Re: rear wheel drive question

John

If in doubt just dip the clutch and steer into the slide and it will be like any other car.

Tim

wondering

John,

I have owned my "F" for five years now and live in Central Scotland. Quite frankly I avoid driving it at all if there is any risk of meeting untreated ice on my journey.

The wide tyres and low weight of the car means that with standard tyres there is very little traction available on icy roads.

I have had several scary moments including one at only 15 -20 mph on a country lane when I did a complete 360°, swiping the bumper against the sheep fencing and had to replace the whole front end.

I haven't tried using chains or winter tyres with studs, but then I have the option of using a more suitable car for winter conditions anyway.

I would advise GREAT caution!

Andy

I've always been a rear wheel drive man, I've never liked cars where the drive, the steering and most of the breaking all go through the same wheels!

When it's slippery, and that includes the wet as well as snow, you can get the back end to step out of line if you give it too much throttle when cornering.

Of course that's half the fun!

I used to have a Lotus 7, not one of the Caterhams or other copies, the real thing, and only a maniac would take it above 3000 rpm in the wet, even in a straight line it would start fishtailing if the road was damp!

Driving it at all in the snow was bordering on the suicidal. It occurred to me more than once that it looked like a coffin on wheels and that if the worst happened they could just remove them and bury me in the car.

What you need to do is find somewhere safe so that you can find the cars, and your, limitations. I used to do track days in the Lotus and believe me there is nothing quite like doing a 100mph sideways.

My first trip out in the snow resulted in me facing the direction I'd just come from! Fortunately no other cars were around at the time. Also living at the top of a hill I did have to leave my 'F' at the bottom as it couldn't get enough traction to make it up to the top!

That all said I wouldn't swap it for anything else, it wasn't designed to perform on ice - it was made to be fun to drive with the top down and that's what it does.

With our Global Warming will we ever have any great quantity of snow again? Living in the Midlands we now have to go abroad to find the white fluffy stuff!

Regards

Graham