I have a LandCruiser with 33" Mud and Snow tyres that I use in the winter, means I save my
Ibiza from being hit by morons who cant drive and shouldnt be out in the snow. It doesnt matter if they hit the LandCruiser............. It'll win (tried and tested with 2 cars last year!)!
Obviously having another car for the winter isnt particularly affordable or practical for most people so the best bet is to get proper winter tyres. I think that if the weather is as bad this year as it has been the last 2 years the government need to start thinking about bringing in legislation saying we need to change to winter tyres like they do in other parts of Europe.
Winter tyres make so much difference and you can buy a set of remoulds very cheap, its not like they are going to cover a load of miles or at any real speed and if you get them on another set of wheels you can swap them around easier and they will last you a few seasons.
The biggest thing though is knowing
how to properly drive in the conditions. Every time it snows I loose count of how may cars I end up pulling out of stupid situations and I have refused to recover people on the basis that I saw how they were driving to get themselves into the hedge/ditch/tree/field etc.
A few tips on winter driving:
NEVER use 1st gear to pull away, its too low and will always spin the wheels. Always pull away in the highest gear your car is capable of pulling away in (usually 2nd but possibly 3rd on a remapped TDi)
20mph is fast on a snow covered road, keep it slow then if anything does happen you have more time to react and less damage will be done.
Keep all your inputs smooth and progressive.
Use the brakes as little as possible, use the gears to slow the car but make sure you equalise the revs before dropping the clutch otherwise you will lock the wheels anyway.
Dont trust the ABS or TCS, they dont work too well in ice and snow.
Always leave a big gap between you and the car in front, at least 5 car lengths, even when stopped as you never know if they will slide backward. If someone fills your gap then drop 5 lengths from them too.
Always follow the existing tyre marks (unless they end up in a hedge!), never be tempted to stray onto the uncleared part of the road, this is usually the start of where it all goes wrong.
Only drive if you REALLY need to; will walking to the
shop kill you? If you dont need to go out then dont, driving in the snow is fun...................... until you or someone else messes it up and then its gets expensive and dangerous very quickly. It doesnt matter how good a driver you are the other people on the road usually arent and good. Its not big or clever to go out "just for fun" dont give in to peer pressure of others saying its fine.
Dont get complacent, if the road conditions get better be carefull how much you speed up and still keep driving as if you were on snow as conditions can change very quickly and back ice is deadly and invisible. If you go out and arent confident with driving in the conditions dont be afraid to turn back, its better you do it while you can and not 5 miles up the road where its worse and you cant turn around.
Lights, If youve ever driven in a blizzard or really heavy snow you'll know that visibility is virtually 0 especially at night, if you have fog lights use them, if you dont try winding you headlight levelers down so the lights point down this way it stops the light bouncing back off the falling snow and dazzling you. You can try the levelers whilst using fog lights too but sometimes foglights work better with only the sidelights on.
If the sign says "Road Closed" it means it! If you see me going past the sign, take note of the 4x4 with decent tyres, orange beacon, winch, CB radio, tow straps, shovel, blanket, first aid kit, fire extinguisher etc etc. Im probably more equipped than you to tackle the
problem ahead and Im probably carrying a police officer/doctor/nurse and/or food and medication for the old biddies snowed in in the little village at the other end of the road.
Oh and above all: If it does all end in tears and some nice fella in a 4x4/tractor etc. comes and sorts you out say thank you and give him something for his trouble, youve probably made him late for wherever he was going.
Hope this helps.
