Nice to look out the back of my house at everyone elses roofing and see who has the least insulation by how fast the snow is clearing. I am surprised that it's varying a lot half way across semis.
first snow of the season. my brothers truck has bald tires in the back (dualie), and summer tires in the front. so immediately we slide a little under very minimal acceleration, then braking is almost impossible with our rear wheels pushing us forward as our front wheels lock
at one point, while we were stopped, and it was in gear, we were doing a brakestand idling, by accident
Snow chains do magically allow you to drive on snow and ice though! I got stuck trying to get up a decent hill on my way home from work tonight (2 chevrons for those who use OS maps). I was able to do an effortless hill start with the chains on. Well it wasn't strictly from the point I got to without the chains as the car slid sideways down the road a few feet once I had stopped
Everybody should have a set of chains in the boot, once/never used pairs are virtually given away on ebay whenever it isn't snowing.
Far too many people seem to try driving at a hill slowly and then flooring it once they start to lose grip. Production car trials are pretty good practice for driving on snow. People look rather bemused at you bouncing up and down and not driving straight up the hill, but they look more confused when you make it to the top of the hill!
The other thing that doesn't help people is the modern fad for unnecessarily wide and low profile tyres on everyday cars. They're bad for comfort and fuel economy and are completely useless in winter weather. I've found that the little 1.2 Clio that I accidentally purchased recently (when I crashed into the back of it!) can climb up hills without breaking traction that modern saloons and Chelsea tractors can't climb up. Nothing better than watching an X5 try and follow with its silly tyres and lead footed driver!
Well it was -11 last night in Hampshire and is now a balmy 0 degrees. forcast light snow from 12:00 tomorrow untill 12am, then heavy snow from 12am untill 9am. Should make for an instreting day/night tomorrow .
cutting down trees and shifting logs all week too, good fun but cold hands
driving in snow is all about momentum. low gears for less revs. in this weather, it's always a good idea to take some old carpet with you. a few strips of that under your stricken motors driving wheels and you should be able to drive out of most (i'm looking for a word here) "sticky moments".
a bag of kitty litter will also do a similar job. throw a shovel into the boot too. even if it's one of those kids sand castle jobs, it's still better than clearing cold snow away with your hands/feet.
people fail to prepare for this kind of weather. and i'm not talking about driving. i'm talking about what to do once you get bogged down. just by putting a few blankets into your car will make the world of difference if your stuck in slow moving traffic or worse still, get isolated on a country road somewhere.
I've also noticed that chavs don't cope with snow too well. they're easy to spot, their the ones who are still wearing nylon running shoes and baseball caps.
The carpet trick is the best way to get things moving that are either too big or in too dangerous a position to push. It is sacrificial though (assuming you don't want to stop and get stuck again) so its worth having a few bits in the car.
has top gear taught you nothing? attach some cord to the carpet. lol.
or you could just leave it there for the next guy to use. after all, that carpet would be in the best place to help the rest of the traffic.
This is hilarious. Last year, you all were about the "we never have snow" excuse, and this year you are all experts about driving in the snow. Very comical.