Ice and snow driving, what are you techniques?
 

With the current weather people will be out and about in the snow/ice. I’m no expert in snow driving but I would say I’ve had my fair share of experience. I was taught to bring a car to an allmost stop only using the clutch and gears from a steady speed if you were traveling in the snow. Obviously this takes a lot of planning and reading the road ahead but it works. As we know if you use the brakes it normally ends in disaster.

But what about if you have an auto? I’ve not driven an auto in the snow before, it’s ok getting going but it’s the stopping that’s important and a lot of our volvos are auto especially the awd models.

So what techniques do you use to get around safely?

If I have to drive in these conditions, I use as high a gear as possible, and touch the pedals as little as possible.

Thankfully my Volvo is diesel, FWD and manual, whereas my last car (Lexus hybrid) was RWD and CVT auto,so didn't even have a 'proper' manual mode.

HTH
Malcolm

ps. The three wheeler is fun, by the way, a very light car, RWD through the single rear wheel, making it a 3x1 configuration, but having a short stroke high revving bike engine.....

I used to deliberately cycle in really bad snow and ice and believe it's good experience for when you begin to drive a car.

Smooth inputs of the controls, braking very gently and in plenty of time and don't 'provoke' the car at all.

Everything as smooth as possible, braking/accelerating/steering. Yes, it needs planning and looking out ahead, no way around it. My XC90 is auto, any downward slope (snow or not) and I shift to manua-mode to apply some engine braking.

http://juwra.com/images/kuvitus/176_loix_leaning.jpg

That is all.

Im with owyn, all about momentum. With road tires I needed to keep the speed up or I got stuck and just looking far ahead :thumbs_up:

put on my winter tires straight away and its just like driving normally, passing a lot of 4x4's out there on the country roads :thumbs_up:

Absolutely. Every driver should serve an 'apprenticeship' on two wheels - it brings an awareness of road, weather and traffic conditions that driving a car never can. Additionally, modern cars with their standard ABS, EBFD, TC, etc., should theoretically make driving safer, but many drivers negate the benefits by driving with a (misplaced) confidence that they will always get them out of trouble.

Apropos cycling: I used to have a 'winter' bike, equipped with a fixed wheel, which gave a much greater degree of control in slippery conditions than free.

Regards, John.

The smooth driving technique reminds me of the concept I saw some years ago regarding economical driving. The 'mindset' is to image you have a dinner plate stuck on the bonnet with a football sitting on it. You then drive in a manner so as to keep the football from rolling off. Yes, its' a crazy idea in practice, but as a mindset to encourage smooth driving, it works wonders for both economy and safety on winter roads.

Totally agree with previous posts especially about thinking ahead, much further than "normal" driving. I also look for the untouched snow seen next to the kerb or road edge when driving up an incline, get your nearside wheels on that and it usually gives a bit better grip than the compacted snow on the rest of the road - but doesn't work if the snow is more than six or seven inches deep!
Lastly, I always advise it is better to arrive twenty minutes late in this world rather than twenty years early in the next.

Smooth inputs, use gears and engine to slow the car and brakes at the last moment, if in traffic brake gently against the engine to show those following I m slowing.
Momentum is important so plan ahead. Down hill lower gears and not touch the brakes.


I find when teaching off road driving newer engines which rev freely less capable of holding the car back when decending so advocate gentle brake against the engine. My 300 TDI landrover will decend a 25% slope in low box with no brake input at tickover, if I tried it with the D5 it would be screaming it's nuts off.

Paul.

MORE POWER!!!!

Sorry, dunno what came over me there, went all Jeremy Clarkson... ;)

My approach is to treat driving on snow and ice a bit like seduction.....make no sudden moves, take it nice and steady and eventually you will get there!

This is the time of year I curse electric handbrakes.
Just dive smoothly etc but please please please don’t be one if the many selfish people who sit at 15mph when it’s quite safe to go 40+Mph

Are you saying driving on snow is very like making love to a beautiful woman? Used to love those sketches on the fast show!!

Driving unobtrusively.i.e softly softly.
 

IT'S The wrong time of the year for birds nesting,so stay out of that hedge!

You are so right, couple of newly qualified drivers lived near me a few years ago,always going too fast in the wrong places, 1st. time it snowed and froze they couldn't get out of the turning, up the camber so 'foot down' was their answer instead of the opposite.

regards,keith.

Sunday I went out in the landrover in 3" of snow, was passed by a lotus going sideways and evidently enjoying himself. Thinking back to my youth it's what we did, early morning, quiet roads and snow, time to PLAY. As I did not pass him buried in a hedge he evidently got there but the bwarp bwarp of power on power off brought back memories of a tail happy Hillman imp and a smile from ear to ear.

Paul.

Did my first ever handbrake turn/spin many years ago on fresh snow in an empty carpark. Loved it! Car was a bright green (very) basic mini.

We used to have a very big parade square in Ripon that was used as a car skating ring when it snowed. Although it was flat it was on the side of a slight hill and encircled by an access road. Going down the ramp onto the square gave you a bit of extra speed. The second day after snow was always the best as it had compacted to ice, we always had a competition to see who could slide a car the furthest.

Did you have people with brushes sweeping the path in front of it as in curling?

No but that would have been a sight :)

Escorts used to slide well but if I remember rightly one guy had a midget that used to nearly make it across.

..that brings a :wac_biggrin: to my face and reminds me of my youth in a 1256 Chevette on Stomil tyres pretending to be Pennti Airikkla as I powerslid arounds the snow covered back roads. Taught me how to drive it did.

Watched a film of Ari Vatenian on the 1000 lakes rally in a Toyota Celica, 120 mph on sheet ice withjust fingertips on the steering wheel, constantly making minor adjustments to keep the car in line.

One of the great pleasures of my younger years was watching him over Epynt after he had moved to ford. 4 off on deer's leap on first round and move on to the bottom of new road to watch him second time around. One of the greats and along with Tony Pond an inspiration to many budding rally drivers.

Paul.

Years ago I did one of those Driving Experience days at Bruntingthorpe. They had a VW Polo with a shallow bowl on the bonnet with a tennis ball in it. Twisty course laid out with cones. So you did the 'crazy idea' for real. Unbelievably difficult. Football on a plate? You'd never do it, it would be straight off.
They also had a classic Mini with the steering 'reversed', so turn the wheel right it turned left. Jeez that is difficult.
I've got full winters. Braking in non compacted snow I was told brake gently and the snow builds up in front of the tyres, acts to an extent like a chock.
I had a really basic Pug 205 1.8 non turbo diesel for a while. In snow, normal tyres, you could put it in 1st and just lift the clutch, don't touch the throttle peddle. It would chug up hills that all the other cars couldn't tackle. Basically it would drive on tickover.

Is this 4 off? We called it 'showing some air'.
Pirelli Car and Car Conversions Rally Championship (remember Triple C?) in 1976. Exiting a very dusty quarry near Cheltenham. I'm in the passenger seat, navigating. Big grins.

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the technique beloved by the drivers of certain cars of Germanic origin; drive as normal and continue to overtake everybody by travelling at 80mph in the outside lane whilst it is covered in 3 inches of slush.