Snow driving

johndglynn · Post by **johndglynn** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:02 pm

Just bought some Dunlop Graspic studless snow tyres for mine. I'm desperate to go on in the snow!!

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:34 pm

.... and I've got cold feet.

Let me tell you why. I dropped in on my parents this evening, which is down a fairly deep valley in Sussex. As I went lower and lower it got ever more icy, but I wasn't too worried as my old BM 323i (E36) Touring has done quite well so far.

Anyway, I dropped in back at 'home', mince pies, bit of coffee, etc. Currently to get back out of the valley, just one of the four lanes is passable uphill (I used a different one to get in). As I got to the end of the parent's lane (a T-junction on a steep hill), an enormous tow truck came into view. It had wedged itself across both lanes, and up against a tree. Turns out he was the rescue truck for a truck that was stuck in the snow

.

Still, it was all O.K. apparently, as he had called .... for a tow truck. Since they had some spades, and had already shovelled a lot of the sheet ice from under the beast (which had made little difference), I suggested that they shovel a load of soil under the wheels. They took some convincing, but in the end gave it a go. It worked a treat, and the truck started to move quite well. Right up 'til the point where a girl in a Clio shot in front of the truck, and then got stuck.

We managed to get her going again, never to be seen again. At this point a Skoda Taxi was seen gliding down the hill, past the truck. Truck tried again, but ended up back in the tree.

After another half hour or so, headlights appeared behind my car. Turns out it was another taxi ... who had come to rescue the first taxi. Still, at least we knew the tow truck would be O.K. one way or another, after all he had a rescuer on the way. Except, it turned out that the towtruck for the towtruck for the stuck truck was, well, stuck

.

At this point I thought I would return to the parents for another coffee and more mince pies. I gave the muddle down the road another hour, dropped my tyre pressures right down and headed off: no sign of the Renault, the trucks or the taxis, and despite the steep hill, sheet ice and blind bends, the little old BM just plodded up the whole lot, with the traction control coming in just once.

Mind you, I'm not sure that I'd have been able to re-start on a steep bit had I met anything ....

Still, it made a change

.

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:29 am

sounds like quite an adventure!!.. kitty litter, everyone needs a bag in the boot of their car

it never ceases to amaze me how totally unprepared we are in the uk for a bit of snow; i would have thought the recovery / emergency services would just switch to winter tyres or whatever they need around dec 1st and have done with it..

earlier this year when the snow came we got sent home from work as the maintanence guys had no salt left (they used it all in december when it was 3 or 4 degrees) so i headed across country to a mates house so we could walk up to the monument in bradgate park, walk the dogs and take some pictures (and do some sledging but obviously we wouldnt admit to that being growned-ups

)

to get from work to his house i have to drive through a quaint little village called newton linford which is sort of in a natural bowl with three roads in/out. i got into the village and was plodding along in betsy (my old w123 ce merc) with a knackered old defender behind me, when 1/2 way up the hill on the way out we came across a guy in a black hummer h2 stuck! i stopped and asked if he wanted a hand; apparently he had got into the village but had been trying (unsucessfully) to get out for the last 2hrs. he didn't see the funny side (unlike me) so told me where to go. by this time the old guy in the defender (3 teeth, dog-end fag, blue boiler suit, flat cap) had also pulled up.. he looked the shiny black hummer with its chrome wheels up-and-down and said "shuduv boort a sens'ble car boy".. we both got back in our respective cars and carried on up the hill; even the old chaps jack russell was laughing!

glad to hear another old BM is braving the elements; i've had to give two people a lift to work this morning as their 12mo old cars won't start or are broken

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:07 am

I love driving in the snow - just a matter of balancing your momentum against the grip - it's a bit irritating when you follow cars who think they have to go at 1mph nd then as soon as they get to a slight hill they get stuck

Having said all that in Nottingham we've been incredibly lucky - not got masses of snow here - all the main roads are clear

Nick Moss · Post by **Nick Moss** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:22 am

We still haven't had the local roads gritted, now it has rained on frozen ground. Now that is a challenge, I can't even walk on it!

Histrally · Post by **Histrally** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:51 am

I remember years ago up in the Lake District watching the RAC rally. A proper event as it was intended to be. We got out of the car and fell over it was so icy. We walked into the forest halway up this hill covered in frozen snow. The sight of Hannu Mikola in a Full House MKII Escort with his foot firmly planted on the throttle down this hill with bends all the way down was such an incedible sight and sound. That was what I call car control on ice!!
Here in Warwickshire we have been lucky so far, icy side roads but no major problems.
Jerry

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:16 pm

Nice tale, Ben: nothing more satisfying than hearing of a Hummer stuck in the snow (or indeed on some wet grass outside the Dog and Duck

).

The biggest challenge by far seems to be nothing to do with your own vehicle, but the driving style of others. As Mark says, if you get tangled up with someone who just won't get any momentum up things are so much harder.

Nick's right though, all of the roads around here have been converted to ice-rink material last night. Screen de-icing this morning was that nasty second screen of that stubborn thin ice that is a real swine to shift. Luckily my commute doesn't involve a car, so I didn't have to get the scraper out myself.

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 1:05 pm

there are a few tyre tracks at the end of my road this morning going straight over the t-junction and into the grass opposite

the bottom of the street (slightly downhill) is just sheet ice..

fortunately no scrapie-scrapie for me as my car has a remote webasto heater thing; clicked it on through the curtains when i got out of bed at 6:30 and the car was 25-deg inside and ice-free by the time i got into it at 7

sjm · Post by **sjm** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:17 pm

I just jumped in to my Defender, went out and had fun! There are quite a few private roads near me, and anyone familiar with Chislehurst will know it's got plenty of very hilly roads too. Had a great time! The best bit is starting half way up a very steep hill (privtae road - so no cars around!), engage low range box, stick it in 2nd gear, ease the clutch up with no throttle and off you go! Magic!

Al drve carefully though - as others have said, 4x4 will only keep you going - you don't stop any quicker!

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:57 pm

hhhmmmmm.. defender..

TheEasyLife · Post by **TheEasyLife** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:14 pm

2 winters ago one of my directors slid his Bentley Continental GT into the back of a landrover defender whilst trying to stop at a junction in the snow. No damage other than scratched paint on the landy but he lost his Bentley for 2-3 months whilst they replaced his wings, bonnet, grille and lights. The cracks up the composite wings were really impressive as you could see how thick the front wings were (or weren't). The comedy part was they gave him a 2.0D Jag X Type as a replacement vehicle, he really wasn't amused.

As previously mentioned: 500Bhp, AWD and brake discs the size of dustbin lids are all useless if you have no grip.

Drive safely.

James

pillay2k · Post by **pillay2k** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:40 pm

I've been cheating in the snow around sussex...

When not in this, trusty 406 diesel with snow tyres does the biz. Snow tyres are a must if you want to be able to drive round stranded cars with a smile on your face. (i have done my bit by getting a couple of BMW's out of ditches in the disco tho)

cubist · Post by **cubist** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:11 pm

-7. 2.25 this afternoon as the icy fog pulled in across the fen again. Golf is a blast - completely docile with bags of torque. A good snowplough too, doing a better job than the wuckfit council gritters... not enough grit to do anything other than the dual carraigeways apparently. Plenty of budget to fund day centres for the transient caravan dwellers of the borough though of course...

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:13 pm

Here in northern Japan, which comes under the influence of the monsoon winds blowing out of Siberia in winter and is under deep snow for about five months of the year, snow tyres are mandatory from November till April. Studded tyres have been banned for several years now because of the damage they did to road surfaces and because the bitumen dust they created when running 'dry' was a health hazard.

Ordinary studless snow tyres these days, however, are really sensational. As described eleswhere above, they are a softer compound with lots of very fine additional tread pattern slits that somehow work magic on even very smooth icy surfaces.

I take the 911S off the road over winter, because unfortunately they put salt on the roads here too. I keep running the 964 because it is better built to withstand the salt, but even so give it a good high pressure clean-up underneath at least once a week.

For winter driving with the studless snow tyres (Michelin X-Ice), I prefer my Audi A4 Quattro which is absolutely brilliant here. It is absolutely the best balanced car I have ever driven on snow. For work purposes I have a Toyota Landcruiser, and I also mess about in a very quick Subaru Legacy Wagon (2-litre twin turbo, Bilstein shocks, AWD) which is favoured by the locals, but both of them pale alongside the Audi. I did actually go skiing in the 964 a couple of times on studless tyres, and still run it locally with narrow rear wheels and as much weight as possible over the front wheels, but no matter how good the studless tyres are, a 964 C2 is a very scary beast on ice.

Don't know if they are avbailable in the UK, but the Michelin X-Ice are brilliant.

Cheers
Greg

DIRKBROWNFINGER · Post by **DIRKBROWNFINGER** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:24 pm

Four-wheel drive doesnt always help does it! Popped upto Devils Dyke last week, and discretion/valour even with traction control on the merc parked up in the first car park before the gentle incline past the golf courses. Went for a walk with the missus along a bit and then spent the next hour pushing cars out! The fellow with the AUDI A3 quattro dismissed my offer of help even though he was stuck. I convinced him to reconsider after we watched him struggle for a further ten minutes. Its all well and good, but if there is a bit of camber the car drifts sideways even with 4wd. Once you lose your momentum, you are done for.

Good fun though - it doesnt matter how old you get, we still get out there to practise our dab of oppo!

Dirk.