i just rented a place in the country, the owner said that the 2 mile lane leading to it never gets salted/grited during winter
i wondered if anyone on here faces the same, and how should i go about driving when theres an icey spell
say if i need to go around a really icey corner...do i coast or stay on gentle power????
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Softly, softly on all controls - brakes, steering, throttle etc. Stay in as high a gear as possible for the speed. Or invest in some winter tyres or those snow chains that seem to be easy to fit these days. Saw some going very cheaply on the Halfords "clearance" shelf yesterday!!
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It would be impossible for any local authority to salt every road, street or lane in its area.
As for driving on icy roads, best not to do so if at all possible but, if you are, then never "coast"...:-)
Start off in a higher gear than normal and stay in as high a gear as possible for the (slow) speeds you should be undertaking. Change gears up and down as smoothly as possible.
Remember that stopping will almost certainly require considerable advanced planning if the roads are very bad and that, no matter what you do, you or someone else might not be able to stop in time.
You will improve things somewhat by buying or hiring a 4x4 and also have the satisfaction that the vehicle is probably being used for its real purpose for the first time in its life...:-)
Otherwise pile on the logs and stay indoors.....
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Do remember that a large 4x4 will go better than an ordinary car; BUT it will not stop any quicker and if it does start sliding, thats an awful lot of metal to have out of control.
They are not just big cars, they are trucks and handle like them. This doesn't just mean slower, it means different.
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I live in a very similar situation in west Wales.
There are I think 3 different winter road conditions here:
1) fresh snow
2) squashed down snow, possible partly thawed and then refrozen
3) ordinary hard frost, making wet sections of the road slippery but with quite a lot of clear sections
1) is quite easy to drive on if less than say 4". But if you seriously mean to venture out in a foot of snow you need a proper AWD like a LandRover with a low range box.
2) is more difficult, because the surface may be like a continuous sheet of ice. Stopping distances may be infinite, and it can be very difficult to get going again if you have to stop.
3) just needs constant vigilance, watching the road ahead, trying to steer on the less frozen parts of the road.
The general rules are:
Don't touch the brakes- they will be useless anyway.
Barely touch the accelerator, just enough to keep the car moving at a slow constant speed.
Don't make sudden turns.
Remember however fast you are approching a corner, there will be an idiot approaching at twice the speed.
I have to disagree slightly about the use of high gear. With a torquy engine it is awfully easy to spin the wheels even at low speed. I think in general a constant speed in a lower gear works better.
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thanks cliff
thats a help...i live in east anglia so lots of snow isnt a worry, we only get like a weeks worth and i can have a few days off if needed
my main worry is if if theres a hard frost after rain or if water has run off the fields...i dont really drive like a lunatic at anytime hopefully it'l be okay
would i be right in thinking when the road is white with frost its not actually really slippy comapred with black ice?
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The advantages of four-wheel drive far outweigh any minor disadvantages.
If you live in the north of England, you'll be aware that any time there's a lot of snow in remote areas in Yorkshire, Derbyshire etc the first thing police forces do is appeal to 4x4 owners to allow their vehicles to be used by police officer for rescues, food supply etc purposes.
In addition, a number of forces whose traffic patrols cover motorways and other roads during winter use 4x4s for this work - otherwise it would be very difficult or impossible to do it.
I've driven most makes of 4x4s both on and off-road in all types of weather conditions and if the choice was two-wheel or four-wheel drive one trecherous winter's day, I know what it would be...:-)
In fact I've even driven the RAV4 off-road - yes, it surprised me as well that it could be done, although it did take a bit of getting use to ignoring one or two normal 4x4 driving practices.
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Suartli is right - in tough conditions only an AWD can cope. But you do have to ask yourself whether you are seriously going to need one for the other 50 weeks of the year.
Yes, black shiny ice is much more treacherous than fresh white frost. I find the most difficult circumstances are after a few vehicles have flattened the snow and polished it into twin tracks. On a narrow road it is often impossible to drive elsewhere but on these tracks, but impossible to stop once started.
We live on a hill. If the road conditions are uncertain, I simply don't go out. There is no point in risking getting out of control on a slope - much better to have stocked up with food and fuel and just enjoy being snowed-in.
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1. Buy a Subaru. AWD with excellent car-type handlimg.
2. If the road is really icy, think what speed will be safe and then halve it. Drive like there is a raw egg tied to each pedal.
3. Er... that's it.
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Blimey, I knew it was a bad summer, but unsalted roads?
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A bit like the earlier post about 4x4's on slippery roads - how they can keep going but don't stop any better.
Cars with ABS on ice: The wheels won't lock, so the car won't skid, it's just keep going when you brake with little braking effect. The bang will be the same, it's just the manner in which you arrived at it that will be different!
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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ABS cars stop slower on snow since they prevent the build-up of a wedge in front of the wheel. Apparantly.
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1. Buy a Subaru. AWD with excellent car-type handlimg.
I was driving an Imprezza Turbo during the snowy spell last year. I can honestly say that I have never driven anythign so uncontrolable. Once it gets really slippery the car develops a mind of its own and if the turbo ever cuts in then it swaps ends unbelievably quickly. One of the least pleasent experiences of my life. I love driving on snow, but my trust diesel Cavalier, which is great fun to drive on the slippery stuff was off the road getting MOT issues sorted.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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>> 1. Buy a Subaru. AWD with excellent car-type handlimg. >> I was driving an Imprezza Turbo during the snowy spell last year. I can honestly say that I have never driven anythign so uncontrolable. Once it gets really slippery the car develops a mind of its own and if the turbo ever cuts in then it swaps ends unbelievably quickly. One of the least pleasent experiences of my life. I love driving on snow, but my trust diesel Cavalier, which is great fun to drive on the slippery stuff was off the road getting MOT issues sorted. -- I read often, only post occasionally
That will probably have been down to the very wide tyres sitting on top of the snow rather than cutting through it.
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>> >> 1. Buy a Subaru. AWD with excellent car-type handlimg. >> >> >> I was driving an Imprezza Turbo during the snowy spell last >> year. I can honestly say that I have never driven anythign >> so uncontrolable. Once it gets really slippery the car develops a >> mind of its own and if the turbo ever cuts in >> then it swaps ends unbelievably quickly. One of the least pleasent >> experiences of my life. I love driving on snow, but my >> trust diesel Cavalier, which is great fun to drive on the >> slippery stuff was off the road getting MOT issues sorted. >> >> -- >> I read often, only post occasionally >> That will probably have been down to the very wide tyres sitting on top of the snow rather than cutting through it.
Indeed, wide tyres + powerful car + heavy foot = problems. I was thinking more of a Legacy or Forester with appropriate tyres, not a performance car like an Impreza turbo.
Narrow tyres are best in snow. A series 1 landie, 2CV or Morris Minor will leave most other cars struggling behind them.
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>>The advantages of four-wheel drive far outweigh any minor disadvantages.
Its not that there are disadvantages, but there *are* differences. Drive my Landcruiser as you would a normal car and you'll soon come unstuck.
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No disrespect but if you are slightly worried about driving on icy/frosty/sowy roads, may i suggest you try a skid pan lesson or some such thing, I did a polic course when i first learnt to drive and the last day we went on the skid pan, i can honestly say it has got me home on more than one occasion, i work at stansted airport and some some reason we get the weather 10 times worse here than the surrounding area. The local roads were completly blocked with traffic jams and accidents and although i couldnt account for everyone else on the road i at least knew i could continue in safety along the traffic free bits. Although the skid pan training didnt make me cocky if did make me confident enough to be able to drive home safely and in control!
We also drive to scotland most winters in our volvo v40 and we have a set of snow chains and a shovel, they are easy to fit and really good, if your lane is that bad you may want to invest in at least the shovel part!
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I once had a session power drifting a Vauxhall Frontera around a racetrack - it wouldn't have been my first choice but it proved somewhat more enjoyable than anticipated.
I've only driven the Landcruiser around a proper off-road course....
To be quite frank I feel that the majority of 4x4 owners really don't need or get the best out of such a vehicle - its main reason for existance is ignored 99.9 per cent of the time, only the occasional kerb or grass verge testing the technology.
What's more, if you are unlucky enough to be hit driving an ordinary car by one of these beasts being driven at speed, your chances of avoiding serious injury can be slim.
We've several schools in my area and it's frightening to see just how many mothers carting their offspring to lessons find it necessary to use a mobile phone during the trip.
Don't get me wrong, I've no overall quibble with 4x4s - most people I know who own one are farmers or who need it to visit out of the way places - but for general use they are way OTT.
As for the original query, considering there are 365 (or 366) days in a year, the odd week or so with a bit of snow shouldn't prove too taxing for traditional car owners.
It's really not worth changing a vehicle just to gain a means of getting through a bad spell of weather.
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Oh God, please don't take this thread down this road.
If you really want to say things like that there are plenty of threads to use, this one is about driving on unsalted roads.
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Probably just as well. Too much salt isn't good for you - or your car...:-)
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I used to drive in the snow a lot when I lived in the hills in North Wales. A lot of the time the snow was packed down so much the roads were like sheet ice. There's definately a knack to it.
I wouldn't say you need 4WD, well not unless you're in a hilly area or are expecting huge drifts of snow. Avoid RWD of course, but any FWD car should be OK. The major problem isn't so much getting going, but stopping when you need to.
As people here have said, softly softly is the approach to take. Easy on all pedals. It's amazing how long it can take a car sliding on ice to stop. Brake very early for corners. If you brake going into a corner your wheels will lock. It doesn't matter which way they're pointing then, because you're going straight on. I found it useful to use a little throttle to encourage the car to turn on some occasions - get the front wheels to let the rear wheels know who's in charge.
But above all... go slowly.
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As mentioned earlier in the thread; snow chains and a shovel. You can get a folding shovel for about £10 to keep in your boot. Earlier this year I was able to drive my front-drive estate car with chains up a slope that a 4x4 failed to negotiate. Lovely!
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Thought tractors usually have big driving wheels on the back...
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Excuse me while I search for my head. I seem to have laughed it clean off my shoulders.
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>>Excuse me while I search for my head. I seem to have laughed it clean off my shoulders.
before or after you bought the Alpher Romoe ?
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