Isn't that more to do with reverse being a lower gear than first?

no - its purely weight transfer - my 996 was simply brilliant on snow compared with every other car i've owned.

Once again recent events indicate that there are lots of drivers who cant cope in slippy conditions. From my own observations these people often have no concept of starting off in a high gear, or that taking ones foot off the accelerator abruptly can induce a major front or rear wheel skid (depending upon care drive configuration) especially if cornering, or that 4x4 vehicles often take much longer to stop than lighter vehicles.

And so the annual demolition derby continues...

In finland we have to use winter tyres during winter. The law says you have to use winter tyres during 1st december until 29th february but one can also use winter tyres earlier if the weather permits.

Currently we have two types of tyres for winter. Contact rubber tyre and Stud tyre (usually these also have additional contact rubber pattern). Both work really well on snow but on ice the stud tyre is unbeatable. On dry tarmac both tyres work ok but stud tyres are noisier and also wear the tarmac more. That's why roads are usually in bad condition here after winter and require constant maintenance.

Summer tyres are almost useless when it's really slippery. I once drove with summer tires in autumn when snow started raining and the car was very difficult to stop. ABS hammered in 20km/h and the car seemed to take ages to stop. Also moving from traffic lights was very difficult on your own turn

http://www.nokiantyres.com/wintertyres_en

Here's a page of finnish winter tyre manufacturer, they are one of the best. Continental, Michelin and Gislaved also make very good winter tyres nowdays.

BTW, With good winter tyres the fun factor on snow is great. RWD/AWD car is usually the best but you can have some good fun with FWD car too with careful use of handbrake. You don't need much horsepower to able to go sideways

My 1.0 litre 45bhp panda with 135/13 tyres was excellent to drive in the snow.

I had the 50bhp Panda 4x4 on the same tyres - better than anything else I've ever driven in snow.

Absolute **** in all other conditions though :(

depending on how slippy the snow is, just a few reminders:-

1. turn off the asr on slippy surfaces (it will just go like the clappers and get you nowhere).

2. high gear.

3. low revs.

I've seen today the most idiotic driving by people giving it loadsawelly in first gear going up and down the street, which is currently an snow/ice-rink. People just don't do enough driving in snow/ice to have a clue (in england that is).

I think all people should have to drive a car either on ice or in simulated conditions before being given a license these days.

Granted though - it's fun when you know how.

Regards,

That's why there are such things as summer / winter tyres etc. IIRC in several Scandinavian countries (not that there are all that many ) you need to fit winter tyres to be legal on the road. Hopefully someone who actually lives there & posts on this site could confirm/deny that though

Yep, the girlfriend (she's swedish) confirms that's right - they use studded tyres.

And I can confirm from experience that some of the taxi drivers a bleedin' nutters in the snow!

I find the diesel a lot easier in the snow than I did my previous petrol cars. It's quite hills where we live so I just whack it in 1st gear (or 2nd) and allow the engine to pull the car along with my foot off the throttle. It seems this method gets good traction because I'm the only one who can get up the hill on my road at the moment. That combined I suspect with that heavy diesel lump over skinny tyres (I've put my steels on for the winter which are 185's).

Next door have a 4x4, I looked out the window yesterday and it was moving backwards downhill. . . the owner didn't know how to put it in 4wd!

Front engined rear wheel drive will be better than a fwd car, weight transfer etc. But, as has been pointed out no traction is no traction regardless of which wheels are driven.

I like having my winter tyres on, made it all worthwhile yesterday on the M5 and the 419, lots of lovely traction.

Oh and they are M&S rated , but not the big M&S ones as seen on landies et al. Seem to grip nicely (although I prefered the Michelin Pilot Alpin 2 s I had last time).

The two best cars i've used in snow, and proper snow, not half an inch, were a fiat 127,front engine - fwd and skinny tyres, and a fiat 126, rear engine - rwd, no horsepower, and really skinny tyres. The 126 was actually the biggest laugh as you could go fully opposite lock sideways in 4th gear at a heady 20mph.

I would say that regardless of drive type, it is the tyres that effect traction most, in almost any winter conditions.

One of the things we don't do over here that scandiavians and others do, is fit skinny but knobbly tyres when snow arrives. these make a real difference, but look uncool. (usually mounted on cheap steel wheels).

but which do you value most, your safety or how cool the car looks?

Is it worth the investment? yes. But only after you've hit that tree hard enough I guess. In this country, snow is so rare relatively speaking, that we don't make the investment I guess.

The Scandinavians get bad weather, we do not.

All that needs to happen over here is for idiots and morons to **** off and learn to drive, irrespective of weather conditions

So what everyone is saying is that if I'll be able to hurtle up hills in reverse in the beetle?

So what everyone is saying is that if I'll be able to hurtle up hills in reverse in the beetle?

YES!

Regards,