snow chains

It's an Alfa, and they've set the sensitivity of the system so you have to try *very* hard to get it to activate. The system can't drop the clutch but it can apply a bit of power to give the same effect if that means the driver gets some steering ability they wouldn't otherwise have. I haven't pushed the car to the sort of limit where it would kick in, or found a large enough area of ice where I could try it out safely, but my limited experince of the stability control system suggests it would operate at that kind of level - it takes control *after* the driver has lost it ...

-- DAS

... they are s*it and have been ever since the end of the Alfa 75 line.

Nope, that would be you, the one who thinks his 1.7 CDTi is different to all the rest. The rest being the ones that shut off fuel over 1200rpm on the overrun.

My grandmother needs no lessons on the evacuation of ova by the application of partial vacuum.

No, you're clutching at straws.

You dolt. The asterisk was to cover older models not the CDTi. The asterisk (and the associated fotnote) was removed in later versions of the manual.

Here, eat your heart out:

Older models? That would be the same older models where you yourself pointed out that the "pulse width of the injector on overrun" had to be zero. I think you will find it is the older models that *do* have some form of decel fuel cut off.

That proves nothing. They could have changed it on later cars. The ECU on the mk4 CDTi is a different unit from the single ECU that was used on the mk5s to give either 80Ps or 100Ps.

Where is your evidence to back that claim up then?

So you're claiming that the feature was removed mysteriously between

Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

You retard.

It's given in the Astra manual, among other places. If you bothered to follow Pistonheads you would get chapter and verse on it. Despite several times of asking you have ducked every opportunity to explain where you get the idea that there is no fuel shut off on the overrun on an Astra 1.7 CDTi.

Companies should sack marketing people that mangle things the engineers have told them. Does Audi really think that a user is going to bandy on about this when playing top trumps with colleagues about their employer provided status symbol?

Given it's less than 20ms a revolution you'd hope they can do rather better than ms precision.

The maker of my car makes no silly claims as far as I know - I simply adjust the injector pulse width by moving my foot on the pedal.

Amen to that, I bought a car fitted with them... In the next month 6 weeks ill be putting them on a set of steels and keeping them for next year.

I drove around a bogged down 4x4 in my focus with them, BRILLIANT things!

I've driven in the snow in my MX5 with Uniroyal Rainexperts on it - on the way back from a track day.

Absolutely amazing all-round tyre.

Hi,

OP here. Sorry for the delay in replying.

Good to see you back here.

You are quite right that winter tyres would be best. I will try them next time it snows and if they cannot help, I guess I'll buy the chains the year after ;)

I would have thought you would need all four tyres changed though, not just the driven ones.

I saw the snow grips you mentioned in costco, not a sock but a chain that is not made of metal. Sadly they did not have my size. I saw the same thing in Halfords but they want £99!

Yes I think you were right. They only had three grooves along them and no sipes.

I don't know. Perhaps it is an urban myth. I don't remember learning to drive in the snow. I learned in the summer. I would think that most of the year there is no snow and if snow did fall, most likely driving lessons would be cancelled, so I doubt anyone gets any proper instruction on how to drive in snow. I have heard people say use a high gear to pull off and just believed them without questioning it, until now.

Judging from other replies there may have been some truth in it a generation ago. Next time we get snow I'll drive "normally" and see what difference that makes. I'm sure my clutch will appreciate first gear more than it did second. And like another poster said, it is diesel so has plenty of torque.