Thoughts on the weather....

[Roger W]

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.

Many years ago I had a Reliant Regal - only 3 wheels, but they were quite large ones and with plenty of tread on the tyres I was surprised how good it was in fresh snow. 

The problems came when other folk had created some deep ruts in the snow.  Then my back wheels generally fitted into the said ruts but there was nowhere for my front wheel to go - it tended to slide off sideways into one rut or the other.  But a couple of bags of sand in the boot helped the rear wheels get a grip.

Happy days (?) 

No doubt LKW was a lot warmer at the bottom than at the top?

 

[Laurie]

Don't worry, it'll all be gone in the next couple of days.

 

[droid]

Many years ago I had a Reliant Regal - only 3 wheels, but they were quite large ones and with plenty of tread on the tyres I was surprised how good it was in fresh snow. 

Bang on. My Robin is the same. narrow wheelbase and steering on fresh snow, so you don't get stuck in the slippery bits left by 4-wheelers.....

 

[Laurie]

Many years ago I had a Reliant Regal - only 3 wheels, but they were quite large ones and with plenty of tread on the tyres I was surprised how good it was in fresh snow. 

Bang on. My Robin is the same. narrow wheelbase and steering on fresh snow, so you don't get stuck in the slippery bits left by 4-wheelers.....

I remember following a Robin in snow once. The front wheel couldn't decide which rut to run in....

 

[pwhole]

I remember being in a large crowd watching a burning Reliant Robin in Rotherham outdoor market car-park in the 1970s, until it was just a bubbling mass of black goo with some scrap metal in the middle. It was like a public execution. That must have done us all some good. Another time I saw the back wheel come off one at about 40mph on a dual carriageway (also in Rotherham), and it spun round and round until it too caught fire - and ended up as bubbling mass of black goo, etc. It always seemed a bit of a weakness to me - apart from the missing front wheel that is.

I wouldn't say that's entirely what put me off driving, but it didn't help

 

[mikem]

Actually Draycott Steep was still inadvisable for 2WD today, although you could get further up (& cars were coming down, if they were feeling brave enough)...

Mike

 

[Jenny P]

Used to own a small Ford van in the 1960's - rear wheel drive - and always had to drive with 2 paving stones in the back in winter.

Also used to own a SWB Landrover in the 1970's and remember using 4WD and Low ratio to get home down the A6 / A515 from Dove Holes to Ashbourne in thick snow, happily passing about a dozen assorted cars through the stone walls on the way.

I have a set of tyre socks to spare - redundant when the new car had larger wheels - and I've not yet got round to buying a new set.  Reminder to self ...

 

[royfellows]

Off thread but I was once behind a Jensen sports car on a motorway. Cant remember what they were called, but the Interceptors were good cars. Anyway, bits started dropping off the engine which I was having to swerve to avoid, then clouds of steam, then more bits.

Funniest thing I ever saw on the roads. Sorry, it was the Robin thing that got me going.

 

[droid]

My Robin has performed a similar trick....

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Kit packed. Off to face Mendip snow in a short while ----

Well no problem with the roads now. Got soaked and cold down the cave. Just had a hot bath ummmm.

Beautiful what little I saw of it.

 

[tony from suffolk]

I remember being in a large crowd watching a burning Reliant Robin in Rotherham outdoor market car-park in the 1970s, until it was just a bubbling mass of black goo with some scrap metal in the middle. It was like a public execution. That must have done us all some good. Another time I saw the back wheel come off one at about 40mph on a dual carriageway (also in Rotherham), and it spun round and round until it too caught fire - and ended up as bubbling mass of black goo, etc. It always seemed a bit of a weakness to me - apart from the missing front wheel that is.

I wouldn't say that's entirely what put me off driving, but it didn't help

Many years ago, in our old Safari Land Rover we had a large dry-powder fire extinguisher mounted just above the windscreen. On long journeys, we sometimes contemplated what would happen when we eventually got the chance to let it off. Then one day, going along the Wells Road through Draycott, we came across a Reliant Robin ablaze at the bottom of the hill that goes up past the glider field. Everyone made a mad dive for the extinguisher, but as I was in the middle front seat I got there first. Leaping out like the magnificent saviour I expected to be, I banged the knob on top and aimed at the fire. There were a couple of splutters, then nothing...

We stood around and watched the plastic pig dissolve into a mucky, sticky, smouldering heap, there was nothing else we could do. luckily, no one was hurt.

 

[SamT]

Winter Tyres :

The grip provided by winter tyres is not actually to do with a bigger 'tread' as such.

Firstly they're a softer compound rubber.  Normal tyres harden up in winter and go a bit plasticy, thus lose traction on cold wet roads. Thus winter tyres are safer when the average temperature gets lower than 7 degrees C.  I tend to put them on end of October, and am just toying with the idea of swapping them back now.  (might leave it a week or two, the way things have been going!!).

Think about how much importance motor racing teams put into choosing exactly the right compound tyres for racing. Wrong tyre compound and you;re not going to win the race, no matter how good the rest of your car.

When things do get snowy, its the "Sipes', cut into the tyre, which improve the traction massively. These are the little slits you see. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber)

Narrow tyres are better as they cut through the snow, rather than wide ones, which 'steam roller' the snow flat.

rally car with winter set up.

4 wheel drive, whilst obviously better, is not the limiting factor.  Been all over in the snow this winter with my front wheel drive mondeo,  the limiting factor being clearance, i.e. once the snow gets much beyond 8 inches deep, there's are risk of beaching.  However a bit of momentum blasted us through a few drifts.

On sheet Ice, not a lot is going to help you bar metal studding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkJO0SCFQLg



Makes me chuckle when you see a Big BMW X5 heading out in the snow, with its big fat wide slick tyres.  Its like putting on your hat, big coat, gloves etc, then popping on a pair of flip flops to head out for a winter walk.  Its going to end in tears.

 

[royfellows]

Thanks for this, it explains why my VRS is utter total crap on snow. I expect that I am not only steamrollering the snow, but polishing it as well

 

[Jenny P]

Agree with Sam about putting winter tyres on November to April and normal tyres April to October.  Trouble is that you are pretty well stuck with the wheel type, no matter what tyres you put on, and some cars have wheels which are designed to take fat profile tyres.

Front wheel drive helps, plus sensible driving, no revving or tailgating - but you are still at the mercy of the pillock in the other car who doesn't have a clue.  As witness the red car clobbered by that bin lorry in the video!

 

[pwhole]

Having been in Sam's car in the snow with the winter tyres on, I can't imagine why any driver wouldn't use them.

 

[Speleofish]

In reply to royfellows. Last car (several years ago) was a VRS. Found myself on the M40 in snow, maximum controllable speed about 35 mph. Anything faster, terrifying and totally out of control. I accept it's no supercar but you don't expect to be in the slow lane, being overtaken by enormous trucks all going at 56 mph...
Got home, straight into the local garage and swapped to winter tyres. Back onto M40, conditions unchanged, skidding and slipping almost impossible!
Ever since, I've always bought winter tyres - driving is so much more boring, so much more predictable and arrival times so much more accurate!
Even better, winter tyres frequently cheaper than summer ones (you probably don't need to buy tyres rated for 150+ mph for winter use..

 

[Laurie]

I've had Land Rovers and Range Rovers shod with mud tyres for the last 45 years.
Never had any weather problems. 

 

[tony from suffolk]

Makes me chuckle when you see a Big BMW X5 heading out in the snow, with its big fat wide slick tyres.  Its like putting on your hat, big coat, gloves etc, then popping on a pair of flip flops to head out for a winter walk.  Its going to end in tears.

As an owner of said X5 with big fat wide (315x35x20 on the rear) tyres - obviously not as good as a Land Rover on winter tyres, but it really ain't too bad, and it's a great ,relaxing drive for the 99% of the time it doesn't snow. My friend has winter tyres on his Mercedes saloon, but he got stuck where my BMW didn't. Another local also has a Mercedes saloon, but when it snows he leaves it at home & gets out his elderly Morris Minor with its skinny tyres and a bag of sand in the boot. Goes anywhere. 

 

[cooleycr]

Tony has hit the nail on the head - the weight needs to be over the driven wheels (in the old days we put sand or paving slabs in the boot) so with fwd cars, going uphill is going to reduce traction - I once tried to go up a steep hill but could only achieve a few yards so I turned around and reversed right up to the top with no issues...Of course this only works if there are no other vehicles/people around at the time..
When it comes to driving on the slippery steep bits, I find that, as already pointed out, slow, steady, gentle movements are best, I have on occasion used the "down-hill assist" function but prefer the manual methods..
Oh and I have AT Grabbers which are great in most conditions, when I Germany a couple of weeks back I noted that the majority of the vehicles still had the winter tyres (often on spare steels) fitted..

Drifting has been the main barrier in my neck of the woods, and even with a good clearance, a lot of roads were simply no-go ..

 

[royfellows]

What I have found on my VRS is that I can creep along over ice or snow by very gently letting the clutch out at normal tickover without any throttle. It goes work and does not jerk along as one would expect.