17” Steels & tyres just for Alps trips

[sapto]

We got 16" steel wheels on a T5 and some Conti Winter Tyres and some chains from the local store (Migros). Used them quite a lot to get up to the resort in Flumserberg (Police sometimes check).

 

[briwy]

Had a pair of Snow Socks for emergencies but never needed them.

The Snowflake symbol on the All Season tyres is all you need to satisfy the authorities that they are fit for purpose. Certainly the case in Germany, Austria and Italy where we traveled.

Im very wary of snowsocks especially on the van with it's heavy weight. Our avatar is the van outside our place in the Pyrenees a few years ago. When the road eventually opened the police were taking convoys down to the valley if you had chains or snow socks. The car park in the valley was full of people who had used snow socks and they had nearly all disintegrated and wrapped round suspension and driveshafts. The problem is that they are fine on snow but as soon as you get a bit of tarmac they get shredded. I you can take them off immediatley they are ok but in this instance the police didn't allow any stopping to avoid holding up the convoy.

 

[PhilR]

I've just been looking at the Spikes Spider chains and after watching a video on how to fit them I'm more confused than ever!!! They don't look very easy to fit, unless it's just me, and they're also £500+.
So not sure what to do now - maybe just get a set of reasonably priced chains and just keep in the van for emergency/authority satisfying use? We're not really intending to go up snow covered gravel tracks/off piste. We want to go to Switzerland but I've done that (not by car) every year for the last 10 and never seen any snow covered main roads - they don't mess around like this country, they clear the roads pretty quickly. So maybe I'm just panicking over nothing....?

 

[sapto]

Living close by Zug, Andermatt and Lucerne we usually get one or two days with snow covered roads. And on these days it's always better to drive slow and patient rather than beeing in a rush (and wintertyres and easy chains are perfect) even with 4MO. Where do you intend to go?

 

[PhilR]

Living close by Zug, Andermatt and Lucerne we usually get one or two days with snow covered roads. And on these days it's always better to drive slow and patient rather than beeing in a rush (and wintertyres and easy chains are perfect) even with 4MO. Where do you intend to go?

Our friends live in Stechelberg near Lauterbrunnen so that’s where we’ll go. We’ll just take the train and cable cars to get around once we’re there.

 

[sapto]

Our friends live in Stechelberg near Lauterbrunnen so that’s where we’ll go. We’ll just take the train and cable cars to get around once we’re there.

Wonderful place to stay! I guess no need for more than chains

 

[Calimili]

For what it's worth, I run 215/60 R17 summer tyres and found the ride pretty hard. These are the standard Contivan tyres. They are hard as 215/60 need 3.8 bar of pressure min.
I've recently bought a set of 235/55 R17 wintertyres on Ronalr56 alus (3.0 bars). The ride is almost night and day, much more comfortable now.
If you are planning to run steelies with 215 winter tyres, be aware you might experience a much harder ride that you are used to. With the original VW steelies you can only mount 215 tyres if you want to use snow chains, so be aware you may not like the harshness...

 

[PhilR]

For what it's worth, I run 215/60 R17 summer tyres and found the ride pretty hard. These are the standard Contivan tyres. They are hard as 215/60 need 3.8 bar of pressure min.
I've recently bought a set of 235/55 R17 wintertyres on Ronalr56 alus (3.0 bars). The ride is almost night and day, much more comfortable now.
If you are planning to run steelies with 215 winter tyres, be aware you might experience a much harder ride that you are used to. With the original VW steelies you can only mount 215 tyres if you want to use snow chains, so be aware you may not like the harshness...

Great point. When we hired a 6.1 it had 215 tyres and they made the ride quite harsh, much like runflats do to BMW’s. At this moment in time I think I’m going to stick to the Woodstock’s + 235 all weather tyres and see how it goes.