NO Snow chains for XRs!!! - Ford Forums

XRSIK · 06-09-2003, 16:35

now this shits me a bit!!

im going away to the snow this season (Falls Creek Victoria), and plan on driving my BA Xr6 from Sydney.

Now just checking my manual the other day about snow chains, and it contains the following warning:

NOTE: Cars fitted with 17 inch or 18 inch wheels CANNOT be fitted with snow chains (apparantly they hit the bodywork).

mmm now since all Xrs either have 17 or 18s then this affects all of them!

WTF - surley Ford must know that many buyers of XRs want to go to the snow - its supposed to be a tourer isnt it??

what about all the XR cop cars that carry snow chains in the alpine regions????

can someone enlighten me please????

Fordhead · 06-09-2003, 19:49

Thinking logically ( i'm getting a headache ) , maybe they use smaller rims and lower profile tyres to accomodate the chains .
Even if they don't , its not their car , and us taxpayers will pay for the repairs anyway .

XRSIK · 06-09-2003, 22:29

thats ok for them - but what are regular Xr owners supposed to do?? im not buying smaller rims, then changing four friggen tyres by the side of the road when it starts snowing!!!

AcIlLaTeM · 06-09-2003, 22:36

Just drive slowly and carefully on the snow, without chains!

They do overseas, they never use them as they ruin the roads apparently.

mook05 · 06-10-2003, 04:10

Don't know about NSW but here in VIC, by law you must carry chains if you are going to the Ski resorts.

I guess you could carry a set in the boot to cover that - but I would not be too happy not being able to use them if I really needed to.

Cheers,

Michael.

PURSUTE · 06-10-2003, 05:41

Firstly, in the countries that have regular heavy snow that I have been to, they use snow tyres instead of chains. Every car has to have the tyres swapped over twice a year. It is definitely NOT just a matter of driving carefully.

As for chains on XRs, seriously guys, you have purchased a vehicle very much tuned for use on normal roads. It has many enhancements for handling, looks, speed etc, and one of those is 17 or 18 inch wheels. Not being able to fit chains is one of the prices you have to pay for that sort of thing.

I guarentee there are no cars anywhere, with the same wheel and tyre combination, that could accommodate chains. If you want to go to the snow, get a second hand set of 16 inch stockies and carrie them with you. If they already had the chains on them, you could almost fit them faster than just the chains.

smciner1 · 06-10-2003, 07:25

Could be worse, could have friggin huge gaps between the tops of the tyres and the wheel arches like the AU and the Mustang Cobra.

Craig · 06-11-2003, 01:38

Quote:

Originally posted by PURSUTE
I guarentee there are no cars anywhere, with the same wheel and tyre combination that could accommodate chains.

What size are the tyres on the 17's??

My old SS's both with 235/45/17's did more trips to the snow than i can remember chains and all. The manual does state not to use chains on 17's although after careful testing I could fit 3 people and boot full without any issues, 4 people and it would hit the plastic guard a little, ended up wearing a bit away and was fine.

Most resorts by law you have to carry chains during winter months and you dont want to be driving when chain signs are activated without them, especially with larger wheels with tyres that dont do any favours on the snow :)

philbie · 06-11-2003, 05:16

Ah@!! another reason the 16" spare is good!

Cobra · 06-11-2003, 07:47

What exactly are snow chains?