MK2 Leon - Very poor in snow

[saintelise]

I've found my Cupra to be OK in the current snowy/icey conditions.

I have to get up and down a hill to before I can reach a clear road.

I turn off the ESP, stick it in second gear and as Martin Brundle says tread on the throttle so carefully imagine there is an egg underneath it and you are trying not to break it!!

I took out Mrs Saintelise's A4 Cabrio this afternoon and it felt nowhere near as good as my car.

Now I am no driving God I'm sure, although I have been at it nearly 26 years - the one thing I have done is some tuition on an old fashioned skid pan at Goodwood - covered in oil and water, much slippier than you can imagine, but they teach you to be so gentle with your throttle and steering inputs because any sudden movements and you will lose control.

As I've also said before, last car was an Elise, no driver aids at all, very light and semi-slick track biased tyres - probably the reason why the Cupra feels so well planted in most conditions to me.
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[Marino]

I've found my Ultrac Sessantas to be far better in the snow than the PZeros that were on the car when I bought it.

 

[uuf361]

My FR wasn't bad last winter but not amazing, the low revs I could hold in the diesel meant it was easier to creep and gain better traction.

But this years car (Subaru Legacy auto) being AWD is infinitely better, have not had any issues at all, apart from my desire to powerslide LOL

 

[Deleted member 53697]

Had the standard Bridgestone Potenzas on for the first few days of snow. They were crap (albeit quite worn...)

Got some PS3's on now and the difference is night and day! No more 4th gear slip in the wet when coming onto boost. Only a little bit in 3rd.

 

[Poverty]

Took mine out today and searched for some icy roads. ESP turned completely off and had some fun. Rally driver powerslides the lot. Progress of snowy and icy roads up hills was a doddle, went to places where I couldnt get up in my van and the TT made easy work of it

 

[Poverty]

Yeah I noticed that too. If I can't find out how to remove it completely, I will be finding a fuse or somewhere in vagcom to disable it. Pain in the hoop and I can imagine it would be a real pain if I was ever to try it on a track

Holding esp off for ages doesnt turn it off completely anymore then on FL cars? It wasnt in the manual for pre-facelift cars but apparently it worked.

Shane will tell you when I next see ya

 

[Karin]

Picked up my new (58) Cupra just over a week ago, and then it snowed. I have been tiptoeing around in a car I don't know, that seems horrible in snow, thinking maybe I'd bought the wrong car. My old 51 plate Cupra was much easier to drive in the snow. Love the idea of winter tyres, but it's too much of an outlay on top of the new car. I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking it's horrible in the snow!

 

[Karin]

Oh, Dunlop sport max tyres, i think?

 

[IanG]

Oh, Dunlop sport max tyres, i think?

I've had them on mine and yes they are hopeless in the snow

 

[Al]

Snow tyres going on to mine today, just in time for the thaw.....

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Which tyres did you plump for in the end Al?

 

[Al]

Cooper WeatherMaster Snow, 225/40 R 18 92V XL. Got them from a tyre supplier from my home town who were still using the uninflated prices everyone else is at now.

After fitment, I purposely went to where I got stuck for 2 hours on Monday, went past that in to deep snow, and the car got in, out and away with nothing more than about 1 second of wheelspin. That was compacted snow, ice and fresh snow on top.

Only snag is the back end is flighty now as the front end digs in and the back end still slides about, so I think I will get them on the back too.

Highly recommended

 

[Donnyboy]

Some Coopers available here - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-X-NEW-COOPE...36999?pt=UK_Cars_Tyres_RL&hash=item5d2c7533c7

 

[Al]

I got mine for £120 each

 

[Donnyboy]

Yeah, the prices for them now is just taking the pi$$. They have doubled since I looked a month ago.

 

[IainW]

I'm still waiting on my Vredesteins to be dispatched. Sent an email asking for a rough time of delivery and all I got was a standard answer about "unprecedented demand blah blah blah...."

Really struggled yesterday trying to get out of my street. I failed at the first hurdle. My new Pirelli P Zero Neros were crap to be honest.

 

[onlyonearrow]

I've purchased a pair of autosocks for my Leon:

autosock.co.uk

They could be a handy alternative to winter tyres. They are a get you out aof trouble solution and how useful they will be depends on your particular circumstances and road network. They do make a massive difference when driving on untreated roads and are ideal if you're struggling to get to/from home to main A-roads. I got stuck on hard packed ice/snow near work. Took less than 5 minutes to put autosocks on and move to a cleared part of the car park. And they have proved useful getting out of my village.

I've a work colleague that has a 5 or 6 mile journey on untreated roads before she reaches a main A-road. Last winter there were occassions she couldn't get into work because of the snow/roads. She now has a pair autosocks and in even worse conditions this year, she has been able to reach the main A-road without too much difficulty.

Mine cost me about £65 (depends on tyre size) - so a much cheaper alternative if you can't afford to go down then winter tyre route. And in some cases they may actually be better.

 

[vRSy]

Cooper WeatherMaster Snow, 225/40 R 18 92V XL. Got them from a tyre supplier from my home town who were still using the uninflated prices everyone else is at now.

After fitment, I purposely went to where I got stuck for 2 hours on Monday, went past that in to deep snow, and the car got in, out and away with nothing more than about 1 second of wheelspin. That was compacted snow, ice and fresh snow on top.

Only snag is the back end is flighty now as the front end digs in and the back end still slides about, so I think I will get them on the back too.

Highly recommended

Winter tyres are for winners aren't they! I have this really bad habit of making it a personal challenge to take my car up the steepest snow covered hills i can find

 

[IRC Kevin]

As the main road to Windermere was blocked last Friday night by traffic struggling on the hills on the 591, I took a chance on my usual backroads route, the Crook road, a lovely twisty winding B road, about 8 miles long. Very pleased with the way the Ecomotive handled it, even on the two big hills which hadn't been gritted or snow-ploughed at all. Must be the narrow tyres and lack of grunt that helped. Do miss my four wheel drive though!

 

[Haddock]

One thing I've noticed on the facelift cars is that with ESP enabled as normal, power is cut far too early - and loads of momentum is lost on the hills... Last night I had to make a second attempt on one hill, the first time power was cut so aggressively that the car stalled - second attempt with ESP off (or as off as it can be on a FL car) I got up relatively easily...

Cant remember noticing this on my pre-facelift...