i'm not sure if it was my careful driving but an awful lot of cars were slipping & sliding in the snow but my 4x4 didn't give a hint of losing it on the icy roads. my neighbour had a hell of a job getting out of his driveway ,while i cruised away leaving him spinning to a standstill in his volvo.......... get a skud 4x4 m8.........

regds ect

we finally got snow, late friday night, so I went out to play...

4wd is great, unless being a hooligan (like 4k revs and dropping the clutch in first ) I could not get it to break traction. Tried a standing start in 2wd and got nowhere fast, so a thumbs up to 4wd for traction.

ESP is great also, had a play with it off and slid out under too much power, a little more power and you are still heading to the outside of the corner, only now broadside... turned it on and just drove as if the weather was wet, amazingly effective at pointing the car where you want to go. NB 4x4 drivers: If the front starts to go wide don't try to stop, ABS will probably take longer than it will to hit the banking, instead use the power and ESP to steer you away from any wall etc. It's a scary experience and against natural instinct if if feels too slippery, but put the power on, plenty if needs be.

Ripping up and down my local farm lane (cobbled) I was getting up to 40-50 with no problems, but needed to give myself plenty of space (and time) to stop with ABS chundering away. Oh, and unlike some systems, it does realise when it can stop pulsing and grab the disc at the last moment.

So, 4wd is great for getting underway, ESP is great keeping control, but ABS still needs space to do it's stuff - next upgrade is an anchor to throw out!!

However, the following day when the snow had gone and I was having a cross country blast, the brakes felt amazing, forceful is an understatement, looks like all the ABS action has pushed any air from the chambers, woohoo!