AutoSocks

So, ise, can I take it you have no personal experience of these then :?:

Perhaps it would be helpful if I fully explained the reason for my question ... I have been considering providing a range of complementary sets for our guests who find themselves in need of some extra traction. I have considered providing chains but covering every tyre size would be very costly. Also, the labour and inconvenience with chains is relatively high. I had hoped that someone who had actually used them might be able to help me understand how flexible the sizes are and if a “full” range of socks was really necessary. I was not intending travelling great distances or relying on them as a primary source of traction (all my vehicles run studded snow tyres throughout the winter months as well as carrying chains whenever either required or simply sensible)

From a hoteliers point of view, customers sometimes

need a tiny bit more traction and autosocks give just that

so I fail to see the joke?

I would suggest that if asking a simple, open and honest question results in this kind of response then I for one think this site will quickly join the ranks of back-biting, conceited, opinionated mediocrity that so far it has succeeded in avoiding. Let’s not allow that to happen!

With reference to September snow, I don’t recall expressing any surprise, merely an enthusiasm for the same which I believed might be shared by others on this site.

Feeling frustrated, disappointed and saddened,

Jan

Jan I Stenmark wrote:So, ise, can I take it you have no personal experience of these then :?:

Perhaps it would be helpful if I fully explained the reason for my question ... I have been considering providing a range of complementary sets for our guests who find themselves in need of some extra traction.

so they can slide into the next police check maybe ? )

Not tried them Jan I Stenmark, what you should do is get a pair for your own car, give them a go and see what you think of them, being used in the conditions you see on a daily basis.

Then you can make the appropriate judgement, although I've not heard great things of them I don't think I could dismiss them without giving them a go.

Let us know how you get on/if you choose to buy some! Would be good to have a first hand review.

Ross

Jan I Stenmark wrote:Thanks for that useful detour into answering the unasked question but ... Has anyone actually used them?

Surprisingly, I can read the website, interpret the bumf and draw my own conclusions, I hope, as well as then next person – what I find harder is gaining practical knowledge from a user …

Actually that gives me a good idea – Ski equipment reviews based on armchair critiques of other peoples experience distilled from après ski bar chat after a few beers … It’d certainly avoid all that nasty need for familiarity or worse, contact with a product.

So as I said,

Has anyone used these?

Jan






Post of the year!
Brilliant, Jan :lol:

www  New and improved me

Now here's a post from the past.

Jan, if you're still sneaking a peak at the J2SKI forum every now and again then I can now answer your question. A couple of weeks ago I bought a pair of Autosocks for the car after getting stuck for 15 hours. I never planned to use them but I thought it might be good to hide them away in the spare wheel well just in case.

Anyway, yesterday after sliding into a hedge to avoid the back of the van I thought now might be the time to try them.

Amazing things!

They were a bit tricky to put on (mostly because there's not a lot of gap between my wheels and arches) but once on the grip was quite unbelievable plus no vibration, clunking, banging or anything.

I know they're not up to legal requirements in some countries but they have passed the same T.U.V. tests as chains in Germany and for the UK they're perfect where our snow/ice/slush/tarmac is a lot more patchy.



Note to self: Next time make sure you're not parked in horse manure when removing them. :roll: (having said that, I hosed them off and put them in the washing machine and they're lovely and clean again)

Ellistine, did you go up any hills?

Ellistine, thankfully they allowed you to get about and cut all that hair :twisted:

Up them, down them and around them! We we're trying to get to a pub somewhere out in the sticks near Totness for a 40th Birthday meal.

I committed the immortal sin and fitted them on a hill (the hill I slid down). The car would only stay still in gear. The handbrake alone couldn't hold it. With them on though I did a quick reverse to see what they we're like before descending and shot back up the hill with all the grip you could want. The rest of the trip to the pub was a breeze.

You obviously wouldn't want to go particularly fast as obviously the rear still had no grip but I was very impressed.

Why do you ask? Have you heard of problems with hills?