trabitom99 wrote:Tyres, tyres, tyres... With anything but winter tyres driving on snow is always going to be a bit dodgy.

Tom

This is probably the only proper answer, as i don't "drive like a bell end" yet in the snow the 300's about as useful as a chocolate tea-pot! The problem we have here is our winters are very sporadic some being quite mild others like now, lots of snow. Being that winter tyres aren't compulsary in the UK they seem to demand a premium. I had considered putting the stock steels on the back but seeing as i don't NEED to be anywhere in particular and i didn't fancy jacking it up in the snow it's stayed as is so far.

That said it's almost got no fuel in it so filling it up some should help a bit.

Sorry forgot to add in my last post.

BALLAST.

Sand, cement, concrete slats, lardy passengers over driven end... All helps traction.

magnumpi wrote:The problem we have here is our winters are very sporadic some being quite mild others like now, lots of snow. Being that winter tyres aren't compulsary in the UK they seem to demand a premium. I had considered putting the stock steels on the back but seeing as i don't NEED to be anywhere in particular and i didn't fancy jacking it up in the snow it's stayed as is so far.

It's a bit of a hassle, having to remember change wheels twice a year. Last year I couldn't be bothered to swap them over from one car to the other and spent the whole winter driving the GLT over salty roads, the car I'm actually trying to pamper a bit.

TBH if I lived in Holland (flat) never went skiiing (don't have the money for that anyway) and was able to leave the car standing for the few days a year we do have snow I wouldn't bother. But with this new German legislation, coupled with the fact that I need to have a roadworthy car on standby means I have to bite the bullet and jack the car up twice a year (in October and at Easter: "Oktober bis Ostern" as a rule of thumb").

A quick Google search tells me:

compulsory winter tyres (depending on dates and/or weather)
Sweden
Finland
Estonia / Lithuania / Latvia
Germany
Austria
Slowenia
Slowakia

non-compulsory
Benelux
France
UK
Denmark
Switzerland
Norway

Worth remembering for winter Euro-trips ...

Cheers

Tom

EDIT: BTW I just watched that video. Mega-fail

magnumpi wrote:yet in the snow the 300's about as useful as a chocolate tea-pot!

On my old 175/70 13's with Mich Energy's, it was one of the only cars able to drive a few Devon hills a couple of years ago. It's just we all drive 7J + rims on completely unsuitable tyres

I still have my old studded winter tires in garage, 155/80 13, however they are missing studs, oh and grip too

an interesting thing happend to me on the way to the supermarket, as we do not yet have our yet i took out the v70 tdi auto ,negotiated the drive to it no trouble at all got to the car park, no trouble untill a numpty in a range rover with elastic bands on the alloy's slid into the back of a police mobile office now i have seen some funny thing's but to see four police officer's trying to push a rangerover off the back of there office was a sight to behold i did smile on the way past as i left the car park

lynda & ron wishing you all a very happy christmas and a happy new year

ah yeah, that video! that woman has been all over the tinterwebz within a matter of days. Love the way the guy doesn't bother to help her. Still, its pretty freakin funny!

My volvo's been pretty wicked in the snow, just have to go a little faster to keep the momentum up when theres heavy snow . i can get great controllable slides from it too. Good for car control. Ive seen a lot of other peeps get stuck when i haven't.

No probs here today, except for getting out of my parking spot. Luckily the old trick with the car's own floormats worked!

jon-ovlov wrote:Love the way the guy doesn't bother to help her.

You're so right, what a git he is I almost admire the lady for the idea of leaving it in gear and getting out to push, if it had come off I would have said: respect!

Tom

Honestly, living in the Valleys, with steep hills etc, my old 1.4 340 was the best car I ever had in the snow. Went up the mountain roads in it, didnt get stuck once. Honestly.

macplaxton wrote:I've been getting around okay in the DAF 44. The Variomatic in that behaves like a limited slip diff. Yesterday after work I had to clear about 6 inches of snow off it. Get started on 6V electrics (will it? won't it?) and then get going. When the traffic finally cleared a bit after Blanchardstown exit on the M50, I managed to get up to 35mph. Only thing that passed me was a 4x4, the rest were doing about 20km/h

Snow all gone here now, but I just noticed this on the DCD forum - Peter Ustinov in his DAF on passing Jackie Stewart in the snow:

Sir Peter was not synonymous with plebian cars, but appreciated a Daf with the 600cc engine and Variomatic transmission, which reduced gear selection to a choice between forward and reverse. "I had the most enormous triumph with that car, because it would go through deep snow if you pressed the accelerator gently enough to do precisely one mile an hour. The great moment came when we were invited to lunch at a friend's house on a snowy hill. When we passed Jackie Stewart, who was trying to dig his Cosworth Supersomething out of the snow, I couldn't resist lowering the window and saying, `I'll tell them you are on your way'."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/272 ... I-was.html

Nice

Tom