The Beast From The East 2

[Jocko]

My SAAB 99 (the green one) saw some severe winter motoring. It was brilliant climbing hills in the snow. A huge heavy engine and transmission over the front, driven wheels, and narrow large-diameter wheels. The wheels were 15" (most cars at that time had 13" wheels) and 155/70 tyres.
There were a couple of very steep hills at my mother's and my father-in-law's that I would deliberately climb just for the fun of it (no need as there were easier ways to go).

[culzean]

Narrow tyres work with non snow tyres,  the higher load ( pounds per square inch ) they put onto the surface help to dig down to some grip, but with modern snow tyres that are actually designed to grip the snow I think the wider the better.

[madasafish]

Deep fresh snow is the killer for wide tyres. The friction generated from having to break through deep snow makes moving very difficult, thus forcing the driver to apply more power and then the wheels spin..

I recall in 1968  going through a ploughed 2 meters high snowdrift which was only about 300mm high in the ploughed section. My Austin A30 with RWD AND winter tyres (135mm width iirc) got through.The Rover 2000 behind me with wider tyres did not. That was the main Aberdeen to Banff road blocked then.

(Having a mere 25bhp - when new - helped. The power to spin wheels hard did not exist)

[MartinJG]

If memory serves me and I was paying proper attention in my physics lessons last century, ice actually becomes slippery as a result of pressure causing the outer surface of ice to melt. So logically, you are fine if you do not walk or drive on it but the moment you set foot...bit of a Catch 22 conundrum

PS - Down south, we have had a dusting of snow around here with the needle barely creeping into -C territory. Suffice to say, panic has ensued and it's all the 'guvverment's' fault innit.

[culzean]

If memory serves me and I was paying proper attention in my physics lessons last century, ice actually becomes slippery as a result of pressure causing the outer surface of ice to melt. So logically, you are fine if you do not walk or drive on it but the moment you set foot...bit of a Catch 22 conundrum

PS - Down south, we have had a dusting of snow around here with the needle barely creeping into -C territory. Suffice to say, panic has ensued and it's all the 'guvverment's' fault innit.

The problem with explorers in Arctic / Antarctic was that that the ice crystals were so cold that they didn't melt under pressure from sledge runners,  from the books I have read by Ranulph Fiennes and others it was like dragging a sledge over emery cloth. It is so cold that metal gets very brittle.

Added that the Antarctic is a lot more mountainous ( and has constant strong winds ) than it appears,  and dragging a heavy sledge uphill over emery cloth in the teeth of a gale must be the worst thing ever.

[culzean]

Deep fresh snow is the killer for wide tyres. The friction generated from having to break through deep snow makes moving very difficult, thus forcing the driver to apply more power and then the wheels spin..

I recall in 1968  going through a ploughed 2 meters high snowdrift which was only about 300mm high in the ploughed section. My Austin A30 with RWD AND winter tyres (135mm width iirc) got through.The Rover 2000 behind me with wider tyres did not. That was the main Aberdeen to Banff road blocked then.

(Having a mere 25bhp - when new - helped. The power to spin wheels hard did not exist)

Did the Rover have winter tyres ?  BMW are notorious for getting stuck in bad weather with rear wheel drive and wide low profile tyres, but winter tyres make a huge difference even though they are as wide as the normal BMW tyres.

[Westy36]

The Citroen 2Cv and Dyane are awesome in the snow. Lots of ground clearance, 125/15 tyres, 30 BHP and not a lot of weight. 

[TnTkr]

The Citroen 2Cv and Dyane are awesome in the snow. Lots of ground clearance, 125/15 tyres, 30 BHP and not a lot of weight.

Not to forget they are light enough to push or even lift if stuck. 

[Westy36]

Not to forget they are light enough to push or even lift if stuck. 

Yeah, you can tuck it under your arm and carry it home!! 

 

[madasafish]

Deep fresh snow is the killer for wide tyres. The friction generated from having to break through deep snow makes moving very difficult, thus forcing the driver to apply more power and then the wheels spin..

I recall in 1968  going through a ploughed 2 meters high snowdrift which was only about 300mm high in the ploughed section. My Austin A30 with RWD AND winter tyres (135mm width iirc) got through.The Rover 2000 behind me with wider tyres did not. That was the main Aberdeen to Banff road blocked then.

(Having a mere 25bhp - when new - helped. The power to spin wheels hard did not exist)

Did the Rover have winter tyres ?  BMW are notorious for getting stuck in bad weather with rear wheel drive and wide low profile tyres, but winter tyres make a huge difference even though they are as wide as the normal BMW tyres.

No idea.

[richardfrost]

BMW are notorious for getting stuck in bad weather with rear wheel drive and wide low profile tyres, but winter tyres make a huge difference even though they are as wide as the normal BMW tyres.

In the Winter of 2008 I was heading over the Pennines to visit my Mum in snowy weather. I was a little nervous as even though i was driving a Nissan XTrail Aventura, it was on regular tyres. The road from Hebden Bridge to Colne is quite narrow, bendy and hilly, with occasional long steep drops. The first treacherous point was a hairy winding drop to an even narrower bridge on a bend followed by a short climb.

The driver of the car ahead of us, a BMW 5 Series, had seen this chicane and bottled it. As we came up on him he was  reversing into a snowy lane to turn. I flashed him to try and stop him but on he went, putting his driving wheels deeper and deeper into snow on top of ice. In the end, I had to tow him a little bit and then me and my two lads pushed him out onto the road.

We carried on and made it through but I came back a different way. I wasn't prepared to do that drive in the dark.

[Jocko]

Roads are terrible this morning. I was one of the first out at 06:30 today, and it was still snowing. There is about 4" of fresh snow on top of yesterday's hard-packed snow. I didn't have any problems other than a couple of wheels slips trying to pull away on upgrades but snapping it into 2nd cured that. For the most part, I just stuck to 3rd and 5th.
I have to go out again shortly for my vaccine, and I am not looking forward to the drive. All the numpties will be out by now.

[Jocko]

Managed to get to the vaccine centre with no issues. It is a really wild part of town (in more ways than one), and the snow is really deep up here. Just waiting on nearer my time to go in.

[Kremmen]

I'm looking at the severe Scotland weather reports and as usual we've had it relatively light down here.

Do you ever get used to it up there.

[Westy36]

The driver of the car ahead of us, a BMW 5 Series, had seen this chicane and bottled it. As we came up on him he was  reversing into a snowy lane to turn. I flashed him to try and stop him but on he went, putting his driving wheels deeper and deeper into snow on top of ice. In the end, I had to tow him a little bit and then me and my two lads pushed him out onto the road.

We carried on and made it through but I came back a different way. I wasn't prepared to do that drive in the dark.

Yeah, it amazes me that some people don't consider what ground they put their driven wheels on to. For example, reverse into that muddy gateway and keep the driven wheels on tarmac. You'll not get stuck that way.

Driving on ice & snow is not difficult at all. Real easy on the controls, very gentle and a higher gear than normal. Took the Jazz out on Monday and found some untreated roads to try little Honda out in those conditions. With its little tyres and minimal torque it's really easy to handle.  I wouldn't fancy a high powered RWD car in such circumstances.