Winter driving, share your tips please

[Newbie777]

Hello 

Has anyone have any tips for winter driving and getting car ready?

So from me it is..keep a longer distance between the car in front and remember you can't see black ice, also you will need more time and room when braking.

Thank you

Niaz

 

[Neilo]

I use neat screenwash (extreme winter stuff) on a rag and coat all of the door seal surfaces - stops them freezing together.

Also I carry a tube of rubber cement (innertube glue) - if you happen to split a rubber wiper blade this is excellent for emergency repair, if your out and about without a spare blade to hand.   

 

[DavidCM]

8 minutes ago, Neilo said:

I use neat screenwash (extreme winter stuff) on a rag and coat all of the door seal surfaces - stops them freezing together

 

You might be better of using GummiPflege as the spirit/alcohol in screen wash might cause the rubber seals to perish prematurely.

 

[Neilo]

16 minutes ago, DavidCM said:

You might be better of using GummiPflege as the spirit/alcohol in screen wash might cause the rubber seals to perish prematurely.

Thanks David, I've not had a problem with screenwash and I've used it for years but always open to alternatives and views. 

[Malc1]

Take care where you pull up when driving slowly …… unexpected black ice on the road today and knew the rear wheel spinning to “ go” wasn’t a sensible place to stop ……. Very gentle reversing, slipping back to a dry spot to get some grip traction to gently go forwards …… all ok of course BUT just be more aware of your limitations AND take your time to achieve what you wish for 

I always vow not to take the Ls400 out on snow and ice ….. she’s USELESS , zero traction 

Will i never learn 😂

Malc 

[Boomer54]

8 hours ago, Newbie777 said:

Hello 

Has anyone have any tips for winter driving and getting car ready?

So from me it is..keep a longer distance between the car in front and remember you can't see black ice, also you will need more time and room when braking.

Thank you

Niaz

 

You know in church where the priest says "go with god" he's really saying drive in winter and be warned.

[Rabbers]

When you remove snow from the car don’t be lazy and leave any significant amount on the roof.  If you brake suddenly it may slide down onto your windscreen and block your view.  Or if it blows off onto the road behind it could turn out to be even more of a danger than a discourtesy to other cars. 

[Boomer54]

35 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

When you remove snow from the car don’t be lazy and leave any significant amount on the roof.  If you brake suddenly it may slide down onto your windscreen and block your view.  Or if it blows off onto the road behind it could turn out to be even more of a danger than a discourtesy to other cars. 

In the UK it is a fixed penalty offence to drive with snow on the roof of your car.

[Rabbers]

5 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

In the UK it is a fixed penalty offence to drive with snow on the roof of your car.

And so it is just about everywhere in Europe, which doesn’t mean everybody knows it.

[Newbie777]

8 hours ago, Neilo said:

I use neat screenwash (extreme winter stuff) on a rag and coat all of the door seal surfaces - stops them freezing together.

Also I carry a tube of rubber cement (innertube glue) - if you happen to split a rubber wiper blade this is excellent for emergency repair, if your out and about without a spare blade to hand.   

 

Thanks guys, learning good stuff here, keep them.coming

[peniole]

Summer tyres are basically the same consistency of hockey pucks under 7C. Traction dramatically decreases in the cold if you have summer tyres even without water ice or snow. I always opt for all season tyres.

[Spock66]

My tip would be don't travel unless necessary, many jobs allow working from home in the post pandemic era.

If you do venture out make sure the car is fully defrosted and all windows clear, also be wary of using your screenwash which can instantly freeze in cold conditions.

I have a recollection of driving on black ice on a dual carriageway, car in front spun hit the kerb and then rolled over three times (fortunately no one was injured).  I stopped and got out of the car, immediately falling on my arse it was so slippy.

[Newbie777]

On 1/19/2024 at 9:22 PM, Spock66 said:

My tip would be don't travel unless necessary, many jobs allow working from home in the post pandemic era.

If you do venture out make sure the car is fully defrosted and all windows clear, also be wary of using your screenwash which can instantly freeze in cold conditions.

I have a recollection of driving on black ice on a dual carriageway, car in front spun hit the kerb and then rolled over three times (fortunately no one was injured).  I stopped and got out of the car, immediately falling on my arse it was so slippy.

Thank you.

Just talking about screenwash, I think it is a matter of higher concentration in winter? Also does anyone know if Lexus have heated washer jets like the VW group?

[GMB]

18 minutes ago, Newbie777 said:

heated washer jet

TVR tuscans have a heated gear knob, but it was unintentional. Just more stuff to conk out. Google it.

I just want a minimalist big loud V8 and no computers, gimmicks, cr-ppy stuff to confuse the issue. The engine does it all - including the entertainment/audio factor.  

[Neilo]

5 hours ago, Newbie777 said:

Just talking about screenwash, I think it is a matter of higher concentration in winter?

I use diluted through to end of summer then start topping up with neat winter screenwash which can protect from freezing down to -5 or further depending which you choose. Using neat does smell a bit in the cabin when you spray your windscreen but I dont find it unpleasant.   

[Rabbers]

1 hour ago, Neilo said:

… does smell a bit in the cabin when you spray your windscreen but I dont find it unpleasant.   

If you want a nice smell from your windscreen fluid (as well as effectiveness) pop into your nearest BMW dealer and get a bottle of their winter or summer strengths as necessary.  I drove BMWs before converting to Lexus nearly two decades ago but I still use their windscreen wash.  The stuff has occasionally been reformulated but the smell has remained basically unchanged - mildly antiseptic with a hint of violets, my nose tells me.  Not that I’ve tried, but It would probably work as an after-shave.

[Neilo]

18 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

If you want a nice smell from your windscreen fluid (as well as effectiveness) pop into your nearest BMW dealer and get a bottle of their winter or summer strengths as necessary.  I drove BMWs before converting to Lexus nearly two decades ago but I still use their windscreen wash.  The stuff has occasionally been reformulated but the smell has remained basically unchanged - mildly antiseptic with a hint of violets, my nose tells me.  Not that I’ve tried, but It would probably work as an after-shave.

Sounds lovely Renato, good that you have stuck to what appeals to you....I'm a get what I'm given for the price kind of guy - but I will check it out, thanks.   

[J Henderson]

Re: Screenwash. I use this stuff from Halfords during winter.

Other tips: keep a warm jacket in the boot, preferably a hi-vis one. Some bottled water too - either for drinking if stuck somewhere, or using in radiator, clearing windscreen etc.

[Gary H]

It's all common sense really - or rather, it ought to be.

Gentle acceleration. Gentle braking where possible and smooth, fluid steering input. 

I generally keep my washer fluid topped up anyway so mine very rarely gets low. However, last Friday my washer jets had frozen solid and I had to look through various arcs of smeared road dirt on the way into work when I thought it was safe enough to use them. That was...interesting. 

On 1/19/2024 at 9:22 PM, Spock66 said:

I have a recollection of driving on black ice on a dual carriageway, car in front spun hit the kerb and then rolled over three times (fortunately no one was injured).  I stopped and got out of the car, immediately falling on my arse it was so slippy.

I'm pleased to hear no one was injured. That could have been very nasty. 

This reminds me of our works' car park - which for much of last week resembled an icing rink barring a small 10ft or so length beyond the entrance gates. I almost ended up doing the splits walking away from the car last Thursday morning. 😬  The chap in the warehouse who usually salts/grits the car park at this time of year did eventually get round to it - but only about an hour after everyone had already been in and 'skated' their way to the entrance door!

[Bluemarlin]

For anyone interested, was just in Costco and the Prestone concentrated screen wash (the blue one for up to -23C) is about 8 quid for 5 litres.

[MJB18]

One thing I've learned from having an LS400, LS430, and now an LS460 is that they won't go up even the slightest incline if there's snow or ice on the road.

Now I always carry a pair of snow socks in the winter, they've got me out of many a tricky situation where otherwise I would have had to leave the car and walk home.

https://autosockdirect.co.uk/

[Boomer54]

Well zero puoins for this fool who took a BMW 5 tourer sans chains right up the mountain to Avoriaz ! Thank you to the skiers who pushed the last few hundred yards. If getting up was tough getting down was the stuff of nightmares! How do you say in French 'get some barriers up for Christsake'.

If you live you learn.

[Linas.P]

Sadly, there are no simple solutions for that, no "silver bullet" - practice and experienced is the only answer... but in UK there is nowhere to get that.

• So option 1 - get some winter driving experience, there is training for that abroad, also one can go for winter holidays more often, there advanced courses (although they may be focused on wet driving/aquaplaning in UK, but still useful).
• Option 2 - not to drive. That is genuinely workable option with UK having maybe 2 days per year of winter it is doable (I know I deliberately taking pssss here, but winter days are few enough to be able not to drive, it is genuine option).
• 3rd is not really an option in my view - but if one has to drive, like they went to meet family up north, it was 9C, then suddenly out of nowhere there is blizzard and it is -5C at night when they have to go back... and they have to do it because tomorrow they are going for long planned holidays. Then keeping distance, driving slow and taking extra care is the only way. It is not an option, because it is no point of being "mindful" or being "careful" if one fundamentally does not know what to look for. Sorry to say, but most British drivers do not know what they looking for in slippery conditions, that is not criticism it is just a fact and result of generally mild weather in UK. To be mindful of danger you need to know exactly how to deal with it. It is like saying to person "go pick-up that snake", we all know that snakes are poisonous, quick and can bite - still that does not help at all in picking-up the snake. So same with driving on slippery roads - one needs to know how to drive in those conditions and practice it, it is not enough to know it is dangerous. 
• One thing NOT to do - get winter tyres and act like it is summer. Sadly, this is in my experience most common thing people do, not because they are stupid, not because they are not careful, but because with lack of real-life experience people just don't know what they looking for, they think they have prepared they don't all the steps on "top 10 tips winter driving list from Sunday Times", but they don't understand they simply don't have skills and experience to deal with situations they will encounter. Tyres gives you nothing if you don't know how to use them, may even give false sense of safety until it is too late.

I am not saying don't get winter tyres, or not put -40C screen wash (by the way the thing is horrible if you driving on motorway at -10C), or not keep extra distance, but with all that preparation one still have to always default to option 3, unless they have completed option 1.

How to prepare car for winter, that is separate topic - I like to use some lubricant on the rubbers just not to get them frozen overnight. Other useful thing - if google says it will take 15 min to drive somewhere, just double that and add 30 minutes on top. First of all you need to prepare car after the night (if it was outside), warm it-up first, properly for like 10 minutes, clean it properly, not just little slot on windscreen. Obviously, having right tools helps, keeping car indoors or under the cover even better. Driving Lexus I found that lifting wipers is pointless as all of my cars had heated windscreen, but if you don't have it, then lift the wipers when you park. All this prep takes time, hence just blanket extra 30 min for any trip, because last thing you want to do in winter is rushing. General mechanical prep - noting special, tyres should be good, should be same, should be at the right pressure (in winter pressure could be lower, but must be even), all the fluids should be right and to the right level. Small note on winter screenwash, -10C, -15C, maybe even -25C are alright, but when you get into real winter screenwash with -40C it is alcohol based and alcohol tends to evaporate, so if you driving in real winter (-20C or such) and you try to use it at speed it will internally freeze out of the nozzle and makes amazing icicles, so you need to slow down, ideally nearly stop before using it, but if you doing 70 on motorway, it will freeze. Also remember -10C, - 50C whatever, that is not a problem. Worst temperature is -0C, or let's say between ~ +1C and -1C. That is when you get black ice and that is when no tyres helps. Above that is just wet, any tyres will handle that reasonably well, once everything freezes everything is evenly slippery and below -5C actually dry, but that temperature around 0C is most dangerous. Aslo you can definitely see black ice if you know what you looking for, if not sure then slow down to relatively slow speed, make sure you have plenty space in front and behind you and start braking increasingly suddenly and you will figure out right away how slippery it is and at what point your car loses grip, it is good test to do if you not sure how slippery it is or hoe well your tyres can cope with it.

2 weeks ago I was driving for a week in ~ -10C-26C for a week with RAV4 hybrid (fake-AWD) and brand new, but crappy winter tyres. It was rather scary how bad were those winter tyres, they looked good, but they were unpredictable, obviously being new car with all safety systems it was alright. Today I just got back from snowboarding where rental company failed me in providing "winterised" car, paid extra 90 euro for winter tyres and found Michelin PS4* on the car, then they gave me snow socks as "solution", which is not exactly the same. However, I must say PS4* were amazing, despite -10C and very dodgy mountain roads. I don't know if it was the * (star - BMW special fitment) that made a difference or it was something to do with BMW 4GC which despite being RWD only handled slippery mountains roads like a champ, but I had great time. Did car lost grip - yes of course it did, it was performance summer tyres on icy mountain roads, but it was always predictable and controllable ride. It is true that getting up the mountain is always safer than getting down the mountain (which you can as well consider tip), but I didn't have issues either direction.