Drive safe people, and buy winter tyres!

« **Reply #25 on:** 03/12/2012 at 22:50 »

Quote from: Soundmixer on 03/12/2012 at 22:32

Absolute fecking nightmare on the Cairn tonight going from under to over steer on the cold slush, vague braking and all round just sh1te, scary sh1te.

I would have said it was more likely to be the fact the tyres are the wrong size, being too wide and perhaps not pushing through the snow onto tarmac.

Typical issue with Landy drivers that stick fat tyres onto Defenders and then wonder why when they hit the first puddle they are pulled across the road into a ditch. Defenders work best on the original 205 narrow tyres, pushing through standing water with ease.

« **Reply #26 on:** 03/12/2012 at 22:56 »

Quote

That would have indeed been her.

15 minutes later I was sliding it up the drive, lots of right foot, no traction control...much more fun!..lol

Bet the Mito would have been fine up the drive

Wrong size tyre? By an Englishman? In a Scottish winter? Surely not?!
I know exactly what the problem is Rob....

There wasn't any real snow, just slush. Can't imagine what real snow would feel like

« **Reply #27 on:** 03/12/2012 at 23:07 »

Quote from: Soundmixer on 03/12/2012 at 22:56

Bet the Mito would have been fine up the drive

Aaaaaaaaactually, two winters ago when we did have proper snow, the Mito got up the drive whilst my Volvo, you know, those cars made by a nation who have snow for 8 months of the year, bottomed out on the snow and smashed all the under car plastic shields and then got so stuck I had to pull it out with a tractor!

The Mito was pretty good on hard packed snow on Pirelli standard tyres.

« **Reply #28 on:** 04/12/2012 at 11:30 »

Update on my van tyres.
Vredestien Comtrac tyres are pretty good on wet roads, dry roads and everything that is not winter. Took it on some snowy B roads today and they are SH1TE. I could go on but I can't be bothered they are that bad.

They are NOT winter tyres, just an allrounder. I will say that they are better than the crap that was on the van before though

I will also say that VW Transporter 4motion vans have the worst gearing in the world.

« **Reply #29 on:** 04/12/2012 at 11:40 »

Quote from: Rob on 03/12/2012 at 23:07

........ whilst my Volvo, you know, those cars made by a nation who have snow for 8 months of the year, bottomed out on the snow and smashed all the under car plastic shields and then got so stuck I had to pull it out with a tractor!

Remember Rob it might be a Volvo in name but the C30 is just a Focus in drag

Sorry about that.

H

« **Reply #30 on:** 04/12/2012 at 11:56 »

Quote from: Hamish on 04/12/2012 at 11:40

Remember Rob it might be a Volvo in name but the C30 is just a Focus in drag
Sorry about that.

H

Which is why I bought it

...the fantastic focus handling (improved with a dynamic chassis) and the 2.0 Duratec engine.

I had to take it this morning thanks to my mishap last night with the Subaru, and the handling compared to my last C30 (non dynamic chassis, turbo diesel engine) is like chalk and cheese on snowey roads. Tyres are Continenatil Sport Contacts, whilst the old one has Pirelli SlippyAsBabyShite or something or others. The traction control seems to work much better with the less peaky petrol engine too.

« **Reply #31 on:** 04/12/2012 at 11:58 »

« **Reply #32 on:** 05/12/2012 at 21:53 »

You guys have got me confused now .... I think I'll go with Vredestiens on the front and Coopers at the back

Cheers
Mike

« **Reply #33 on:** 06/12/2012 at 09:53 »

Quote from: Mike Barrio on 05/12/2012 at 21:53

You guys have got me confused now .... I think I'll go with Vredestiens on the front and Coopers at the back

Cheers
Mike

Slicks are the way to go MIke..honest!

Now that I am back on the road, I can safely say the Outback really is awesome in the snow.

« **Reply #34 on:** 06/12/2012 at 12:57 »

Well that's my snowboots fitted.
Well impressed, ordered on Sunday , delivered last night , fitted this morning.
Vredestein snowtrac3's on new steel wheels,205/55/16 all for £445
awesome

already balanced and with air, ready to go.
Phoned insurance, they happy, no change to premium and my alloys are still covered while in garage.

All in all seems like a great outcome.

Sandy

« **Reply #35 on:** 06/12/2012 at 14:33 »

Just waiting on Cassies alloys and snowboots to arrive. Currently her GT is at the bottom of the drive, unable to move..lol.

AWD also makes a HUGE difference, as can be seen in this strange vid of a Subaru dealer moving his new arrivals after a proper dump of snow. These will be running Yokohama Geolander tyres.

« **Reply #36 on:** 06/12/2012 at 16:37 »

Must agree with all the comments regarding winter tyres being of great benefit.

However with a big capital H, whatever tyres you have you must drive according to the conditions that you are faced with and often the most sensible option is not to drive atall if you don't have to.

On a daily basis I have to deal with the consequences.

Ploddy

« **Reply #37 on:** 07/12/2012 at 09:23 »

Quote from: Ploddy on 06/12/2012 at 16:37

However with a big capital H, whatever tyres you have you must drive according to the conditions that you are faced with and often the most sensible option is not to drive atall if you don't have to.

Agreed entirely!

Which is why women in BMW X5's should have their licence suspended between November and March

"I have a 4x4, so I can drive like its a summers day". I honestly think there should be a huge sticker on the dashboard pointing out that just because its a 4X4 DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT CAN STOP QUICKER ON ICE AND SNOW!.

« **Reply #38 on:** 07/12/2012 at 17:41 »

Quote

Which is why women in BMW X5's should have their licence suspended between November and March

Sadly Rob it's the blokes too. Saw a chap yesterday at Tesco Westill trying to reverse his Merc out of a parking space by applying a lot of throttle and going no-where. Also saw a Range Rover in a dyke with a sad bloke looking at it.

« **Reply #39 on:** 10/12/2012 at 20:50 »

Why is it when accidents are seen on the box there are usually 4WD involved, I have driven for 50 odd yrs and the only time i have been off the road was in a peugeot 304 because I put the new tires on the front, powering up caused the backend to flip and I ended off the road faced back to where i came from, I have driven a fiesta for a few years now and have driven within the conditions of the time, and have had no problems, and I too live in the highlands,we are lucky to have a local bus to Inverness so if its really bad I let the bus take the strain

easgach 1

« **Reply #40 on:** 10/12/2012 at 21:22 »

Quote from: Easgach 1 on 10/12/2012 at 20:50

Why is it when accidents are seen on the box there are usually 4WD involved,

Because people think having a 4x4 will mean that they do not have to think when they drive in poor conditions!

Worse are the people that buy an X5 or Range Rover and stick massive alloys and UHP summer tyres on them and then wonder why they have no grip on mud/wet grass/snow/ice.

Then there are the people that do not realise that something that weighs 2 tonnes + and has a high centre of gravity does not stop or go round corners as quickly or as well as something half there size, so in the winter, they barrel into a corner and end up going straight on thanks to that thing called physics!

I would say my Discovery was not that great on winter roads, even with snow tyres, as the power delivery, steering, braking etc was a bit harsh, so fine control was not really an option (better in low box). The AWD of my Subaru is much more subtle, you feel whats going on so can react subtlly to correct a slide, and the electronic stability control etc helps a huge amount. Also with the boxer engine, there is little weight trying to topple the thing.

Having said all that, that really bad winter a few years ago meant the Defender with big chunky mud terrain tyres rulled the roost in deep snow

I pulled much more expensive 4x4's out of ditches all winter

« **Reply #41 on:** 10/12/2012 at 21:33 »

Rob,
I have an old defender and when it snows I spend a considerable amount of time pulling my neighbours X3 up the hill at our house. However I do have a range rover that has winter tyres and it does not have huge wide rims and I have managed to drive according to conditions without going offroad unnintentionally. I did see a 4x4 last week that had gone down into Dunnotar woods the road was not too bad so they must have gone flying into the corner carrying too much speed.

Eddie.

« **Reply #42 on:** 10/12/2012 at 21:50 »

My Surf is great in snow or mud but on ice, nothing works well unless the tyres are studded. Once a big heavy car goes, it is much much harder to right, more mass, more momentum. Last week, Thursday when the roads where quite shit, I was fine but had a few close shaves with folk driving far too fast.

Cheers

Ben

« **Reply #43 on:** 10/12/2012 at 22:05 »

Quote from: edfish on 10/12/2012 at 21:33

However I do have a range rover that has winter tyres and it does not have huge wide rims and I have managed to drive according to conditions without going offroad unnintentionally.

« **Reply #44 on:** 11/12/2012 at 02:45 »

Quote from: edfish on 10/12/2012 at 21:33

Rob,
I have an old defender and when it snows I spend a considerable amount of time pulling my neighbours X3 up the hill at our house. However I do have a range rover that has winter tyres and it does not have huge wide rims and I have managed to drive according to conditions without going offroad unnintentionally. I did see a 4x4 last week that had gone down into Dunnotar woods the road was not too bad so they must have gone flying into the corner carrying too much speed.

Eddie.

To be fair tho that hill of yours is an absolute nightmare! That coupled with the fact that neither her nor her husband have a clue how to drive in the white stuff, it's always going to end in tears! Not that I can say much

having 320 ft/lbs of torque through the front wheels meant it was always a good laugh trying to get to yours!

« **Reply #45 on:** 11/12/2012 at 10:14 »

4 cars in the same field last night, just on the outskirts of Banchory.

Amazingly, there were two to start, by the time we went passed an hour later, despite a revovery truck with its lights on being present, and a police car with the same, there were a further 2 cars!

I guess 2 banks of warning lights, spotlights in a field, a "Police Slow" sign both sides of the scene and people standing around in hi viz jackets are not enough warning to slow down for some folk!

« **Reply #46 on:** 12/12/2012 at 06:24 »

Well I bought a set of Pirelli winter tyres for my Cooper S two weeks ago and although we have only had that snow for a couple of days the difference from normal summer tyres was immense.
Even just getting out of my drive which is on a slight hill was a breeze compared to last year.
Only one problem 😄 I am now in Perth Australia for the next month and there ain't no snow.

« **Reply #47 on:** 12/12/2012 at 22:36 »

Quote from: Rob on 11/12/2012 at 10:14

I guess 2 banks of warning lights, spotlights in a field, a "Police Slow" sign both sides of the scene and people standing around in hi viz jackets are not enough warning to slow down for some folk!

Rob, I think a large number of people have a general ignorance about how to drive in adverse conditions. It doesn't even have to be snow and ice to cause problems. Far too often there are collisions ( we don't call them accidents any more in the emergency services ) happen when the roads get a bit wet or foggy conditions prevail.

« **Reply #48 on:** 13/12/2012 at 14:30 »

Quote from: Ploddy on 12/12/2012 at 22:36

Rob, I think a large number of people have a general ignorance about how to drive in adverse conditions. It doesn't even have to be snow and ice to cause problems. Far too often there are collisions ( we don't call them accidents any more in the emergency services ) happen when the roads get a bit wet or foggy conditions prevail.

Should be renamed "attempted murders" in some cases, especially in the case of Dangerous Driving. Hang 'em I say

« **Reply #49 on:** 13/12/2012 at 19:16 »

Well that's the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D's fitted & ready for whatever comes along.
Does not mean I still don't have to drive to the conditions but does give me that little
bit more of a comfort factor when the roads are not good.

Alex