Passenger Cars
Which snow chain should I use for my vehicle?
The snow chain you decide to use is largely down to your own personal choice. As a general rule, the Polar range is our basic range – they are great for getting you out of trouble in this country, or to make your travel legal and safe on mountain roads in Europe. Visually the Polar range of chains is the same as the Zip Ultra range and the basic fitting method is the same. The Polar range of snow chains need to be manually tensioned – this means that after fitting the chain it is necessary to drive about 100 yards and then get out and re-tighten the chain through a ratchet. This is a very quick and simple operation and can be seen on our fitting video. The Polar range of snow chains are suitable for most passenger vehicles, but we do not recommend them for heavy people carriers.
The Zip Ultra range of snow chains are similar to the Polar range but are made of a better quality, high tensile steel. They are more hardwearing than the Polar range and are suitable for all passenger vehicles, including people carriers. Zip Ultra snow chains are automatically tensioned – this means that they are designed to tighten around the wheel of your vehicle as you drive, making fitting easier. The CS-9 range is a premium version of the Zip Ultra, with a quick-release system and alloy protectors included.
For people who wish to make life easier the Konig Easy-Fit chains are a premium range for passenger cars and MPVs designed with ease-of-use in mind. Winning Awards for their innovative design and speedy installation mechanism, these have to be the easiest snow chains to fit and remove ever produced.
Fit and Go Sox are another option, but these do not offer as much traction as a snow chain. They are lightweight and intuitive to fit, and are perfect to store in your car for use over short distances. They have become more popular in recent years as customers perceive them to be simpler to fit, which is partly true. The reduced traction means they do not always meet legal requirements in European ski resorts, and where they do meet the requirements that is dependant on conditions so snow chains are still preferable to maximise traction. For further explanation please see our page on snow chains versus socks.
The K-Summit range of snow chains is used mainly by cars with limited clearance between the wheel and the suspension and/or braking components of the car. The K-Summit snow chain fits to the wheel nut on the front of the wheel and so requires no space behind the wheel. They are easy and convenient to fit and made of high quality steel, but they do require some setup to your specific tyre size and wheel nuts. K-Summits are suitable for all passenger vehicles, while for larger vehicles there are heavier grades of K-Summit on our SUV/4x4/Van page.
The final snow chain in the passenger car range is the 7mm Konig CB-7. This is a specialist chain for vehicles with limited clearance between the wheel and the suspension or braking components of the vehicle. The CB-7 snow chain is made of special twisted links which reduces the chain thickness to 7mm, rather than the standard 9mm thickness of a Polar or Konig Zip-9 and Zip Ultra snow chain for passenger cars. This snow chain can be used on passenger vehicles where clearance is just too small for a 9mm chain, but sufficient for a 7mm.
All of our vehicle traction products, both snow chains and snow socks, are easy to fit, but we strongly recommend that you practise fitting them in dry conditions. Please watch our fitting videos if you need any guidance.
** K-Summits while easy-to-fit do require setup (and familiarisation) before use.