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Snow chain alternatives for a 997??

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Greetings from a PCGB newbie!

Had my 997C2S for about 6 months now but somehow never got round to registering myself on here - guess been having too much fun driving it..!!

Anyways, I'm off on my annual skiing holiday in a couple of weeks and thought it would be a good idea to take the 997 - planning on taking a couple of days for a lazy cruise down there and hopefully find some decent twisties along the way for a bit of excitement.

Grew up in Finland so very used to driving in the snow and never had problems getting to the resort before (Meribel) but never in a Porsche. Also, I think by law you have to carry some chains on the higher alpine roads so keen to take at least something with me.

I spoke to my local OPC who confirmed that I definitely can't fit snow chains on the car and that a set of winter wheels and tyres would be £2k..!!

So, does anyone have any ideas?? I tried autosock but they don't have a size that fits. Spider Spikes seem like a good idea but it would be nice to see if anyone has experience of fitting/using these on their 997. Do they work?? Any other ideas??

Cheers - Erik
 
Erik, your Finnish experience will tell you that the only sure/professional way of driving on snow and ice is to fit winter tyres. Without these I think your 'decent twisties' will provide more excitement than you bargained for! Not very helpful, I hear you say, but the other alternatives would not fill me with much confidence if I was taking my new 997 to the snowy mountains. 2K is not a bad investment in my opinion considering the original capital outlay on the car and perhaps this can be amortised over a few years' trips.
 
you should be able to get chains for the winter tyres too- obligatory on some roads irrespective of tyres used.

 
OK1904 - Fully agree with you. Wouldn't dream of driving long term in the snow without decent winter tyres - in Finland we use not only friction winter tyres but also most people use studded tyres which are actually a lot better than chains.

However, I'm not sure if I can justify £2k for a set of tyres that I will only realistically use once a year for a week. Spider Spikes have told me that they supply Bentley and Aston and so they should fit a Porsche. £220 so thought I'll buy those instead. Also, in my experience I've never actually got stuck going up to Meribel so might just risk it.

Worst case is to cruise down to somewhere like Albertville and park the car in a long term parking garage and then hire some crappy rental for the last actual climb up the hill. Never taken the 997 on a long distance drive so keen to take it (better than flying with crappyJet anyway..!!).

Will let you know how I get on.

Erik
 

ORIGINAL: Erik997
Worst case is to cruise down to somewhere like Albertville and park the car in a long term parking garage and then hire some crappy rental for the last actual climb up the hill.  Never taken the 997 on a long distance drive so keen to take it (better than flying with crappyJet anyway..!!).

Will let you know how I get on.

Erik
Click to expand...

A very good idea!
 
Hi,

I would definitely get some form of winter grip - either winter tyres or snow chains of some sort

I have had two bad experiences with driving to a ski resort, both the result of incorrect equipment - it is not worth it.

Would you need a new set of wheels for the tyres? Can you just get winter tyres fitted to your current wheels?

I switch over in winter, and drive the whole season on winter tyres (not in the Porsche admittedly)

Cheers

Pete
 
If the winter tyres don't fit on your current wheels, you could always try getting a cheap set of wheels from somewhere, instead of the OPC supplied items, so long as they fit on the car, I suppose.

I wouldn't chance driving around in the snow or sleet on our regular tyres tho, you would be amazed at how they don't give you any grip whatsoever in those conditions.
 
There is a one page article in the December edition of Christophorus on Porsche Tequipment entitled Safe in the Snow. This includes a picture of "minimal thickness" snow chains.
 
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