C4S Snow Chains

I've got a 3 week winter road trip at the start of Feb and I'm sorting out a list of stuff I need. Top of the list is snow chains for my standard C4S for the front axle (225/40/18) Does anyone have any recommendations? - the car will have winter tyres. Thanks

Don't put them on the front axle. You need them on the rears as they're the main drive wheels. I once got some on my A6 Quattro - absolutely amazing things. You just plough through the snow up the steepest hills like a Challenger 2 Tank.

.....and stop on an ha'penny.

Thanks - I was going of previous experience of using snow chains on the front of my Audi S5 that Audi recommended. Interestingly, Winter tyres marked as 3PMSF don't require chains in the ski resorts I'm visiting but I intend to have a pair of chains anyway

You need to carry them by law don't you? With regards to front or rear, the S5 is 40/60 so you'd probably be fine with them on the front. On the C4S it's more like 10/90, so nearly all the torque is on the rear.

I have no recommendations or affiliation with them but after similar advice to you but for my Range Rover, I was pointed to https://snowchains.co.uk/ . They're reasonably local to me so I was going to head over and have a chat. Regarding the laws in France, my understanding is that above a certain altitude (its signposted on the roads) you need to have 3PMSF marked tyres and also be carrying snow chains, though they don't have to be on the car all the time. Like you, my plan is to have chains anyway as I don't want to get stuck!

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They used to be a customer of mine, when I did their IT a few years ago. Being situated where they are, near the M25/M26/M20, they are quite handy just to drop in, get some fitted or pick some up on the way through to mainland Europe. I seem to remember they had a drop return box, so you could hire them too and drop them off on the way back. I seem to remember one of the directors at the time had a 996 or 997 too.

If you're taking chains, you might want to practise fitting first on your drive. It's no fun at the road side, one side of the car embedded in a snow bank, arse deep in snow and slush, in your jeans and bare hands, so it's a good plan to take a high viz jacket, snow shovel, gloves and knee pads for this endeavour. Like they say, ask me how I know.

Deffo practice a couple of times at home. Not easy if you haven't got the knack.

Hi, I have a set for my 997 4s, they are not easy to fit and never came out of the bag once on my trip. I bought porsche ones as the eBay ones where not guaranteed to fit the car, even though they were the right size , and my mate who lives in Switzerland said that the police can ask you to fit them just to make sure you haven’t bought a cheap set to get round the law & the fine is big then they take you to buy the correct chains, I think it says in the handbook the chains can only be fitted to the rear wheels due to clearance on the front

Those chains look snazzy. I don't doubt they were costly but it looks like a great fit and won't damage the alloys.

The issue I had with my snow chains is one of the chains snapped and then proceeded to do a very good job of removing the paint from the wheel arch. I was trying to tow a Ford Focus up a 1-3 hill at the time mind you. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyone tried snow socks? I had some for a merc a good few years ago and they were very effective and way easier to fit.

You might also want to consider snow socks. I've used them before and was mighty impressed. So much easier than chains to put on and off, and almost as effective. In any case, if you're on full winters then the chances of you needing them are low. Good winter tyres will tolerate huge amounts of snow - there's probably only one or two days per season when you'd need to get the chains/socks out of the bag due to a weird ice/slush/snow combination on just the wrong gradient.

My brother swears by snow socks... but since I live in Finland, where winter tyres do the job, and I don't carry chains on any vehicle. Last time I used chains, I was in the Italian Alps in a rental on summers. I ended up leaving the snow chains on for the whole week, until we got back down the mountain into the valley. Since then, I've only rented cars with winters, which is what I'm used to running in winter.