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Snow tyres


jameshub

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I have recently purchase am Ex-MOD Defender which is the fully winterised spec.....damn those radiators in the back get hot quick!!

I'm taking the vehicle to Norway with me and I was after some advise on a good size/make of snow tyre

any recommendations?

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BFG at T/A s or general grabber at/ at2 for all round good purpose grip on varying winter road conditions, assuming your using them not just for the trip.

The cooper discoverer stt are more aggressive MT, slightly cheaper and can be studded?

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depends on your train of thought, wider tyres will have a lighter footprint, narrow tyres will tend to sink in more, depends if you are driving on icy roads powder snow or deep stuff. i.e trying to stay on top of the snow or trying to find something a bit nicer underneath.

If you want to go wider the generals and the BFG's will start to get expensive quickly, The coopers may be a better bet.

P.S G90's even new are pants in snow, for anything other than straight line acceleration I know from experience from a couple of years back, G90 tyres and rain, ice and light snow is not a good combo.

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I thought the opposite during the snow last year - the g90s on my range rover were superb .

I've found them to be mediocre in anything else and actually thought I'd found the thing they were good at.

The wide open tread blocks don't seem to cake up solid with snow

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There is a difference between mud tyres and winter tyres used here in Norway, be careful you don't buy something you cannot use.

I stole the below from another website cos it was quicker than typing it myself but I think it covers most things. We keep our winter tyres at a Tyre hotel and fit them only ........ well during winter :-)

Proper winter tyres tiddle all over mud tyres in the snow, you really will not believe it till you experience it.

Anyway - here's the bit I got from visit Norway which might help:

During the winter, you must drive with winter tyres with or without studs. All-year tyres can also be used. Use of studded tyres is allowed from 1 November until the first Sunday after Easter Sunday. In Nordland, Troms and Finnmark studded tyres are allowed during the period 15 October - 1May. Studded tyres may also be used outside these periods if the weather and road surface conditions make it necessary.

If studded tyres are fitted to a car weighing under 3.5 tonnes, they must be fitted to all four wheels. Vehicles with a permitted total weight of 3.5 tonnes or more, must carry snow chains if ice or snow is expected on the road. These snow chains must fit the vehicle's wheels.

Snow chains can be bought at reasonable prices. Studded tyres can be rented. In Trondheim and Oslo you will have to pay afee of approximately NOK 30 if you drive with studded tyres in the city centre. This restriction has been introduced to limit the pollution produced by studded tyres.

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If you want snow tyres ten go with Nokkian Hakkapaleitas. Night and day difference compared to the AT and mud compromises. Its not just tread but compound that make the difference. You can also have them studded if you run on a lot of ice.

Yep, we are still hitting snow and ice on the mountains in the south west yet in Oslo last week I was in shorts and swimming in the river - 30 degrees c

Winter tyre choice is important and shouldn't be confused with open tread mud stuff.

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Hi James, no I'm from the UK - but commute here for work.

Its a superb place and the people are very friendly if perhaps a little introverted.

Its not a cheap place to live even on expenses but the mountains make it worth it.

There are many km of tracks to explore, I see lots of LR products so I reckon you will find some clubs or groups.

My off roading here is in Land cruiser and Polaris ATV.. and of course the snowmobiles .... and I think they pay me but there are days I'd not worry if they didn't :-)

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Hi,

My Dad has lived in Norway for about 20 years so I've been going there a few times each year for a while. I agree its a stunning place and spent many a few days walking in the mountains without seeing a single person and having the pleasure of catching my own fish for dinner etc......

I made the decision its time for me leave the UK and move to Norway and see if I can make a new life over there. Expensive you are right and not a place to go if you are an alcoholic......although most of them brew their own!

Cheers

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The T-Bane late at night has examples of the technique of loading up before a night out ;-)

I've done just two years and I think I'll do one more but I could settle here I think.

There is almost no issue finding work here and its sometimes difficult to get locals to do any real work, which is why we are here I guess ;-)

The work / family life balance is very heavily stacked toward the latter which is nice to see and the opposite of the UK.

Regards Paul

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I guess it depends what work you do?

I know they all speak perfect English but I've been told that without learning the language I will find it hard to get a job, so its back to college for me at some point. They definitely work to live, rather that live to work as we do in the UK......out of the boats in the evenings, up in the mountains to their cabins at the weekends, most of them leaving at lunchtime on a Friday to get there for the evenings etc....

I've wasted too much of my life in London and I need to go and find a new life.....one that I actually enjoy!

Just need to find a Land Rover club......also, over there I will have space and use of a double garage to do my restoration, where as in London - nothing but outdoors!!

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Winter tyres depends on your driving. I've drivern 30-50000 km per year since I got my Disco in 2009, mostly on dedicated winter tyres. When I needed another set on my wife's RRC, I ordered another one. Now I've got 2 Disco, one -90 200tdi, and my wifes -98 300 tdi, I run on some Geolandar (dont remember the model now), and use them from late october/november and until april -may. I'm a bit lazy, and changes tires a bit top late, but since they are without studs, it's not a big problem. I would not run on MT or AT on a family car.

My neighbour has used MT all year on his Defender(s), and has put studs in some of them.

I would recommend buying winter tires in Norway, even if they are a bit pricey.

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For a single trip, buying snow tyres will be expensive. Renting may be more efficient. If you are going to be driving a variety of surfaces including but not limited to snow and only want to use one set, or if you plan to have your own tyres and use them before/after the trip, then BFG ATKOs are a reasonable tyre. They are clearly not going to be effective as a dedicated snow tyre, but they will be good elsewhere and are long living. I have found them to give very good grip on British roads in snow and ice (albeit only to a depth of up to 6"), far better than the snow-flake adorned Hankook ATs on my RR and Michelin ATs fitted by LR to my wife's D90 (all 235s). In fact, my BFG shod 109 handles snow and ice better than either of those vehicles, despite them both having permanent 4wd, ABS and ETC, and that can only be due to the tyres. The BFGs are stamped M+S (mud and snow), so should satisfy legal requirements (the EU use a snowflake symbol, while these US tyres us lettering), but it's worth checking with the Norwegian authorities and your insurers.

As for tyre width, I would suggest keeping the standard 235 unless you are going to do a lot of driving on virgin snow, in which case bigger tyres will help you float. Fat tyres on compact snow, ice or wet roads reduces the pressure on the footprint and thus the friction, so fat tyres will be more likely to result in a loss of traction. I would suggest that 235/85 BFG ATs with a set of chains would eb a very flexible, capable and economical setup, but I would defer to the Scandinavians who are expert on this.

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  • 2 weeks later...

While a legal requirement in some places to have them, snow chains are a pain in the posterior. A lot of countries require that you remove them when you get to any tarmac to save wear and tear on the roads. This is alright for a one off trip up the mountain but it gets old very quickly if you are switcing between tarmac and snow/ice regularly. I have not found any law for Norway but you will also find a lot of serious speed restrictions on vehicles with snow chains.

While a big investment up front real snow tyres will improve your braking at any temp below 8°C, wet or dry. I will soon be into my 4th winter with the Nokians which get run for 5 months of the year. That's a lot of time I am not putting wear on my AT tyres which means they have lasted a lot longer as well. Overall the high initial investment is largely offset by the longer time span between buying new sets.

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tyres for winter very much depend on what sort of driving , deep snow , off road , or hard packed snow road . The first not much different for 4x4 with a AT or MT . Where you can get a big difference is in the second scenario when you move to a multisipe silica tyre , like these

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m101b1934s1483p101759/Michelin_Tyres_Winter_Snow_SUV_4x4_Michelin_Latitude_Alpin_-_205_80_R16_104T_XL_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_E_Wet_Grip%3A_C_NoiseClass%3A_2_Noise%3A_72dB

It might be worth your while researching prices in UK and Norway?scandinavia ? Camskill are competitive on price in UK

HTSH

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