my L405 in the snow - V - old L322 with winter tyres

[grand cherokee]

well this morning with at least 6" of snow I took out my 'new' (to me) L405 fitted with Pirelli Scorpion All Season tyres (max tread as only cover 150 miles)

with the Terrain Response in the appropriate mode it was fine getting up a steep hill where others had abandoned their cars

but when I compare it with the old L322 (I've just sold) which was fitted with Vredestein Wintrac 4 tyres it was not nearly as competent or sure footed

so ten years of technological advances have not been able to get the new car with All Season tyres to perform as well as the old fitted with winter tyres!

thankfully, I just replaced my 20" wheels with 21" wheels so have a spare set of wheels to which I'm going to fit Vredestein Winter tyres - just waiting for my tyre shop to come back with prices/availability

[paintman]

As with all things LR its usually the tyres or the drivers ability that restrict what it can do!

[grand cherokee]

paintman said:

As with all things LR its usually the tyres or the drivers ability that restrict what it can do!

very true, but not sure its restricted to LR?

a few years ago had a brand new BMW X5 as a courtesy car - and then came the snow - it was truly dreadful - tried everything including switching off various functions as recommended by BMW and dropping tyre pressures - all to no avail

in the end rang BMW UK who agreed I'd done all possible and that the fault lay with the tyres

the problem is that the all season tyres tread is getting 'blocked' by snow whereas the Vredesteins with a different tread pattern were 'self clearing'

you watch - I get winter tyres fitted and it will be the warmest winter in the last 100 years

[paintman]

Not just LR as you rightly say.
Often hear 'But its a 4x4, they're not supposed to get stuck'. Quick look at the tyres usually discloses road tyres with the treads full of mud or packed snow effectively making them slicks

[grand cherokee]

paintman said:

Not just LR as you rightly say.
Often hear 'But its a 4x4, they're not supposed to get stuck'. Quick look at the tyres usually discloses road tyres with the treads full of mud or packed snow effectively making them slicks

oh so true

it can be 10 x 10 but if there is no grip via the tyres you are going nowhere

[CSK1]

grand cherokee said:

so ten years of technological advances have not been able to get the new car with All Season tyres to perform as well as the old fitted with winter tyres!

Ten years of technological advances doesn't dispense you of fitting a car with the right tyres for the condition. This I'm afraid will never change as it is the tyres which are your only contact with the road. Better have 2WD with winter tyres than a 4WD with summer or all-season tyres.
I choose 4WD with proper winter tyres for maximum safety.

[A.J.M]

So with winter tyres, your new car will be better than your old car then.

[camel_landy]

No matter how advanced, you can't break the rules of physics...

M

[Sarge 4x4]

So you are looking to fit Vredestein Wintrac's to the 20" or 21" ? What size ?

[grand cherokee]

Sarge 4x4 said:

So you are looking to fit Vredestein Wintrac's to the 20" or 21" ? What size ?

to 20" wheels

I gather there are now several different Vredestein Winter tyres for 4 x 4's?

any preference please?

[grand cherokee]

interesting driving at 6am today

main and particularly side roads are frozen rutted/compacted snow and ice but the car felt far more sure footed than in fresh snow

went up a long steep hill with no difficulty and when braking the ABS did not activate - so seems these tyres are OK with ice?

still going to get Vredesteins to be extra safe

[CSK1]

Going uphill is not so much of a problem with all-season tyres, it is going downhill on an icy road because you won't benefit of any traction. Just a lot of weight going down, that's when the added grip of winter tyres should help.

[V8 Fettler]

For snow, you need snow tyres http://www.tyremen.co.uk/range/vredestein-winter-t... Cut through the snow but sound like distant Panzers on tarmac!

[CSK1]

Probably better to stick to Land Rover approved winter tyres for your L405 as they have been tested and developed specifically for your car. I have Continental Winter CrossContact as that is the only JLR approved tyre for my wheel size, 22 inch Style 7.
They're not noisy at all.

[V8 Fettler]

Winter tyres are not snow tyres. Approved by Land Rover? Made by Land Rover, improved by the owner...

[grand cherokee]

V8 Fettler said:

For snow, you need snow tyres http://www.tyremen.co.uk/range/vredestein-winter-t... Cut through the snow but sound like distant Panzers on tarmac!

my L322 had the Wintrac 4 Xtreme and they sounded the same as the Continental Cross Contacts I used in the summer

if you look on the various LR/RR/Disco forums many people run their cars all year round on the Vredesteins

[grand cherokee]

V8 Fettler said:

Winter tyres are not snow tyres. Approved by Land Rover? Made by Land Rover, improved by the owner...

oh so true - testing done by customers

[Snozzer]

I run Wintrac 4 on my L322 all year round, no problems with noise but they do wear on the edges. Mine are 18's, so deform a bit more in the corner than bigger wheels.

[V8 Fettler]

grand cherokee said:

V8 Fettler said:

For snow, you need snow tyres http://www.tyremen.co.uk/range/vredestein-winter-t... Cut through the snow but sound like distant Panzers on tarmac!

my L322 had the Wintrac 4 Xtreme and they sounded the same as the Continental Cross Contacts I used in the summer

if you look on the various LR/RR/Disco forums many people run their cars all year round on the Vredesteins

Wintrac is not a snow tyre, Snowtrac is a snow tyre (more extreme than Wintrac, but noisy and a bit wobbly in warmer weather, wouldn't want to run them in the UK summer)

[EC2]

CSK1 said:

Probably better to stick to Land Rover approved winter tyres for your L405 as they have been tested and developed specifically for your car. I have Continental Winter CrossContact as that is the only JLR approved tyre for my wheel size, 22 inch Style 7.
They're not noisy at all.

Agree completely. When I bought my new Discovery I bought a set of Goodyear Ultragrip which is the approved winter tyre for the 19" wheels on my car. On my old D3 there was no winter tyre mentioned so I bought Wintrac Extremes and they were great but now that LR is recommending specific tyres I have decided to go with them if only for insurance purposes. Day to day in the winter there is little difference all season to winter tyre wise but in ice and/or snow you do notice it IMHO especially under braking/cornering.