Snow chains

[deaglun]

I'm planning a drive to the alps in winter, and will need snow chains. I'm going to be in France, where I think snow 'socks' are allowed, but would prefer the traction afforded by proper chains. My V2 Terramar has 255/45 R19 tyres, but the manual online says chains are not allowed on 19 inch tyres except for 245/40 R19. How seriously do you think I should take this? If I were to get some 9mm chains for my wheels (Konig XG-9 Cross 248) do you think they'd be alright? I don't know how much clearance there'll be between the tyres and something important. I'd be pretty surprised if there wasn't at least 9mm though..

Winter tyres isn't really an option for me. I've nowhere to keep them (and no money to buy them).

 

[SRGTD]

I can’t answer your question but I would personally never fit snow chains to a car with diamond cut alloys.

Generally speaking, the durability of diamond cut alloys tends to be poor, so if there’s any risk of metal to metal contact between the snow chains and the diamond cut surface on the alloys, you’d need to get your wheels refurbished to remove any subsequent damage. I’m a little out of touch on alloy wheel refurb prices these days, but I’d expect a top quality refurbishment of a diamond cut alloy to a factory finish would probably cost in the region of £125 - £150 plus VAT per wheel; maybe more (Lepsons - reputed to be one of the best alloy wheel refurbishers in the UK - used to quote prices on their website, and from memory they were quoting in the region of £100 - £125 plus VAT for an 18” diamond cut alloy around 4-5 years ago).

As for potential clearance issues; it’s possible that 255 section tyres with snow chains fitted might mean there’s limited (minimal?) clearance between the inner face of the tyres and the car’s suspension components. Also if your car’s fully laden for a holiday trip it might be sitting a little lower. That lower ride may increase the risk of the snow chains rubbing against the car’s bodywork, especially if the suspension will be working harder to smooth out the ride quality on typical winter roads - e.g. heavily rutted and potholed road surfaces (assuming ruts and potholes are a feature of winter alpine weather). That’s just my guess on why Cupra have said snow chains are not allowed - there may be other factors behind Cupra’s ‘no snow chains’ decision.

 

[deaglun]

I can’t answer your question but I would personally never fit snow chains to a car with diamond cut alloys.

Generally speaking, the durability of diamond cut alloys tends to be poor, so if there’s any risk of metal to metal contact between the snow chains and the diamond cut surface on the alloys, you’d need to get your wheels refurbished to remove any subsequent damage. I’m a little out of touch on alloy wheel refurb prices these days, but I’d expect a top quality refurbishment of a diamond cut alloy to a factory finish would probably cost in the region of £125 - £150 plus VAT per wheel; maybe more (Lepsons - reputed to be one of the best alloy wheel refurbishers in the UK - used to quote prices on their website, and from memory they were quoting in the region of £100 - £125 plus VAT for an 18” diamond cut alloy around 4-5 years ago).

As for potential clearance issues; it’s possible that 255 section tyres with snow chains fitted might mean there’s limited (minimal?) clearance between the inner face of the tyres and the car’s suspension components. Also if your car’s fully laden for a holiday trip it might be sitting a little lower. That lower ride may increase the risk of the snow chains rubbing against the car’s bodywork, especially if the suspension will be working harder to smooth out the ride quality on typical winter roads - e.g. heavily rutted and potholed road surfaces (assuming ruts and potholes are a feature of winter alpine weather). That’s just my guess on why Cupra have said snow chains are not allowed - there may be other factors behind Cupra’s ‘no snow chains’ decision.

Thanks. I've not had diamond cut alloys before. The wheels seem a bit of a silly place to put something so prone to scratching, but I guess they do at least look great. I remember back in 2016 when the Ateca was released, Seat were still keen to try to persuade that it had some 'off-road' properties, departure angles, videos of it ice driving and up in the Andes etc. I guess people no longer expect this of an SUV, it is quite clear in the Terramar manual that it's for tarmac only. I'm now a bit unsure what to do. It's essential that I have something that'll get me up/down a snowy mountain if the conditions are bad, but obvs I don't want to damage the car. I'll try to get underneath and see if its possible to find any obstructions that'd cause an issue with some slim chains (the ones that don't go behind the wheel cost £500+). And then I suppose hope for clear conditions or just accept that the wheels will get scratched at some point anyway. Snow socks might be an option but I'd be nervous of their performance on steep roads, particularly when I've a lovely new car with my family in it. Or I'll need to find some extra money and a new shed with room to keep 4 smaller wheels that can take chains..

 

[SRGTD]

@deaglun - firstly, apologies for going off topic, but if you’ve not had diamond cut alloys before, you might find the following useful. Personally speaking, diamond cut alloys are one of my pet hates and IMHO they have very few positives and quite a few more negatives. This is just my personal opinion and there will be others who don’t share my views, which is fine as we’re all different and like different things.

Positives of diamond cut alloys;

• they have a certain bling factor so have good showroom appeal if you like the bling factor (I’m personally not a fan).

Negatives of diamond cut alloys - in no particular orde;

• generally poor durability, especially during winter months. Some alloy wheel retailer’s websites specifically don’t display diamond cut alloys in search results for this reason when searching for alloys for winter use. I think that many countries where it’s a legal requirement to fit winter tyres, many (most?) car owners will run a set of either steel wheels or powder coated alloys for winter and restrict use of diamond cut alloys to summer use only.
• susceptible to white worm corrosion. Most diamond cut alloys succumb to the dreaded white worm at 2-3 years old - sometimes sooner. Damage (e.g. stone chips, kerb damage etc.) to the clear ‘protective’ lacquer on the diamond cut surface leaves the metal surface exposed to oxidation and the ingress of road spray under the lacquer - the result? white worm corrosion, which spreads under the lacquer across the surface of the diamond cut sections of the wheel’s face. If you’re not familiar with what white worm looks like, you’ll see some very good images if you do an internet search on ‘alloy wheel white worm corrosion’ or similar search. Once white worm has set in, a professional refurb is needed to restore the wheel back to factory fresh condition.
• the diamond cut face can be easily damaged by inexperienced and over-zealous tyre fitters; when this happens, they’ll almost always deny having caused the damage.
• more expensive to refurbish than alloy wheels with a much more durable fully painted / powder coated alloy. Additionally, because the diamond cut refurb process involves recutting the face of the wheel to remove the corroded surface, they can usually only be refurbished twice with a diamond cut finish; more than twice and the structural integrity of the wheel can be compromised as too much alloy may have been removed from the wheel.

Ironically, my current car also has diamond cut alloys - primarily because most car manufacturers seem to be obsessed with fitting them to many cars in their model ranges.…………..

 

[deaglun]

@deaglun - firstly, apologies for going off topic, but if you’ve not had diamond cut alloys before, you might find the following useful. Personally speaking, diamond cut alloys are one of my pet hates and IMHO they have very few positives and quite a few more negatives. This is just my personal opinion and there will be others who don’t share my views, which is fine as we’re all different and like different things.

Positives of diamond cut alloys;

• they have a certain bling factor so have good showroom appeal if you like the bling factor (I’m personally not a fan).

Negatives of diamond cut alloys - in no particular orde;

• generally poor durability, especially during winter months. Some alloy wheel retailer’s websites specifically don’t display diamond cut alloys in search results for this reason when searching for alloys for winter use. I think that many countries where it’s a legal requirement to fit winter tyres, many (most?) car owners will run a set of either steel wheels or powder coated alloys for winter and restrict use of diamond cut alloys to summer use only.
• susceptible to white worm corrosion. Most diamond cut alloys succumb to the dreaded white worm at 2-3 years old - sometimes sooner. Damage (e.g. stone chips, kerb damage etc.) to the clear ‘protective’ lacquer on the diamond cut surface leaves the metal surface exposed to oxidation and the ingress of road spray under the lacquer - the result? white worm corrosion, which spreads under the lacquer across the surface of the diamond cut sections of the wheel’s face. If you’re not familiar with what white worm looks like, you’ll see some very good images if you do an internet search on ‘alloy wheel white worm corrosion’ or similar search. Once white worm has set in, a professional refurb is needed to restore the wheel back to factory fresh condition.
• the diamond cut face can be easily damaged by inexperienced and over-zealous tyre fitters; when this happens, they’ll almost always deny having caused the damage.
• more expensive to refurbish than alloy wheels with a much more durable fully painted / powder coated alloy. Additionally, because the diamond cut refurb process involves recutting the face of the wheel to remove the corroded surface, they can usually only be refurbished twice with a diamond cut finish; more than twice and the structural integrity of the wheel can be compromised as too much alloy may have been removed from the wheel.

Ironically, my current car also has diamond cut alloys - primarily because most car manufacturers seem to be obsessed with fitting them to many cars in their model ranges.…………..

Thank you for sharing. I wasn’t aware of any of that! I don’t have an amazing track record of keeping cars looking their best: I park under a tree, wash them all too infrequently, regularly ferry loads of garden waste to the dump etc. But I do want to try hard to keep this one looking fresh. I’m not typically a fan of overly bling looking cars either but I must say I’m quite taken with this one, inside and out. I’m off to google picture search white worm on alloys..