YUp bit of a muppett question here
had me scooby bout 15months
went from bmw328 sport to sccoby 99
when the last lot of snow came heres me jack flash thinking....four wheel drive come on snow lets av ya.....
nearly bleedin wrote it off lololol
basically amybe im doing somit wrong big style but i found it quite nervous to drive in snow, is it the big 17 215 40 s02 / s03's ????
or is it too torqee ??
can people advise me so im safe this year ??!!
paul

Could be size,profile,pressure etc. Also driving style and braking.
4x4 aint what most folk think it is!!

so what am i meant to do ??????

Get a spare set of wheels and put fiesta tyres on em;)



Mark:D:D:D:D

Brake early and smoothly, try and keep it in too high a gear to avoid the turbo kicking in with all that torque.

The main problem with most performance cars is the tyre width spreading the weight of the car, so the tyres can't dig into the snow. Any cheap hatch - fiesta, nova etc will be a big improvement because of their tiny tyres. If you look at the rally cars they're on bicycle wheels with studs!!!

My last car was a 200SX, turbo, rwd - no traction control. That really woke you up to snow driving - it would spin just by changing down a gear with no brake or accelerator input. I'm expecting AWD to be an improvement but I'm not expecting miracles.

Snow tyres are an improvement, but expensive for our one day of snow that we get every year.

Neil

[Edited by bassoctopus - 12/15/2002 11:38:40 AM]

winter tyres make the biggest difference, however 4wd does not give u immunity to Physics. forget those fantasy ideas of powering home past the lines of BMW's in your 4WD powerhouse, its just not that big an advantage.

I worked in Europe for a couple of ski seasons without 4WD and never had any real problesm (but then I was driving a polo with the narrowest tyres imaginable !!

The best advice is to go out there and get some practice, drive slowly and watch well in front- ideally keep low revs and a 'higher' than normal gear.

4WD doesn't mean you can drive like there's no snow around- but if used probably can get you places other cars can't get to. But more important than 4WD is driver training. I used to really enjoy watching all the flash b@stards in their new 4WD BMW, etc.... stuck at the side of a mountain road. Money doesn't buy experience or driving skill!!!

I would recommend that you take a skid course - well worth the money and then at least when you loose it you can have some fun.

Sexy Blue!
Me too! Where were you? I had two awesome seasons in Sauze, Italy - barman, guide, deckchair seller and photographer!
As to driving in snow, I agree, practice makes perfect, sort of ;) We had a Fiat 900 camper van (rear mount engine) and that was a bad ass on snow. We used to regularly take it on a small piste and around town we were taking on Audi Quattros and Integrales!!!! :):)
Mossman

Hi

I spent two seasons in Chatel skiing all over - mostly Avoriaz and two seasons in Flaine (Ugly resort but fantstic skiing) and one season in Queenstown New Zealand - awesome !!

Miss it lots - in fact haven't been on real snow (the odd few hours in Aviemore- doesn't count !) for a couple of years !!!

Scottish skiing can be great before anyone 'attcks' me - but you have to pick your days - and well there aren't many good ones to pick from !!!

[Edited by sexy-blue-scoob - 12/15/2002 12:14:04 PM]

Scottish skiing = very brave indeed!!
I missed last year but have notched up a few weeks over the years...... 78 ahem :)
Mossman
:)

Tyre width is the enemy here! The 4WD will give you good traction to get you going and if your willing to get sideways can be good for corner taking...BUT...unless you've got superskills I'd just take corners normally and very slowly.

If you're really worried get thinner tyres as these will make a big difference. My 1.3 Polo CL would have ran rings round my old VTS in the snow. Basically the polo had rich tea's for tyres that would 'cut' through the snow to the road whereas the VTS had far wider tyres with low weight and would just sit on top of the snow and spin!! :(

Find the biggest, emptiest car park, put the scoob at one end, and plant your right foot. My advice for driving in the snow :D

cheers everybody for the excellent advice
paul

http://bbs.sidc.co.uk/messageview.cf...&threadid=2788

My experiences of driving an Impreza in heavy snow and ice (no chains or winter tyres!!) a few years ago.

[Edited by JohnS - 12/16/2002 1:11:31 PM]

great article john!

ill be taking note of what u said

about the fuse - assuming the insurance company is informed..
would it make it much better?
i live at the top of a long straight steep hill, with parked cars on either side - its like a skiing event sometimes.
breaking on the snow when the car is starting to gain speed is very scary :eek:

last year i was ok - 1st gear and no pedals touched.
but that was on 16" 205/50 tyres
now i have 17" 215/40...



[Edited by SCOSaltire - 12/15/2002 5:31:36 PM]

The performance of the Subaru ABS is absolutely dismal on snow. Sometimes I've found that the only way to stop downhill at low speed is to yank on the handbrake, then you've at least got 2 snow wedges to slow you. I don't reccommend this as a general purpose winter braking technique however!

The ABS still operates at well below 10 mph.

I'm planning to fit an ABS disabling switch.

I usually find the advantage of the 4wd system is also when braking....

drop one gear and control the braking to all 4 wheels with the clutch.... it gives you more flexability than the brakes,

that's just my two pennies worth....

P.S. I live in Switzerland!

Plums.

Another 4wd vs. 2wd thing... If you try and put the power down in a two wheel drive car, even if you spin those wheels, you still have 2 wheels pointing in (broadly) the right direction, and in contact with the road/snow. In a 4wd car, you lose traction on all four wheels at the same time, so it goes in whichever direction the road leans :eek: Be warned! :D

Richard

My old Audi Quattro was amazing (uphill) in snow. Could manually lock the diffs (front to back & left to right). It would pull its self out of most things. However the most scary bit was downhill when it turned into a 1.5 tonne sledge :eek:

Thankfully the ABS was switchable so at least you could get a proper build up of snow under the wheels.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=288651
For the advantage of AWD in snow:- You can get going. However, apart from the aforementioned use of engine braking on all 4 wheels you're still fcuked when it comes to slowing down and cornering. You'd be better off in a 2CV!
Does anyone here rate chains for improving snow handling / braking?
What about tyre pressures? Should you lower them like you would for driving on sand, or keep them hard to protect from the kerbs you slide into?

[Edited by Toerag - 12/16/2002 2:34:08 PM]

id have thought make them harder so that they can go through the snow more...

arent S03's summer tires????

take a look at the results for snow:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+S-03+Pole+Position&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=145YR7 S03PP

justin