It’s Snow Good!

[dendonc]

4 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

my front wheel drive Volvo if it snows, much better traction and easier to get out of a snowy rut

Yes I've been thinking that since the subject first came up, front wheel is significantly better in slippery conditions, I found that in both the citron CX & volvo cars

[Cotswold Pete]

15 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Interesting comments.  For me though it's my front wheel drive Volvo if it snows, much better traction and easier to get out of a snowy rut.  If we had regular snow down here I'd certainly consider snow tyres, but if it does snow its usually gone within hours.

Totally agree about front wheel drive, once drove Oxford to Bristol  in the great freeze of Dec 1981, took 4 hours, dug out cars stuck in the way, took it steady and that was in an Escort Mk3.   and when I got to a garage in Swindon to fill up, the owner was amazed.

However I am sure a front wheel drive LS would be a bit of a handful.

Snow tyres are the things to have, but not sure for the one day every 4 to 5 years they are needed in the balmy climes of the Cotswold Valleys, it is worth worrying about, and all the more reason to stay indoors and have another sloe gin

[jonthetourist]

30 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

 

Snow tyres are the things to have, but not sure for the one day every 4 to 5 years they are needed in the balmy climes of the Cotswold Valleys, it is worth worrying about, and all the more reason to stay indoors and have another sloe gin

Not very balmy round here at present Pete, and Nettleton Bottom is taking it's usual toll* Our cars have stayed on the drive yesterday and today.

 

*Nettleton Bottom is the point at which the dual carriageway from Swindon to Gloucester briefly becomes single lane to go down a steep hill. When it gets icy, not every vehicle can make it up the other side. Well done, Highway Planners!

[Chris Skelton]

Great freeze of 81! How well I recall. I got caught in Alton, Hants, having driven my Citroen Dyane there to deliver a hi-fi amp -Quad 405 -(stuck avidly  behind a coach 'getting his wind'....). HEAVY snow and freeze overnight;  on the way home to Bristol, the M4 was mainly one wavering lane through frozen snow, passing abandoned Saabs and Porsches etc.. on the way. Thin tyres, air-cooled 602cc engine.....no problem!. (Pic; I didn't ALWAYS deiver giant cinema horns!)

Later, I used my Citroen DS Safari on high suspension to deliver goods over the frozen ruts that kept everyone else marooned!

 

How DID I drive a Ford Galaxie in Canada in December snow I wonder now, in 92? At least the roads are wide and thinly populated there, not our jammed roads.

[grantwils]

Since then I have gone more into it, especially with an Austrian frau who lives there. Yes winter tyres are more advantageous and have a better chance of stopping a car & holding the road. (I also got hateful sermon on snow chain use from her, she hates them)
>However or will imply, to anyone not that used to them, snow & ice etc, they are better than normal tyres on snow seemingly a bit better on compressed & therefore more slippery snow, but they are not anywhere near as good & fail safe as you suggest they are,.
Snow tyres should be seen as completely ineffective with ABS if you go into even the slightest slide, you simply cannot stop the car until or unless it grips on something, something Nick858 failed to mention as well as his snow 'escapade' which ended with him & car nearly going under a juggernaught.
So winter tyres are better than normal tyres at gripping, but they are by no means a fail safe drive as you want on compressed snow ice as Nick858 implied in his previous post, once ABS goes into the slightest slide a drives is in trouble big time, something nick again overlooks. 
The forcast for tonight is that tempratures is expected to drop -12c

You can always tell the people with zero experience of winter tyres because they post nonsense like this.

They’re not a fail safe, no-one said they are but they are a massive, huge, undeniable, instantaneous improvement over summer tyres on snow, ice, slush, etc. They’re also in many cases cheaper than using summer tyres all year so why wouldn’t you.


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[Nick W858]

yes nothing is fail safe and I still drive steady with the winter tyres on - dendonc my 'juggernaut' incident was on summer tyres and prompted the change to winters, the abs issue you state is a non issue as with winter tyres the beauty is that the abs rarely kicks in and I have never been on any hill in any condition in which I could not bring the car to a stop. It's minus 6 here and I'm just about to drive home and famous last words but I am confident I will make it home drama free.

[The-Acre]

I once drove a VW Beetle home from North Wales in January.  The snow was very thick but the Beetle was brilliant....until the flat underbelly hit high points causing it to act like a sledge!

[Nick W858]

Well I have made it home but it wasn't drama free, serves me right for opening my big mouth, it's dangerous out there in freezing temperatures and packed ice on some roads, took me ages to get back on account of stopping three times, firstly to tow a Defender out of a ditch, then a gritting lorry and finally a snowplough - none of which unlike me were on winter tyres! On a more serious note, I took the LS for a blast round a very empty and icy a Tesco car park, very difficult to break traction unless seriously provoked and tried some emergency stops, no drama, no abs etc, will be interesting to see if the conditions in the morning can provide more challenge.

[Bluesman]

I have locked this as its sinking to the depths of tit for tat insults.

We are meant to be adults so let's try and act like adults. Its Christmas time let's see some Christmas cheer and be nice to each other.

Remember we are all allowed our opinion.