Yokohama Super Bendy Winter Rubber FTW!!

Regular readers of my This Week thing may recall the following: ‘Meanwhile, it rolled around to the dreaded MOT time again and I need new rubber in all directions&;.. So I finally call a chap at Yokohama UK, who I have hob-nobbed with here and there at shows for the last decade (more than that!) who is in charge of their awesome marketing/shows pantechnicon that they take to the bigger car events. Not being daft, he knew immediately why I was on the phone and like a rubbery doctor, I confessed all my urges, sins and actual behaviour &;
It was deemed that my deep-seated fear of ice and snow driving could be allayed with the current fitting of winter tyres. To whit a set of four lovely Yokohama W.drive V902 winter tyres in my 195/65/15 size. I live on the steepest part of the hill and just getting started in an upwards direction as I have to, is scary in the snow. I even bought bloody snow chains in case we get hard-packed stuff. But the Yokohama W.drive tyres are about a more complex compound involving Micro Silica and Flexible Polymer as well, that is softer in cool conditions and is superior in the UK for at least eight months of the year. They also feature 3D block construction to the tread. It’s all dead cunning and I am a lucky dude. Here’s some more information about this sort of tyre and why they are such a good idea.  link
Aaand now, of course, I KNOW THE TRUTH! And it is revelatory! Whereas before, I could reverse out into my suburban semi detached street and simply not have any rear-wheel drive grip to start moving uphill, this morning, I rolled out and after a little low speed wheel slippage, I drove up the hill! To say I am chuffed is a massive understatement! The Japanese know about cold winters and their technologists are renowned in every field and the simple truth is, these winter tyres work!
I could of course still break away but it was like having a muscle car as the edges gripped too and with a tiny squeeze, I could pop the back of my Volvo around, without it sliding and spinning out! This was, I hasted to add at ONE mile an hour. Trying Winter rallying ‘cos you have snow tyres is the act of a twat on the highway. But the point is, instead of my Toyo Roadpros that were so grippy on the Tarmac, the winters do break away more easily and have a longer stopping distance in the dry, due to their soft texture but when it gets cold, the fear is simply reduced and I for one an am UTTER convert.
Winter tyres make sense and Yokohama make wickedly good rubber. Thank you guys SO much!