £37. The next day the seller put the price up to £89. Not had reason to try them yet so can't comment on how good they are.
So that is another option for people to consider depending on their circumstances.

 

[Mike]

The front wheel drive cars I drive past in the video could have gone with some winter tyres!

Snow socks a great, but a pain to take on and off in the freezing cold. Cheaper than winter tyres or tyres like Michelin CrossClimate tyres definitely, but when the temperatures drop below 7°C for many weeks, they are much safer to drive on.

 

[Deleted member 2439]

Some years ago I‘d just acquired a Mk4 Mondeo. It was late sept and the car had totally rubbish tyres fitted - with me needing reliable wheels for work over the coming 6 months or so. Being self employed and driving some 500 miles a week to from Hants meant getting decent tyres. By pure fluke I happened across a set of Michelin cross climates on Mondeo steel wheels for a very good price. These were absolutely superb and lasted well into the spring.

The only observation was that they wore faster than normal tyres - probably by a third I’d say.

I‘ve not dallied with winter tyres again since as I’ve not really had the need - but would totally recommend the Michelin offering if theres a need.

 

[macd2401]

It never ceases to dismay me that people can't seem to realise how important it is to have decent tyres for the conditions. My last car had all seasons fitted within a week of purchase, and from past experience, I regard that as an absolutely essential minimum. Driving during the Beast from the East wasn't necessarily fun, but it was a damn sight easier with tyres that actually worked in the snow.

It's a bit annoying to be pulling off essentially brand new rubber to make the change, but that's what I'll be doing ASAP.

 

[Kithmo]

It never ceases to dismay me that people can't seem to realise how important it is to have decent tyres for the conditions. My last car had all seasons fitted within a week of purchase, and from past experience, I regard that as an absolutely essential minimum. Driving during the Beast from the East wasn't necessarily fun, but it was a damn sight easier with tyres that actually worked in the snow.

It's a bit annoying to be pulling off essentially brand new rubber to make the change, but that's what I'll be doing ASAP.

It is important if you do the miles, but being retired and only doing 3k miles a year, it's cheaper and more convenient just to not go out if it's snowing, unless you have to of course.

 

[shikoku14]

I've put all season tyres on every EV I've had, its a combination of living on a steep hill, with an uphill curving driveway to get up to my garage off the road and eco tyres being rubbish with the torque of EVs (more of the latter, as we only have a few weeks of really bad winter weather on average that summer tyres aren't ok for).

As an aside for practicality in the Wintery conditions like we have currently, tyre manufacturers need to start working with EV manufacturers to develop tyres that have low rolling resistance and can deal with the torque sent to the wheels, and compromise on efficiency if the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[Mike]

I went up one of the hills I couldn’t get up last time it snowed when I had CrossClimates on today.....

What was interesting is that the wheels do spin, but then grip and just kept on going up the hill.

 

[macd2401]

Just moved my car to the on street charging in Glasgow...let's just say that was entertaining on the standard rubber

I've been using Hankook all seasons for the last 4 years on my old Golf, and it was never a problem ploughing through inches of snow, even during Beast from the East. Compare that to 10 mins ago, and the Primacys are woefully out of their depth

 

[Mike]

Just moved my car to the on street charging in Glasgow...let's just say that was entertaining on the standard rubber

I've been using Hankook all seasons for the last 4 years on my old Golf, and it was never a problem ploughing through inches of snow, even during Beast from the East. Compare that to 10 mins ago, and the Primacys are woefully out of their depth

Agreed