i need lsd!

[Drew]

got frikin nowhere in the snow this morning. barely managed to get out of my drive, passenger wheel spins up at anything over tickover!

had to turn back and go home after sitting in traffic for an hour, went in to work at 12, got half days pay. better than nowt.

Drew

[420gazza]

it wont work drew, it rots your brain and makes ya stupid, not only that you'll see things you probably dont wanna see.

in the words of richard ashcroft.......


The drugs dont work, it just makes you worse

[Leo]

Winter tyres.

I am constantly amazed at how many people say their car is rubbish in the snow/wet etc. It is not the CAR or the transmission etc., it's those black rubber wotsists wot keep your motor on the tarmac. Y'know, only point of contact with the road and all that.

Summer tyres + winter roads = well, whaddya expect?!

Leo - in Germany where everyone fits winter tyres between about Nov and April-ish. (apart from me)

[Drew]

i was considering fitting a pair of space savers to the front to seeif it made any difference? im thinking thin tyres may put more weight on the small contact patch so cut through the snow...

prolly not.

Drew

[Cableguy]

i was considering fitting a pair of space savers to the front to seeif it made any difference? im thinking thin tyres may put more weight on the small contact patch so cut through the snow...

prolly not.

Drew

Dunno , my 255 x 45 x 18's keep me well stuck

[Sheaf]

Narrow tyres are supposed to be better in the snow, as as you say, it cuts through the snow better and has more pressure on any surface. However you could also argue that a wider tyre has more chance of finding a patch of road with a bit of grip.

Monday was the only real snowy day we had here, I decided to take the Accord to work however as I figured ABS and a car body which didn't crumple at the first sign of a collision would be a little safer than the saxo.

However, the LSD does bugger all good tbh. I have one and I still had real trouble getting out the flat car park. It's on a slope and both wheels started spinning at about 5pm in 2nd.... and I started loosing speed, lol. Got up it after a while not without quite a lot of wheelspin. The guy following me out started sliding backwards, lol.
I find the LSD is great if one wheel slips a bit, so accelerating round a corner in the wet etc, but in the snow the chances are you'll just sit there spinning both wheels instead of one.

[MGTurbo]

My Transit has winter tyres and it made no bloody difference whatsoever.

[Din]

I just got stuck trying to park the car outside took about 20 mins to park it

[Punx0r]

Narrow tyres should work great on fresh snow that's not too deep. If there's a layer of ice under the snow then they still won't reach the tarmac.

If our climate does get colder I'm going to buy snowchains (£39.99)

Incidentally, I went out in the SD1 today and was impressed how much better it gripped than my 800!

[Drew]

i like the idea of a pair of narrow possibly studded tryes? to sit in the garage till needed.

took me quite a while to get off my drive yesterday. even just lifting the clutch up slowly at tickover made the passenger wheel spin and no drive at all to the other.

think the lsd is going to be the next mod for me.

Drew

[Punx0r]

Studded tyres would be awesome. I dread to think how much they cost though.

[Sheaf]

I'm considering buying a spare pair of wheels and sticking winter tyres on them myself (not snow orientated, but more general winter/wet weather tyres).

I dont think the back's too much of a worry really, but to try and have tyres on the front that perform well in such a variety of weathers is difficult.

[will-220GSiTurbo]

Take a fair whack of snow + A sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 = Drive around every other fcuker stuck in it

[Punx0r]

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any tyre retailers on goodle offering studded tyres One direct supplier had some for just over £100 each.

Perhaps snow driving could be an actual use for the rediculous biscuit-wheel space saver spares fitted to latter 800's. It's something like 135 width from memory

[Drew]

i looked through tweeks, only a few grass track, no studs

im sure there are a fwe guys from sweden on one of the rover forums. maybe we can import some!

have to wait 20 years to use them but will be awsome!

Drew

[Mitus]

My dad in his 330d couldn't get to work on Thursday, there's a slight slope out of his estate and he was just wheel spinning and started sliding backwards. FWD's were passing him like there was nothing wrong, even a battered old 1.3 Maestro!

He said in all his years driving, he's never not been able to get to work because of the car he was driving, buys a BMW and look what happens! Ultimate driving machine indeed

*Dons munky-proof flame suit*

[Punx0r]

Must admit, when we got stuck on monday with a selection of new fords, there was a 3-series that approached the hill we were trying to get up, and got stuck on the flat section before the hill! He eventally got going, I think our frantic waving got the message across not to come any further.

Compare this to earlier when an old rover 214 on skinny tyres had come halfway down the hill, turned around and drove back up with no problem at all!

I refuse to invest in anything that's going to sit in the garage unused for 10 years on the off-chance we ever get snow again. However, if it becomes regular then I shall get pro-active

Ironically, two weeks ago, my dad had a clearout and threw away two unused plastic sledges that were bought just after the last lot of proper snow we had - about 10 years ago. I said to him "why keep them? When was the last time it snowed?"

It's been snowing a bit more here this evening

[Vard66]

Heh. Last Tuesday when we nearly got stuck (I think it was Tuesday...) on the way back from Hungerford, we found seven cars stuck in the snow.

Each. And. Every. One. Was a 5 series estate.

No, wait, I tell a lie. One of them was a new 3 series.

[Drew]

simmilar, on thursday driving through town i get to a small down hill. only to find a C class trying to drive up it on the wrong side of the road. after a few sideways / backwards attempts i got bored of waiting and drove round him. i didnt even attempt that on the way back, but i assume the guy was still there!

Drew

[Jonny 5]

Narrow tyres are supposed to be better in the snow, as as you say, it cuts through the snow better and has more pressure on any surface. However you could also argue that a wider tyre has more chance of finding a patch of road with a bit of grip.

Go on then, argue that second point?

Wider tyre has to actually get to the road before it gets grip. Its the principle that allows snowballs to be made.

[618ireland]

The bit of tyre that comes in contact with the road is roughly the same sort of area as the bit of your shoe sole that wears, not much at all. Skinny tyres ftw in snow, like in the rallies .Regarding the ABS, I would prefer to be without ABS when driving in snow, ice etc.

[dac]

i hear you mate. got 205 17" straights on and they are terrible. as good as having no wheels at all. considering getting a big set of steelies and fitting winter tyres.

[Phoenix3dfx225]

A few years ago at the Cat n Fiddle pub there was a slight bit of snow and my 195 /40/17 tyres couldnt do anything much to get me out of the car park with a dusting of snow.

Whilst my parents standard fortwo with 135 50 tyres was much more able on the snow. AS mentioned look at WRC rally cars on snow, they narrow.

As for the 220 T coupe on snow, anything near a wiff of boost and you going no where!

[Punx0r]

If the road surface was like this:

___||____||_____||_____

With just snow in the gaps then a wide tyre might work better. Not very likely though

A smart-car in snow?! RWD, near-square wheel base, wide rear tyres, can only pull away in 1st, no clutch and "traction control" hat cuts all power at the slightest hint of wheel slip? I can barely think of a less able vehicle! Apart from maybe a heavily laden (exclusively to the rear) reliant robin

[Phoenix3dfx225]

bah traction control, that got switched off straight away, and so did the laterial g force sensors. Much fun, I'll have to find the mobile phone video clips I have taken a few years ago (there on the xbox harddrive somewhere).

[Punx0r]

Is that the one in a carpark where you attempt a J-turn and it rolls onto its roof? Apologies if I'm thinking of someone else

[Phoenix3dfx225]

No No that was me, thats what happens when you tune out the understeer and improve handing to the point of too much grip. It grips and falls over. However it is in the same car park the snow vids just a different time to when i rolled it.