Out of interest what is the Fabia VRS like to drive in snow?

I know its a random question and I dont need to worry just yet, but Im thinking of taking my holidays at work & was thinking ahead if I should be wise and reserve a week or a few days of for bad weather such as snow in the Winter. My work commute is 15 miles one way, using Motorway and some main roads. Im aware on a hill FWD would struggle, and winter tyres would be the obvious selection of tyres.

I bought the car in Feb so luckily I missed the snow, had no problems with my previous car as it was NA, never driven a turbo in snow so thats why I ask.

My car is standard I guess remapped would struggle because of the increase of torque I dont intend to remap anytime soon.

Did any of you abandon the Fabia because it wouldnt move, or are turbo diesels in general fine in snow??

No harm in asking I guess

Thanks in advance for the replys

I had no problems with mine, made it up a small incline off my estate on an untreated road and then did 10 miles to and from on "treated" A roads and then made it in and out of the city centre and the estate near work.

The diesel Ford Focus estates at work coped reasonably much better than the Volvo T5s did they made it up slopes that stumped the Volvos.

I think as long as there isn't alot of packed snow or sheet ice on a slope it all depends on if you can drive or not.

I thinks it copes well in the snow, when it snowed i had these tyres (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+LM-22) They are very good tyres.

Coz its FWD the weight of the engine helps alot. My dads merc RWD Never got far. He all ways took mine. Fabia much easy to drive than a RWD Merc

Edited 11 July, 201015 yr by Guest

I hope its better than the new shape VW passat I changed it for as that was an absolute chocolate fireguard!

It all depends on what kind of black and round things you've got on you wheels. Summer tyres are absolutely useless, (the Goodyears and Toyos I've got are anyway). I'm sure with proper winter tyres on the car is fine.

i had summer tyres on and got stuck 3 times

It's all down to tyres

I had Toyo Proxes 4 on the Yaris T Sport 195/50/15 - Didnt have no problems but a spade in the boot helped when it was a few cm in the morning

Will the Fabias wider tyres help in the snow or cause a problem because theyr a wide tyre dont know if its true or not narrow tyres are supposedly better

Also does the traction control in a benefit in snow or is it pointless?

Thanks

Edited 11 July, 201015 yr by REDFABVRS

tc was no help for me this year i will be getting some snow tyres thats what gets you through the stuff

Winter tyres are the answer

A 2-wheel-drive with winter tyres can cope better than a 4x4 with summer tyres

I use Vredesteins', they are v.good.

As for large amounts of power and driving on snow: simple - don't stamp on the accelerator !

If you've got ESP on your car, even better :yes:

Edited 11 July, 201015 yr by snow_muncher

I have Goodyear GSD3 all round on mine and earlier this year in the snow, i was better off walking, it was absolutely useless.

ps

If you're really worried about driving in the snow, get a LSD fitted

It all depends on what kind of black and round things you've got on you wheels. Summer tyres are absolutely useless, (the Goodyears and Toyos I've got are anyway). I'm sure with proper winter tyres on the car is fine.

i had summer tyres on and got stuck 3 times

It's all down to tyres

We had Toyos on our VRS and the missus managed a 40 odd mile round trip to work and back every day in the snow (and we had a lot) without getting stuck. I agree that a proper set of winter tyres would have made this trip even easier and I may be tempted to get a set for this winter, but it's not all about tyres.

The driver has a major influence, I saw plenty of 4*4's struggling in the snow while I crawled past in my crappy works van. Keep your speed down but at the same time try to maintain enough momentum not to get stuck and be very gentle and smooth with the controls (steering, brakes and throttle). I little bit of consideration for the conditions and both yours and your vehicles limitations will get you further than someone with all the gear but no idea.

The vrs is not brilliant in the snow but it's not bad either.

Ive got Goodyear GSD3 on the front and TBH I found themok. Got stuck a couple of times but living in a hilly area they done pretty well.

Winter tyres are the answer

A 2-wheel-drive with winter tyres can cope better than a 4x4 with summer tyres

I use Vredesteins', they are v.good.

Vredesteins are very good, we have them on our other Fabia, I have heard Nokians are good aswell, however both do not make anything suitable for the vRS.

but it's not all about tyres.

Yes it is. Obviously if you drive like a muppet your going to get into trouble but you can say that in any condition. Having driven a VRS in bad snow with F1's and T1r's I can tell you they are liek chalk and cheese. The Toyo's are ok, while the Eagles might as well be coated with Teflon. The difference was going somewhere and not going anywhere.

The reason you did so well in your work van? Thin van tyres which are usually all season compound. Have a look at tyres fitted to cars for snow based rally's. They are like rich tea biscuits they are that narrow. The laws of physics are quite clear on why this is too. (F=PA and all that jazz)

Winter tyres are designed specifically to work better at low temparatures, in fact proper summer compounds go off at about 5 degrees C meaning they are far less effective below that. The trade off is that the winter tyres use more fuel and make more noise. In a lot of european countries wither tyres have to be fitted by law at certain times of the year, such is the difference they make.

I understand Tyres have a big influence on the road in Snow, but im sure although we should invest in winter tyres not many of us do because the snow we have for a few days does not compensate for the few days of snow we have here in the UK, in terms of a safety aspect its worth it 100% but not many heads dont think that way as it only lasts a few days..

I agree obviously driving speeds and road conditions are all considered..

Is the Fabia simple to getting rolling from a stand still im guessing the Gas pedal has to be untouched because the torque wouldnt help in snow?

Remember its not just snow that snow tyres are good for; ice and mud too.

Once the average temp drops below 7 degrees, I put my winter tyres on.

As Decron states, its mainly about the rubber compound. Winter tyres have an extra silicon compound that keeps the rubber supple to very low temps (-30 degrees and lower).

The rubber in summer tyres goes hard and cracks, vice-versa, winter tyres go very soft in hot temps (+20 degrees).

My brothers trashed his winter tyres by keeping them on too long.

Torque @ low RPM is what you want for snow driving, applied via gentle clutch/throttle control.

Pull of in 2nd gear; if you've really got that much torque, use 3rd.

Edited 12 July, 201015 yr by snow_muncher

Yes it is. Obviously if you drive like a muppet your going to get into trouble but you can say that in any condition. Having driven a VRS in bad snow with F1's and T1r's I can tell you they are liek chalk and cheese. The Toyo's are ok, while the Eagles might as well be coated with Teflon. The difference was going somewhere and not going anywhere.

The reason you did so well in your work van? Thin van tyres which are usually all season compound. Have a look at tyres fitted to cars for snow based rally's. They are like rich tea biscuits they are that narrow. The laws of physics are quite clear on why this is too. (F=PA and all that jazz)

Winter tyres are designed specifically to work better at low temparatures, in fact proper summer compounds go off at about 5 degrees C meaning they are far less effective below that. The trade off is that the winter tyres use more fuel and make more noise. In a lot of european countries wither tyres have to be fitted by law at certain times of the year, such is the difference they make.

I think you didn't understand what he said It really is not all about the tyres, or are you saying that anyone can get in a car with snow tyres on, in heavy snow and drive like it was a summers afternoon?

I freely admit winter tyres help a huge amount, they really are something else in the snow but driving style plays a huge part in whether you can drive safely in that type of weather. Confidence, being able to read the road and the drivers ahead, understanding how traction works and how to control the car is probably the biggest part of snow driving there is. I drove my fabia round in the snow last year in regular tyres (I'm in Sheffield so its not exactly flat here, and the snow was very heavy) and i wasn't having very many problems, even passing other people who were stuck on side of the the road. You have to have a completely different way of driving, for example using engine braking which is something people generally dont do normally (unless they are bikers).

To the OP, fabia's are fine in the snow - well as fine as any other small car is. They aren't hugely heavy, they aren't rear wheel drive and they aren't 500bhp. If you want to make life easy for yourself get some snow tires, and manage your driving style to suit the conditions. The torque on the Fabia isn't so much that it is going to make it undrivable in the snow, if you find it is try using a higher gear. The antistall will help you pull away generally in first, then swich to 2nd and be carefull with your rightfoot. Use the engine to break with and remember that spinning/sliding wheels offer zero grip, so going downhill if your front wheels are turning you'll still be able to steer, if they slide you wont.

Its worth you getting a set of steels with some snow tyres on and leaving them in your shed during the summer months, thats what i was planning on doing but then the mrs bought a new Rav4 and DAMN, that thing is a lot of fun in the snow If only the Fabia had 4wd and dif-lock!!

simon - exactly. (didn't think you wanted it all requoted!)

We were hit reasonably hard on the south coast this year - and we don't usually have snow so 75% + of the people round here reacted like the world was coated with Teflon (other non-stick products are available ).

I don't regard myself as the best driver around, not by a long shot, but by creeping along, using 2nd or 3rd most of the time i had few issues at all. Engine braking is definately the key to staying in control whilst slowing. Treat every pedal like its an egg. Stamp on any of them and expect to be spinning, skidding or s******* yourself!

For the record, Furby vRS running on KU31's.

PL

As said above, when diving down a step hill on ice/slush/snow, in any car the procedure is. Slow down on the flat, put it into second or even 1st gear, keep your feet off the pedals, just steer, let the engine do the braking.

This is what I was tought on an off-road course, up hills in 2nd, down in 1st (in a Land Rover anyway).

I think you didn't understand what he said It really is not all about the tyres, or are you saying that anyone can get in a car with snow tyres on, in heavy snow and drive like it was a summers afternoon?

Yes I did and I didn't agree with what was said as it didn't bring across what you just did. You should drive according to the conditions regardless of snow, ice, sun, rain, volcano. Why should snow need to be special? Surely your going to drive with a heightend sense of mortallity if your ploughing through 2ft of snow on the A3 regardless of tyres?

Winter tyres make things safer and easier, they don't make it a given you are going to get where your going safely but if your not driving accordingly all of the time then your going to have an accident anyway.

Yes I did and I didn't agree with what was said as it didn't bring across what you just did. You should drive according to the conditions regardless of snow, ice, sun, rain, volcano. Why should snow need to be special? Surely your going to drive with a heightend sense of mortallity if your ploughing through 2ft of snow on the A3 regardless of tyres?

Winter tyres make things safer and easier, they don't make it a given you are going to get where your going safely but if your not driving accordingly all of the time then your going to have an accident anyway.

Pretty sure you didn't understand what I was saying.

I said "it's not all about the tyres" and "a little bit of consideration for the conditions and both yours and your vehicles limitations will get you further than someone with all the gear but no idea."

You said it yourself "You should drive according to the conditions regardless of snow, ice, sun, rain, volcano. Why should snow need to be special?"

I think we have very similar views on this subject but I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. Perhaps it was the way I worded my post, Simonbt did explain it a lot clearer.

The best car I had in the snow was a Renault 5 which had tyres as you decribe them "like Rich Tea biscuits"

Anyone else just had a sudden urge to jump a volcano........?