Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Looks like I'll need to have snow chains in the car to be legal in the Alps, anyone from a snowy region care to recommend some?

I’ve got snow socks for my 340i as found them the easiest to get on esp when you are in a snowstorm on the side of a road . They were classed as meeting the french requirement this year but not sure if that had changed . Take up less space than chains in the boot and to be fair it’s unlikely you’ll ever need them going to morzine .
If you want chains there’s a whole load of different opinions on ski forums to which are best ......

Looks like snow socks are still ok-

from 1st December 2020 they are approved as an alternative to snow chains across the EU, because they have been tested and approved to the new European standard EN16662-1:2020 for “supplementary grip devices”, which includes not only metal snow chains but also devices made from other materials. The new EU standard has also been adopted by Switzerland.

The main issue with chains I found is if you
have large wheels on something sporty ,the gap between the tyre and the wheel arch means there’s little space to fit the chains etc .

My view based on driving to or living in ski resorts for the last 20 years is winter tyres will be fine for 99% of the time . Unless you plan going to really out of the way resorts, most roads will get cleared quickly and therefore snow socks will be fine for that rare case you actually need them and if you get asked by the gendarme there’s a handy note that comes with them in french saying they are ok.

Yeah, I don't think I'll use them, but having them in the car is a legal requirement for some areas.

I didn't know that socks now met the legal requirement - that's good info, and they're obviously a lot easier.

It’s worth double checking that they are 💯 french legal to be completely sure. If they turn out not ,then I’ll be looking for alternative as well.

Q12 Are AutoSock approved for use in the Alps, where "snow chains" are compulsory?
Yes, from 1st December 2020 they are approved as an alternative to snow chains across the EU, because they have been tested and approved to the new European standard EN16662-1:2020 for “supplementary grip devices”, which includes not only metal snow chains but also devices made from other materials. The new EU standard has also been adopted by Switzerland.

Our advice to ski-drivers to France for season 2020-21 is to print out the AutoSock press release, because it will inevitably take time for the new regulations to be communicated to everyone who might be in a position to stop you and demand that you show metal snowchains of appropriate size.

Looks good, I've ordered a pair.

Can’t wait to see what range you get from the merc on your next euro trip ......

I’m told 400 miles on a tank, but my experience during summer was that 100 octane fuel got the C55 a lot further down the road than the lower rated stuff we get in the UK.

1 fuel stop to Morzine then , although I reckon you’ll be getting nervous going up the road from the valley .

I’d be heading to Morgins if we go, lifts are open on the Swiss side and we can stay with the lady who we stayed with in summer.

That’s a classy car. Lottery win obviously.

Natch.

Petersen is online...

https://youtu.be/DujeiUh9tuw

@Dammit @Soul I agree when I was at BMW we had a 4wd X5, a 4wd Mini Countryman and a 2wd Mini Countryman on the sales fleet, the 2wd Mini had a set of winter tyres on, the two 4wd drive cars on normal tyres were left stranded trying to get up the slope to the car park while the 2wd Mini on winter tyres sailed up there with no problems.
Worth every penny in my opinion :)

Tyres or the drivers?

There is a story I read in a book about a porsche test driver driving a 911 through the alps. Stopped by the police and claiming the car was a 4x4 the police let him through. It was from a book called something like Porsche driving tips
.

Vendor of the E63-S called me last night and offered me the car for £37,000.

If he’d done anything other than stuck to his asking price when I went to see the car he might have tempted me into it, but by last night I had made my decision.

Will I regret this? Maybe.

2 inches of snow this morning! One of my neighbours crashed his car. My Leaf on new Avon ZV7s was fine!

Not very exciting post but just checked go compare on a whim and got my insurance down from £700 to £250 a year, nice!

That's down from nearly a GRAND in E17

My mate from back home has just bought an E46 M3 CSL, and his dad's currently running in a GR Yaris with Circuit Pack, they know what's good!

See on Collecting Cars there was a mint 1st generation 135i manual coupe, went for £7k, that's a lot of fun for the money. Best looking generation of the 1-series too imo

X5 is far too heavy to actually be useful as a 4wd on snow. Awful cars

According to a friend in Colorado the 4wd 911's get confused by snow and understeer terribly, the system is definitely for tarmac. He always chooses the RWD version as with enough use of the throttle he can get it pointed where he wants.

Parents have bought an X5 as they spend a fair bit of time further up in Scotland including in winter. They sold their 4wd (or awd, can't remember) Volvo. I think they use winter tyres, but I can't say I've got high hopes for it's capability in the snow.

I'm paying over a grand for a 2006 Volvo XC70 in E10... fml