What car for snow?

Stu McGroo at lunchtime I had my second go of the day at someone who decided to drive past me as fast as he could in mixed deep snow/slush. He passed me within 10m's of the red light.

Do it properly

http://www.tomcatmotorsport.co.uk/advert_45.htm

Me Land rover defender 90 with 165 Bf Goodrich All Terrain tyres, so far hasnae even looked like gettin stuck in the bleak north west of Scotland where the snow is proper like! spent the last 2 weeks ferrying peeps about and pulling stricken vehicles when theyve got stuck. GFs Seat Leon went 2 metres forward then 2 metres sideways before leaving her drive, she then gave up driving it.

There's great news in this thread – the best car for snow doesn't mean buying a car that's no good for the rest of the year. A cheap, light, basic, slow fwd hatch is best for snow and pretty bloody good all the rest of the time too. Cheap, simple, fun, practical – modern cars have gone way ott – no need for so much speed and ludicrous levels of comfort and equipment.

spudgun1 earlier:

Mk IV Golf R32 with winter tyres? I haven't found a road I can't drive up so far, as long as you're gentle with the throttle or off it completely it's great. Good fun in the summer too… :-)

Echoing Glenp, When I lived in the Highlands, much as you you'd expect to see 4X4s everywhere the most popular car on the road seemed to be a VW Polo. Small, economical, reliable, less likely to crash than a 4×4 during the 50 weeks of the year when the roads are clear.

I got passed by at least 5 Freelanders this morning on my walk up the hill from Ripponden to Barkisland. Normally the snowboard melts the hearts of passers-by and I get to thumb a lift, but this lot are just BMW drivers in disuise I guess. serves me right for boarding on work time I suppose!
Had a few unexpected lifts up the hill from white van men- good on em.

fiat panda 4×4 or a Scoobydoo Justy (the original ones not the soft heavy new ones)

Bwarp

This doesn't really help the OP but I've always loved the Golf Country 4×4. A mate has had a couple and is currently refurbishing one just now and they have proved to be very capable off road.

Bowler wildcat or a bowler nemisis, end of discussion. You won't be worry about a bit a snow behind the wheel of one of those boys

twas one of those Bowlers that I was looking for a piccy for …interestingly they now make a road going nemisis with AC & sound & full lights etc…. now wheres my lottery numbers

DON'T go for a big torquey diesel with wide low profile tyres. They are shit in snow

Completely agree with that. My honda accord tourer with 17inch low profile tyres is a complete disaster – taken me three attempts at getting into the driveway this afternoon after two almost in attempts then the front went all over the place. My puegeot 307 is much better even though again it has 17 inch low profile tyres – a 2 litre petrol engine and a much lighetr weight makes all the difference.

Yeh the 2cv is great but as mine lives a pampered life I wouldn't take it anywhere near all that salt on the roads. It would rust away before my eyes.

XC90 anybody

After watching one slide sideway down the gently sloping road outside our houes I would say that without off road tyres it's even more useless than my honda.

2nd the Citroen 2 CV, just floated past all the other cars, nice thin wheels/tyres

my Golf GTi – currently parked at the bottom of our road after several aborted attempts
my wifes 1.1l 106 – currently parked outside our house after driving straight up our road with no issues.

Here's my street:

It's a dead-end, on a bit of a hill and ungritted.

I got up it in my car (Focus), but if you don't mind waiting till I'm home I'll give you a list of the cars that haven't moved since the snow :D

hillman imp – great in the snow

Smug claim to fame – I delivered the rolling chassis for the 2nd conversion Drew Bowler ever did, up to his blacksmiths forge in Derbyshire back in the 80s. He's moved on a bit since then!

hora –
at lunchtime I had my second go of the day at someone who decided to drive past me as fast as he could in mixed deep snow/slush.

my point exactly, most of the time people accept the slow moving traffic and stay in line, occasionly people drive so slowly and not in keeping with the conditions that the following driver has no alternative other than to demonstrate how it is perfectly safe to drive a little faster by overtaking….or in your case twice!!!

Its no good having a 4wd car perfect for the snow if some IDIOT in a 2wd car comes sliding down the road with no control whatsoever and nearly crashes into you.

This is what happened to me.

unfortunately, i was the idiot in the 2wd car.

My 90 on 205 mud tyres is brilliant, we've just had ste start of a heavy dump in Portsmouth and I had no problems coming back from work along the top of Portsdown Hill, with all the other drivers panicking! Did feel sorry for the lady on the 'ped who was in front of me though….

I've got a 2WD Kuga with winter tyres & it had been quite excellent in the snow. In the last month it's been in Belgium, England, Holland, Germany, France & Switzerland all without any hint of grip problems.
Though as mentioned already it is the tyres & not the car really, but of course being a diesel also helps.

The bad thing is that even if you have winter tyres, if you are 1 in 10,000 you will still be stuck :(

Thanks mudshark, was looking at ploughs the other day, could be a nice lil earner.

My wife bought a second hand Panda 4×4 last November (what timing eh?!) – which I'm trying to adopt. Cheap as chips to buy and run as a second (or…cough..third) car and with mud & snow tyres that come on it as standard it's been breezing up the local lanes in the Peak District. Surprisingly practical too, easy to get kids in & out with it being 5 door – although most of the time I just shut 'em in the boot & turn the radio up :wink:

The wifes fiat 500 is doing grand in our 3-4" soft snow we have up here being the base model with skinny wheels and a 1.2 engine. My Zafira SRI diesel running on 18's is a disaster.

My mates volve v40 D5 R-design is worse though – being an auto he cant control anything so it just spins and spins.

– being an auto he cant control anything…

I'm afraid that's down to the driver (and as said above, the tyres); an auto driven well can often outperform a manual in mud and snow.

I'm afraid that's down to the driver (and as said above, the tyres); an auto driven well can often outperform a manual in mud and snow.

How so Psling?

I was going to say that IMO any Manual car with with suitable tyres can be driven in all but the deepest snow, IF the person behind the wheel is remotely competent – but your comment has me thinking?

Skoda estelle/rapid.

CaptainFlashheart – Member

Old school Fiat Panda 4×4.

*nods*

…and very good for getting through moderate floodwater as well

*knows through experience of driving one with the water lapping up over the bonnet*

F-reg fiats are where it's at, clearly

Ask Ken if he want's to sell this

I use my Nissan Pathfinder for the snow, when it gets really bad I use the Land Rover.

The Land Rover is great in the snow, not much use in the mud though :-)
Land Rover in mud

Hi jim29, very generally (!), to drive in snow it helps to get the power down smoothly and to slow down / control speed by engine braking. An automatic can supply drive to the wheels very smoothly (often more so than a manual) and gears can be locked out where necessary to control speed. The more relevant part in my post is probably the "down to the driver" bit :wink: A driver trained or experienced in mud & snow driving will get the best out of either automatic or manual.

I'm driving my first ever auto in the snow, and despite my initial thoughts of "it's auto, bound to be shite", it has been performing remarkably well – down to the smoothness which psling speaks of. It is a 4WD as well, but basic (normal diffs, viscous centre). Doing much better than I expected. I've had a fair bit of snow driving experience though, and that definitely helps too, along with decent tyres.

That's a fair comment Psling, what got me thinking was how do you overcome the auto holding on to gears to much higher RPMs than is ideal for snow driving?

I can drive my Manual Diesel Focus no trouble through the snow, but the Auto Astra Petrol is a mare!

I reckon a Lancia Stratos would be pretty good fun in the snow, in a buttock clenching sort of way.
Or a 6r4, that would be awesome.
Although a lamborghini murcielago would probably be the worst despite the four wheel drive

DON'T go for a big torquey diesel with wide low profile tyres. They are shit in snow

I dunno about this, the best thing you can do with a car like that is stick it it second and let it pull itself along on tickover. When I went down town today in the snow this worked great when pulling away from lights, even on hills.

Many years ago I had a lancia Integrale. I quickly learnt that the 4WD was great for acceleration but brakes were no better. Still good fun.

Don't agree with auto's been sh1te in snow.

I initially thought that my little van would be better than my DSG(auto) golf gti, it isn't – the golf has been fantastic (Touch wood). But I can go into a higher gear using the flappy paddles which really helps.

Mk IV Golf R32 with winter tyres? I haven't found a road I can't drive up so far, as long as you're gentle with the throttle or off it completely it's great. Good fun in the summer too…

My Mk IV GTI with standard Michelins has been doing OK in our 6-10" up here in Belmont, Lancs…

Subaru Outback Diesel gets my vote…. I have 58 plate and love it!

Great all rounder

New style gets rave reviews also….
Outback