winter driving: sales of antifreeze and snow chains up

I've used winter tyres for years. I was told these particular ones were suitable all year round, so I didn't take them off in the summer. Did we have a summer? I remember two hot weeks, LOL. Perhaps that's the wrong thing to do; would a summer set would be better in the summer? It would save needless wear of the winter ones I suppose.

They didn't seem particularly expensive when I had them changed last time but I have a small car (c3), so perhaps that's why? I never bought SWMBO a set for her car and I've gone to look for some now and they seem to be about £100 per tyre. It's only a vauxhall astra. Have the prices gone up because of demand or is it just because they are larger tyres?

The handbook says the car can have any of:

It claims that the last two are best for fuel economy.

Am I right to think that for snow tyres the smaller the width the better (more weight over a smaller area = better grip?). If so, the

Thanks, Stephen.

I agree, but I can't believe people are lying on tier drives changing it in this weather!

I hadn't thought of that. Are all deicers the same? I'm guessing so. I use the aerosol one simply because you can get RSI from pumping the non-aerosol ones ;)

TBH, I don't use much of the stuff. I found long ago that it was cheaper to use a scraper. I use some cheap plastic scraper (I image they're all much the same too?) to clear the windows and only use the spray on the lights, so as not to scratch them.

The deicer says it works down to -15C so it might stop working soon!

I've been quite impressed that none of our washer jets had froze until this morning but it was -13C! I can see that the engine heats the front ones but I had expected the rear ones to freeze and they never did until today.

Me too. I looked at their web site last year but I couldn't see any prices. I think it's one of those things if you have to ask how much, you can't afford it! I think they're two-three hundred pounds?

I'd quite like a Ford windscreen too.

Thanks, Stephen.

Ok. I guess I'll start taking a spade with me then. Or should that be a shovel ;)

Of course, it sounds like it's only any use if there's someone to drive and someone to dig, so no use if you're on your own.

Sorry, I forgot to say, I'm thinking of getting one of those car covers to keep the frost of my car. That will save time scraping. Are they any good?

Thanks, Stephen.

Stephen gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

No, you're absolutely right. They're the wrong solution to a misunderstanding of the problem.

No, you should have been rushing (several months ago) to order a set of winter tyres instead.

Getting through packed ice or snow to the tarmac underneath, so you can get grip. Or digging the loose snow out to help the AA man tow your car out of the ditch you've gone into because you've got no grip.

Anti-freeze should be renewed on a routine basis, the time scale depends on the maker, every few (2 - 10) years is common practise. They probably mean de-icer. I can well imagine that many people have tried to buy snow-chains, and because it is the UK there are not many on the shelves. A shovel and some old sacks can be very useful if you get stuck, usually after you have parked somewhere. Whether you need snow chains, winter tyres, studs or whatever really depends on where you live and whether you really need to go anywhere. The only winter gadget I would really like to have is one of those kenlowe(?) units that warms the engine coolant up and turns on the heater so the car is defrosted and warmed up BEFORE you go outside to it.

In message , Stephen writes

If you are in a really bad spot t can clear enough in front of your wheels to get forward momentum. I've carried one since the first snow fell here, after past experiences.

On one occasion when we were out walking in about a foot of snow in Goyt Valley a woman drove down the steep lane (which the snowplough had barely cleared), to the reservoir at the bottom.

We were walking up the lane to our car which we had parked at the top for obvious reasons when we found her stuck halfway up, with two young kids in the back. She had failed to get in touch with her husband or anyone else due to no mobile signal.

We walked up to my car, got the spade out of the boot, and walked back down, digging the snow away each time she got stuck until she got proper traction.

Another idea for getting moving from bad spot is to have two old mats in the boot, stick them under the driving wheels to get some grip. If you attach them to the car on a string you can drag them behind you until you're out of the bad stuff. ;-)

Stephen gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Yes, and you'll also get lower rolling resistance (so better fuel economy), less noise, better ride quality and more grip.

I've seen reports of prices doubling and tripling last week... Can't think why.

Slightly greater circumference, so "travel further" for each revolution of the wheel. I'm not sure it'll make a significant difference, tbh.

INCOMING! Sorry - it's an old debate. Some people believe that basic gas laws apply to tyres, others don't.

I'd be amazed if 10-20mm of tread width made any practical difference.

Whichever you can most easily get a decent brand of. I'd probably stick with the 15s, tbh, unless you happen to have a spare set of 16" rims kicking about.

they are fine if you have somewhere to put it when it is not on the car, and that means not in the boot, since it will be freezing and later wet.

You can't always park near an electrical outlet though. Some diesels eg luxury models and ones for the Scandinavian market, are fitted with fuel-burning heaters.

I live on a single track, country lane, which is rarely gritted or visited by a snow plough. At this time of year I carry a huge snow shovel which I put to good use last year when digging out a car blocking our road so that I could get home in my trusty Peugeot 306 with snow chains :) - best ever buy at =A33.50 from a charity shop :D

I'd have a set at that price, last ones I saw a price for was a small fortune, and I don't suppose they are cheaper now.

Are they really worth buying given that we rarely get heavy snowfalls

marpate1 gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Some people might say that was overpriced for a French car...

I meant the fuel running version, they are about 300 quid for petrol or diesel

I have a cheap fan heater attached to an extension cord run out through the letterbox of my house which runs on a timer plug. It doesn't circulate any coolant but the car is defrosted and warm (ish) when I get in.

The warmth mostly lasts long enough so the heater starts to blow warm air and my drive to work is toasty and generally ice free.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Mrcheerful" saying something like:

Some price, those are - 275quid or so. I was looking for a humble 220/240V block heater last week and couldn't find zip at a sane price this side of the pond. In the US, block heaters are 25 ~ 40 dollars. Instead, I bought a Yankee 220V 1kW tank heater, which plumbs into the heater circuit and circulates the block water. I hope that some convection will take place from the heater matrix and warm the screen, too.

I have got a mains block heater that goes into the bottom hose, I understand they were fitted to fire engines when they had jaguar engines in.

I put a outdoor socket on my porch for the same purpose. Yesterday I had to go out early, at 4am I put the 2kw heater on inside the car, went and walked the dogs, and after an hour there was still ice and snow on the windows. So I still had to get some warm water out to clear the screens to leave at