Snow Driving!!
- Thread starter Martin24
- Start date
hi all,
LOST!!! yep have to admit it cost me £10
at 16:40 hrs GMT we got our first flakes of snow this winter I bet the wife £10 that someone on the forum would add a post about snow driving and 4x4s by 18:00 GMT
However the post did not arrive untill 20:45 GMT, 2hr 45mins late thanks Martin
LOST!!! yep have to admit it cost me £10
at 16:40 hrs GMT we got our first flakes of snow this winter I bet the wife £10 that someone on the forum would add a post about snow driving and 4x4s by 18:00 GMT
However the post did not arrive untill 20:45 GMT, 2hr 45mins late thanks Martin
Winter tyres are far more important than 4wd - it's the stopping that matters and 4wd/fwd/rwd are all the same !!
I think the Bf Goodrich All Terrain tyre's that are fitted are more than capable of coping with the snow......
Martin,
What boot's has the Defender got on....
Martin,
What boot's has the Defender got on....
You're deluded squire. You're never going to need to stop if you can't get traction to get and keep going in the first place. As good as winter tyres might be they will not povide comparable traction fitted to 2wd. Getting from A to B in bad weather is what counts, 4wd provides more chance than just winter rubber on your Mondeo.RogerL said:
ps. 4wd with Nokian winter tyres myself.
Front wheel Drive, normal uk tyres.
Only ever been stuck once due to ice in 1972, until I was shown how to manage the conditions just after passing test, never been stuck since, and have driven in most UK conditions. I hacve been seriously delayed usualy by others who have managed to get stuck and block the roads.
I'm not knocking winter tyres or 4x4's but they aren't the necesity that some people make them out to be.
Only ever been stuck once due to ice in 1972, until I was shown how to manage the conditions just after passing test, never been stuck since, and have driven in most UK conditions. I hacve been seriously delayed usualy by others who have managed to get stuck and block the roads.
I'm not knocking winter tyres or 4x4's but they aren't the necesity that some people make them out to be.
hi,ZeGecko said:
thats fine everything being equal but it not is it!! there is no doubt that in the worsed conditions a 4wheel drive with good boots will out perform allmost all other combinations proviing the driver has the required skills to cope with the conditions,
it is not just the car that does the work a 4 wheel drive with summer road tyres will not perform as good as a reasonble 2wheel drive with good winter tyres but may be better than a two wheel drive with the same summer tyres,
moreover even the said two wheel drive with summer tyres in the hands of a driver well able to cope in poor conditions will still out perform a novice in a 4wheel drive. with winter boots.
an illustration of this was seen today as we were comming home from the s/market it had been snowing while we were out and had laid about 1cm of snow on the road (hence my comment above) we came out of the carpark to be confronted with a freelander2 right in front of us on the main road doing 14mph on a straight level piece of carrageway with no other traffic in front, after about 200 yards I decide to pass him, the driver a guy about 35yo was sat perched over the steering wheel hands gripped around it eyes staring out infront absolutely terrified "it may have been his first experience of snow I don't know" but the point is for what it is worth he might as well have been driving a reliant robin with bald tyres for what good his freelander was.
a driver who is well able to cope in all condititions and adapt their driving style to meet the conditions will allways have an advantage whatever car they drive.
I fear it's you that's deluded - you can't slide to a halt gently in an emergency !!ZeGecko said:
4wd has absolutely no effect under braking, it's the four tyre contact patches that do all the work.
It does not matter whether you have a great big 4 x 4 or an ordinary car, it is knowing how to drive it and use all the available functions correctedly according to the weather conditions. Sadly many drivers do not fall into this category.
As one motorist stuck for several hours on the M25 commented 'I was going okay with my winter tyres giving plenty of grip, but came to a halt when the motorway jammed behind the jacknifed HGVs' But he had blankets, drinks etc and was quite pragmatic about his situation. But he did not blame the lack of gritting and Highways Agency effort, it was stuck lorries.
Absolute wooly nonsense, braking and stopping is only a small part of slippery driving.RogerL said:
Cars are a means of transport for getting from our choice of point A to destination choice point B. In the 2010 icy conditions two rear wheel drive works cars fitted with winter tyres that greatly improved drivability on snow and ice. But the winter tyres didn't get the two cars up a steep hill from their factory. Front wheel drive Golf and Peugeot made it with standard tyres as did Q3 and a 4wd A3. In the UK winter tyres are still a fairly new concept for most drivers, and most will never factor a winter tyre budget as a worthwhile cost.
Living in a rural area where there are plenty of 4wd cars using regular tyres, A to B capability is what is needed and 4wd provides more chance of that then 2wd will ever do. You should drive within your capabilities and with sense during extreme weather, you then shouldn't find yourself in an emergency sittuation sliding gently. When driving in an slippery conditions you don't often find yourself just needing to break. Drive to wheels can also be an important part of staying control, having the option of drive at all 4 wheels will always be the best option.
I await the day when WRC's Monsieur Loeb tells Citroen "ditch le 4wd for le Monte ice and snows. I win easy peasy wit le superior 2wd".
ZeGecko said:
I don't think this topic is saying that 2wd is superior to 4wd, but that in many or even most cases 2wd is satisfactory when used carefully. Comparing road driving to rallying is not realistic.
Mel
Moderator
Surely, the short version of all this is that some cars are better than other cars in ice and snow once you have controlled for the driver variable. I have driven rear wheel drive cars, front wheel drive cars (of various types) and 4x4s in snowy conditions. I know that some are better than others. If I got in my little runabout I would have had no chance of getting out of my village this morning (and neither would any of the rest of you, so don't even think it) whereas I could get out in the 4x4. A different 2 wheel drive to my little car may have got further than mine. There will be different characteristics in any vehicle that will account for variability in performance, my little car is too light for one.
By the same token some drivers due to experience, skills, confidence and technique will do better than others.
mel
By the same token some drivers due to experience, skills, confidence and technique will do better than others.
mel
A light hearted remark re an event known for Snow DrivingProf John L said:
Subject heading is "Snow Driving" if you think that 2wd cars with snow tyres will out perform an average 4wd on regular rubber in all levels of Snow Driving you are deluded.
2wd includes rwd, even with winter tyres it can still be pretty useless. If you live and drive somewhere in the flatlands like Norfolk a front wheel drive car on winter rubber in th right hands could run rings around a 4wd on regular rubber. LIve in hilly country areas with snow drifts and icy rutted roads and drive to all wheels will win in day to day getting A to B snow driving unless you're a pretty useless driver.
I've mainly driven front wheel drive cars for more than 40 years and living and working in Calgary, Alaska and Finland I've driven in the most extreme weather. Given the choice between a Merc or a Corolla with winter tyres or a 4wd drive regular jeep in an Alaskan blizard I'll still be driving whilst the 2wd are dead and buried along with the occupants.
Surfer's post is correct. You could give some people tracks on their car and the'd still drive like prats on snow and ice.
Friends have called in for tea from a neighbouring viilage, they got out shopping this morning in her quatro, they couldn't get up their steep driveway in his company car 2wd XC60 wearing winter tyres.
I had to drive in the snow yesterday, and noticed that the cars that were really having trouble seemed to be 2wd vehicles with bling wheels. I was in a 4x4 so felt that it could cope with the 4 or 5 inches of snow we had around here, however I nearly got stuck going up a hill as several 2wd cars lost traction and stopped, fortunately there was space to pass otherwise I'd have been as stuck as well.
What terrific fun!! who would of thought the three little words could set you all off quite so easily?? Oh we did and what a laugh we've been given!!
hi all
my son-in-law who has not been driving long has a c1 and after a vist to my house i said to him,if you get stuck give me a call.10 minutes later the phone went off,he was still outside of my house,the street outside has a very steep camber and he could not drive out of it,i got in the car and drove it out,he asked me how i did it when he had tried for 10 minutes,i told him all that i had done different was to take it slow and easy.
Its not a case of what you drive its how you drive it,ive been driving for over 35yrs and i still dont know it all
hgv dave
my son-in-law who has not been driving long has a c1 and after a vist to my house i said to him,if you get stuck give me a call.10 minutes later the phone went off,he was still outside of my house,the street outside has a very steep camber and he could not drive out of it,i got in the car and drove it out,he asked me how i did it when he had tried for 10 minutes,i told him all that i had done different was to take it slow and easy.
Its not a case of what you drive its how you drive it,ive been driving for over 35yrs and i still dont know it all
hgv dave
buy a Jeep snow no problem, but its fair to say its how you drive in the white stuff a bit like driving in sand
copaul said:
I have to disagree with you:- 4x4s are not a universal solution to poor road conditions, I do agree its more often than not how you drive than what.
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