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Best 4x4 not actually going very far..
- Thread starter Chris
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goodoldboy
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In our region it's mandatory to have snow chains in you car or winter tyres if you go above 500 M & The Guardia Civil will close off a road to all those without regardless if you have a bitchin 4x4x.... skinny tyres ,low weight & mass over the axel all count but experience can be a trump card .
It’s traditionally a 30 year old Dacia 1310 (not a Fiesta) Shayne, basically it’s the front wheel drive Renault 13 that never was (AFAIK anyway).
Trust me, it can be embarrassing after fighting your way up in an 80 with all 3 lockers working overtime....
Gary820
Well-Known Member
Had to pick some stuff up the other day, 80 no good as doesn't have a usable boot. Plenty of snow about and drove past struggling cars in the rwd beemer, can't beat winter tyres 
It's more sure footed then the 80 in snow!!
It's more sure footed then the 80 in snow!!
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WOW!
OP said " in the rwd beemer "
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Now imagine the 80 with winter tyres on...Had to pick some stuff up the other day, 80 no good as doesn't have a usable boot. Plenty of snow about and drove past struggling cars in the rwd beemer, can't beat winter tyres
It's more sure footed then the 80 in snow!!
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Man gets stuck in MAN car. Woman drives past in Shopping car.
Gary820
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Yeah I'm on full muds 12.50" wide. In deep stuff the 80 would plow through better but the compacted average snow covered road the beemer is better!!
RWD auto diesel. The previous one was 4x4.
Little 205/55r16 winter tyres. Somewhat lighter then the 80 too. Will set off on a hill in snow with little fuss.
If I left it on the fat summer tyres I wouldn't get out of the street!
If I put the skinny AT's on the 80 it's a different vehicle to drive.
RWD auto diesel. The previous one was 4x4.
Little 205/55r16 winter tyres. Somewhat lighter then the 80 too. Will set off on a hill in snow with little fuss.
If I left it on the fat summer tyres I wouldn't get out of the street!
If I put the skinny AT's on the 80 it's a different vehicle to drive.
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Same as rally teams different types of tyres for mud gravel sand tarmac snow best we can do is buy a set of tyres and hope it's a good choice me I got stt pros still waiting for SNOW to see how much out of shape the best part of 2.5 tonnes can get
Towpack
Well-Known Member
This more or less proves the value of proper "Winter" tyres 'cos I drove my Dad's Beemer, RWD Auto with 235 road tyres on in the snow and it was absolutely shite. No control or feel at all for the traction break point.
Gary820
Well-Known Member
I run stt pro, they're not a bad tyre at all but definitely out performed on an average snowy road.
Even the way the wife drives, throttle is on/off lol.
They will obviously break traction but its predictable the same as driving on a wet day with normal tyres on.
Useless when its warmer tho and damp, will just break traction!! 7 degrees and below they reckon come into their own
You never know how good, or bad, a vehicle and or tyre combination is going to be.
The best 2WD car i ever had in serious snow was an old Volvo 245 estate, ended up rescuing a mini bus of workers going home across the high ground through bad drifting when their mini bus ground to a halt, filled all the seats and the rest piled in the expansive boot, that extra weight helped, we just went for it and that old girl went through without any trouble, that extra weight in the boot did us all a favour, 195/65 x 15 barrow tyres if my memory serves.
Previous Outback on winter tyres was good, but 120 on snowflake stamped all seasons drove out of our steep drive without a slip where the Outback couldn't...but it was later in the day that i twigged i hadn't turned the Outback's TC off.
Talking of surprising vehicles, that winter about 15 or so years ago when everybody got stuck overnight on the M11 Cambs, i was in the middle of a blizzard in Lowestoft with a Volvo FL manual wagon and drag car transporter, 3 axle 5 car LWB prime mover 2 axle 5 car trailer, though i could lift the mid lift when empty, dropped the last car at the Toyota dealer and was sitting facing uphill in about 8" of snow, assumed that was me knackered, sure enough the wagon just dug in and pulled off without a slip.
Took a tortuous route home via all sorts of roads i shouldn't have been on due to M11 and A14 being blocked, passed hundreds of lorries and cars stuck and that motor never caused me a moments issue, even if it was running on 5 cyls by the time i got back about 10 at night.
Another time deep snow in the west mids, i'm in a 4x2 Merc Axor manual tractor with tandem axle double deck trailer, well worn remoulds on the drive axle, again that thing just dug in including reversing up a steep hill into a loading area.
Week later MAN (automated manual) artic, 3 axle unit (mid lift raised) 3 axle trailer, and i'm stuck on a flat road in half an inch of snow, tried rocking it as best you can with a crap gearbox, after about 10 minutes the box overheated and shut down, so had to stop in the middle of the road for half an hour to allow it to cool.
Generally with cars its wide low profiles that can't cope with snow.
Loading new MINIS out of Cowley, compound roughly 6" of snow, those new cars shod on wide tyres wouldn't move (forwards) those lower spec on sensible narrowish tyres no trouble whatsoever, could get the wide tyred models to move in reverse, yet people insist FWD is better.
Wide low profile footprint is completely wrong for snow/slush/ice grip.
Be interesting if we get any snow this year to compare the current Forester on its set of winters, with the 120 on all seasons, but this time i'll switch the Foz's TC off.
The best 2WD car i ever had in serious snow was an old Volvo 245 estate, ended up rescuing a mini bus of workers going home across the high ground through bad drifting when their mini bus ground to a halt, filled all the seats and the rest piled in the expansive boot, that extra weight helped, we just went for it and that old girl went through without any trouble, that extra weight in the boot did us all a favour, 195/65 x 15 barrow tyres if my memory serves.
Previous Outback on winter tyres was good, but 120 on snowflake stamped all seasons drove out of our steep drive without a slip where the Outback couldn't...but it was later in the day that i twigged i hadn't turned the Outback's TC off.
Talking of surprising vehicles, that winter about 15 or so years ago when everybody got stuck overnight on the M11 Cambs, i was in the middle of a blizzard in Lowestoft with a Volvo FL manual wagon and drag car transporter, 3 axle 5 car LWB prime mover 2 axle 5 car trailer, though i could lift the mid lift when empty, dropped the last car at the Toyota dealer and was sitting facing uphill in about 8" of snow, assumed that was me knackered, sure enough the wagon just dug in and pulled off without a slip.
Took a tortuous route home via all sorts of roads i shouldn't have been on due to M11 and A14 being blocked, passed hundreds of lorries and cars stuck and that motor never caused me a moments issue, even if it was running on 5 cyls by the time i got back about 10 at night.
Another time deep snow in the west mids, i'm in a 4x2 Merc Axor manual tractor with tandem axle double deck trailer, well worn remoulds on the drive axle, again that thing just dug in including reversing up a steep hill into a loading area.
Week later MAN (automated manual) artic, 3 axle unit (mid lift raised) 3 axle trailer, and i'm stuck on a flat road in half an inch of snow, tried rocking it as best you can with a crap gearbox, after about 10 minutes the box overheated and shut down, so had to stop in the middle of the road for half an hour to allow it to cool.
Generally with cars its wide low profiles that can't cope with snow.
Loading new MINIS out of Cowley, compound roughly 6" of snow, those new cars shod on wide tyres wouldn't move (forwards) those lower spec on sensible narrowish tyres no trouble whatsoever, could get the wide tyred models to move in reverse, yet people insist FWD is better.
Wide low profile footprint is completely wrong for snow/slush/ice grip.
Be interesting if we get any snow this year to compare the current Forester on its set of winters, with the 120 on all seasons, but this time i'll switch the Foz's TC off.
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