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“Dangerous in winter! Primacy HP = avoid.”

written by on 28/08/2013

I'm a firm believer in having a matching set of good tyres. Costco did us a seemingly great deal on a set of 4 x 205 55 16 Michelin Primacy HP at just over £250 all in.
Grip in summer is fine, and wear is as low as expected from Michelins but that's traditionally seen as a trade off with all round grip. Ride and handling were not that different from the previous Dunlops on dry roads.
However when the snow and sub zero temperatures came in 2013/14 winter, seeing was believing. My wife said the car was undriveable - I didn't believe her as surely a FWD diesel 307 will do what it's told, and it had been fine the previous winter. I took it out to prove her wrong and within minutes I got stuck on a slight slope.
After all these years of driving straight past others that got themselves stuck in snow, or overtaking them if they were struggling to go above walking speed.. rolling my eyes and wondering why they just can't drive in snow... I had to eat humble pie. The people behind me in another Pug had to get out half way up the slope and push me (once they'd explained their disbelief that anyone could get stuck on a mild slope). Eventually I was out of their way they got back in their car and drove up the hill as if it wasn't there, just as I'd been able to do one year earlier before we got these tyres. Never again - I struggled to cope with the sheer embarrassment, as I'm usually the one that volunteers to drive in the snow (often via an empty car park to practise finding the limit of grip) and have been practising the art for 20+ years.