I took the BX our for a drive in the snow

[MULLEY]

It was, i couldn't believe the incompetance & i had to wait until he was out of the way before i could begin my descent, absolute berk, it was funny when he'd stopped & hadn't managed to hit anything, before that i was thinking omg....

[Wooscary]

clear as mud

He might have got away with it in mud!

[electrokid]

That was on very worn winter tyres, & the drop off in performance was noticeable because of the ease of them locking up.

What to you call 'very worn' Matthew ? My winter tyres have about 5mm of tread left but I have a pair of new ones to put on if that's not enough.

[Dollywobbler]

I once lost control of my 2CV on packed down, frozen snow. It was like sheet ice. It was a straight road with a steep drop but unfortunately for me, the previous car had gone flying off the road but was trying to get back on it further down. I couldn't brake and even engine braking in first gear locked up the wheels. Fortunately, I knew the road was surrounded by grassy hillocks, so I just drove into one, which neatly brought the car to a halt. Steering was about all I could do. Waited for the problem car to remove itself, then reversed from said hillock and gently skidded my way down the hill. Decided to go a different route on the way back...

[Kitch]

I genuinely don't get the 'winter tyre' thing I just use the same tyres all year round (generally close the limit budget tyres!) and adjust speed/steering inputs/braking distances accordingly.

If you live in Finland, yeah I could see a case. But in the UK.....really?

I realise I'm probably in the minority here

[Defender110]

[MULLEY]

I genuinely don't get the 'winter tyre' thing I just use the same tyres all year round (generally close the limit budget tyres!) and adjust speed/steering inputs/braking distances accordingly.

If you live in Finland, yeah I could see a case. But in the UK.....really?

I realise I'm probably in the minority here

You live dawn sawf mate, so you probably hardly get any snow, & when you do, its not as slippery as the northern stuff

[MULLEY]

That was on very worn winter tyres, & the drop off in performance was noticeable because of the ease of them locking up.

What to you call 'very worn' Matthew ? My winter tyres have about 5mm of tread left but I have a pair of new ones to put on if that's not enough.

Mine were down to about 3mm, so 5 should be fine, as they wear down they become less effective, but 3mm winter tyres are still better than a brand new set of summer tyres

[Dollywobbler]

I genuinely don't get the 'winter tyre' thing I just use the same tyres all year round (generally close the limit budget tyres!) and adjust speed/steering inputs/braking distances accordingly.

If you live in Finland, yeah I could see a case. But in the UK.....really?

I realise I'm probably in the minority here

You live dawn sawf mate, so you probably hardly get any snow, & when you do, its not as slippery as the northern stuff

Indeed. I got cocky my first winter here in Wales, but normal tyres proved entirely inadequate. You can be as good a driver as you like but you still need some grip. I got stuck (twice) at a tight bend on an upward incline. There was no way I could get up it as there was absolutely no grip. Lowering the tyre pressures didn't help and in the end a friendly local gave me a tow. Once up that hill, I could slowly continue on my way but it just proved that there are indeed limits to non-winter tyres.

Winter just gone, we had a freak hailstorm. The hail hit the road and froze. It was lethal. In an empty Volkswagen LT with winter tyres on the rear only (a stupid decision, council penny-pinching) I overtook an Audi A4 that was going absolutely nowhere, on a really gentle gradient! With normal tyres, I would have joined the Audi.

[electrokid]

Mine were down to about 3mm, so 5 should be fine,

Thanks for the info Matthew - I think I'll soon find out - I suspect we are in for some of the white stuff this year.

I'm feeling a bit rebellious this year - but not in the usual way of course. Like Eoin, if there's snow about I like to jump in the car and go for a drive - in my case to take some photos. This year I might 'rebel' and stay indoors

[Kitch]

I genuinely don't get the 'winter tyre' thing I just use the same tyres all year round (generally close the limit budget tyres!) and adjust speed/steering inputs/braking distances accordingly.

If you live in Finland, yeah I could see a case. But in the UK.....really?

I realise I'm probably in the minority here

You live dawn sawf mate, so you probably hardly get any snow, & when you do, its not as slippery as the northern stuff

It's true, we don't get much at all. Weather's not too bad down here

But on the occasions it has snowed and properly laid, you can still make easy progress as long as you don't act like a tit. I overtook a Nissan 4x4 (not sure what it was - I'd be more interested in examining a blade of grass) on an incline who had all four wheels spinning up. He's just using too much gas! I went past (in a Mondeo with 215 section tyres) at a relatively slow pace, just ticking over in 2nd gear keeping rolling momentum. That's all it needed.

I'm not exactly a good driver, so if I can do it most people could.

[MULLEY]

I must admit to enjoying a drive when there's loads of snow on the road, the Peak District looks beautiful in white & i enjoy the challenge of driving in the slippery stuff. It is amazing what unusual types of cars are quite good in these conidtions, usually fitted with very narrow tyres. The usual 4x4 bods are out & about, but you can spot the townies as they are usually driving an expensive 4x4 that clearly doesn't go off road, oh & the fact that they are going very slowly as they are on summer tyres. The one's who go a bit quicker are usually either in the ditch, in a wall or have gotten stuck, haha...There are also the hardened 4x4ers who clearly just enjoy being out in slippy conditions to make the off roading a real challenge & enjoy the lovely empty roads as well

[MULLEY]

Kitch, as long as your car is FWD then if you take it gently you can get about without too many dramas, as long as you haven't steep hills with bends etc...& like you say, too much gas just gets all 4 wheels spinning to nowhere, haha.... I remember my girlfriends AX Jive Diesel, normal summer tyres but they were narrow, we overtook a long line of traffic that was queued up to have a go at getting up a long hill, it was ridicolus. I'd gotten out of the car to find out why we were stuck in traffic, no one was coming down the hill or on the opposite side of the road, so i just told her to go past the damn lot, she took a slight run up whilst a car was half-way up & got stuck & we just trundled past. She was bricking it but i convinced her that she could do it & told her what gear to be in & how much throttle to use etc... & low & behold we made it to the top with only a little bit of slithering (slightly off camber hill). The look on her face was a picture, she couldn't believe that with 3 of us in this little AX we'd gotten up the hill, it was almost like summiting Everest for her, haha....

[Dollywobbler]

When your car is on tickover, in second gear, with the wheels just gently spinning, it has REALLY snowed. The fact that it was considerably below zero didn't help. It's all well and good to say "I got up a hill once, so just drive normally" but I'd previously got up hills just fine. I still reckon I was lost at sea without some proper winter rubber - though it might have been too much even for that. I bought some snow chains (never used) very soon after!

It's a horrible feeling when you're miles away from civilisation, at about 11pm, and utterly incapable of going anywhere. We couldn't even go back as we were stuck in a dip. We were just about prepared for a hideous 4 mile hike in the snow by foot when a 4x4 came along (frustratingly, he actually appeared as I was making one last desperate bid to use momentum to get me up the hill! I had to back out of it. Not convinced it was actually going to work though...)

[MULLEY]

If they are spinning in 2nd gear on tickover you've got no chance, only solution is to get your passenger(s) to start pushing until you've got some momentum & by that time they can't run fast enough to keep up with the car so you have to wait for them at the top of the hill whilst they come trudging up behind with that pee'd off look, oops!!! If you're in the wilds of Wales, decent rubber is a godsend tbh as who the hell is going to come to the rescue at that time of night & in the middle of nowhere.