Drago's murder deathkill slaughter annihilation massacre beserker lunacy snow, ice and winteryness thread 2021/22

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Alex321

Guru
Location
South Wales
What doesn't help are those electronic parking brakes that are applied by pressing a button, and release by revving the engine a bit and releasing the clutch pedal, as they don't allow you to use the bare minimum of rev's and gentle use of the clutch pedal to get going, a system beloved of Renault & Citroen, I think some Audi's have it too
My Vauxhall also has an electronic "handbrake" but I don't recognise your description. There is absolutely no need to rev highly to release it.
 
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DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
My Vauxhall also has an electronic "handbrake" but I don't recognise your description. There is absolutely no need to rev highly to release it.
Didn’t say rev it highly, I said rev it a bit, which in slippy conditions are too high to set off gently, and will instigate wheelspin, I’ve driven both Renault Megane Scenics, and a Citroen C4 Picasso with them and you do have to rev both a little higher to get going, but not thrash it to gain forward momentum
 
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DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
They seem to becoming a lot more common in all makes nowadays, the one in my Mondeo can be released manually as well though by pressing the button so that it's like releasing a mechanical handbrake.
Getting going in snow helps that with a mechanical handbrake lever, you can use the absolute bare minimum rev’s, get the clutch on the bite point, and just have the handbrake barely holding whilst the car wants to go and gently release the brake, even better on a diesel as all the diesels I’ve had will start creeping along at tickover, making the whole process even easier.
 

KneesUp

Guru
I live in Sheffield and so inevitably live on a hill. I own a front wheel drive car, but it's relatively light, and has all season tyres on it (because I live in Sheffield, on a hill ...)

It's hard not to feel judgmental and smug when you see people in the 4x4 they drive "because we get snow where we live" struggling to get going whilst I sail past with a flicker from the traction control light.

If your tyres have no grip it doesn't matter how many of them have drive. 4 x zero is still zero. And the same goes for stopping. It worries me that people go to so much effort to manhandle their car so they can drive it (getting grit from the bin, digging the snow, pushing it) without seemingly considering that they will have exactly the same amount of friction to stop the thing again.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Snow has hit here - started at 11 whilst I was still doing rust proofing on the suspension components the little Aygo. Glad I get it done quickly as everywhere went white. Been constant since 11am. The little Aygo will be due new fronts within a couple of months so thinking of all seasons, mainly as the tyres are super cheap !
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
619783
 

oldwheels

Legendary Member
Location
Isle of Mull
Best vehicle I ever had for snow or mud was strangely our old Sherpa Highwayman motorhome. Drove it for business sometimes and it baulked at nothing.
A Commer van I had was the worst I think but close behind was a VW T2. Had some hairy trips in that.
 
I live in Sheffield and so inevitably live on a hill. I own a front wheel drive car, but it's relatively light, and has all season tyres on it (because I live in Sheffield, on a hill ...)

It's hard not to feel judgmental and smug when you see people in the 4x4 they drive "because we get snow where we live" struggling to get going whilst I sail past with a flicker from the traction control light.

If your tyres have no grip it doesn't matter how many of them have drive. 4 x zero is still zero. And the same goes for stopping. It worries me that people go to so much effort to manhandle their car so they can drive it (getting grit from the bin, digging the snow, pushing it) without seemingly considering that they will have exactly the same amount of friction to stop the thing again.
I especially love it when people have a great 4x4 but have no clue how it works so you see them sitting there with one wheel spinning and all the others stationary

A friend of mine used to be a Police Officer - hence drove around in a very basic Fiesta while on duty (it was a long time ago!)
he got called to go to a traffic incident on a snowy day and found several people in different cars - including a couple of 4x4

someone in one of the 4x4s said the people in nprmal cars were at fault becuse only 4 wheel drive cars could cope on this hi;; when is t is snowy

my friend just glanced at his little patrol car that he had just driven up the hill with no problem at all because he had a vague clue how a car works
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
I used to work with a Norwegian who thought our end of the world approach to a few inches of snow was hysterically funny.
Recently re-enjoyed Bill Bryson's 'Notes from a small island', which includes:

...as I sat eating my breakfast in the dining room of the Old England Hotel in Bowness-on-Windermere, two days after leaving Morecambe, I was reading an article in The Times about an unseasonable snowstorm — a ‘blizzard’, The Times called it — that had ‘gripped’ parts of East Anglia.

According to The Times report, the storm had covered parts of the region with ‘more than 2in of snow’ and created ‘drifts up to 6in high’.

In response to this, I did something I had never done before: I pulled out my notebook and drafted a letter to the editor in which I pointed out, in a kindly, helpful way, that 2in of snow cannot possibly constitute a blizzard and that 6in of snow is not a drift.

A blizzard, I explained, is when you can’t get your front door open. Drifts are things that make you lose your car until spring. Cold weather is when you leave part of your flesh on doorknobs, mailbox handles and other metal objects.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
I especially love it when people have a great 4x4 but have no clue how it works so you see them sitting there with one wheel spinning and all the others stationary

A friend of mine used to be a Police Officer - hence drove around in a very basic Fiesta while on duty (it was a long time ago!)
he got called to go to a traffic incident on a snowy day and found several people in different cars - including a couple of 4x4

someone in one of the 4x4s said the people in nprmal cars were at fault becuse only 4 wheel drive cars could cope on this hi;; when is t is snowy

my friend just glanced at his little patrol car that he had just driven up the hill with no problem at all because he had a vague clue how a car works
The same idiots that by a 4x4 of any type and then fit a road tread tyre, to my mind it’s like a farmer buying a prize bull, then paying the vet to castrate it
 

stephec

Squire
Location
Bolton
The car park of our local Tesco is built on a bit of a slope.

A few years ago a guy gets into his Range Rover, fitted with something like 21/22" wheels and the thinnest tyres I've ever seen on a road car. He spent at least 30 seconds spinning like mad in the snow going nowhere, and from the look on his face his blood pressure was through the roof.

It was absolutely hilarious when a little old lady got into a Fiat Panda parked next to him and pulled away without the slightest of wheel spin. 😂
 
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Drago

Drago

Legendary Member
Snowed here since about 15000hrs, just stopped. About an inch fell, setrling on the grass, cars, etc. Some settled on the roads, but that seemed to melt away. Currently -1.3°C according to my weather station.

All weather tyres with a 3 peaks snow rating on my large planet killing SUV, so I'll be quite happy if more should fall.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
The car park of our local Tesco is built on a bit of a slope.

A few years ago a guy gets into his Range Rover, fitted with something like 21/22" wheels and the thinnest tyres I've ever seen on a road car. He spent at least 30 seconds spinning like mad in the snow going nowhere, and from the look on his face his blood pressure was through the roof.

It was absolutely hilarious when a little old lady got into a Fiat Panda parked next to him and pulled away without the slightest of wheel spin. 😂
Obviously he’s in for the shock of his life when someone explains the high-low transfer box and the diff lock contained within
 

Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
Didn’t say rev it highly, I said rev it a bit, which in slippy conditions are too high to set off gently, and will instigate wheelspin, I’ve driven both Renault Megane Scenics, and a Citroen C4 Picasso with them and you do have to rev both a little higher to get going, but not thrash it to gain forward momentum
Our C4 Grand Picasso you could release the handbrake whenever you wanted by pressing the button with the clutch pressed in and footbrake applied. I know you could just drive off and it'd automatically release too, yes with a bit less precision than a manual handbrake, but the release button was my main method of releasing it.
 
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