Snow Monster in the Snow

[Bignij]

15 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

As to Traction, tyres are the solution, correct tyres, no traction no action, well unless it is a vehicle becoming a sledge, 

no control, as a member posted today in the Kodiaq section.

That'll be me then. 

[Mikek3111]

Lmao. Police round here drive Kia picantos. No chance of seeing them on the roads. They used to have octy’s but changed recently and I bet they wish they hadn’t 

[Mikek3111]

Yeah I have budget all weather on the fronts but p7’s on the rear. Not impressed with either set to be honest so I’m looking into vredestien all weathers which may go on soon. 

[Ootohere]

Bignij,  sorry just noticed. lol / not.

 

Worst i ever had was in a 110 Auto Land Rover on snow tyres and it was a 1/2 mile downhill out of control, no traction and i kept getting to the snow bank rather than the drop off into the forest. 

finished the slide side on at the bottom of the road as it turned a corner & in a ditch, lucky thing was it was filled with solid snow..

 

Driven the same road many years in similar conditions and had never even taken the slope that seriously.

I do now.

You have to watch those roads people have been sledging on, even maybe putting water on to make a better toboggan run of.

 

 

 

Edited 1 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[Ootohere]

Mikek3111,

i drove a Kia Picanto auto for 7 winters on Avon Ice Touring tyres, when not driving AWD's, only problem was in really deep snow,

but it could still go where big SUV's become a sledge.

 

Nearest thing to an original Mini there is, but with a good heater, electric windows, leather steering wheel and discs all round.

Good Autobox with a O/D button for decelerating.

Edited 1 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[Bignij]

17 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

 

Worst i ever had was in a 110 Auto Land Rover on snow tyres and it was a 1/2 mile downhill out of control, no traction and i kept getting to the snow bank rather than the drop off into the forest. 

 

I tried to turn into the bank and run it up but the wheels wouldn't mount the kerb.  Obviously, if it was a nice warm day and everything was well in the world it would have gone up the kerb lovely and cost me a new alloy.

Edited 1 March, 2018 by Bignij

[Mikek3111]

6 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

Mikek3111,

i drove a Kia Picanto auto for 7 winters on Avon Snow tyres, when not driving AWD's, only problem was in deep snow.

Did you lose it in deep snow? Lol

 

reminds me of the old AA advert.  Where did you leave the car? In the sand lol

 

they always use the Asda near here for lunch and it’s quite funny seeing two 6ft plus coppers squeeze into a Kia with their sandwiches. Makes you wonder what would happen if they got into a car chase? Seem to struggle to overtake anything on the a roads with their blues on. I’ve no idea why they would think they were good patrol cars

Edited 1 March, 2018 by Mikek3111

[Brijo]

Real snow here last night, the first in five Yeti Years.  My current TSi 1.2 2WD DSG hasn't disappointed.  The all-season tyres (Kleber) seem quite happy on the hills and bends on both fresh and polished snow.  I did use manual to drop a couple of gears whenever it would help with deceleration.

[Ashaz]

35 minutes ago, Yetiflute said:

I took my 4x4 yeti out in proper snow yesterday for the first time. 11 inches here and on our uncleared drive it was actually snow ploughing. Drove 8 miles into Carlisle and back on fully snow covered roads, enjoyed a live screening of a ballet, then returned in even worse conditions. The car never missed a beat. Never any obvious evidence that the 4x4 ever came into play and I thank the winter tyres for all the action - or lack of it. We were the only car on the road except for one police car whose wide eyed occupants observed us going along. The journey included some inclines on which other vehicles had been abandoned and it just drove up them as if it was a normal snow free journey. I took sensible care and did not try to provoke any slippery action.

Which make of winter tyres?

[Mikek3111]

14 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

Mikek3111,

i drove a Kia Picanto auto for 7 winters on Avon Ice Touring tyres, when not driving AWD's, only problem was in really deep snow,

but it could still go where big SUV's become a sledge.

 

Nearest thing to an original Mini there is, but with a good heater, electric windows, leather steering wheel and discs all round.

Good Autobox with a O/D button for decelerating.

My sister had one recently as a loan car while her festa was having a new clutch and she said that it drove surprisingly well and that she quite liked it. 

[speedy2]

Just had a bit of moment myself. Going down a snowy Lane  with the Nokian d4s On the yeti when a car comes the other way I stop he doesn't! He came at me like a missile I turned as much as I could and  luckily so did he! He ended up by my rear window up on the bank with I'm sure some deep scratches from the hedge.  So scary ! In that situation unless both of you are winters it really doesn't matter !

[Expatman]

I find the problem with winter tyres is those drivers without them! Getting stuck behind summer tyre shod vehicles on hills as they slip slide into the verge - then I can get past. Hairiest is being in a line of traffic and having to brake and then watching the car behind you slide closer and closer and hoping he either stops or veers to the left or right. I try and leave a massive safety zone in front so I can drive forward if it is clear the following car isn't going to stop safely. 

Worst in my opinion is 4 wheel drive vehicles on summer tyres, owners seem to forget that 4 wheel drive is totally irrelevant when it comes to braking.

 

[Yetiflute]

2 hours ago, Ashaz said:

Which make of winter tyres?

 

Cheapy Nankang SV - 2 which I find excellent on none snow conditions as well

[Ashaz]

6 minutes ago, Yetiflute said:

 

Cheapy Nankang SV - 2 which I find excellent on none snow conditions as well

Thanks.

What sort of life would you expect to get out of them?

[speedsport]

The winter tyres (Avon Ice Touring on 16" steels) on my Yeti are absolutely superb particularly in the type of snow we have at the moment. It feels almost as sure footed as it would on a snow-free wet road. I suspect this unusually dry, crisp snow is more like the stuff they get in Northern Europe. And it's Northern Europe that winter tyres are primarily designed for, not the usual UK slush.

 

The big problem is that the vast majority of 4x4's (or 2wd SUV's that look like 4x4's) are sold to people who believe that having such a vehicle makes them invincible. "Ooh, I must have a 4x4 so I can still get around in winter". But without winter tyres, every 4x4 is just the same as every other vehicle on ordinary tyres when the driver decides to hit the brakes in snow.....  it wont stop!

 

Winter (or cross-climate) tyres are the only way to go!

Incidentally, they've now done just under 18000 miles shared bewtween 2 Yetis and I reckon they may still have another 4000 useful miles left in them before needing replacing at 4mm tread depth.

Edited 1 March, 2018 by speedsport

[voxmagna]

Took mine out on snow first time. I've only got All Season tires on and I can see how their treads soon fill up with snow & their treads aren't cut so deep as proper 10mm cut Winter tires. Even so, I was impressed. FWD cars in front were spinning their wheels even on slight uphill gradient ungritted roads. Other drivers confidence on snow and ice seemed appalling and they really need some off road skid pan experience. The biggest issue is they want to drive on my Yeti tow bar and couldn't possibly stop.  

 

It also amazes me how many numpties follow hard packed ice tracks of other vehicles, instead of going just a little left or right for virgin snow. I tested out the braking and as expected all wheels would slide controllably, but that's normal and you just don't use brakes and allow more stopping distance?  I haven't needed to engage off road mode yet. Just keeping gears in 1st or second up to 2K plus a bit rpm. I can see my Haldex pump light on, so it must be working and the car felt very safe, when I'm more used to anticipating rear end slide in regular FWD cars. You can also get a comparison stability 'fright' on snow if you disengage the clutch. It shows you just what a difference AWD makes when it's engaged.

.

Edited 1 March, 2018 by voxmagna

[Ootohere]

Yesterday i had the right tyres but had to go through the wrong snow.

Slush that was freezing on the tyres then picking up the lovely crisp dry snow, but that was just a short lived thing. 

[fabdavrav]

6 hours ago, AwaoffSki said:

Bignij,  sorry just noticed. lol / not.

 

Worst i ever had was in a 110 Auto Land Rover on snow tyres and it was a 1/2 mile downhill out of control, no traction and i kept getting to the snow bank rather than the drop off into the forest. 

finished the slide side on at the bottom of the road as it turned a corner & in a ditch, lucky thing was it was filled with solid snow..

 

Driven the same road many years in similar conditions and had never even taken the slope that seriously.

I do now.

You have to watch those roads people have been sledging on, even maybe putting water on to make a better toboggan run of.

 

 

 

 

 

That's because those tyres are not winter tyres...not rated as M&S & not rated as three peak & snowflake....

 

Basically ok for mud but useless on icy roads...by Fabia on Alpin A4s which meet the standards would have made it no problems...I've done it on roads like that...

 

example below (road was the B9007 Ferness/Carrbridge) snow gates still open..just.. & steeper slopes down to the Ferness bridge which was just as bad.:-

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 March, 2018 by fabdavrav

[fabdavrav]

AWD or 4WD means nothing without the correct grade of tyre for the job...it's basic physics...if those insignificant black rubber things at each corner of the car can't get grip it doesn't matter how big /clever/etc your car is it ain't going anywhere...

Edited 1 March, 2018 by fabdavrav

[Ootohere]

fabdavrav,  those were not the tyres that were on in the incident, just the vehicle, they are BF Goodrich A/T in the picture'. 

 

& basically they are not good for mud,they are rubbish, they were on for towing on road not in winter. 

Good sidewalls though.

& the BFG KM/2 are not Snow Tyres either, but damn good in the snow.

UK, European launch for BFGoodrich truck_bus tyre range _ Tyrepress.mhtml

Edited 2 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[fabdavrav]

5 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

fabdavrav,  those were not the tyres that were on in the incident, just the vehicle, they are BF Goodrich A/T in the picture'. 

 

& basically they are not good for mud,they are rubbish, they were on for towing on road not in winter. 

Good sidewalls though.

& the BFG KM/2 are not Snow Tyres either, but damn good in the snow.

 

so no 3peak/snowflake tyres then?....

that's what would have made the difference on that slope....& that's why I was able to drive down that road to Aviemore,  passing various cars & 4x4s in ditches etc...

[Ootohere]

The Slope was frozen. I have driven it for 40 years, all seasons.

I came up it several hours earlier when it was fresh snow. I had on Snow Tyres. 

(The picture of the location is taken the year after and not from the day it happened.)

It is not like the Cairn o Mount, ot the A939 / Lecht, just a slight slope off camber, nothing, but the point was once sliding in a heavy vehicle momentum takes over.

 

 

I drive the Ferness road regularly, have done for over 40 years,

my Sister lives in Nairn.

i use the right tyres for the right vehicles at the right time,

You might find my Youtube vids on it. B9007.

UK, European launch for BFGoodrich truck_bus tyre range _ Tyrepress.mhtml

Edited 2 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[AllanDJ]

Even on normal tyres my Yeti feels a lot safer than my Octavia ever did driving in the snow. Saying that in my part of Scotland we don't usually get a lot of snow and this is the most snow that I've seen here in around 8 years! I can certainly see the case for winter tyres to get the best out of this kind of car but saying that the four wheel drive setup makes the car seem very well planted on the road all year round, driving carefully I haven't had any great issue over the last day or so in the snow, just a wee bit of sliding around on a very slippy local backroad yesterday, mind you the deep tramlines of other peoples tyre marks didn't help too much either!

[Yetiflute]

14 hours ago, Ashaz said:

Thanks.

What sort of life would you expect to get out of them?

Had them for 5 years now and only used in winter - probably only 3000 per year max. No obvious signs of wear so I think quite long lasting

[Ashaz]

3 minutes ago, Yetiflute said:

Had them for 5 years now and only used in winter - probably only 3000 per year max. No obvious signs of wear so I think quite long lasting

Thanks!