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About LinkBacksI think the more modern traction control and ABS are much better at dealing with snow/ice. Take a look at this clip from Fifth Gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3m24bjkfg0
So I wouldn't write it off straight away.
I think the more modern traction control and ABS are much better at dealing with snow/ice. Take a look at this clip from Fifth Gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3m24bjkfg0
So I wouldn't write it off straight away.
I don't mean to sound cold, or cruel, or vicious, but I am so that's the way it comes out.
I'm not saying to write them off, in fact I totally agree that they should help. I just know last year that a lot off people were struggling to get their cars out of the snow, and these were all less-than-one year old C/E-class Mercs so they're not old by any means.
Similar to your video, but much more of a Bosch promo video explaining how it works...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Y6z7cXxEE
ESPs on trucks are espcially impressive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvoP...eature=related
Sorry for going off topic - I'll stop now!
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Yeah my Focus does have ABS (no traction control I think?) but there's no fancy controls to disable it?Originally Posted by Konan555
90% of people Ive seen driving over the weekend have been sensible. Even though there has been hardly any snow there is still quite a bit of ice on the roads and the other 10% of drivers seems to totally ignore this and drive as fast as they normally would!
Agreed,
Far too many r soles about. People should take their time and not rush, it's not worth the risk to you and your car. Leave earlier.
Lucio mentioned it and others probably have too, but a trip yesterday brought it home to be with the muppet behind me doing his best to tailgate me .....
.... anticipate the road read.
I said earlier, leave plenty of space. It's more than just being able to stop in time, though. For example, when going up a hill, the thing you really want to do is to keep going. If you stop, getting started again can be tricky. So if you leave a nice gap in front of you, and the bloke in front slows down or stops, you've got a chance to be able to keep going slowly until he gets going again, without stopping .... or getting part him if he can't get going. Your best chance of getting up hills is always to do it without stopping, and that includes having to stop while still on the hill because the bloke in front has reached the junction and stopped. So the closer you are to the bloke in front, the less leeway you have to keep going if he stops.
Obviously, there's a limit to how big a gap you can leave, or with all the traffic about you'd never get started on the first place.
Oh, and don't be intimidated by the bloke behind either. And if he's too agressive, think about pulling over (preferably not on your way up a hill) and letting him past. That way, when he outbreaks himself and crashes, you'll be safely behind him, got in his target scope.
In other words, the biggest single factor is to think ahead, and to anticipate what might happen. If you can see it coming, you're much more likely to be able to avoid it.
Oh, and I hesitate to say it and it must be done in a sensible location, but it's not too bad an idea to find an empty area and get a bit of practice braking in snow and ice. Especially for newer drivers that haven't experienced it before, a bit of practice about what a skid on ice feels like will mean you're less likely to panic and stamp on the brakes out of reflex when it happens for real, because it's very easy to panic and stamp on the brakes when it's probably the worst thing you can do.
Just though of another tip.
Why not keep a spade in your boot, just incase. Costs nothing and you are not going to be doing any gardening with it
Can't say I've ever seen a car with something to switch off the ABS. Fortunately, you can turn off ESP as some of those systems won't let you move in the snow
Similar to pulling a fuse, I just bridge a connection on my Sierra's M/S to ground and it shuts the whole system down. It's not the smartest ABS to start with.
I have a trowel, less sizeJust though of another tip.
Why not keep a spade in your boot, just incase. Costs nothing and you are not going to be doing any gardening with it
Might get a thing of cheap salt to help if I get iced in to whack on the ground to help get me out, that said had no problems on the upper slope on my street getting in/out but people parked at the bottom had some issues
sigged,
and as said above take it slow, and make sure that you are not the rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish who looks silly having crashed his car. One thing I will emphasise is the less braking if you hit difficulties. A friend of mine hit a lamp-post on Thursday driving about 10~15mph, and began to skid so hit the breaks, causing the wheels to lock meaning he was in no controll. You want to steer into the a skid, change down a gear and maybe even accelerate (front wheel drive), to bring the front of the car back round. Though its probablly best just wacking it down into first, and steering in
Yes..... practice on the brakes... that's what I've always done with an empty car park in the snow
I had to get into work today, wishing I hadn't now mind.
Had a bit of difficulty getting up the hill on my road first thing but a bit of air out of the tyres and I got enough grip.
First time driving on ice/snow and it was a pretty intense situation, especially as after I get off the motorway none of the roads were gritted, not even the roundabout near my work. Just took it slow and relied on engine breaking (I do that in the dry anyway so it's nothing new).
One thing that will warm the hearts of most people on here. Speaking to my mum who is in Brighton on the phone yesterday she told me the story of a teenager in his new mini, laughing at people who were walking as he was blasting music from his car, just before he loses control at low speeds and hits a lampost.
She hangs around and makes sure he is alright, apart from a bruised ego he is fine for now. Shortly after his dad turns up in a 4x4 to get him back home. As he turns up he gets to his son and gives him a clip round the back of the head, not for crashing the card but for lying to him and being cocky.
"I've heard there is a common problem with this item from forums" - If you read some forums they believe Elvis was abducted by aliens, doesn't mean it's true.
slightly OT (again
but re the ABS/ESP argument.... what you really need is one of these :
no abs, no esp and no issues, whatsoever. I was out yesterday helping a few friends/family in their cars, stuck fast and not for wanting of traction gadgets either.
I'm just thankful I wasn't in the A4, that tank wouldn't have got me anywhere!
Stay in a higher gear than normally needed to reduce torque, i.e. better to be at the low end of 2nd gear than the top end of 1st. Gentle breaking. Stay off the accelerator and roll where possible.
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Pretty Much the same as what everyone has said,
I have had issues with trying to get up a hill last year in my 206 1.6 xsi person in me braked and i had no chance but to put my breaks on too. unfortunatly i was able to roll back down to a area which was under a bridge which allowed me to get going again. one past the person on the hill i told her to do the same. Snow driving isnt fun espically around by me cause of the hills are steep and not a lot of room for mistakes. Like everyone says if you skills are not up to it dont bother driving, last year i rang my boss and told him i will be working from home due to the bad conditions and he was okay with that.
I went to Reading today for some shopping and parked on the top floor of a multi-storey, but it looked like they hadn't gritted the top of it very well/at all. I took a "run up" to get up the ramp and was fine. However, after I had parked and was walking back, I saw some poor sod trying to pull off up the ramp and making a mess of it; wheel-spinning and slowly slidding back each time. Even better, someone was stopped at the bottom and there was a queue of cars behind him, so he couldn't get out of the way! I didn't stay around to see what happened as it was too bloody cold!
Slightly OT
If You really want fun, Get your mate who is a rally driver (pro ex MG, Lancia, and Fiat works driver) to pick you you in his LDV Maxus support vehicle and drive you home from work like he did a couple of years ago. Ive never had so much fun in the passenger seat of a van going down deserted country lanes. I've been a passenger with him before on Tarmac and Forest Stages in his MG ZR Rally Car but never in icy conditions. I had the utmost respect for his car control before but after that journey I really believe hes super human.
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