c***s on the road

[tamthebam]

In 2010 when we had all the snow I was driving past SUVs which hadn't moved for weeks in my P Reg Nissan Micra, which actually handled the conditions quite well.

I know they're usually bought so Tarquin and Phoebe will feel safe on the school run to Stewart Melville and Mary Erskine's but what's the point in not using a vehicle in the conditions it's designed for.

[alta-pete]

13 hours ago, frankthetank22 said:

Winter driving, not sure if this is the best thread to discuss

Is anyone able to advise what would be a decent second hand 4x4. I think I need a winter vehicle, preferably with half decent mpg?

I live in the tropics of Inverness but need to travel through the wilderness to Kingussie on a regular basis. I've been lucky with the weather on the A9 in my Hyundai i30 but don't know how long my luck will last!

Or another thing to think about. Four wheel drive certainly enables you to get going, but that does not render you exempt from the laws of physics when it comes to cornering or stopping. All you’ve done is arrived at your own accident a whole lot earlier and a whole lot faster. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by alta-pete

[alta-pete]

7 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

In 2010 when we had all the snow I was driving past SUVs which hadn't moved for weeks in my P Reg Nissan Micra, which actually handled the conditions quite well.

^^^ with @Trackdaybob s winter tires is the right answer @frankthetank22

[Trackdaybob]

9 hours ago, tamthebam said:

but what's the point in not using a vehicle in the conditions it's designed for

A lot of them are 2wd. Just a jacked up car. Nothing more than a 'lifestyle' product. 

[welshbairn]

9 hours ago, alta-pete said:

^^^ with @Trackdaybob s winter tires is the right answer @frankthetank22

What's the score with winter tyres, does a garage store them and change them over when needed? Are there any problems about using them in normal conditions?

Edited December 29, 2020 by welshbairn

[frankthetank22]

Cheers for the chat folk's.

I was made redundant a couple months ago but managed to secure a decent/good new job which keeps me in the same industry. The one issue is the 50min commute but I can deal with that (with the aid of podcasts).

I regard myself as an experienced and competent winter driver and always fit new winter tires every Nov/Dec but know how bad the road can become, last bad winter was 2010 imo.  We have two cars, an i30 which I can get 55mpg out of, plus a wee town car for the missus. My plan is to sell her town car and get a second hand 4x4 which she can use to her work/shops, and I can use in days with fresh snow.

I had read that the Panda 4x4 is surprisingly good in the snow, she likes the look of the RAV4. I've been checking FB marketplace & Gumtree for 4x4 vehicles with a new mot, just thought I'd put it to p&b for suggestions, in what to avoid even?

[Cosmic Joe]

 

When did this thread turn into Top Fucking Gear? 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Angusfifer

[alta-pete]

If I was commuting for near 2hrs a day, I think the novelty of a 4x4 Panda would wear awfy thin awfy quick. Winter tires on your Hyundai and you’ll be fine. Or if you’re not, you probably shouldn’t have been out in it anyway! 

[alta-pete]

10 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

What's the score with winter tyres, does a garage store them and change them over when needed? Are there any problems about using them in normal conditions?

Some will; as always, it just comes down to cost. Using them all year just wears them out quicker and braking /cornering loads aren’t as good on dry roads. 

[JamesP_81]

Cheers for the chat folk's.
I was made redundant a couple months ago but managed to secure a decent/good new job which keeps me in the same industry. The one issue is the 50min commute but I can deal with that (with the aid of podcasts).
I regard myself as an experienced and competent winter driver and always fit new winter tires every Nov/Dec but know how bad the road can become, last bad winter was 2010 imo.  We have two cars, an i30 which I can get 55mpg out of, plus a wee town car for the missus. My plan is to sell her town car and get a second hand 4x4 which she can use to her work/shops, and I can use in days with fresh snow.
I had read that the Panda 4x4 is surprisingly good in the snow, she likes the look of the RAV4. I've been checking FB marketplace & Gumtree for 4x4 vehicles with a new mot, just thought I'd put it to p&b for suggestions, in what to avoid even?

Our work 4x4s have been skodas, yeti then karoq and they have all been excellent in the worst weather conditions. Anybody I know that have a rav4 have nothing but good things to say about them, including one guy at work who bought one as a winter car as he was fed up with people laughing at him getting stuck in his M4 and is now using it all year round.

[tamthebam]

3 hours ago, Angusfifer said:

 

When did this thread turn into Top Fucking Gear? 

To be fair, it is called "c**ts on the road"...

[Sergeant Wilson]

13 hours ago, alta-pete said:

Or another thing to think about. Four wheel drive certainly enables you to get going, but that does not render you exempt from the laws of physics when it comes to cornering or stopping. All you’ve done is arrived at your own accident a whole lot earlier and a whole lot faster. 

If you can't drive, you can't drive. At my last house there was a few Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi type 4x4. Prior to bad weather the owners drove out of the street on to the main road to park. The fact the Taliban and ISIS use these cars to go up and down mountains was lost on them. I think I had a Ford Ka at the time that sailed past them all trudging to their cars.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Sergeant Wilson

[weirdcal]

In 2010 when we had all the snow I was driving past SUVs which hadn't moved for weeks in my P Reg Nissan Micra, which actually handled the conditions quite well.
I know they're usually bought so Tarquin and Phoebe will feel safe on the school run to Stewart Melville and Mary Erskine's but what's the point in not using a vehicle in the conditions it's designed for.

Oddly enough my wee s reg micra handled the road better than some of the SUVs on the road at the time during same said bad weather.
Amazing wee things that age and shape of car.

[Aidan]

Cheers for the chat folk's.
I was made redundant a couple months ago but managed to secure a decent/good new job which keeps me in the same industry. The one issue is the 50min commute but I can deal with that (with the aid of podcasts).
I regard myself as an experienced and competent winter driver and always fit new winter tires every Nov/Dec but know how bad the road can become, last bad winter was 2010 imo.  We have two cars, an i30 which I can get 55mpg out of, plus a wee town car for the missus. My plan is to sell her town car and get a second hand 4x4 which she can use to her work/shops, and I can use in days with fresh snow.
I had read that the Panda 4x4 is surprisingly good in the snow, she likes the look of the RAV4. I've been checking FB marketplace & Gumtree for 4x4 vehicles with a new mot, just thought I'd put it to p&b for suggestions, in what to avoid even?

My pal bought himself a Daihatsu Terios last winter for going up to Aberdeen every day and his Mrs liked it that much that she sold her own car. It's not exactly the most exciting option but neither is a Fiat Panda.

[welshbairn]

8 hours ago, weirdcal said:

Oddly enough my wee s reg micra handled the road better than some of the SUVs on the road at the time during same said bad weather.
Amazing wee things that age and shape of car.

I drove an automatic Micra from Inverness to Wales that winter, can't remember the reg but it was over 12 years old. Most of the A9 was single lane with the snow piled up either side. Only trouble I had was the windscreen wiper fluid freezing in the pipes and the windscreen covered in ice, so I had to stop every so often and scrape it off so I could see.

[tamthebam]

14 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I drove an automatic Micra from Inverness to Wales that winter, can't remember the reg but it was over 12 years old. Most of the A9 was single lane with the snow piled up either side. Only trouble I had was the windscreen wiper fluid freezing in the pipes and the windscreen covered in ice, so I had to stop every so often and scrape it off so I could see.

the old man used to put a wee bit of anti-freeze in the windscreen wash to stop that. Probably not very safe or advisable for some reason but that's how he rolled. 

ETA: the problem with the Micra design was that the screen wash bottle was right down near the road where it would freeze rather than being on top of the engine where it could get warmed from the heat of the engine. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by tamthebam

[Bold Rover]

48 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

the old man used to put a wee bit of anti-freeze in the windscreen wash to stop that. Probably not very safe or advisable for some reason but that's how he rolled.

Wouldn't that strip the paint?

[gav-ffc]

On 24/12/2020 at 14:50, gav-ffc said:

Not c***s on the road as such but can’t help but notice the amount of cars going around with a headlight out at the moment.

Genuinely seem to see at least 1 a day doing my driving first thing in the morning and last thing at night on the way home. May be down to MOT extensions perhaps?

Coming back to this, on my drive home on Monday at 10pm I seen at least 5 motors with headlights out and my drive home is 10/12 minutes.

[tamthebam]

Even before Covid you tended to see a lot in the winter, mainly because of the early sunsets. 

I suppose Petty Things that Get on Your Nerves for this pish but car designs that make it hard to do a simple thing like change a bulb. The last car I had was a Citroen C3 and you needed to have arms like Stretch Armstrong to change the bloody bulb.  

[Jacksgranda]

43 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

Even before Covid you tended to see a lot in the winter, mainly because of the early sunsets. 

I suppose Petty Things that Get on Your Nerves for this pish but car designs that make it hard to do a simple thing like change a bulb. The last car I had was a Citroen C3 and you needed to have arms like Stretch Armstrong to change the bloody bulb.  

My mechanic used to complain about that - can't remember which model in particular he was referring to.