ive owned my fabia vrs for over a year now and when it snowed earlier in the year i left her tucked up in my nice warm garage incase it i total it :/

however this time i decided to give it a go and my word it's brilliant!! i had 4 pirelli pzeros fitted last month ready for the bad weather and i can't fault them!!

i have drove about 400 miles already and only slid once which was my fault for going to quick :(

where ever i go i seem to be able to handle it without a problem,

even last night when i had to visit a girl at her house where ive never been before and i found myself leaving a nice gritted road to one that hasn't see a spoon of salt! before i knew it i was going down a rather nerving steep hill with nasty bends! i really thought that i wasn't going to make it down without a few new dents but a mile of brake, corner, breath and carry on it flattened out and i got to the house i needed to go to,

i left there at 02:00 this morning and was informed that that was the only way out the village and as well as we got on i didn't want to push my luck and ask to stay the night, so i made my way home,

leaving the village was easy until i met the start of the hill and i thought here comes the fun but i stuck it in 2nd and balanced the revs and up we went being followed by a 4x4. nervously i carried on and i kept going and going and i got half way and i lost grip :( i stopped and stuck in in 1st and the traction control went mental so i turned that off and that made things worse :( so stuck it in 2nd and slowly released the clutch and off we went again i was about a 3rd of the way up when i had to pass a nissan pathfinder struggling i couldn't help but smile when my little 2wd car passed a 4x4 off roader :p

needless to say the little fabia got me home safe and sound and im preparing to take her out again this afternoon for the second date :p

simon

skoda fabia vRS SE 587

even last night when i had to visit a girl at her house where ive never been before... i left there at 02:00 this morning

i was about a 3rd of the way up when i had to pass a nissan pathfinder struggling i couldn't help but smile when my little 2wd car passed a 4x4 off roader :p

Always remember that some cheap skates buy the bottom of the range things like the Pathfinder etc - and they don't have four wheel drive! (just like their soft roader cousins)

You had an offer to stay the night and refused?????????????? Was she that bad????????????

One day people will realise its not the car that's beating the 4x4s in weather like this, its the tires

A 2WD car with full winter tyres on is going to be just as good on a snow covered road as a 4x4 in winter tyres. The difference comes when you try and get over that field with a foot of snow on it :yes:

Hated mine in the snow last night.... Summer tyres and snow / ice not a great combo haha,

Let alone the beating the undertray took from the lumps of snow in the middle of the road...

Edited 20 December, 201015 yr by siimot

You had an offer to stay the night and refused?????????????? Was she that bad????????????

He didnt want to push his luck and ask to stay, so, no, he didnt get an offer to stay over!!

Plus my fabia with 205/45/16 eagle f1's is superb in the snow, went up unbelievably steep hills, down, round, everything i threw at it, and my mates live up the back roads out in the sticks :yes:

Iv got newish Pirelli P zero,s on the front and Goodyear F1,s on the back and my car seems to have a shocking lack of grip in the snow,its so bad i got the bus to work the other week,but soon got fed up with that so i wrestled the wifes beetle keys off her and have been using that instead....

A 2WD car with full winter tyres on is going to be just as good on a snow covered road as a 4x4 in winter tyres. The difference comes when you try and get over that field with a foot of snow on it :yes:

No, not true at all, winter tyres do improve traction on ice, slush and snow - the only point at which they beat a 4X4 with summer tyres on in similar conditions is when they are braking and using quite a bit of steering input. In my experience, a 4X4 fitted with a full set of winter tyres will "romp" away from a 2 wheel drive car fitted with a full set of winter tyres when used in winter on-road conditions. The 2 wheel drive car will lose traction well before the 4X4 one. Trust me, my wife's Polo 9N fitted with winter tyres is not even the equal of my Passat 4Motion in on-road winter conditions as far as getting moving and keeping moving - though in extreme situations, the Polo 9N with its winter tyres, will have lots safer braking and steering characteristics. Of course when the slab of snow/ice/slush that the wheel is gripping on, breaks free from what is below it - then tyre type and 2 or 4 wheel drive become equals!

I am refering to full time four wheel drive here - and not "on demand" systems like VAG Haldex etc.

Edited 20 December, 201015 yr by rum4mo

No, not true at all, winter tyres do improve traction on ice, slush and snow - the only point at which they beat a 4X4 with summer tyres on in similar conditions is when they are braking and using quite a bit of steering input. In my experience, a 4X4 fitted with a full set of winter tyres will "romp" away from a 2 wheel drive car fitted with a full set of winter tyres when used in winter on-road conditions. The 2 wheel drive car will lose traction well before the 4X4 one. Trust me, my wife's Polo 9N fitted with winter tyres is not even the equal of my Passat 4Motion in on-road winter conditions as far as getting moving and keeping moving - though in extreme situations, the Polo 9N with its winter tyres, will have lots safer braking and steering characteristics. Of course when the slab of snow/ice/slush that the wheel is gripping on, breaks free from what is below it - then tyre type and 2 or 4 wheel drive become equals!

I am refering to full time four wheel drive here - and not "on demand" systems like VAG Haldex etc.

I should have probably been more clear on the situations i was meaning In normal day to day driving, over snow/ice there's very little difference between my fabia in winters and my 57plate Toyota Rav4. Infact i feel much more confident going downhill in the fabia (not suprising much tho). There's no where road wise that i've not been able to get the fabia up.

Your absolutly right when it comes to driving at speed or accelerating, i feel much more in controll with the 4x4 system and the diff clutches working their magic in the RAV but my point was during snow it really has very little to do with the car, and everything to do with the tyres you have and your driving style. I have to drive some stupid hills and when you have snow drifts all the way across the roads up on the moors you know its getting bad - but not once have i wished i had took the 4x4 instead.

Don't get me wrong though, 4x4s are amazing fun in the snow and well worth the expense BUT a regular 2WD with a decent (full) set of winter tyres is as capable as anyone would require in this sort of weather.

Edited 20 December, 201015 yr by Simonbt

needless to say the little fabia got me home safe and sound and im preparing to take her out again this afternoon for the second date :p

It's good to hear of someone that obviously has an understanding of how to drive in these conditions.... but don't allow the amazing ability of the Fabia to make you over confident.. just be careful, yeah. it doesn't take much to find your self heading for a kerb when you thought you'd be fine.

It's good to hear of someone that obviously has an understanding of how to drive in these conditions.... but don't allow the amazing ability of the Fabia to make you over confident.. just be careful, yeah. it doesn't take much to find your self heading for a kerb when you thought you'd be fine.

thank you for the compliment Rob,

i have a fairly good understanding of the ice and snow on the roads, the roads in my town are terrible!! but the place i went to sunday and yesterday hasn't seen a tea spoon of salt and from the looks of the tracks in the snow/ice it's taken some victims including the 4x4 which i saw abandoned in a farmers field!! it was the acenta which to my knowlage is a 4x4 with a electronic set up,

i did have a little trouble getting up the steep hill last night with a little bit of wheel spin but nothing that wasn't sorted with abit of light throttle and control,

have to say though if it was the same today i won't be trying my luck again but seems to have clearned alot

as for staying over i didn't want to push my luck with her and as we haven't known eachother for a long time i thought it would be better to not push my limit just yet

It's good to hear of someone that obviously has an understanding of how to drive in these conditions.... but don't allow the amazing ability of the Fabia to make you over confident.. just be careful, yeah. it doesn't take much to find your self heading for a kerb when you thought you'd be fine.

You must also be of a certain age too !! I have had leave my 2.0 TSI on the drive and revert to our Punto, skinny wheels and low power !! [ we live at the bottom of a hill and no salt grit] and the Punto loves it. Two trips to London this week due to the lack of reliable rail transport !@~!

dont buy a focus st if you plan on using it in the snow, !!

******* sh*te ! probably because of the summer tyres !

fabia has been 100% spot on

Edited 21 December, 201015 yr by scottk18