Driving Les Arcs 1950 Volvo XC90 snowchains

A snowHead

Hi all .... a mate is driving to Les Arcs 1950 this Friday night.
He has a Volvo XC90 4WD with standard UK tyres ..... Volvo do not advise fitting snowchains to this car with these wheels ..... 275/40/20 tyres.
Can anyone help with advice .....
Is he likely to need chains ?
Anyone fitted chains to this car ?
Are chains this size likely to be easily found at French supermarket ?
What are access roads to 1950 like ?
Thanks
snowHead

A snowHead

Has he considered winter tyres?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Yes .... but just fitted new standard tyres and doesn't want to spend hundreds for just one trip.

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if I were in your mates position I'd contact the Volvo garage and ask what they'd recommend for the likely conditions and buy it. I could imagine if it snowed that road would be fairly precarious. It doesn't have much in the way of barriers and obviously climbs to around 2000m.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

He will need/must have snow chains/socks in the car whether there's snow or not.

Does he know why Volvo recommends not fitting chains, is it clearance to body work?

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I've got an XC60 which came with 19" wheels on, and the choice of snow chains was limited due to the alloy size, needing single side ones only. I went down the winter tyre route, and ended up with a tyre and aftermarket alloy package as it was a cheap as 19" winters. I also have a set of snow socks as well.

It's all to do with running large alloys with not much clearance. You need to get down to 18" or below to use ordinary snow chains.

It's worth looking on ebay/gumtree etc to see if someone is selling some, they quite often pop up for sale, they always have resale value as well.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

You try here snowchains.co.uk . they do show chains available for that tyre size, so may be worth ringing them., however Volvo may not recommend due to arch or suspension clearance. For that tyre profile/size you will need chains considering the forecast, so a bit of a dilemma for your mate.

After all it is free

Has he asked the Roofbox Company? They are a reliable source of advice. A friend with a big Volvo (but not that one) has "spider" type chains which attach to one of the wheelnuts. Very expensive. He had summer tyres and had to fit the chains just for a rather small amount of snow on a rather unimpressive hill, at 1450m.

Given the forecast for next weekend your mate is very likely not to get to 1950 without the right equipment.

Has he seen the forecast for Saturday? Shocked

:-

I suspect he'll be parked up by the Gendarmes if he has neither winter tyres nor suitable chains. I wouldn't rely on picking up a set in a french supermarket either as they probably be cleaned out very quickly.

There are some companies who rent out snowchains so he may get a suitable set by that route.

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Hi

I had the same issue with my Merc GL and it was because of clearance around the back of the tyre. i resolved it by getting K Summit snow chains which are excellent but expensive.

I've driven the road up and down to 1950 several times. once up hill in sheet ice at -20 it was very difficult indeed and once driving down on fresh snow in a fully laden 2.5 tonne 4x4 was pretty exciting. every time I've done it on winter tyres and would not try and get up with summer tyres and no chains. it's also illegal in France and they will send you back to buy chains if they are enforcing fitment.

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This is what he will need - http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-accessories/maggi_trak_4x4_chains_pair_no_lt50/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40o9%60tNcO.%2CzBA%7BuF0o80

Just bought some chains for our Land Rover Freelander. Land Rover say don't fit chains so you would have to go for the one sided 'spider type' arrangements or socks.

I run decent winter tyres so socks would be a down grade in terms of grip and i didn't want to spend £250 on a set of wheel mounted one side thingies as i would be massively suprised if i ever use them. so I wanted chains.

I did a manual measure of clearance to suspension struts and arches on extreme lock, clearance was limited but seemed viable. I sourced a quality narrow link chain. The job was made harder by the fact that the overall wheel/tyre set up size was clearly SUV and 9mm chains you can buy for cars are not available. the 15mm or 18mm you normally get for SUVs MAY have fitted but instead i went for the 12mm Thule XG-12 pro which has a strengthened steel 12mm link specifically for vans or SUVs with limited clearence.

All of the above is after I downsized both my summer and winter wheel sets from 19" to 18" (it's a Land Rover for Gawds sake, why would I want big wheels for it)?

So given that the XC90 will have an SUV overall size (pretty sure it's the same as the Freelander tbh, unless that was the gen1 XC90) then you could try the above. If you don't want to scabble under the car doing your own measurements and then taking a punt then go with the single side kit, it'll be iro £250 but can always be Ebayed when the car is swapped.

Please ensure something is taken if your only on standard rubber, you may well need it. It might well be worth taking a set of single siders and a set of socks (socks can be had for about £40, and lift grip upto the levels of winter tyres).

You know it makes sense.

Further to the above (and no help to the OP but maybe for the benefit of others):

There is a set of 9mm chains that will fit some standard SUV sizing, its the Pewag Servo 9 RS9-80. They are not at all easily available in the UK, but you can get them from German sites like Tyreleader. Despite being for a common SUV size they don't seem to be intended for SUV use (and the oft associated high weights and torque generated) but they would certainly help with clearance issues.

I decided I could accommodate the 12mm chain so went for the Thule.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Hi there - I have an XC60 with 4WD and Nokian winter tyres (plus auto sock snow socks) due to arrive in Les Contamines early afternoon on the 13th February. I have (thus far) rationalised that chains won't be needed due to winter tyres / socks and the height of the resort. Should I reconsider based on the forecast?

£300+ is the price for these single sided things....

A snowHead

@andyhumph, I would suggest you will be fine with 4WD and Nokian tyres. I would even suggest tat the Snow Socks would reduce the level of grip compared to your 'naked' Nokian's.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@andyhumph, the XC-60 is definitely the same overall size as the Freelander 2 (you can swap wheels from one to the other), you could do what i did, you may well get a different result in terms of clearance.

With socks (esp Auto Sock brand) you are legally covered. Fitting the socks won't actually give you any grip benefit though so long as your winters are half decent quality (which the Nokians certainly are) and not worn out.

In 30+ return trips to the Alps in a 4WD with winters on I have never fitted my chains, to get there and back or to drive around resort. Chamonix though is a 1000m town with decent road clearance. Also I have no idea what the approach to your accommodation is like.

I bought the chains for the Landy on the grounds that I might be asked to put them on one day going to (or coming back from) a ski area, and also there is always a chance (no matter how slim) that one day I will really really need them . I have super burly commercial chains in my pick up in resort that as I say have never been fitted in anger.

So if I were you I'ld probably go with what you've got, but I'm sure someone will be along to shout at me for saying so.

If you did fancy the route I went down: Check your clearances and you will no doubt need the XG-12 pro 247 size wise, which is available for about £105 on Amazon with next day delivery option extra (unless you're Prime, which I was). Don't think you'ld have time to get the Pewags from Germany.

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@andyhumph, I think you'll be OK getting up to Les Contamines with winter tyres and snowsocks. But there will be absolutely shedloads of traffic.....

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Can anyone explain this to me:

I swapped out the 19" wheels on my new (to me) Freelander to two sets of 18" mounted with summer and winter 235/60 R18 (instead of the 235/55 R19). I did that for my own reasons (duff budget tyres on the 19"s, access to cheap 18" wheels, failure to grasp why anyone wants big wheels on a Landy, etc).

Now I have these chains which are a fitment for the 235/60 R18, but they do not say they are a fitment for a 235/55 R19, why not, the overall width and diameter are identical? Is it just because the chain may overlap onto the wheel? If so why is that a problem, does it affect the use of the chain, or is it all just about not scratching the alloy?

I have zero interest in fitting the chains to the 19" set up, but just wonder out of prurient interest.

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@andyhumph, I would be very surprised if you could not get up to Contamines with winter tyres let alone socks. The road is usually kept very clear in 12 years I have only put chains on 3 times and now i have winter tyres and previously socks I have never had to use chains. I add i am usually out there for a month every january and we do drive about quite a bit.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@midgetbiker, I think the answer is purely the overlap and potential damage to the wheel.

We are off to Belle Plagne this weekend with an XC60 AWD, winter tyres and autosocks. Given the forecast do I need to panic about chains or is it a case of taking it steady up to the resort.

After all it is free

@C Holt, one of the problems on as busy, and snowy, a weekend as this promises to be is that "taking it steady" is generally not an option. We have all felt that loosening of traction, that "wheels on the verge of spinning" which means that provided we can keep going, all will probably be well. (I'm talking of travelling on winter tyres here).

But keeping going is often not an option. You have to stop if the car in front stops, and if he starts flailing around with his chains and the paper instructions, you have to make a judgement about overtaking - what if you grind to a halt on the other carriageway, thus causing the perfect storm of transfer day chaos?

I've had to put chains on sometimes, slightly reluctantly because of police insistence, only to feel very glad of them when other stuck vehicles have given me the choice of driving into the muck at the side of the road, rather than staying stuck.

I have no experience of snowsocks and how good a grip they give you.

Best of luck! I would personally be having kittens if I was out in bad conditions without chains.

The K-Summit chains, for the Volvo and similar vehicles, are excellent, albeit expensive.

@C Holt, Taking it steady up to the resort will be the order of the day, depending on the accuracy of the forecast you will be ordered to put on chains (hopefully socks will be OK) at Aime (or before if really heavy snow) or if less snow at any of the Chainage areas on the road up, there is another near the top of the Bobsleigh below 1800, after that there is another towards Bellecote. The road from Bellecote to Belle Plagne is often white even after being snowploughed, so if light snow should be OK with snow tyres IF its not snowing, but looking at the forecast....
Time to Plagne centre takes around 45 mins in the summer on a dry road, so in the winter on a changeover Saturday at Half term with snow, snowploughs, coaches, etc I would be very surprised if it takes less than 2 hours! Last year a coach jackknifed on the road below 1800 at 06:00 chaos ensued for the rest of the day.
So good luck and keep those fingers tightly crossed, and do let us know how you get on snowHead

Hopefully the forecast is wrong and you drive straight up with no problems park up settle in and then it snows like hell Cool

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@pam w, I think this is just the circumstance where 4WD really comes good. You don't get that "wheels on the verge of spinning" feeling - you just go. If you have to stop because of other traffic you just start again whereas with FWD and uphill (even with winter tyres) you might not.

The real risk with the OP's XC90 and summer tyres comes when it is home time. He might make it up the hill if lucky but 2.5 tonnes coming downhill on a snowy road will not stop - into the ditch we go. I've seen plenty of "proper" 4x4s off the road when it is snowy.

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@DJL, does 4WD always get you up the hill, regardless of conditions, even on summer tyres?

Thanks for all the feedback ..... snowsocks ordered .... and if it's really bad might park in Bourg and get a transfer up ....

You know it makes sense.

We did the same last year but stopped in Lyon, and took 3 hrs to get to Chambery with a 27km queue, after that it wasn't to bad, just delayed a little bit coming out of Chambery and going into Moutiers. Once past Moutiers was fine......but it wasn't snowing Very Happy

I'm probably concerned as it is 'going into the unknown' as we don't have similar snow falls and steep roads in the UK.

I'd also agree that coming down the mountain in the snow is far more difficult than going up. The OP's friend needs to make sure he uses the Hill Decent function, it may be slow but it is well worth it!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@C Holt, yep, I think it must be just wheel damage caution, as it makes no difference to clearance either.

Just like @andyhumph it's your call really. If it were me it would be a balance of what can i fit (is there clearance for chains) so what is the cost, against what I could get back on Ebay after I've used (or more likely not used) the 'traction device' X many times (for you X might be once in the ownership of the vehicle, for me it's several times a year).

I bought chains (strictly against Land Rover advice) because I decided i had enough clearance and so would take a £100 punt on something which in my (not inconsiderable) experience of taking 4WD vehicles to the Alps I would never use. I wanted something that could/would get me out of the s**t if my winter tyres had given up (something I don't think a sock would do).

If I were you (and making a number of entirely unfounded assumptions about your situation) I'ld take a punt on what you've got.
BUT
I'm not you.
&
Don't blame me if it all goes Pete Tong.

PS it won't give you any comfort but: The only time I've ended up in a ditch was on the way to Belle Plagne. I wasn't driving, we were in an aging 2WD Audi which the Gendarmes had made us fit chains to (after checking it wasn't a quattro). The driver couldn't make out the edge of the road as it was snowing so hard and wandered a little, the ditch grabbed us and in we slid. The chains did an excellent job of getting us out, once 5 of us (3 passengers and 2 passers by) were all sat on the wing above the only front wheel in contact with the ground (well it was once we were sat on the wing).
Winter tyres would not have done it, neither would snow socks, but chains did (albeit in a scary manner as the wheel was spinning like crazy and i was the only one sat on the arch that knew they were a size too big having been poached from the boot of my BM on the morning of our departure). So don't drive into a ditch!

If all of the above sounds a little cavalier - well that's why you shouldn't take any advice from me. Twisted Evil

A snowHead

@PBJ, Pay to Park by the funicular and go up on that from Bourg (funicular is free if you have your lift pass) Very Happy

once the roads are sorted pop back down and collect car snowHead

A snowHead

@pam w, 4wd doesn't get you up. One of the motoring magazines (auto express I think) did an article on using two Ford Kuga's at Tamworth Snowdome. The 2wd on winters got further up the slope than the 4wd on 'production' tyres the car was supplied with. The 4WD with winter tyres got all the way to the top of the slope. They put the video on youtube.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@midgetbiker, Laughing

necessity is the mother of invention. Chains that are a bit too big can be used if firmly lashed up. I find snow and rock powder traces are perfect for the job.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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My first point was relating to Pam W's car with winters getting that almost spinning feeling. A 4WD with winters wouldn't have that that.

Clearly the OP's 4WD might not make it up the hill (on its summer tyres). My second point was the uncontrolled missile it might well become if it did make it up and then tried for a snowy journey down.

The Auto Express clip should be required viewing for all thinking about which tyres to fit.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@pam w, luckily didn't need to jerry rig anything as the chains were excellent Weissenfels Klack & Go self adjusters with two auto ratchets (& we did test them on the Audi before departing to be fair). They moved through the boots of several Merc/BMs we had until my wife swapped to the Freelander 6 months ago.

So if anyone needs a (only used once) set of Weissenfels Klack & Go M40 10 size then pm me with an offer wink

After all it is free

@Gaza, The video would have been made even more interesting by adding front wheel drive car with £60 snow chains to the mix alongside the £750 winter tyres and £1500 all wheel drive.

Personally I would park in Bourg and get the funicular up. IIRC it is only about 10 euro a person one way

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