Thoughts on the weather....
- Thread starter Pegasus
- Start date
pwhole
Well-known member
They crash into that wall at Fox House in summer just as easily as in winter, despite the chevrons being about 2m high and 3m wide. They must sleep with one eye open in the pub waiting for the smash, which is inevitably just after the wall's been rebuilt. The wall's currently down. The photo below is from 2008, but I removed the reg number to save the poor fool's blushes, as I did a search for it one day, and found 'it' had failed every single MOT since 2008. But it's still running - whatever 'it' is now.
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royfellows
Well-known member
alastairgott said:
Old folk tale or whatever, engine braking. Only works on 2 wheels (unless a 4X4) brakes work on all 4
Goydenman
Well-known member
alastairgott said:
I used to live on Rushop Edge and my wife and I were determined to get home (from work at Castleton) with our Mini - 6 people gave up in front of us but we made it up...have to admit to my wife getting out and bouncing on the front bonnet! did the trick and we made it
royfellows
Well-known member
PeteHall said:
The wheels on a modern car cannot "lock up" due to the ABS system
Common sense dictates that braking on 4 wheels is less likely to cause problems than on two
Nearly all modern cars are front wheel drive, so braking on the front but not the rear is hardly a smart move.
In short and no disrespect, I disagree.
alastairgott
Well-known member
point 6 in section "how to drive in snow" of the RAC Guide on winter driving, https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/driving-in-snow/#how-to-drive-in-snow
"Use a low gear for going downhill and try to avoid braking unless necessary, make sure you leave plenty of space between you and the car in front"
I'm with AA, but all the same. point 4 and 5 in the section "snow and ice" https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/seasonal/winter
I will provide balance, as Rospa says
"To slow down on ice and snow, lift the gas early to allow the speed to drop sufficiently to select a lower gear. If you need to use the brakes, use very gentle pressure depressing the clutch early to avoid stalling the engine."
https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/drivers/winter-driving-tips.pdf
Which doesn't actually say about engine braking. So it's not clear cut, but on the occasions I used my brakes yesterday and also in December when I went down a hill into tideswell in the snow (and used my brakes) I can tell you the wheels certainly do slide.
On an unrelated note, In a conversation someone mentioned they had a car with traction control but also had ABS. Aparently they took it offroad to see how it would cope, but the traction control kicked in and would only allow some wheels to move, so they ended up trying the brakes with the accelerator.
the Joint action of the ABS (from light braking) and the Traction control, pushed the car to decide to act like it was locking the differential.
ie those wheels that were spinning too much were slowed down, and those that weren't were put into action.
"Use a low gear for going downhill and try to avoid braking unless necessary, make sure you leave plenty of space between you and the car in front"
I'm with AA, but all the same. point 4 and 5 in the section "snow and ice" https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/seasonal/winter
I will provide balance, as Rospa says
"To slow down on ice and snow, lift the gas early to allow the speed to drop sufficiently to select a lower gear. If you need to use the brakes, use very gentle pressure depressing the clutch early to avoid stalling the engine."
https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/drivers/winter-driving-tips.pdf
Which doesn't actually say about engine braking. So it's not clear cut, but on the occasions I used my brakes yesterday and also in December when I went down a hill into tideswell in the snow (and used my brakes) I can tell you the wheels certainly do slide.
On an unrelated note, In a conversation someone mentioned they had a car with traction control but also had ABS. Aparently they took it offroad to see how it would cope, but the traction control kicked in and would only allow some wheels to move, so they ended up trying the brakes with the accelerator.
the Joint action of the ABS (from light braking) and the Traction control, pushed the car to decide to act like it was locking the differential.
ie those wheels that were spinning too much were slowed down, and those that weren't were put into action.
Maj
Active member
How we think we can all drive in the snow 
https://www.facebook.com/DailyViralStories/videos/1782330105166426/
Apologies if you can't view the video, I can't find it anywhere but on Facebook.
Maj.
https://www.facebook.com/DailyViralStories/videos/1782330105166426/
Apologies if you can't view the video, I can't find it anywhere but on Facebook.
Maj.
andrewmcleod
Well-known member
Worrying too much about the intricacies of engine braking vs footbrake vs handbrake (useful if backing down a hill and need to keep the steering wheels turning) is missing the point. Drive slow, drive gentle, and if you are on summer tyres or slipping around, stay at home. Often even downhill in 1st gear you will need to brake gently to keep the speed down on steeper bits. If your tyres don't have the traction, no amount of driving skill will help.
Snow chains are great for short steep icy snowy sections that even winter tyres can't handle, but won't get you through a 1ft+ deep snowdrift so with drifting snow a road like Winnats is likely to still be impassable unless ploughed.
Snow chains are great for short steep icy snowy sections that even winter tyres can't handle, but won't get you through a 1ft+ deep snowdrift so with drifting snow a road like Winnats is likely to still be impassable unless ploughed.
I have a car with traction control and ABS and it is superb on tarmac. On anything slippery its computer brain gets totally confused. A few years ago I decided to wait until the first traffic of the morning had passed before trying to leave the village, reasoning that the few inches of fresh snow would give me enough grip to do this. Wrong - as soon as I turned out of the drive I was a passenger, with no grip, no brakes, no traction and no steering. Fortunately I managed to reach the side of the road and park up until conditions improved. We were much better off in the past with none of the electronics and with narrower tyres, with a bit more tread. Snow never bothered me and unless it was impassable it was an adventure tackling it. Regarding driving techniques going downhill low gear early and feet off the pedals. An off-road driving course is useful - I won a half day on Land Rover's own course, which was valuable and memorable. Re. Land Rovers, sadly I have had to part with mine, which two years ago in snowy conditions "showed a clean pair of heels" to everything, including, not surprisingly really, an Overfinch Range Rover. I had all of 83 bhp but all mechanical transmission and A/T tyres. My Japanese 4x4 pick up replacement is disappointment, the handbook has pages of instructions stating how limited the 4 wheel drive system is and when not to use it!
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
Kit packed. Off to face Mendip snow in a short while ----
royfellows
Well-known member
Interesting comments
My car has wide low profile tyres and is absolutely useless in snow. As Andrew says I stay at home. If out I try to keep speed well down and avoid any kind of braking.
My car has wide low profile tyres and is absolutely useless in snow. As Andrew says I stay at home. If out I try to keep speed well down and avoid any kind of braking.
TOR - ice will be the main problem this morning, although yesterday the drifting snow was worse than Sunday (failed to get off top of Draycott Steep, despite snow having melted on the steepist bits & lorries were struggling along Charterhouse road), but lots of tractors & ploughs were out on the hill...
Mike
Mike
