Snow Mongs

Bunch of northern poofs!

Agree Nige, took me 2 f**ing hours to get across town, people are so dumb it beggars belief. Followed at least 3 hatchbacks up seriously steep icy hills covered in snow, needless to say they got stuck and just sat there spinning the wheels like billy-o.

Andy

It was ace going up Carr Lane this morning to take Jane to the hairdressers, it was panci stricken pendemonium for everyone else, I just flew up ;)

Towed about 15 cars of the roads round here today.

I strongly suspect that the more expensive snow tyres can encourage even warmer weather.

Last time I was out in the snow I was in the Audi sadly, got caught out, nothing serious forecast (not that I'd have noticed) but it snowed so much the hills were well icy. Had to break some clods of earth from a nearby field to scatter on one hill to get me out of a trough. After that, what caused me to stick to the main roads no matter what the traffic was not the difficulty of getting up the hills on the minor roads, it was dodging the traffic careering wildly down the hills! Not even the landy or pinz could resist the onslaught of careering cars and trucks you can get round here, lots of hilly, small roads.

I've found out today that the tyres on my new toy(*) are absolute s**te in snow, could almost have had slicks on. Couldn't get up a gentle slope covered in about 3" of fresh stuff, it was compressing to ice but the tyres just weren't cutting through it as it compressed.

The worse bit was that I wanted to go that way to avoid going down a 1:6. Didn't have any choice in the end and took my chances down the 1:6. Low box 1st gear tick over HDC on. It was a slow semi controlled is slide, I think the grass verge was enough to keep the car sliding off the road and it kept me away from a couple of trees. It was sliding as progress was faster that low 1st would normally allow. The HDC did kick in once but it didn't help a great deal. With these tyres if you so much as think about braking it just locks up.

Boy was I glad to get to the bottom and back onto a few inches of slush.

(*) A 2004 Disco II TD5 Landmark in Epsom Green and only 33,000 miles on the clock.

I used to commute across East Yorkshire (Stamford Bridge to Hull, if anyone knows it) in a 2CV. Never, ever got stopped by snow or ice. Low weight, narrow tyres, good ground clearance, see? If I had a quid for every expensive saloon/hatchback/sportscar I danced past on the hills, I wouldn't need to work today.

What amuses me are the people who believe that, if you lose traction in snow, the best way to get moving is to spin the driving wheels furiously, so as to turn reasonably grippy snow into solid ice.

Playing as you do, i just kept using the HDC as brakes today, much more effective on sheet ice.

In fact i drove the car by wire most of the day, bloody good fun.

I did take it to a large empty car park on sheet ice the other day. that was good fun in a big way. I could see two coppers looking at me doing donuts at reasonable speed & figure 8's & laughing.

Dont suppose you see a decent size motor getting wanged around like that often.

Enough to make you wish you could use a bullbar as intended. :-)

Personally I think the D2 is rubbish on slippery surfaces like snow or wet grass, it relies too heavily on ETC as there is no centre diff-lock (unless retro fitted). So the car loses grip and ETC fights to regain it rather than diff-locked versions holding on for longer.

Just my 2p worth

What effin' snow?

Ain't none around these parts ... never bl00dy well is .... sodding useless weather forecasters .... mutter ... mutter ... chunter ... chunter .........

Regards

Steve G

Nige wrote:

27 degrees C here.... but the ski field was open yesterday about 3 hours drive away.

Lucky you, actually having some snow. This winter, we've had one major storm where we got 30 cm of snow, and that then melted away after a few days of rain. It was fun while it lasted, parking the Land Rover in snow piles where regular cars didn't dare.

Haven't even bothered to switch to the studded winter tires yet, the mud/snow tires I use in the summer have been quite sufficient.

I've got a 12-inch c*ck!

Are they "snipes" or "stipes"? I thought the latter but could be wrong. I typed "stipes" into wikipedia and got an article on crucifixion!

Staffs Search & Rescue team of which I am a member have been out 4 times in the last few days assisting West Midlands Ambulance Services in Staffordshire - recovering ambulances or transporting paramedics to places they couldn't otherwise access.

We have had members on site throughout the night at ambulance stations around the county - all voluntary of course.

Anyone interested in joining us please get in touch. We also assist Staffs Police with missing person searches which is a separate but very interesting subject.

Might be "snip" but it something like that to give grip on snow. This is where the tyres I have(*) are failing they don't have many at least not compared to Pirelli Scorpian ST or STR.

(*) Hankook Ventus ST

Lots of flat rubber...

Compare to:

Even though the Pirelli has a lower review rating for snow note that it is more or less the same as the other ratings, unlike the Hankook.

Got a 20% off CostCo voucher for Michelin Alipn's but I doubt I can afford a set, even with 20% off and only 15% VAT. B-(

I don't think my previous DII, on Pirelli Scorpians, would have had any trouble yesterday.

Aye the TC also relies on you actually moving at a reasonable pace, if you are just crawling (or sliding...) it does SFA. I was sat stationary on this gentle hill yesterday with wheels spinning and the TC making a noise but not actually having effect, not even lurch spin lurch spin as different wheels lost grip and the TC braked 'em transfering drive to others with grip that then lost it etc.

I must crawl underneath and see if the transfer box has the centre diff lock spigot. Curiously the label inside has both the single HNL and HNL with/without diff lock. The transfer box lever only goes forward and back though. B-( I suspect it's a generic label, I think the "Pursuit" badged DII's came with centre diff lock but not the "Landmark" ones.

Definitely worth the upgrade if it's there. I have to say that the electronic centre and rear diff locks on my D3 are nothing short of amazing in snow :-)