Snow and Ice Driving « Singletrack Forum

Chat Forum

Snow and Ice Driving

26 posts & 20 voices | Started 3 months ago by motivforz | Latest reply from bruk

Tags:

No tags yet.

motivforz - Member

is ACE! 'Perfected' (read: could be interpreted as) a reverse J turn, and managed to do a 360 drift in a fwd car tonight, with liberal use of the handbrake. So much fun, especially when you're taking turns with a mate in the car. It's a banger so doesn't really matter too much.

I know it's not the correct thing to do, but does anyone else head straight out when the snow/ice is about? Anyone had any interesting prangs? Couple of years ago I kerbed a wheel, felt like I was going to write off the car at the spped but got off lightly, so I have a lot more respect for the conditions now. I like to get experience and learn how to control the car in low grip conditions / put a big grin on my face.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

yep.
Went out last week when the snow came.
Took the gaylander out to see how it would handle. Big boots (General Grabber AT2s)on it compensated for not having a box that you can lock the diff or change the range in!

But good fun all the same.

Posted 3 months ago #
v8ninety - Member

I live half way down a culdesac that never gets gritted or ploughed. My wife is getting used to the 180degree handbrake turn or semi power donut* that gets executed ever time we get home. It's all in the game, yo.

*depending on if I'm in the FWD or the RWD car. The only car that spoils the fun slightly was my namesake, the V8 Ninety. Could do some awesome four wheel power sliding in that, but not in the space at the bottom of the culdesac. That's how to end up in the bushes...

Posted 3 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

Used to do it on motorbikes - the funniest tho was the sidecar outfit - being asymmetric with two of the three wheels braked meant spins were highly entertaining

Posted 3 months ago #
coffeeking - Member

Dear god I can't imagine going out in snow/ice on a bike.

I always head right out when it starts snowing, love it. I'm fortunate that there's a few little used areas I can do this in without disturbing folk or risking hurting anyone. But it is always fun to give it a smidge of throttle, even when it's just rainy, to get the tail out on roundabouts if there's no-one around.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

just got in from riding the scooter (125cc) back from the train station through the snow. Im a novice and was rather hoping to get some proper practice in, but they've been laying some much grit down over the last 10 days that there's no real loss of traction. But I did ride back at 30mph all the way with a puckered ring...just in case

Posted 3 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

Coffeeking - good practice for feeling for traction / knowing how it responds when the brakes lock / steping out the front and recovering it. best on a small light bike at low speed tho.

I did once have a very very slow motion crash an the BMW where despite ABS it simply wouldn't stop from 15 mph downhill

Posted 3 months ago #
v8ninety - Member

I did once have a very very slow motion crash an the BMW where despite ABS it simply wouldn't stop from 15 mph downhill

Haha, yeah, conversely, I found out why you can turn the traction control off in my old Merc (auto, diesel estate) this week just gone. With it on, on icy snow it just sits there stationary and ticks, all confused. With it off now, well, that's a different story, one that involves rooster tails of snow and much sustained opposite lockage and looks of disdain from disapproving onlookers...

Posted 3 months ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

Missed all the proper snow A big Transit is soooo much easier to manoeuvre when you just need a dab of throttle or handbrake where you normally have to do a 3 point turn

The J turn can be really useful in a FWD car, twice now I've got stuck on icy hills, but each time I try a turn in the road the back just slides downhill faster than the front. The solution is instead of reversing into the kerb and braking, give it some welly and the front breaks traction and points downhill before the rear tyres get a chance

Posted 3 months ago #
transapp - Member

Yep, might have just come in from doing that as I've failed to get up the hill to go to work today. Actually really pissed off as I wanted to get a load done... Must have got old.

Posted 3 months ago #
althepal - Member

Not much snow up here but had a transit wagon sideways a coupla times and can be fun but not when following a traffic car into hospital with a pt on board!!

Posted 3 months ago #
Sandwich - Member

You'll know when its really scary Stoner as there will be a crease down the length of the saddle

Posted 3 months ago #
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member

Driving a 4x4 pick-up with crossover tyres on is fun. Just enough grip to get up most hills, but easy to make let go when you want to. Not even worth thinking about leaving in RWD when snowy though.

Posted 3 months ago #
Drac - Moderator

No not me, I would never deliberately slide a vehicle and certainly not at work. No I would never power slide in corners and try to scare colleageus whilst giggling like a child. I'd also not test the limits of a rapid response car in the snow to see how they behave. No never that would be unprofessional.

Posted 3 months ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

A couple of years back when I had an MX5 I took it to a nice empty car park and did the most sublime figure of 8 loops on almost full opposite lock all the time just using the throttle.

What was equally interesting and weird was driving down a dual carriage way leaving the stabilty control stuff on and the computer desperately trying to keep the car going forward. To do it it locked the front left wheel and the car went crab fashion down the road with my foot almost to the floor but only about 3 bhp available

You can still have fun at the moment with out snow. Grit has the nice effect of poloshing the roads, add a bit of rain and you can really have fun left foot braking through slow speed corners in fwd cars.

A couple of days ago early in the morning I came across an Imprezza all smashed up on the exit of a roundabout... I think he had had a bit too much fun !

Cant wait for the do gooders to shout us all down

Posted 3 months ago #
big_scot_nanny - Member

Dad is a subaru driver, and on the morning of his 70th birthday a few years ago whilst staying a posh hotel in Fife (balbirnie if anyone knows it), woke up to hear tooting and revving outside.

Looked out window to find dad was taking advantage of the snow and doing 4 wheel drifts/donuts round the flower bed island thing outisde the front of teh hotel in the Legacy. One arm waving out the window whilst he was doing it.

Good man!

I tried to do teh same in my astra and stuffed it into a bush. Kwality!

Kev

Posted 3 months ago #
althepal - Member

Lol at Drac.

Posted 3 months ago #
mchlptchr - Member

Yep, always take my MR2 to the nearest empty carpark after some snow. I sometimes even treat the girlfriend to a demonstration of my drifting skills!!

Who says romance is dead?

Posted 3 months ago #
wrightyson - Member

Err 10 mins in a child free toys r us car park on Sunday in the scoob The mrs just raises her eyebrows kids squeal in the back! You have to dip the clutch tho on the handbrake a bit due to the 4wd and you've only got it right when you're going forwards but using the door windows to look out of

Posted 3 months ago #
robbo - Member

I remember doing this when I was a teenager. Grow up kids

Posted 3 months ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

I once wrote a car off in the snow and demolished a lamp post...

Driving home from work got to a very slight downhill section on a road covered in snow in 1st gear using the engine braking. It had only been snowing about 1hr. Very gently applied the brakes (no abs) all four wheels locked and the engine stalled before I put the clutch in.

With engine stalled and car sliding started correcting the slide whilst trying to restart the engine. Being a bloody Fiat I had to put the key back to '0' position before starting again. Putting the key back to '0' and turning the steering at the same time engaged the steering lock car still sliding I then had to wiggle the steering to turn the key to restart the engine.

All this happened in probably 5 seconds by which point the 2 inside wheels had mounted the kerb and the car was now basically just sliding along using the kerb as a train track rail almost. All the time I can see a lamp post getting nearer and nearer. About a second before impact I gave up trying to do anything and the car just slid in to the lamp post. In comedy slow motion the concrete lamp post then toppled forward on to the pavement/road (luckily not backwards on to my car)

The car was written off because basically the lampost had intruded about 30 cms in to the bonnet !

Posted 3 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

Was testing my car on the sheet ice road from the nursery this morning - quite clearly relying on ABS is useless compared to feeling the grip under you and feathering the brakes accordingly.

My car is utterly hopeless in the snow though.

Posted 3 months ago #
stilltortoise - Member

I used to deliberately make life awkward for myself. My weekly visit to the Lincoln office involves going over the Staffordshire moorlands and into the Peak District. I remember in last year's bad snow deliberately trying to get up the hairpins at Crowdicote near Longnor. Somehow I managed it, but then - I think it was on the way back - I ended up spinning and was so thankful I didn't hit anyone or anything that I crept home a bit sheepishly.

I remember as a kid my Dad used to take us to the local car park to have some fun in the snow. It's a shame more people don't do this; there might be less accidents on the road if people learnt some more skills.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

all four wheels locked and the engine stalled before I put the clutch in

the only functional aid in my softroader is what Stoner Jr refers to as the snowy button which allows you to engine break on 1st and 2nd without risk of stalling or skidding. The rest of the time while I was trying to drift round corners the dash was lit up like a Fukushima control room as the ABS fairy was going into blind panic

Posted 3 months ago #
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

I managed to get a Land Rover 110 with limited slip diffs and studded tyres sideways yesterday while towing a trailer loaded with firewood.

Posted 3 months ago #
bruk - Member

Always used to head to big empty car parks to play in the snow. Was really surprised to find out that other people didn't do this. Mostly it's fun but it does let you know how your car will handle in poor conditions as well. Have noticed that a lot of new car parks have raised kerbs and furniture to stop such fun however.

You can take it too far like 1 of my friends who wrote off his car when he hit a tree sledging in Camperdown park in Dundee!

Posted 3 months ago #