Driving in snow

[ArDee]

How would you propose to rectify that? Use indoor ski slopes perhaps ? Trips to foreign parts that have LOTS of snow? Could get a bit expensive for the sake of a few days a year

Perhaps that is what people driving around the car park were doing; learning how to handle their car on snow in a relatively safe environment?

 

[byegad]

Couldn't agree more they crawl along until they get to the bottom of a hill, then, in bottom gear, floor the throttle and sit there wondering why they aren't going forward. I stay off the roads in these conditions, not because I couldn't get where I want to be, but because I'll get stranded behind 15 numpties who can't drive, or hit by a numpty who has locked all four wheels and doesn't know you can take your foot off the brake and steer.

 

[ASC1951]

Anyone driving faster than me is being careless, and anyone driving slower than me is being overly cautious.

Exactly so. Don't 80% of people think they are better drivers than average? I'm certainly one of them.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Exactly so. Don't 80% of people think they are better drivers than average? I'm certainly one of them.

What is 'better'?

Is better faster? (Top Gear, the name is in the clue)
Is better safer? (Everyone else)

Perhaps that is what people driving around the car park were doing; learning how to handle their car on snow in a relatively safe environment?

There's something in that. It's how I used to practice! You need plenty of space I(almost)GWS.

 

[Arch]

Driving in snow is so simple that I'm amazed that most appear to be clueless.

I learned to drive 25 years ago (oh god, really?) and the week it snowed, they cancelled the lesson. I then owned an old banger for a couple of years, but that had an inbuilt safety feature and wouldn't start in adverse weather. Since then I haven't owned a car. I've driven plenty of things, but never had to do so in bad snowy weather. I've never had any formal advice or practical tuition in snowy conditions - not because I don't want to know, just because I haven't had the opportunity. In theory, I now know the basics, but haven't had the practice.

I'd probably appear clueless, and I'm fairly sure I'd be over cautious, but I'd rather be over cautious than not!

 

[swee'pea99]

Gear high, rev low, and think ahead constantly so you never get into a situation where you have to do *anything* suddenly. I think that's about it, right?

 

[green1]

Apparently the usual reason for the typical German RWD having problems in the snow is because their owners have not swapped over to winter tyres which offer superior grip.

Winter tyres transform the handling of such cars in the snow. All cars benefit from being shod with winter tyres and some european countries insist that they are fitted to all cars for the winter.

Which is great if you can get them in the correct size for your car, I can't. As a result my car is parked and her in doors has to walk as I nick her car which is shod in winter tyres.
My car is crap in snow due to RWD, wide low profile tyres and no torque so high gear low revs is difficult to say the least. So it stays parked.

 

[vernon]

Which is great if you can get them in the correct size for your car, I can't. As a result my car is parked and her in doors has to walk as I nick her car which is shod in winter tyres.
My car is crap in snow due to RWD, wide low profile tyres and no torque so high gear low revs is difficult to say the least. So it stays parked.

So you have a car that is not suitable for year round driving. I once had a Lada that I drove through winter. The experience sharpened my reflexes and made me resolve never to own another RWD car.

 

[tyred]

Some people have no understanding of basic car control and snow just highlights it more than usual.

 

[green1]

Each to their own, I enjoy driving unless it's a FWD which is tedious at best. I also hate the inherent understeer found in fwd cars.

 

[GrasB]

Which is great if you can get them in the correct size for your car, I can't. As a result my car is parked and her in doors has to walk as I nick her car which is shod in winter tyres.
My car is crap in snow due to RWD, wide low profile tyres and no torque so high gear low revs is difficult to say the least. So it stays parked.

Generally it's a bad idea to use the same profile winter tyre as summer tyre. For winter tyres my Alfa wears 225/50R17 tyres, in summer it has 245/35R19 tyres.

 

[vernon]

Each to their own, I enjoy driving unless it's a FWD which is tedious at best. I also hate the inherent understeer found in fwd cars.

That's not really noticeable when cars are driven reasonably on the public highway.

 

[green1]

That's not really noticeable when cars are driven reasonably on the public highway.

It can be, the inherent woolly steering certainly is.

 

[green1]

Generally it's a bad idea to use the same profile winter tyre as summer tyre. For winter tyres my Alfa wears 225/50R17 tyres, in summer it has 245/35R19 tyres.

It is, but it would be better than nothing, I can get away with storing tyres in the common cellar of our flat, there is no way I'd store wheels in there though.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]