[Closed] 4x4s in the snow

I've just been out in some pretty severe conditions in my Berlingo with snow tyres on the front and was once again blown away by how capable it was. No trouble at all negotiating a good 8" of virgin snow on a bit of an incline. Throw some chains in the mix and as long as you are a competent snow driver you'll get a long way.

A decent FWD car on good snow tyres can be at least as capable as a big 4WD on duff road tyres IME.

2' of snow might be a bit of a challenge if you're the first one ploughing through it though...

2ft is bit deep, you'd need to either be diggin it out or get a farmer with a snow plough to clear it. either that or some serios sized tyers that'll float over it, but you'll be stuffed once you get to a normal road (handling with be shit) and they wont be cost effective, probably cheeper taking a month off work than buying 4x propper snow tyres and wheels.

I had no trouble at all with 50cm or so of fresh snow last year, also did some pretty steep hills, like 1 in 4.

We have a nissan X-Trail with decent Grabber AT2 tyres

Loved my L200 in the snow last year never struggled once, but remember you still have to take it steady all because your got 4x4 doesn't mean it isn't going to slide.

oh yeah kuco im aware of that

all i want to try to ensure is i can get out of my house !

ive never had an issue driving in snow before even in my old car with wide alloys which was shit in snow but still never got stuck 😉

I would also mention that before I changed the tyres, I actually got stuck on an icy car park once with the original tyres.

I've just been out for a walk and the streets are lovely and peaceful. No cars, and particularly no 4x4s. Instead there are kids sledging and building snowmen, folk out for a Sunday stroll and instead of noisy engines there's just the sound of folk laughing and enjoying themselves.

Most pleasant Sunday of the year so far.

I've driven through bumper deep snow in my Shogun. A lot depends on the type of snow. If I were you and te distances werent to far, I'd park at the end of the drive and walk up to the house.

Two of the best cars in snow were a 2CV and a Mini with proper snow tyres. Both were unstoppable.

Enough drag from deep snow and you'll still end up spinning wheels, in which case you're stuck. Take all the usual dig yourself out paraphenalia.

without a doubt - now if only i could bring old bessy - an old hilux we have out here !

I have a 4x4 pick-up with road tyres (Bridgestone Dueller HT's) and it easily gets where 2wd cars etc don't in the snow. In fact my pick-up in 2wd is absolutely awful (but good fun being RWD).

Saying that though, push it in corners, brake too hard, or generally drive like a tool and it can be lost almost as easily as any other car. Driven sensibly I've found it very capable.

I was driving in a foot of powdery snow in my 4x4 pickup earlier this year. That's with 'normal' road biased tyres (80% road type things, not stupid low profile bmw type stuff). The cherokee I have is probably better as it as AT tyres. I do know how to drive off road which helps.

I'd take a shovel and some mats with me and quite happily have a go at 2' with either.

Loved my L200 in the snow last year never struggled once, but remember you still have to take it steady all because your got 4x4 doesn't mean it isn't going to slide.

Seconded. Still had a couple of hairy moments in 2wd, but knock it into 4wd, it'd go most places without touching the diff lock. Running Cooper S/T's this year too, so should help out abit more in the soft stuff. I sometimes carry abit of weight in the back of mine over winter to aid traction. Also carry a shovel, recovery gear, spare fuel and warm clothes if I'm heading off the beaten track or unploughed roads.

Something like a Shogun, with decent AT tyres is going to go further than Partner with snow tyres. Ground clearance of the Pug is around 160mm, while the Shogun is about 230mm. And 4wd makes a big difference.

I'm surprised that the people with 4x4 driving experience reckon they can drive through 2 ft + of snow. You may be able to blast through the occasional deep drift but if the snow is consistently deeper than the bumper height and also the diff height (which 2 ft + is unless you're on some sort of monster truck tyres) then you're going to grind to a halt sooner or later, however good your tyres are. You may get away with it over compacted snow if you're able to ride over it.

Depends on the snow as you said. Powder isn't a problem and a compacted layer will make a lot of difference. I'd be amazed to see 2 foot of dense snow for any distance in the UK. But a shovel and mats will get you back the way you came.

I've been out in the 5 inches of snow we have here (Beverley in East Yorkshire) in my Freelander 1 with Dueller HTs and had loads of fun today.

I've never driven in 2ft of snow though and would imagine it wouldn't take long to get stuck without snow chains and plenty of digging.

Last year I drove through the mega snow we had in the quattro. Proper winter tyres, over 200 horses - it were brilliant. I battered up the motorway at silly speeds. Much fun!

Is it really 2 foot? Or just the normal "2 foot of snow" that people talk about that turns out to mean 2 foot at the deepest drifts but 6 inches everywhere else?

With regards the amount of snow - click on his profile and it would seem apparent he lives far oop North, so 2' may not be a complete exaggeration.

Even my Impreza on summer tyres was an improvement on most 2wd on road tyres last year for traction. A decent 4x4 with good tyres on will be the best option. Just don't forget, 4x4 doesn't help in terms of stopping and turning, just in going.

Northwind you have no idea how much snow we get up here.It never really makes the main news, it hasn`t stopped snowing here since thursday.

4x4 doesn't help in terms of stopping and turning, just in going.

2ft is quite a bit for the UK!
Drove up an icy hill with no issues earlier in our 110 Defender while a defeated VW van and two cars had to find alternative routes. Might not cruise through 2ft of snow but if a Defender can't do it, nothing can.

Yeah they do. Engine braking on all 4 wheels and a low ratio box make a huge difference, as do locked diffs.

Agreed

Been working in the North East just lately with lots of snow this week. The amount of vehicles on site that have been getting stuck with just 2 wheels on the verge and 2 on the road, even pre snow was ridiculous, wheras I've been able to get all 4 wheels on and off no probs.

Yeah they do. Engine braking on all 4 wheels and a low ratio box make a huge difference, as do locked diffs.

Hm, fair point. [i][b]Other[/i][/b] than engine braking, what has 4x4 ever done for us? 😉

jordie - Member

"Northwind you have no idea how much snow we get up here.It never really makes the main news, it hasn`t stopped snowing here since thursday."

I've got a pretty good idea thanks. But most people massively exaggerate snow depth, so it's worth considering that. I would bet you 10 scottish pence that your man's 2 feet turns out to be less.

Even though our lowly Tucson is an SUV type it's a great little thing in snow. Last year and so far this year it's managed to get up and around most with the 4WD lock on.

One thing though, can't engine brake with 4WD on, the back wheels push uneavenly, guess it must be something to do with the traction control?

I've been out on my Pugsley most of today. The deepest snow I found was hip deep in a drift on a dirt track, but it was loose and easy to get through. (I'm even norther)

Mostly about 3-6" on fire roads, and a bit deeper on single track.

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Trail Rat, as you know i'm not far from you and 2ft sounds a bit OTT.

FWIW i used to have a Disco and never had any problems (around your neck of the woods too). I now have a BMW and it's not moved for a few days now! 😉

fwiw - spent the weekend in the lower reaches of highland perthshire. moved car out of dip where the house, but still 1/4 mile from nearest (unsnowploughed) road. 1' - 2' snow. then onto compacted snow for about 5 miles to snowploughed road. no problem apart from short uphill pull getting started
car is honda cr-v, so far from "proper" 4x4.
wouldn't like to deal with deeper snow or longer distance to proper road though

your all miles from me - im in malabo WA

the village near mines has 4 or 5 inches seemingly

landlord text me and said we have 2 foot at least and there car wont move at all even on the flat !

for all i know it could be 2 inches ... although i got photos on thursday showing at least 6 inches of snow on our patio table .... and there has been considerably more since ....

the missus has bailed out of our house because of the snow it seems that as you go inland from laurencekirk it goes kinda crazy ! bearing in mind im quite a bit higher up that stonehaven!

have never drivven a 4 x 4 in snow only deep mud and water - and although snow is sometimes refered to as white mud - it acts entirely different from my limited experiance in cars .....

Im in the highlands and the track between my house and the road is 1-1.5 feet deep, with the odd drift going to 2 ft or slightly more.
The trick for me was bung chains on and use the car to plough it to a manageable depth before it consolidates.

I took my old terrano up Rivington Pike in the days before they started getting arsy about vehicles going up, the snow wasn't too bad, lower down had melted and re-frozen overnight so the problems were there, higher up it was a bit more packed and a bit more grip to be had. Probably not even 3 inches on the ground by the time I got there. Was using some Kumho ATs at the time.
[IMG] [/IMG]

The trouble with real snow is that it gathers under the vehicles and ends up lifting the front end.

If you do have a lot of snow, get one of these...
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Did a good deed in mine yesterday, whilst out for a test ride after a few weeks broken, I came accross a van trying to go up a fair hill in about a foots worth of snow ,i advised him to turn but he had to deliver a wedding cake, quite a big one too, we put it in the passenger seat and delivered it in the trusty vitara, I hope the rest of the wedding was ok, there was no room for his missus who wasn't happy at all at seeing her work dissapear in a rusty old motor 😀

A pink landy?
doesn't the snow melt from the heat of your 😳

Doesn't look pink to me. Must be your monitor.

This was this morning. Consistently over a foot deep. Diff locktastic.

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Keep trying to find enough to give my Landcruiser a test in the snow, but haven't managed it yet.
My Parents however have an L200 with standard tyres on it & it's bloody useless! So they end up running around in an old SWB Landrover instead-much more capable.

My wife's got a Fiat Panda 4x4 with 'proper' mud & snow tyres(don't laugh!) - it's absolutely ace in the snow or on muddy fields & tracks. Always surprises me what it'll get up & down (though I managed an unintentional (cough) 180 power-spin in it yesterday). One of her friends has also got a Panda 4x4 and last year she had to rescue her husband in his Defender! - can you imagine his shame 🙂 A 1.2L Panda trying to tow 2 ton of loaded Landy out was quite funny tho!

His excuse was that the Panda is so light that it floats across places where his Landy sinks.....yyeees...OK 😉

Surf-Mat - Member

The trouble with real snow is that it gathers under the vehicles and ends up lifting the front end.

If you do have a lot of snow, get one of these...

your problem there is that even a landy isn't heavy enough to provide anything like enough traction to push much snow. We used to use a Unimog with 2 tonnes of stone/salt in the back and chains and still run out of traction in 2ft+ snow.

What gets me is the housewives in Volvo XC/BMW X3/5/ Range Rovers who think they can charge around like normal then when they hit some ice things go really wrong. Grrr.

You mean the ones who say "We need a 4x4 because they don't grit the lanes round here in the winter"

So that's £50 000 for a Range Rover or £100 for a set of chains for the car. Yeah, OK. 🙄