Forum menu
I'll nominate my Saab 9-5 estate auto.
Only had it a couple of weeks and last night getting home from work was one of the worst driving experiences I've ever had. Tyres are decent mid range with 6mm + of tread. In fairness, I had to make a detour after 'just' managing to stop at the top of a steep hill and seeing the car in front slide 50 yards down the hill into a wall, so it was very slippy but the slightest incline up or down was a nightmare. I even had it in winter mode and tried every gear combo from drive to 1 😯
The missus's MG F
hyundai lantra.
dad speced 15 inch wide low profile wheels and tires
most useless thing ever
2003 bmw 5 series auto
🙄
58 focus estate. totally useless, gave up on any sort of incline at all. the weight distribution seemed to pull all the weight and hence grip away from the front tyres, particularly if there was anything in it. great car apart from that!
A Z4. I say it was the worst car I've ever driven but we didn't actually get anywhere in it. I managed to get it off the drive but that was it.
Second worst (I wasn't driving) was one of those huge stupid Porsche Caayennenesss. It went forwards and everything but just skated around all over the place. It just felt terribly unsafe. That journey ended with us hitting a kerb and breaking something so we had to get the blokes wife to come and collect us in her TT which was totally glued to the floor. I was glad of this because I was the one who had to get in the back 'seat'.
My old 3 series BMW or my current 5 series BMW.
Great fun to drive when there isn't any snow about though.
theflatboy - I've driven loads of those the with plenty weight in the back. I agree they are awful but compared to the Saab they are grippy !
Old school Fiesta Xr2
TBF it was the low pro tyres 🙄
A focus hire car. On a very slight hill the traction control kicked in and it would not move. Disabled the traction control and still no movement. Got out and pushed, which was fairly easy as it was virtually flat, hoping that once it was moving it would keep going but it was having none of it. Abandoned it. Got a lift from one of the many people who had no trouble on the road and picked it up the next day.
E39 535i auto.
Even with plenty of tread, couldn't even move off the flat.
BMW 1 series probably the safest thing I've ever driven in the snow. Safe because it is impossible to move anywhere in one, so you're never going to crash.
my pug expert van its hopeless its great with socks on though
I can remember a horrendous family trip up to some wild bits of Yorkshire in a old style mini. I think dad had it facing backwards about 20 times 😯
Of course, that also says [s]something[/s] lots about his driving 😯
My Corolla Compressor, lethal in the wet downright suicidal in the snow. Great fun.
Caterham 7 R300, to be honest it was a handfull in the wet let alone snow. My Octavia vRS is pretty good in the Snow though. 🙂
my subaru impreza with wide pirelli summer tyres, great traction but no way of stopping so totally terrifying, taking the anti lock fuse helps a bit but not a lot. Best snow car 1964 Austin 1275 mini cooper s.
Caterham 7 R300
😆
This was useless in ALL driving conditions
[img] 
[/img]
anything light has been rubbish - VW Polo crap / Seat - crap. Audi A6 estate better . TVR 350 - interesting but not so bad for a rear wheel drive powerhouse . The current Porsche 911 is also good but it is a 4S. 😉
My 08 A4 avant 2.0tdi s line with bloody great 18" semi slick garden rollers on it. Utterly appalling. I was so glad that I hit a deer with it and had a seat Ibiza courtesy car when micro bits was born 2 winters ago! At one point it wouldn't even pull away from the slight camber on the road I live on to get around parked cars....
In fairness, with winter tyres it would probably have been ok, but I got rid after that winter.
My Renault van was rubbish (in so many ways) but improved when I put some heavy stuff in the back over the back wheels.
By contrast my 4WD Suzuki with winter tires on the back was awesome last night driving home on rural roads at 0300 in about 6 inches of snow. Helped that I was the only car on the road tho, no numpties to navigate around.
My eclass. 255 section rear tyres and 470lb/ft of torque. I just don't bother even trying when it snows.
Anything RWD without chains/socks.
Best was my old V70 auto, even with the nearly bald Potenzas...
you had a kangoo didnt you hels ?
they are belting in snow with winter tires on.
the only thing that stops them then is snow build up under the body lifting the wheels off the ground 😀
"Anything RWD without chains/socks."
came to work in an RWD motor this morning without socks or chains on several untreated roads....
My 1987 Ford Granada Scorpio 2.0 litre auto, a bit like this one;
[img] 
[/img]
Winter tyres helps everything - you can get a saab 9-3 through just about everything with those and snow chains.
And then you don't recognise what a useless car it normally is!
Old 3 series BMWs - they used to fisktail at the slightest sign of snow - and going up a gear made it worse ...
Of the cars I've owned, worst mk2 Focus, best mk1 Ka
We have a slight uphill slope near our house and the only cars that get stuck in the snow seem to be BMWs and that is in Germany with compulsory winter tyres. Having said that tyres do make a big difference. After getting our new car which is fitted with year round tyres I certainly notice how much more unpredictable the car is in snow when compared to the old car fitted with winter tyres.
Jaguar S-type 4.0 V8 Auto. The auto box was very slushy which didn't help. Still made it home on all the backroads but I did spend 20 minutes taking run ups to a hump backed bridge until I got over it!
Seriously, modern summer (i.e. UK) tyres are rubbish. I've got pretty warn All Season tyres now and would far rather them then brand new standard tyres.
Vauxhall Omega MV6.
Stacks of power, but all delivered through lovely wide tyres at the back of the car. It was so rubbish in the snow it would not even get up the gentle gravel slope of my drive to get onto the road.
Lovely car, just useless in snow.
5-series. It was comical.
Lotus Elise. I drove it into work in all the snow a few years ago - it was an *interesting* drive 😆
Current Car (3 Series) is terrible, luckily we dont get much snow in Liverpool
GF's 54 plate Focus estate is pretty rubbish in the snow. I think the worst I've driven was my old Vectra, truly horrendous and very scary.
ex had one of these - driving it in any weather was interesting
[img] 
[/img]
Woody - Membertheflatboy - I've driven loads of those the with plenty weight in the back. I agree they are awful but compared to the Saab they are grippy !
Jesus!
Mazda MX5, only drove it once in the snow. Had it pointing in all directions.
"ex had one of these - driving it in any weather was interesting"
my colleagues rocking an orange '86 plate just now..... he likes to hit the brakes as soon as it starts to slide and just spins off the road like a muppet - hedge seeking misile. more throttle , steer with the rear .
Worst vehicle, Merc Sprinter with winter tyres it's the only time I've ever got stuck and by far not the worst conditions I've driven in. Yeah winter tyres really are shite.
I certainly notice how much more unpredictable the car is in snow when compared to the old car fitted with winter tyres.
I've been driving a lot this winter in a Focus estate with Michelin Alpins, which make it manageable. I know of a couple of people who refused to go out in a Focus when all we had was standard tyres and snow socks if you got stuck!
Winter tyres are a must if I keep the Saab for a while.
E-Class estate. No contest. In fact, any soft surface and the car would bury itself up to the axle with the meer-est hint of throttle in 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
The highly tweeked Dolomite Sprint I had too many years ago was huge fun though 😀
Surprised that people are struggling in Focuses, mine has been pretty good even on Conti summer tyres. I've taken it through the peak district, rural france on -10c sheet ice and never got stuck or crashed. Bit of understeer but that's to be expected and easy to drive around.
2003 honda civic type r, no traction control and 200hp on the front wheels= nightmare
Continental GT V8. Gave up after three miles, parked it, and jogged in instead.