Automatics in snow/winter?

I've never ever driven anywhere thats really treacherous and needed "clutch control" let alone four wheel drive I even had a rangerover for a while and the 2 days in four years that i thought i might get some benefit either the road was closed to all cars (about a foot of water) and when we had a few hours snow the idiots and the lorry drivers had done the usual so I was stuck not moving for a couple of hours as the road was blocked due to the forementioned

I admit that was surrey!

Several years ago I did it - full throttle, 50ish mph. Forgot I was in an auto and pulled the lever back..

It was a 'Scrote with a Ford CVT/Autobox and it just complained a lot and nosedived, but then carried on no problem.

But then again, it *was* a hire car, and they can do extraordinary things...

"Mike G" wrote in news:4583f61d$0$8750$ snipped-for-privacy@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net:

Totally agree with that. My first car, a 309 with 165 tyres, driven by a 17 year old with more enthusiasm than ability, would get me anywhere in the snow. The cars I have owned since have all had wider tyres and less ability to climb a snow covered hill, despite the refinement my right foot has gained during this time. It would seem that with a surface as slippery as snow, pressure is the key to obtaining the best traction, hence the smallest contact patch possible between vehicle and road is desired.

Stu

One problem is the box changing gear unexpectedly on a corner and spinning you out and the other is that you can't dip the clutch if you do get it sideways.

Hondas and "Tiptronics" excepted, practically all auto boxes are the same "bunch of epicyclics and brake bands" design. They'll cheerfully select Reverse on the fly and any damage is only likely to happen downstream of them, probably to the final drive pinion or a halfshaft. As far as the box itself is concerned, it's just a brake band engaging and no more damaging than any other gear change under heavy load.

Park OTOH though is some substantial mechanical dog inside the gearbox. Most of them make it physically impossible to engage this while rotating, because if you do it at speed then the damage to the dog can be substantial. As well as the gearlever interlock to stop you selecting it, there may be an internal wedge or block to stop the dog engaging while rotating. Unlike a "hand brake", it's truly only usable for parking, not as any sort of emergency brake.

In practice that isn't a problem. At slow speeds and light throttle openings, as would be the case on snow or ice, changes would be unlikely, and even if it did change it would be almost imperceptible. Almost certainly not violent enough to provoke a skid. I've never had it happen to me in over 20 years of driving autos.

and the other is that you can't dip the clutch if you

I suppose you could knock it into neutral instead, but I've found it's enough to feather the throttle to match the road speed, and take the power off that way.

I drive both autos and manuals, and I wouldn't say that either have any noticeable advantage. Both require a degree of skill from the driver in coping with slippery conditions. Mike.

It will only change down if you're accelerating. And at very slow speeds on the over-run - and shouldn't cause a loss of traction.

You can select neutral. But keeping the wheels *just* turning is a better option, and this will happen at minimum throttle.

The same thing was covered in the BW35 demonstration. It Is a low cost box with no fancy features. Engaging the parking lock at speed just broke the pawl off - a cheap and quite easy part to replace.

..or going up a hill, or decelerating on some models ...but I agree any car with crap tyres isn't going to perform well, whether it be 4x4, fwd, rwd, auto or manual.