OK.......

[davin]

"For every 10 Finns trying to drive down the road, we have 100."

Well I am a Finnish man who left home at 6 this morning to get a ferry to France for a few days carpentry work (Only work I have this week!).

Because none of the roads have been cleared or gritted I spent three hours trying to get on the M20, before giving up and leaving my vehicle and tools parked in a side road,
So is it OK for me to moan and complain about the situation.
Ps 4 x4 are pretty uncommon in Scandinavia.
maybe it should read

"For every 1 Finn trying to drive down the road, we have 99 British drivers who don't put their lights on, clear snow from windscreen, drive fast enough have a clue about winter"

On the bright side it has made me very homesick today.

Davin

 

[Ironballs]

I wonder if the people of Canadia and other countries snowier than our own have a higher number of 4x4's per person than we do in this Sceptic Isle?

Our own Government seems to be trying to tax 4x4 owners off the road under the misguided reason of "climate change" :evil:

I quite enjoyed having the roads to myself earlier this year.

More snow please!

Coat on, engine running. :lol:

Absolutely. Ban 2 wheel drive cars when it's snowing!

Balls! I can get around quicker and easier in my winter tyre equipped Focus than most 4x4s on the road, especially when going down hills :wink:

 

[dickm]

Still not converted to 4x4 - winter tyres seem to be doing OK on the Golf.
An interesting comment from the Law on BBC Scotland last night - officer reckoned the biggest problems on the road were caused by people buying 4X4s and then thinking they can go anywhere. As a result, getting properly stuck and blocking roads.
But even up here, young folk still seem to think that more revs will get them out of snow............

 

[davin]

As a postscript to my rant regarding the ability of Councils and British drivers coping with snow -
train services in Finland are experiencing delays due to weather, like wise in Poland my Polish wife informs me,,,

Ps in Finland as well as studded tyres you can legally use soft compound "sticky", tyres, never looked into them as I guess that they are very expensive.

Davin

 

[andycktm]

Two wheel drive would be great,but 90% of cars have "one" wheel drive.
Normally i would not have a Jeep type vehicle,but its frustating being stranded in a normal car and watching the four wheel drives carry on as normal.
In four wheel drive i don't think there is many places they cannot go.

Studded tires 8) 8)

 

[big soft moose]

In a four wheel drive i don't think there is many places they cannot go.

in a four wheel drive there are few places I cannot go - but then ive been trained to drive one off road - a lot of halfwits buy a 4x4 as a status symbol and the snow is probably the first time they've encountered slipery conditions - in their hands a 4x4 is only marginally more capable than a 2x

 

[andycktm]

Because............they do not know how to use the 4H/L wheel drive selector e.t.c.

I've been up muddy hills i could not walk up in a jeep.

There is not many 2 wheel drive vehicles.

I'm not a jeep fan, but you cannot deny they are the business in snow

 

[theartfulbodger]

Too late to quote and answer all the points but...

Yes, idiots who think they are invincible in a 4x4 are a menace.

Focus backwards is sucof

I too have driven Land Rovers places I couldn't walk

 

[RogerS]

Fascinating...bit of deja vu....from last year.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/how- ... 29656.html?

Just watched some aerial footage shot over Gatwick. I have to confess that, having seen this, I've change my mind and think that our preparedness especially at our second largest airport is pathetic. No excuse. Sack the CEO. Three --- yup, a measly three snowploughs.

At Oslo airport a few years ago? I watched a magnificent phalanx of 10...repeat 10..snowploughs constantly clearing the runway, followed by another of brushes and blowers.

 

[Digit]

Despite the jokes about Welsh weather we have had only two snow falls of more than fag paper depth in 20 years. Thus our local people are utterly clueless for want of practise.
The last time we had about 4 inches and I watched in horror as a local bus driver attempted to overtake up a blind hill, to be faced by an artic coming down the hill.
The bus driver managed to duck into a layby with feet to spare and the artic all over the place!
I don't know if it's just me but I find that modern cars with their wider tyres are also less 'handy' on snow.

Roy.

 

[dickm]

Back in 1980-ish, we had an unusual fall of snow in Bedfordshire, and I was blaspheming about a lad in a white van in front who obviously hadn't got a clue about driving in snow. Then it occurred to me that the last time there's been serious snow in that area was probably before he was born, let alone before he started driving.
And, yes, pretty sure my old Volvo with 15" wheels and tall narrow tyres was more capable in snow that something modern with similar size wheels, stability contro,l but wide tyres. Anyone know why??

 

[Digit]

1983 if I remember correctly Dick. Had to dig my way into the facory to get warm!

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

And, yes, pretty sure my old Volvo with 15" wheels and tall narrow tyres was more capable in snow that something modern with similar size wheels, stability contro,l but wide tyres. Anyone know why??

probably because you knew how to drive - a lot of muppets these days rely on "stability control" (whatever that is, my van doesnt have it) rather than driving ability - leading to them going faster than the conditions would otherwise allow then when the computer is overmatched by the conditions they cant cope.

for example a quick straw poll in the office the otherday found that 6 of my colleagues (all in their twenties or early thirties) didnt know about sequence breaking and 4 of them didnt know which way to steer in a skid

 

[Digit]

When I started driving Pete heaters were an optional extra, since then the most useful invention IMO has been anti-lock breaking when on snow.

Roy.

 

[andycktm]

Wide tire = low ground pressure ,stays on top rather than cutting through.
personally i don't think any aids other than four wheel drive and diff lock work in snow.
The abs on my car is massively over whelmed, may work better on a 75k car with a 15k computer onboard

 

[theartfulbodger]

There is a school of thought that ABS increases the stopping distance in snow as a locked wheel will build up a pile of snow in front of it that acts as a brake.

Skinny tyres vs fat tyres is an old debate amongst off roading types. The skinny tyres tend to dig down through (the mud) and find grip in the harder/drier stuff underneath, fat tyres don't (lower pressure on the ground as above) and tend to "float" across the surface of the ground (like when on sand).

 

[Digit]

ABS definitely increases braking distance, but you do retain steering.

Roy.

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Who ordered the White stuff?

C'mon own up.


Grrrrrrrrrrrr....

My nephew did but he wanted it in northern Wisconsin. He needs to work on his aim, though. :lol:

 

[studders]

Yeah, just a tad out wasn't he.

Not to worry though, we'll get it packed up and shipped off to him.

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Send it to his favorite ski hill.