*Bad Weather--- Am I the only person...

[jbsportstech]

With grit and a shovel in my car. Dug my focus out beacyse idiot down the road moved his work truck forward decided it wouldn;t move without digging out and went back in. No one likes em so neighbours ask me to move my car.


this is the best driving on snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McwleLJf258 I love it

[Custom24]

LSD = limited slip differential rather than a hallucinogenic chemical

[TripleS]

LSD = limited slip differential rather than a hallucinogenic chemical

You put your own interpretation on it, I'll put mine.

The old rebels are by far the worst.

Actually, I've never understood the wider drugs scene, so I confine myself to alcohol. I need something to ease the pain.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[fungus]

LSD? If I'm correct, didn't the hippies get it by eating the magic mushroom, Psilocybe semilanceata. Perhaps Rabbied Mushroom could enlighten us.

Sorry for highjacking the thread.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

[Sru_1980]

I unfortunately am nowhere near organized enough to carry grit n a shovel in my car - conditions aren't normally this bad tho'! It's awful at the moment, slush and ice everywhere. Roll on Spring...!

[nuster100]

Must admit, im loving the 4wd in this weather, seem to be able to get up roads most people can't.

Friend of mine managed to write of his celica GT4 outside of crewcerne thurs night though in the slush, rolled it down a bank 4 times..

..He had only been driving it for a day

JR

[TripleS]

Must admit, im loving the 4wd in this weather, seem to be able to get up roads most people can't.

Friend of mine managed to write of his celica GT4 outside of crewcerne thurs night though in the slush, rolled it down a bank 4 times..

..He had only been driving it for a day

JR

[clowning mode] Was he not happy with the first three attempts? [/clowning mode]

It's all too easily done though, and anybody could do it with just a simple misjudgement of the conditions we're getting now. A few times recently I've gone into downhill corners at speeds that felt embarrassingly slow, but at least we've stayed on the road. It could have been much more embarrassing if the speed had been too high, so I'll settle for that.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[nuster100]

Thats where it ended, and behind is the bank it came down.

JR

[martine]

Blimey...was he OK?

[waremark]

He must be gutted. Imagine telling the insurance company: 'Thanks for the cover note. No need to bother sending me the certificate though .....'

I wonder whether he was led astray by 4 WD traction - goes better, but doesn't stop or corner any better than 2 WD. I have had a couple of uncomfortable moments this week, but luckily no harm done.

[MGF]

A couple of years ago, driving downhill along an unclassified road wide enough for two vehicles I approach a right hand bend.

Driver of an SUV approaches from around the corner (I have a cross view) at a speed more appropriate for a dry road.

As he comes round the back-end comes out and he is straddled across the width of the road coming towards me.

I was creeping down the road and managed to pull over to the left and stop and he just managed to bring the SUV into line and mounted the bank at the opposite edge of the road.

[Red Herring]

Where I live we have to go up/down a steep hill every time we come and go and this has proved interesting over the years.
My wife's car, a front wheel drive diesel Skoda, requires you to get right down to walking pace at the top of the hill, then engage first gear at tickover speeds, and then as you go down the hill and the engine braking on the front wheels causes you to lose steering you need to change into second to regain steering and get on the brakes in quick dabs (Cadence braking) so that some effort goes to the rear wheels and the speed stays low enough for you to make the left hander at the bottom (big holes in hedge are evidence of those that didn't). We have tried starting in second gear to prevent the fronts skidding so early, but in practice we found that you still needed to get on the brakes just as early to stop the speed building up because there is no way you can lose any speed once you've gained it.
In my BMW with rear wheel drive it is a similar start in first, however now you lose the back end as the engine braking takes over. Fortunately with ABS I just stay on the brakes in first and maintain the steering. If it starts to go completely sideways I just dip the clutch to bring the back straight again then smoothly re-engage when I can.

Coming back up it is just a case of trying to get around the bend at the bottom as quickly as possible so that you can carry speed onto the hill. The Skoda is a whole lot better than the BMW at going up, all the weight is on the driven wheels so just go for it. With the BMW it's a case of judging just when to knock the traction control out (usually just after the bend) and then hoping for the best....... Fortunately I keep a pair of wellies and a warm coat in the back of the BMW for the two mile walk home!

[TripleS]

Hiya, RH,

I can relate to what you've just said, except that I've felt more comfortable staying in 1st gear for descending a slippery hill, rather than changing to 2nd gear. When the front wheels (Pug. 406) start to slide I use the brakes as well, briefly dipping the clutch pedal to restore a bit of steering when the engine braking gets too much for the amount of grip.

It's really only the changing to 2nd gear that makes me doubtful, on account of letting the speed increase too much.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[nuster100]

I use a similar technique, but find it easier with the 4wd as the drive is applied to all wheels so I can just do down the hill in 1st or 2nd using the engine braking, and pretty much just take my feet off everything.


JR

[Renny]

RH,

another option on the downhill strech in 1st, is when you start to lose grip due to excessive engine breaking, gently apply a little throttle, allowing the wheels to increase speed slightly. This is seriously counter intuitive

Alternatively as Triple S suggested, dip the clutch to allow the wheels to speed up.

This morning with a couple of inches of snow, I decided to leave the Fabia in the garage (Continental Sport Contact 2s have little snow traction) and drop SWMBO off at work and use the Discovery.