I've been really impressed with the smoothness of the ABS on the Octy II compared to the Octy I too - I stomped on the brake for fun last night just to enjoy it bringing me to a controlled and uneventful stop. On the previous car I'd have done better without ABS at all on that surface...

Now you mention it, I've been testing the ABS on some deserted bits of iced-up road and it pulls up very straight. I'll have to do some repeats with ABS off for comparison.

its a shame cruise control wont work at belw 10mph. o reckon that with esp on would be good for snowy hills

Well living in Cumbria (so few slight inclines) I can offically confirm that a MKII Ovtavia VRS TDI is **** in the snow if you have to get up a hill to get home :|

4x4 required for 2010, just need to decide if it's a Scout to replace the VRS, or keep the VRS and get a sub £1k Land Rover or Scooby to run as a second car :wonder:

its not just about having the extra wheels to drive, sure that makes a big difference. but getting a set of winter mud/snow tyres is a huge difference. the vRS comes with a performance orientated tyre as standard which are pants when its cold and even worse when it snows. i say before you splash out on another car look into a set of 4 steel rims and some decent winter tyres.

i used the same winter tyres for 5 winters in a row, they dont wear down much in the snow so they last ages and are an investment.(and not that expensive). me being the prize pr!ck that i am sold them on before coming back to uk from germnay thinking i wont need them now. nice one, guess what i will be buying again.

i will however be waiting till the summer to see if i can pick up some second hand ones for the car

Edited 22 December, 200916 yr by vRSy

Slow and steady is the order of the day, I used first gear and just over idle RPM and the car just went up the hill with no drama whatsover, no wheelspin at all. If you use to much throttle, or try to apply throttle you will break traction and come to a stop and not be able to get going again without reversing to the bottom and starting all over again.

I used to get through over the tops as long as I could maintain momentum. Being stopped by others caused problems, so I left my journies late to avoid others. I got past a lot of stranded cars at one section just by taking enough steady momentum through a corner which was defeating those trying to power through or not using enough momentum.

Now you mention it, I've been testing the ABS on some deserted bits of iced-up road and it pulls up very straight. I'll have to do some repeats with ABS off for comparison.

I don't think ABS can be turned off, just ESP/TC.

its a shame cruise control wont work at belw 10mph. o reckon that with esp on would be good for snowy hills

Not only are the better specified Yeti better suited to these conditions because of its superior Hadex 4 system but it has hill decent control and hill hold. I have not bought mine just yet but the hill decent feature I believe will allow control of speeds below about 15 mph. Hopefully one of the owners might like to clarify.

Not only are the better specified Yeti better suited to these conditions because of its superior Hadex 4 system but it has hill decent control and hill hold. I have not bought mine just yet but the hill decent feature I believe will allow control of speeds below about 15 mph. Hopefully one of the owners might like to clarify.

I certainly have Haldex 4 and hill hold. No hill descent though.

Abs seems to work fine in the ice, but i havnt notices the traction control kicking in, just spins up if i welly it. I remember it on my 1998 octy. No flashing light on either car.

6" of snow here is highland Perthshire and A VRS with no heavy derv lump to help it.

No doubt due to my phenomenal car control it's not actually been too bad. Haven't seen the TC light unless I've provoked it.

Hardest bit has been trying to get the car up my uncleared drive. That was entertaining. But I have thought on a few occasions ,"I wish I'd bought a Scout".

Best bet i find is to try brake without the abs coming on. The constant on off braking effect of abs is not as good as controlled braking.

Old landrover defender + big knobbly tyres = unstoppable!

I wouldn't go for a scooby - sub £1k you'll be looking at one that's quite old and they have a tendancy to ingest their own crankshaft as they get older. Have a look on Scoobynet (www.scoobynet.com) and see how many classics have had engine rebuilds!

Note: Nothing against the Impreza, I love mine and have fettled it somewhat to be over 300bhp - vrooooooom!

Well living in Cumbria (so few slight inclines) I can offically confirm that a MKII Ovtavia VRS TDI is **** in the snow if you have to get up a hill to get home :|

4x4 required for 2010, just need to decide if it's a Scout to replace the VRS, or keep the VRS and get a sub £1k Land Rover or Scooby to run as a second car :wonder:

Would decent snow chains be a good investment?

Would decent snow chains be a good investment?

Or perhaps a set of those "Autosock" thingys kept in the boot for emergencies such as this?

Old landrover defender + big knobbly tyres = unstoppable!

I wouldn't go for a scooby - sub £1k you'll be looking at one that's quite old and they have a tendancy to ingest their own crankshaft as they get older. Have a look on Scoobynet (www.scoobynet.com) and see how many classics have had engine rebuilds!

Note: Nothing against the Impreza, I love mine and have fettled it somewhat to be over 300bhp - vrooooooom!

Agree are lot's of sccobs you can get for £1000 but expect to spend more money on them,to get anything half decent you need to start looking minimum 3k maybe 4k unless you get lucky or spend months looking.I am talking about the wrx though,this time last year i was driving my STI and they are great fun on the snow and ice i do miss it sometimes....

Old landrover defender + big knobbly tyres = unstoppable!

We've had 2 4x4 old Fiat Pandas. Superb in ice and snow. Built by Italians and Austrians who are separated by the Alps, so designed for it.

Shame they rusted, because cheap insurance, cheap to run and simple.

Since then we had 2 old Defenders. The first 2.25 petrol had cross-ply tyres. Roundabouts on those were great training for driving on ice.

Second 200tdi was only sold because my left knee went, so we had to change to the auto diesel Disco.

Defenders are superb. You can climb up them to paint the house/ prune trees etc. You can use the girder bumpers to replace a workmate for small carpentry jobs or to scare off Audi drivers and, if the chassis stays in one piece, depreciation can be almost nil or even negative on a sub 1k machine.

My new combination of the Octavia plus the Disco seems to work pretty well. So far both have been fine on the sheet ice around us.

I have an Octy vRS (petrol) plus a Furby vRS - no problems whatsoever...and I live on the top of a steep hill!

A N T I C I P A T I O N is the key, that and don't make any sudden braking moves - unlike the guy behind me earlier this evening who was sliding uncontrolled down the hill... :no:

Happy skiing all...

I have an Octy vRS (petrol) plus a Furby vRS - no problems whatsoever...and I live on the top of a steep hill!

A N T I C I P A T I O N is the key, that and don't make any sudden braking moves - unlike the guy behind me earlier this evening who was sliding uncontrolled down the hill... :no:

Happy skiing all...

Wow..... Mr Perfect

Agree are lot's of sccobs you can get for £1000 but expect to spend more money on them,to get anything half decent you need to start looking minimum 3k maybe 4k unless you get lucky or spend months looking.I am talking about the wrx though,this time last year i was driving my STI and they are great fun on the snow and ice i do miss it sometimes....

Re Scoobys in the snow the following has been doing the rounds

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/746201/9aee8471/subaru_trekt_vrachtwagen_door_sneeuw.html

Re Scoobys in the snow the following has been doing the rounds

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/746201/9aee8471/subaru_trekt_vrachtwagen_door_sneeuw.html

That's impressive

That's impressive

I wonder if Santa is bringing him a new clutch?

I think this Subaru wins the "best on snow" award, albeit in a slightly modified form:

http://jalopnik.com/5396232/ken-blocks-tracked-subaru-sti-begs-for-snow

The snow round here has only just started melting and the Scout has been superb. No problems pulling away on thick ice and snow and I have been so impressed by its handling. Highly recommend one to anyone!

he must have had a decent set of winter tyres to manage that

Re Scoobys in the snow the following has been doing the rounds

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/746201/9aee8471/subaru_trekt_vrachtwagen_door_sneeuw.html

I just come back from town and drove the octy through some forest tracks on way home,couldn't go to nuts with it though was quite slippy in places.OMG i'm drooling from the mouth after seeing that,why did i get rid of the scoob..Don't get me wrong i like the VRS it's a great car but omggggg,i'd love to have a 4wd drive version of the vrs for weather like this,even if it is only once a year.....oh well summer is on it's way

A few good things about octy in snow ,from my own experience i thought it was rubbish just had two new tyres on the front and thought it would be ok in the snow but just keep getting stuck and could not get grip nowhere near as good as my seat leon fr was,anyway after someone rear ended me used the wifes micra and it had no problems at all going where octy would not.