MorayMackenzie

guys,

ABS can be disabled for snow conditions by removing the fuse, just remember to refit it when the snow goes away. (Stef: you'd better check with IM to see if this will affect your warrantee merry xmas dude! )

300+bhp and snow is fun, as long as its done safely.

I find that the car is much less stable when not under power... you end up drifting down the camber if you don't stabilise the car with a whiff of power. Obviously, when you've turned the wheel too far and the understeer sets in winding lock off again is one solution, reducing power can help too, but will render the car unstable.

Other (by JohnS's implication, "advanced") options include slight left foot braking to get more weight over the front wheels or the more power to induce a bit of oversteer. By far the best and safest option is to approach the corner/hazard you have to negotiate at an appropriately slow speed.

Just play safe out there, watch out for those first time snow pilots sharing the roads with you.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Popped out to see my m8 who i havnt seen for a while, well the roads near him havnt been treated so are all packed snow.....
first corner, very slow (5mph ish) turn wheel, car slides sideways towards curb and new alloys! eeeeeeek!! just stopped in time thou, carried on up very slowly, 2nd gear, 5mph! parked up out side my m8s' saw a plonker trying to get grip in his mk2 astra (lots of wheelspin, had his missus and the kids in there too, also kids playing on the road so not a very intelligent thing to do!!)
well i made it out of there in one peice! must watch out for that packed snow now!!!

Tony

sunilp

Well now all the slush has turned icey and cars are skidding going up my road - glad my cars on a driveway well out of the way

Also saw two cars collide outside my house going in opposite directions and some idiot in a BMW 3series wheel spinning all the way up the hill by giving it loadsa varying throttle then shouting to a wary crossing pedestrian who almost slipped on the ice trying to get out of his way "Its not my fault love, Merry Christmas"

Complete and utter *****.....

Tommorow will be even worse no doubt

Sunil

[This message has been edited by sunilp (edited 28 December 2000).]

Dave T-S

Sunil

LOL

Ice tomorrow......more fun

sunilp

Not looking forward to it mate.

Sunil

NATH

Foster

I had to drive through Bracknell today to get to work in Ascot (2wd 350bhp+ cossie) !!!!!!!!! Had one of the local patients in his scooby tooted then waved at me as he went past me as I was getting nowhere fast up a hill!!!!! He then proceeded straight past a give way sign into some railings followed by another two cars (he was shaken but okay) it just goes to show that having the advantage of 4wd doesn't work when being bravado. i never had the heart to ask him why he waved!!

I hate BRACKNELL!!!!

Nath

moz.g

Too late for me. Set of for work this morning got there no probs. Had to run round a few places, went down some ungritted lanes, still no probs. 1pm bugger all to do at work so me thinks early dart
About 100 meters from home this bloody escort comes sliding towards me, cars parked on both sides of the road, was already in 1st gear so tried the brakes, hello ABS and hello back of some blokes parked escort.
His bumper is cracked and the scoobies bonnet is slightly creased and she didn't hit anything!!!
Lessons to be learnt
1 Next time it snows leave scooby at home
2 Don't go to work at all

MARK MORRIS

went out last night to local halfords car park, great fun in an empty car park doing power slides between two lamposts in a figure of eight

GRANT

Unfortunately had to pick the kids up from the cinema next time they can walk.
Turned the corner nice and slow saw space on the otherside off road so pulled over as I did hit what I thought was some snow.
No big rock that looked like snow and now have steering pointing in opposite direction to wheel.
Phoned the dealer who said could arrange a loan car for me (Thanks David Lavender Hill).
When I got there we put it on the ramps and I now have a damaged read bent lower wishbone.
Now that was what I call an expensive day.
Anyone ever done the same.
By the way mine was the 8th Turbo they had seen today with damage and 2 were still on their way in on the back of a low loader

Dave T-S

4WD = better grip going up hills

4WD = no better lateral grip going round corners (worse if you don't declutch as engine is trying to turn all four wheels and they don't like being driven as well as steering/trying to find lateral grip)!!

Standard REO10 = bu66er all grip under any circumstances

The good news is - all these Scoobs being written off - should help the residuals of all our secondhand ones - supply and demand and all that

sunilp

**** guys, ,sorry to hear this

Dave - be nice you old git......

Sith

Sith wakes in the morning 11am . Eh oooop, rather bright. Looks out of window - stuff that, I'm going back to bed. The sales can wait.

Driven in the snow in my old RWD escort Mk2. That was fun. Not doing it now though!

P.

DJB

Unfortunately had to go to work this morning (work in a hospital).

Got up to find 15 inches of snow on my car. Clearing the entire car and driveway would have taken about an hour so made do with clearing the car only (driveway downward slope anyway).
Very disappointed at the how the car coped with the snow. Took nearly one hour to get out of my estate (500 yds) with 2 neighbours pushing much of the way. Seemed to be no grip at all.

On my way home, decided to replace all 4 tyres (little tread left anyway). Not much choice at local place - went for PZeros.

Amazed at the difference - much better grip in compacted snow. I've found that slow cadence braking works well with the ABS (ie press pedal hard roughly every half a second).

Dreading tomorrow after hard frost.

D.

KF

Dave T-S,
Yeah. Although what we make up for in increased residuals we are more than hit by increased premiums. I think that everyone with a Scooby should keep it wrapped up in the garage until the gritters do their job, and the "I am impervious to ice" brigade fall off the road. If it ain't you that messes up, sure as eggs it will be a BMW using you as an emergency brake...
KF.

MorayMackenzie

Dave T-S,

I found my car was less stable and controllable when declutched, a whisper of power gives it much needed stability, especially when coping with road camber.

Moray

Dave T-S

Looks like Dickheadus Motoris has decided to stay at home today - 14 miles cross country to the station at 5:40am and didn't see another car going in my direction, and only a handful in the other.

The train was 45 minutes late, and no heating, but that's another story.......

As Sunil says, you can stay within your own limits, but you can't legislate for the to55er that comes flying out of a side turning expecting his stopping distance to be the same on sheet ice.....

Moray - i agree about the clutch - I hate it when the wheels aren't connected to the engine - (might as well buy an auto!!) - I only meant as a matter of last resort - and I try not to get in that situation - after all the car won't fall off the road while it is in the garage so if it does while i'm driving it it must be down to me!!

Darren Thompson

Well had to go out last night and took the Scooby, went to the wife's grandmothers to put the car up the drive as she could not and then picked up some stuff from the house. Were she lives is in a small dip and I watched about 10 cars get stuck as it was sheet ice, I then turned the Scooby round and drove straight out on tick over in 2nd gear no problems at all. I was then followed by Mondeo man who was driving that close at one point I could not see his head lamps so I stopped an let him past as he was a complete wan!er and did not care. I then followed him from a safe distance to watch him try to stop at a T junction which he failed to do and then to my pleasure watched him slam up the pavement and into a lamp post.
I stopped and asked him if he was OK and commented on the slippery conditions and stopping distances, to which he replied oh ye it's a company car anyway to which I replied well this ain't and that's why I let you past.

Sorry to go on but are these people for real there were kids every were playing in the snow and **** heads like him have cars !!

Rant over now feel better now.

Darren.

ARRON BIRD

Grafham Water car park special stage 2 completed :

fast bloke

If you all reaaly love your alloys then get a set of 5.5 * 16 steel wheels from a scrap yard. Get a cheap set of tyres/remoulds fitted. First sign of snow.... Out with the trolley jack. If you have a minor coming together with a kerb at least you know that your shiny alloys are tucked up safely away at home. The skinny wheels also vastly improve the ability to control your car, especially in off-power cornering and braking.
Also go on a WTB course the next chance you get. We have one at a disused airfield where they teach you for a couple of hours in their car on a hugh puddle of oil and water, then take you out in your own car if you so desire. I've been on this twice as it is brilliant fun. Once you have been through the most common slides a few times with an expert teaching you how to react you should be a great deal safer on the roads, as well as being able to enjoy yourself and avoid the hazards of all the (swearword swearword) drivers who think that snow is like white tarmac. I must agree with Moray and say that once you know what you are doing and understand the limitations of you/the car, awd and loads of power in the snow can be about as much fun as you can have legally...

Be safe

FB

andymac

And today was not the day to be test driving 172bhp clio sports in 3" of snow either, but we need to buy another car before the weekend so it had to be done.

With any luck my new F1's should be in the garage tomorrow because it was entertaining trying to park in the fresh snow at Harry Ramsdens in Guisley.

cheers
Andy

millband

Sorry to hear about all the bumps, looks like I've been lucky (or us Northerners know how to deal with proper winter weather ). Glad the traffic is light this week, mind.

Had no probs on the snow, except I'm finding that AWD gets me up to speed maybe a little quicker than I should . Maybe my dinky little 15" wheels help there too.

ABS is a bit scary though (this is my first car with ABS). Had a play in a car park on the way home, and found that as soon as ABS kicked in it was worse than if I'd locked the wheels up fully on any of my old cars. Actually had the car sliding *sideways* down a camber towards bollards at one point, until I released the brakes a little! I was sweating a bit then, I can tell you. Definately good (free!) practice at skid control though.

Also found I tended to put too much lock on, leading to understeer, and that I didn't start to turn again until I took lock off. This was a surprise to me, so I'd better redouble my efforts to save for a WTB course next year...

Steve

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

ABS

My first experience of this in snow today. Funny how the car can accelerate as if on dry tarmac, but can't stop!!

Found that *any* pressure on the brake with the clutch dipped made the ABS kick in straight awaay, resulting in zero braking.

Resorted to keeping the car in either 1st or 2nd gear, which seemed to provide just enough drive to keep the wheels moving while also letting the brakes do their work.

I think I'll have to hunt down the ABS fuse!

sunilp

Well, decided to take the car into work today rather than the train as the news said the roads were relatively clear around here.

Amazing the amount of idiots driving with frosted up windows desperately trying to peer through the only visible point at the very bottom of the windscreen (angry face)

Also quite amusing to see a Rover 216 which looked like it had straight off the road on a bend nr Cheam and into a lampost (which didnt give way) and thus the rear end was 4ft up in the air where it had wedged itself between a wall and the lampost

Guy at work telling us about the prat in a 306 GTi6 who insisted on going faster than everyone else on the M4 yesterday and they saw him further down the road into the barrier.

Muppets never learn!

Sunil

sunilp

Fast Bloke, great idea, but my 6 pots wont fit under anything less than a 17" rim

DavidRB

My turn! Local car park round the back of Time Computing & Homebase isn't used as everyone parks at the front. Spent an enjoyable half-hour doing powerslides & practicing accelerating & braking. Got joined by a black XR3i at one point, so we took turns. Kind of felt sorry for him that he only had the handbrake to get the tail out!

Agree with the ABS problem, although there is the handbrake if you get desperate.

The 17" PZeroes are pretty good on snow, but I would definitely consider some narrow snow tyres & wheels if this weather was more than a one-off every few years. Has anyone considered getting four space-saver tyres? They look just the right size to me!

Saw the remains of a number of accidents and a near-accident where a woman came barrelling down the car-park sliproad at 30mph and tried to brake and turn in like it was dry. Fortunately, the woman coming out of the car-park at the same time had the presence of mind to put her foot down and got out of the way <I>just</I> in time.

Also saw numerous tyre tracks over every roundabout I drove around!!

sickboy

a mate of mine was forced to beach his car on a kerb to avoid some silly cow coming sideways on at him!

She just drove off- he now need's 4 new tyres as he's got a massive chunk out of one- unfortunately it's a TT hence all needing replacing.

Sith

What really pissed me off today, was kids playing in the middle of the damn road using it as a skating rink. Dumb F*cks. Where are the stupid f*cking parents. Eating mince pies thinking it's not their problem. Stupid arseholes. Oh yeah, it was dark as well.

The parents would have been the first to have a go at the driver because he / she couldn't stop in time.

Sorry, rant over.

P.

mattski

tis my first experience of snow too, car feels great and I'm amazed at how much grip it still has. Like everyone says, stopping is something else. I find it best to slow down as much as pos using gearing and then gently braking, if the wheels lock I just let off and do it again. (I haven't got ABS so is down to me foot )

Odd to hear of all the shunts, I haven't seen anything and the roads are pretty bad around here.