Author Topic: First time in the snow.  (Read 2088 times)

Jocko

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First time in the snow.
« on: December 29, 2017, 01:00:21 PM »
We had a good covering of snow this morning. It was the first time I have driven in snow for a number of years, and the first time ever in the Jazz. Must say, I didn't feel very comfortable in it. A bit too light for my liking.

culzean

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2017, 02:02:45 PM »
We had a good covering of snow this morning. It was the first time I have driven in snow for a number of years, and the first time ever in the Jazz. Must say, I didn't feel very comfortable in it. A bit too light for my liking.

Trust me, Jazz is one of the best cars I have driven on snow,  the only road off our estate is quite steep and twisty, and gets no Sun in winter. My wife drove past stuck cars many times in her various jazzes much to embarrassment of male drivers. I used to be off our estate at 4.30am when on early shift and never really had a problem either.  Pretty much unstoppable  now with snow tyres, but as usual don't need them so much now I have them.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2017, 02:12:20 PM by culzean »
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richardfrost

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2017, 02:11:59 PM »
My GE Jazz was unstoppable with winter tyres on.

The GD I still have doesn’t get used enough to bother putting special tyres on. Especially as my main car is now a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid which has 4x4 and all season tyres, a combination which dealt with snow, fresh and compressed, and ice this morning with no issues.

Jocko

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2017, 03:48:34 PM »
I didn't feel it was the going that was the issue. It was steering and stopping I was concerned about. There was one curvy, downhill section, and though I was in 3rd, with my foot off the brakes, I felt more like I was sledging than driving!

culzean

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2017, 04:41:17 PM »
I didn't feel it was the going that was the issue. It was steering and stopping I was concerned about. There was one curvy, downhill section, and though I was in 3rd, with my foot off the brakes, I felt more like I was sledging than driving!

As long as you can get going on snow light weight is actually better because you have less weight to bring to a halt,  and on a hill weight is not your friend either going up or down.  All season tyres are better than summer tyres but on snow dedicated winter tyres have normally 30 to 40% more grip than all season and twice the grip of summers. Narrower tyres generally better than wider ones because they make your vehicle 'heavier' (more weight per square inch of contact) without actually being heavier which as discussed makes it difficult to stop. Front wheel drive also better than RWD because weight of engine is over driven wheels and because rear wheel tracks normally follow front wheels the undriven wheels are not trying to push a wedge of snow in front of them. VW beetle was OK on snow due to weight being over driven (rear) wheels and very narrow tyres.  Unless they are snow tyres wider tyres are a disadvantage in the grip stakes on snow.

I have found with Nokian winter tyres it is possible to drive on snow at pretty much normal speeds and pulling away, steering and stopping are all much, much improved.
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olduser1

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2017, 06:40:50 PM »
Been in snow in Wales & lakeDistrict in Jazz with Nokian winter tyres no issues , although not as good as my Subaru Turbo with winter tyres & 4WD

culzean

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2017, 07:18:35 PM »
Been in snow in Wales & lakeDistrict in Jazz with Nokian winter tyres no issues , although not as good as my Subaru Turbo with winter tyres & 4WD

But better than the Subaru with summer tyres I bet.......
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

madasafish

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2017, 08:01:06 PM »
I learned to drive in snow in  Aberdeenshire in the late 1960s with an Austin A30 with very narrow wheels and a huge power output of c 28bhp from its 803cc engine. It has Town and Country winter tyres (which I used in summer as I was a student and the car cost £30) and went through 1 foot snowdrifts which stopped more modern cars.

The worst car in snow was a Ford Granada Mark 4 which was front heavy and spun on the slightest provocation.Ditto the 1993 BMW 320i...

My jazz driven slowly with minimal braking is fine by comparison... but like most cars, it is impossible in heavy snow which has been unplowed or on ice. On heavy snow, switch off Traction Control or the auto will bog down as the TC stops ALL wheels from spinning and the engine dies...

MartinJG

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Re: First time in the snow.
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2017, 04:15:27 PM »

This might be interesting to some. Winter tyres v summer tyres.


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