Snow experiences ?

[BigEjit]

7 hours ago, waaar said:

 

That was your first mistake! I rarely let mine drive mine, she smashed two of the alloys on my previous MK2 VRS 

First time missus took my then immaculate 3 year old Golf IV GTI out, she reversed over a low wall and beached it on the RHR jacking point. Took 3 of us to lift it off. First time out in 18mth old immaculate LCR 1, she dragged the LHR wheel round a kerb on a left turn. 2 Colour match fails. New wheel required. 

 

Needless to say, banned from even opening the drivers doors on my year old Saab Turbo X and 16my VRS. And she knows not to ask. 

[pist0nbr0ke]

 

Whilst on (off?!) the subject, this is a 20" rim on my boss's 2,700 mile/2 month old Volvo V90 T8 R-Design...(it's a beaut by the way )

 

I was giving it a routine check and noticed the TPMS said the N/S/F tyre had lost pressure.

 

He and his missus deny any knowledge and had ignored the TPMS warning 

 

[skippy41]

13 hours ago, rob_e said:

oh dear

 

that was an expensive fish and chip run..

 

Untitled by Rob E, on Flickr

 

front is worst, rear also dinged and tyre deflated, currently in the boot and i have the space saver on.. :(

 

 

that will be claim to the council

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rob_e]

9 hours ago, skippy41 said:

that will be claim to the council

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes that's the plan.

 

annoyingly you have to pay for the repair/rectification yourself first, then make a claim.  also they will only pay out if you can prove there were negligent.  Just because there was a a bad pot hole doesn't mean they'll pay you, you need to show that they knew already and had not rectified in a reasonable time frame.  Even then they'll only pay if you can prove the original cost and age of the item (ie original purchase evidence) as well as the replacement cost, and even then they'll take off something for wear and tear.  I've made a claim successfully in the past but it's not an easy thing to do.

 

 

[Bignij]

On 1/3/2018 at 09:42, rob_e said:

 

yes that's the plan.

 

annoyingly you have to pay for the repair/rectification yourself first, then make a claim.  also they will only pay out if you can prove there were negligent.  Just because there was a a bad pot hole doesn't mean they'll pay you, you need to show that they knew already and had not rectified in a reasonable time frame.  Even then they'll only pay if you can prove the original cost and age of the item (ie original purchase evidence) as well as the replacement cost, and even then they'll take off something for wear and tear.  I've made a claim successfully in the past but it's not an easy thing to do.

 

 

A bit late but also a cautionary note; A lot of councils have changed the definition of a pot hole to avoid claims. Essentially they now have to be a lot bigger than they once were. 

[JohnnyType2]

had to stop last night a dig a few people out, no problems in my vRS in summer tyres, we had 20cm of fresh fall last night and the night before. I think there are a lot of stupid people out there who have no experience and don't know how to handle a car properly in snow. They usually cause problems by clogging up the roads by stopping on inclines etc..

 

public transport isn't available/an option for a lot of us and we just have to be 'brave', go out,  get on with it.

[nidza]

Forgive me, but when I learn there are potholes in the more developed western part of the world, calms me down a little bit. I manage my 18" for a second winter now in this black hole of my home.

 

A reminder that winter can be beautiful too (from last winter, this one is damn too warm and sunny):

[HotVRs]

MIne was terrible, embarassingly bad. Octy 3 with 3/4 worn Goodyear Eagle F1's. Barely made it up hills that other cars were driving up without much issue. Big contrast to my former Fabia MK1 vRS that I ran with winter tyres (and had the electronic LSD). That thing was like a snow plough, never had a problem, went almost anywhere. Would do same with current Octavia but it's a company car.

[Prezafab]

2 hours ago, HotVRs said:

MIne was terrible, embarassingly bad. Octy 3 with 3/4 worn Goodyear Eagle F1's.

I ended your quote after 'Eagle F1s'.   They have a reputation in the snow - must be a bit like slicks if only 2 or 3 mm left.

[brettikivi]

currently been playing with the Wife's Fiesta and that's ... wow. It's seriously, seriously slippery out there, but that's fun if you want to go sideways. The Octavia is boring in comparison... not sure which one I prefer

 

It's been about -5 or so and snowing fluff all day. The roads are slipperier than a politician caught with their nose in the trough and the Fi is such that if you turn traction control off and press the loud pedal at the wrong moment, you're most definitely on the wrong side of the road. And that was at 25km/h. Sideways around a roundabout unintentionally at 15km/h was also a mild surprise.... I could ski to the station, but I was on my bike instead. The Octavia seems to have a much nicer combo with EDS and ASR working in tandem where the Fi doesn't seem to limit power at all. 

 

 - Bret

 

[waaar]

My ATS Emotion Mattschwarz wheels turned up last week, a set of Nokian WR D4 tyres should be arriving in a few hours.

 

I'll popup a picture once they're fitted.

Edited 19 January, 2018 by waaar

[Petunet]

4 hours ago, brettikivi said:

currently been playing with the Wife's Fiesta and that's ... wow...

 

My Wife also has a Fiesta.

It's MY16 1.0 Ecoboost, what's yours?

 

[waaar]

Just went to fit the wheels to the car and realised they must have forgotten the spigot rings  Mytyres are on the case.

[Guest]

On 16/12/2017 at 09:14, AwaoffSki said:

(Obviously now BMW do Front Wheel Drive cars, so get those Snow Socks or chains on the rear of the FWD BMW / MINI's)

 

Lots of comments in news over past few days about UK authorities not being prepared for snow. Which sort of makes my blood boil - it's not the authorities fault, it's the stupid drivers over here in the UK. Over past few days we've seen motorists spend overnight in their cars because motorways have ground to a halt. We then find out the reason they've become stuck is because cars have using the emergency lanes, got stuck thus preventing the emergency services and snow ploughs / gritters from clearing the roads. Madness.

 

I refer to the above picture because just today I get stuck behind a wheel spinning 1 series M-Sport on a slight incline at a roundabout in town The silly old bugger was going nowhere and clogging up all the roads. I get out of my car to give her a push (to make matters worse she's driving an auto and doesn't know how to use the winter-mode / manual option) and then after getting her moving, she crawls her way around the road unnecessarily tapping her brakes every few secs and ends up doing a 180degree turn. We manage to set her off again, she exits the roundabout, decides to drive down a steep hill, the brake lights come on again, looses control and smash!

 

I never used to think the UK weather merited a change in law, but when I see the way some folk drive in snow? Perhaps it's time we should join other nothern European countries and make winter tyres compulsory in UK. 

[brettikivi]

2 hours ago, Petunet said:

 

My Wife also has a Fiesta.

It's MY16 1.0 Ecoboost, what's yours?

 

exactly one of those. With 195/55R15 Conti spiked "Ice Contacts"... it's really quite undriveable in winter. Not quite sure why. 2.3 bar or so all round. Any thoughts appreciated...

 

 - Bret

[Ootohere]

Using an Emergency lane on a Motorway can cause havoc if then stuck, but it is HGV's, Cars, Vans & Buses at a halt in the 2 or 3 lanes they should be on that stops Snow Ploughs / Gritters-salters ploughing and gritting.

 

They can get up an Emergency lane ploughing / gritting all they like to let emergency services / tow trucks through.

But until they get up the lanes with stuck traffic they are not clearing roads.

 

Then there is Police Scotland,

The vehicles Police Scotland lease,  the ones they are not allowed to put Winter or Snow tyres on, 

(they go do offroad driving training and then are in some Softroader on All Season / Summer tyres when on duty.)

 

the nice little SUV's even Hybrids that are in no way suitable when there are no 4x4's about, hence where they end up hiring vehicles for when the weather is at its worst.

Got the T-Shirt, pulled the Officers vehicles out often enough, even been stopped by ones saying a road was closed when going to get someone out and said come and follow me then because the road is open for local access, just not to you in your , Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW.

(insert vehicle useless on some winter roads on the wrong tyres.)

 

Thank goodness the Mountain Rescue guys know about the right rubber, 

and the Services Rescue teams get more suitable vehicles than some area Police Forces do.

 

Edited 30 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[KjetilRos]

Driven loads with prefl 230 in Norway. It is really good in winterconditions. With proper tires it is no problems. It is a bit daft and understeers slightly. Should Maybe have been set up a bit different for more fun. More like the Focus ST. 

 

Overall I give the Rs230 PFL 5/6 on winterconditions. In summer more or less perfect.  But thats my opinion.

[JohnnyType2]

the issue on that scottish motorway was the 40 footers jack knifing and not the motorists in cars, a car can be easily released but try moving a 40 footer. i dont blame anyone faced with the option of being stranded over night and taking a chance on the hard shoulder. How is the snow plough going to get anywhere anyway if the road is completely blocked by a truck?

[Jaco2k]

My current snow experience

 

[pist0nbr0ke]

 

 

 

[HotVRs]

On 1/18/2018 at 19:49, Prezafab said:

I ended your quote after 'Eagle F1s'.   They have a reputation in the snow - must be a bit like slicks if only 2 or 3 mm left.

 

Indeed, I became one of those muppets you see who appear to not be able to drive in snow, the only way to get it up the local hills was in 2nd gear at 4000+ RPM. Very undignified,

 

 

[brettikivi]

learnings from yesterday: ASR doesn't stop working until around 100km/h  Pics here: 

 

-12C creates an interesting tail... but the car was pretty good. Now to get ESP to switch off and we can slide properly.

 

 - Bret

[brettikivi]

Ice track time - but not much of it - at the weekend. The car was fine, ESP was quite intrusive at times. I only did four rounds or so, that was pretty much all I felt I could. Being the organizer can make it hard to decide what to do next...The brakes stank after two laps... ASR off is much better because then you can reapply power while sliding, where if you're sliding anyway with it on, the power gets cut which makes it harder to recover. ESP was absolutely not intrusive until the amount of corrective lock was significant, and then it would hammer the rear brakes.

 

ASR will also work on the road to around 105km/h in my experience....it will also limit revs to around 4000 when spinning, where without it you can go all the way to the red line. I find the setup is quite pleasing.

 

 - Bret

 

 

[Prezafab]

Been in the French Alps with the Octy the last few days but no snow on the roads - just ice in the mornings - more in the Uk in December! Bit disappointed with fuel consumption at 43mpg over 1500 miles but worth it for the security (despite the impact of weight and transmission loss on economy) of 4wd. 

Edited 30 January, 2018 by Prezafab

[Jaco2k]

We have a little bit of snow here right now