I took the BX our for a drive in the snow

[Philip Chidlow]

My advice would be replace your tyres with Riken (Michelin budget winter tyres) or Nokian tyres, both of which I've had experience of and even in summer (UK) temperatures, work fine. You might lose a third in longevity, against harder summer tyres but handling, performance and economy won't really suffer. Noisier though, but hey.

[MULLEY]

Can't you store the 2nd set of wheels outside under cover? If not, then perhaps the best bet are hybrid tyres that are a cross between summer & winter & so offer some of the benefits of both. Personally i think they are too compromised in performance for summer & winter use, that's why i've got 2 sets of wheels with different types of tyre on, but if storage really is an issue, then perhaps that might be your best bet?

[Dollywobbler]

From a report I saw recently, there's very little difference between all season tyres and winter tyres, but both are far better in cold conditions.

[Dollywobbler]

i turned off a main road which had been salted, the minor road looked a bit shiny, so i did a throttle test which spun up the wheels & then i did a brake test, it was pretty slippy in both tests, however, there was plenty of grip if used the throttle gently & if a braked softly as well.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. Rachel gets quite alarmed when I give it a bootfull and the car starts wheelspinning. It's the only way to check traction though, even if it does make you like you've got no throttle control!

As an aside, in the 2CV, you can very easily feel through the steering wheel when you hit ice. I 'felt' the ice on the main road near here in 2010, even though I was travelling in a straight line at the time. I immediately eased off and at the next bend, the back end stepped out slightly - easy to catch. The car behind, which had been closing on me at a rate of knots, went VERY sideways. He also caught it, but he didn't seem in quite such a hurry after that...

PAS robs you of a lot of that kind of feel so people don't realise that the grip has gone until it's far too late...

[electrokid]

PAS robs you of a lot of that kind of feel

Not neccessarily... depends on the design - early PS on Jaguars (my dad worked on the initial designs) were notorious for not being able to feel a damn thing. I don't find the BX too bad at all whereas the Granny is awesome - very light but you can feel everything.

[Dollywobbler]

The BX is pretty darned good - my Bluebird was hopeless - but you still lose feel compared to non-assisted steering. It's what you're used to as well. After years of PAS, I thought my Pug 306 was really good. Then my wife tried it after years of non-PAS and hated the lack of feel. I got in her AX and hated the way the steering weighted up so much in bends (the 309 I owned earlier this year was the same).

[citsncycles]

hated the way the steering weighted up so much in bends

Something tells you wouldn't like the GS then.

[Dollywobbler]

Well, I can cope with a 2CV!

[Wooscary]

I can really feel loss of traction on ice etc on a fixed gear bike, it's amazingly easy to correct as well. Good fun.

I'll look in to what they've got at my local professional tyre establishment (they're actually not too bad so far). If I run winter tyres through the whole year will they set on fire?

[electrokid]

I'll look in to what they've got at my local professional tyre establishment (they're actually not too bad so far). If I run winter tyres through the whole year will they set on fire?

You'll get much more choice on-line - I use http://www.tyremen.co.uk/ where you can buy on-line or by phone, and they will deliver to you or to your local tyre centre of choice. For choice of tyre check out the winter snow races in places like Norway where the tyre manufacturers have a vested interest and extensive involvement.

Actually I haven't changed anything since I put the snow tyres on in the winter of 2009 If the tyres are hot - ie in hot sunny weather, and suddenly encounter wet road conditions they can be surprisingly slippery - I've only experienced this a couple of times but you do need to be ready for it or you'll fall off the road. All other circumstances they are very grippy. I don't do many miles these days so they haven't worn out - the BX is very kind to its tyres anyway.

I got in her AX and hated the way the steering weighted up so much in bends

I recently drove a friend's Japanese car * don't know what it is but it's small and tall to accomodate her disabled buggy - the steering on that tightened up in corners - worse than a BX in cold weather before the PS has woken up - nearly caught me out a couple of times !

* Edit - Hyundai 'Move'

[MULLEY]

TBH, if you run winter tyres all year, they'll be nackered within the year i reckon, as the temp get hotter, the rubber gets softer & softer, the outside of th tyres will just go bald, you'd have to drive pretty sedately to make them last more than a year.

[Wooscary]

And what do you make of tyres marked M+S? Is this the same as "all season" or suchlike?

[MULLEY]

No idea tbh, what make & model are your tyres? Best then to google them to find out what they are, i'm sure i've seen tyres with all sorts of markings on them which don't relate to what you think they might. M & S normally used to mean Mud & Snow, which i thought weren't really proper winter tyres, but a summer tyre with a specific tread pattern that is more nobbly than a normal tyre which gives it more grip in mud & snow conditions, i think 4x4 tyres are like that.

[Wooscary]

They are "Falken", which I've been told are regarded as fairly awful, but no idea of the truth in that.

[MULLEY]

Falken what though? I'd need to know the model number & also the date stamp(code) to determine exactly what you've got. The date code should be a 4 digit number, or if they are a bit older a 3 digit number.