Jazz in the snow

[guest2913]

For many of us who owned a Jazz or Jazzs over the years, am just interested how it handles in the snow? This be the first time I've drove a car in the snow and just been dreading the thought of snow, especail i work nights and traveling home at 4am on ungritted roads / uncleared roads and was wondering would they be any point adding snow tyres?

[guest2898]

Well james, as long as you are light on the throttle and gentle on the brakes. you should do fine! my wifes jazz (02 1.4 DSI-SE Manual) handled brilliantly on very bad roads on her commute from preston to southport, she passed car after car that were stuck and being pushed, with normal tyres fitted, i had my civic last year, and that handled it well too. The roads were much worse in southport than here in preston, and i was pleased that her jazz got her back safely every day with no trouble, even over black ice. Just take it slow and you will beat all the rev happy idiots out there!!  Some lads on here use winter tyres, so no doubt that will increase the jazz's already great stability even further....

[guest2913]

thats good to know that! I drove my motorbike the last 2 years in the snow and only got stuck the once where the snow melted on a manhole and couldn't get back out! haha
i wonder if the manual mode make a difference over CVT but am surpised how well the CVT works even when you try and beat it with 7 speed mode!

[guest1521]

Light, low-powered, front-drive cars on relatively narrow tyres - particularly if less than half-worn - driven appropriately have quite an advantage in snow compared to other 2wd. The trick for any vehicle in snow is to keep the revs down as far as possible and drive ultra-smoothly.  My GE Jazz is great on snow. Winter tyres - though I don't have those - probably help lots too... as well as improve stopping distances below 7degreesC.

[guest2913]

never knew that i thought the wider the tyre the better, hence why 4x4 got on better on the snow due to 4x4 wheel drive and wide tyres!

[guest2865]

never knew that i thought the wider the tyre the better, hence why 4x4 got on better on the snow due to 4x4 wheel drive and wide tyres!

The wider tyre has more road contact area and for a given down force will therefore have less loading per unit area - this non intuitive fact works against the notion that the wider the tyre the better the grip.

[Aitcho]

I drove my motorbike the last 2 years in the snow and only got stuck the once where the snow melted on a manhole and couldn't get back out! haha

If you can cope with riding a motorcycle in snow by comparison driving a car is a doddle!

You also have the advantage of travelling at 4am when traffic is light or non-existent, as other people have already said light on the throttle, minimal braking if possible and stay relaxed.

In the last lot of snow we did not see many gritters in my area and lots of roads went untreated, no doubt with the present financial cut-backs many councils might be tempted to leave even more roads untreated.

[guest809]

Last winter my £33000 BMW was like Bambi on ice  whilst my wife's Jazz was like a little tractor about the place!!

[D3DSL]

Snow, what snow??





The Jazz is very good in the snow up to about 6" as long as you have proper tyres and drive to keep momentum up but very smoothly, anticipating what's ahead in loads of time. I've ditched the OEM Bridgestones for proper snowflaked winters (Vredstein Quadtrac 3s) and that makes a world of difference.  The car was dire on Bridgestones.  I also carry a shovel & decent tow rope so I can dig myself out, often it's just a snow wedge in front of a wheel that stops you.

I don't know what the Jazz is like in really deep snow as I have more suitable wheels for that.

[D3DSL]

never knew that i thought the wider the tyre the better, hence why 4x4 got on better on the snow due to 4x4 wheel drive and wide tyres!

As jirams says above, winter/snow tyres are narrower to put more pressure down & get grip.  Super wide tyres on 4x4s are more of a fashion item than any use offroad or in snow.  Not all 4x4s are good in snow, my brother's X6 (and the X5 before it) can't get out of their drive and they use my parent's Disco4.

[guest2898]

Snow, what snow??






Blimey.... it make this this pic of my civic which i had last year look like a mere dusting!! lol.

[D3DSL]

Deffo a light dusting.  We had this in a couple of days.

[guest869]

The Jazz has good forward grip in the snow due to a very forward weight bias (front engine and fuel tank under the front seats).

However this does make the rear end lively (oversteer), so just be careful around the bends.



The wider tyre has more road contact area and for a given down force will therefore have less loading per unit area - this non intuitive fact works against the notion that the wider the tyre the better the grip.

This is NOT the case on dry tarmac though.

[guest2898]

Deffo a light dusting.  We had this in a couple of days.

Your'e right...  it had wheelie bin snowing hard that day..... 

[D3DSL]

Some call it a wheelie bin, in the winter it's a LGISDGP (Local Government issued Snow Depth Gauge Platform)!! Daft thing is they even send the truck round to pick up the brown (garden waste) bin every 2 weeks even if there is a foot of snow on the ground but te roads are ploughed.

One of my fave pics entitled "Has anyone seen my legs?"