winter tyre spray

I have been running continetal winter contacts all year around now. It is mentioned in a few reviews they do seem to aquaplane now they are worn. The grip and feel is quite progessive (as it should be on a 1.6 focus) and I have never really had any brown trouser moments with them.

I do think they wear faster, but then the grip in the snow was orders of magnitude better, living and having to commute into and out of the sticks each day via hilly roads i was shocked by how good they was last year.

I fully intend to replace the fronts next month with another set of Conti-Wintercontacts for the forth comming winter.

Like any other tyre they perfom best on snow when new. I am sure i haven mentioned it but during last winters snow i managed to drive around a stuck 4×4, which might have more to do with the other drivers skill than the tyres, but still.

Tesco Tyres are the cheapest I have found, but i do have the luxury of free access to a tyre fitting machine.

I do recommend Rain Experts - as I have them on my MX5. I have done 6 track days, one Euro trip and a few thousand UK road miles with them on

- and they still aren't on the markers.

I had them put on in Feb. just before a track day at Oulton Park - so I drove there, did around 100 track miles (before the snow came) and drove back on them - on the way back, the snow came down quite heavily, but I managed a trip through mid Wales with no dramas and was by far the quickest car on the snow and slush - when the traffic all bunched up near Merthyr, I found traction where people were struggling in some 4x4s on road biased tyres. This was in my MX5, too, which is a less than ideal car for snowy conditions.

Mine are 185/60R14 sized and my local independent tyre emporium charged me £48 incl. fitting to loose wheels. They wanted £2 per wheel more if the wheels were on the car.

Fred pretended :

I use an ice mat - actually meant for putting on your path to walk on but works wonders under the car wheels too:

In the early 1970's when I worked in an auto electrician's shop. Holts brought out a spray called Liquid Tyre Chain. If you got stuck and sprayed your tyres with it, it got you out of trouble. It lasted until you were driving on dry roads again. I also found it good for spraying on my shoe soles because it stopped me from slipping. If you stood in one place to long it was hard to move your feet. This new stuff is perhaps a similar thing.