SOT: Which car to use in snow?

Is that a 4WD Panda and/or 4WD Yeti?

Look at the tyres and go for the one with the most sips (small slits across the faces of the blocks). Unless the ones with most sips have less than a 2 mm of tread and the others have greater than 5 mm. Also provided the others have some sips and blocks no bigger than about 1 sq inch each. Big smooth blocks are hopeless on snow.

It's tempting to give a smart-arse response like "whichever has winter tyres (and rear/four wheel drive)". :-)

I would go for the one with wider tyres because there's a greater tread width to get a grip on the snow. But the narrower tyres will exert more pressure on the snow so might be able to make more of an impression in the snow to grip.

Shovel is very important. Maybe a couple of old carpet mats that you can shove under the driving wheels if they won't get a grip as you set off from rest - need a couple of people to stand on them to stop them shooting backwards as you try to set off. Maybe a bag of sand as an alternative to mats - anything that allows the wheels to bite. That only helps if there are isolated slippery spots, especially if you've had to pull off the road to let another car past on a narrow road or if you've parked.

Standard advice for snow: set off in second gear and let the clutch in as slowly as possible to avoid wheels spinning. Approach corners slowly, and preferably with nothing coming the other way if it's slippery and you might end up on the wrong side of the road.

Going up a hill could be "interesting". Maybe keep up a fair speed and try not to stop, because starting from rest will be time when wheelspin is most likely.

Good luck!

In days of yore (well, in the 1940's and 1950's anyway), my father always had a set of snow chains in the boot, for use in emergencies (he was a GP, and being able to visit patients in all weathers was essential). But they're rough on the tyres, especially when you get back onto tarmac with no snow. Don't see them much now.

Assuming the same tyre pressures, the heavier car will have a greater contact area. Also greater momentum. In other words, I don't know either. But I'd let down the tyres to the minimum allowed.

Cheers

What you need is 4wd Panda. Very few were sold in the UK but they are definately in the Mountain Goat league when it comes to grippability.

Actually, Top Gear proved that a Mk 1 landrover with narrow tyres was the best.

Lidl had some in the store I visited this Tuesday which I think were left from the main delivery in December so what stores still have some will be a bit hit and miss, no idea on how robust theirs are. From memories of seeing Dad fit them it was bit of PITA but hat was a prewar set and quite heavy. Has any tried those fabric auto socks that enclose the whole wheel. I actually bought a set but never had cause to use them and the vehicle they were bought for we no longer have so I sold them.

We keep a separate set of wheels fitted with winter tyres for our main car anyway, use a local family run tyre shop for our tyres and they are happy to swap the wheels over in late Autumn and early Spring as part of the service , not very DIY but it takes them minutes ,I give them a large pack of biscuits to go with their tea as it doesn't seem right not give them something.

The OP hasn't indicated how the two vehicles are used, if the Panda is used as a local runabout only doing a couple of 1000 miles a year they could consider fitting winter tyres to it in due course and just using them all year round, they will wear quicker as temps rise but on a low use 2nd car that is not likely to be driven hard that may be acceptable .

G.Harman

G.Harman

Front wheel drive helps.

I do use a 4x4 and find it far better but equally I've seen people in

We had a Panda some years back and it was actually quite good in the snow. We live on a road which can be a 'pain' when it snows and our drive slopes to add to the joy. I also had a rear wheel drive MX5, that could be 'lively' if you got caught out in the snow- I didn't normally take it out by choice in such weather.

We have a large motorhome- front wheel drive- and have been caught out in the snow in that. The weight (3.5Ton) makes that 'interesting' but, provided you take care, things are OK.

Years ago, I was in a Tank when it slid on ice, that wasn't something I expected. It was scary. (I wasn't driving!)

On 11-Jan-18 11:22 AM, Chris Hogg wrote: ..

I have a set of self-adjusting chains in the boot. Not that I've ever had a need to use them. Winter tyres have been sufficient so far.

You can get a reasonably good figure for the weight of a car from the tyre pressure and contact area. For example (and not necessarily typical), say 4 tyres, 30 psi all round, contact area say 4 inches square all round: total contact area = 4x4x4 sq.in. = 64 sq.in. So car weight = 64x30 = 1920 lbs, or 0.96 tons.

Yet yerself a set of chains if you are worried and drive up/down with ease.

I'd agree with that. I used to have a Series I and it was great.

I've seen a number of 4x4s in trouble because the drivers have got a false sense of security , they may get going a lot easier in slippery conditions but don't brake that much better than other cars.

AWD won't help if you have skidded into a Kerb so hard the vehicle has ended up on its side. Seen that a couple of times.

G.Harman

And a full sized proper shovel not some little folding thing. If your in snow deep enough to have got stuck you'll have a fair bit of the stuff to shift.

Hum, I wouldn't stand on 'em. Car may lurch or slide sideways...

Basically avoid use of the brakes, gently use the gears and engine braking. A rolling wheel has far more grip than a locked one, it takes quite a concious effort to lift your foot off the brake when sliding towards a tree. Just be aware that whe the wheels start rolling again the car will probably instantly go in the direction the wheels are pointing. So if you've naturally steered into the skid to full lock there could be a very dramatic change of direction.

I find 3rd and 30 works most of the time, fast enough to have enough momemntum to whumpf through 2' drifts(*), not so fast that you might not have enough stooping space.

(*) Up here the snow is cold, dry and powdery, it doesn't stick together at all and is useless for snow balls or snowmen. Drifts are light and soft, might not be quite the same at lower levels with sticky snow. B-)

Can't say I noticed any difference in wear rate when I kept the last set of Vredstien Wintracs on through the summer. Just put a new set of Vredstiens on and don't intend to take them off in the summer, I will keep a close eye on wear though. However another set of tyres and rims won't leave much change from £800...

Definitely the Panda. Its narrow wheels will cut through the snow.

Mike

Forgive the slight thread creep, but a few people are talking about using winter tyres in the summer. Winter tyres generally have lower speed ratings than summer tyres. It appears to be acceptable to use them in the winter but if I had tyres in the summer that had a lower speed rating than specified by the car manufacturer I would be concerned that an insurer could use this as wriggle room and also that the car might fail the MOT test. Just a thought ...

The one with the studded tyres and the smoothest most competent driver. No need for a shovel just get in it and drive...except the bastards won't let you use studded tyres in the UK.

Failing that: Soft snow use the one with wider tyres Compacted snow / ice use the one with the narrower tyres Deep snow go for the one with highest ground clearance Front wheel drive will always be better than rear wheel drive Four wheel drives can be s*it in snow Ground a diff housing in snow and a four wheel drive turns into a shed stuck in the middle of the road. A car with properly weighted steering, low caster angle and no power steering will be easier to control A manual gearbox driven well will be better than an automatic, there is little need for 1st gear. Apply the throttle like it is made of glass or 'welded' together by British Leyland at 4:59pm on a Friday

I've learned something today. I'd always thought that wider tyres with greater contact area would be better.

When driving through deep snow with wheel ruts from previous cars, beware of the car grounding on the pile of snow between the tracks. I had this happen to. I'd got up a short steep hill that the farmers keep fairly clear for milk tanker etc, but a few hundred yards further on, on the level, the snow was deeper than it looked - and I bet that the only vehciles that had been through were Land Rovers with high ground clearance.

Luckily I had a spade and was able to dig out the snow enough that the car could be driven/pushed off its mound of snow. After that I checked any snow that looked deeper than a couple inches from the virgin snow to the bottom of the rut.

If people should not stand on the mats that you shove under the wheels, how do you stop them shooting backwards (friction between mat and snow is much less than between tyre and mat) as soon as you apply any power. I've had this happen even when I let the clutch in very gently.

Stopping in snow/ice is very hit-and-miss. Assume that the car will take

We bought a 4x4 a few years ago in anticipation of winters like we'd had for the last few years, and so far it hasn't snowed at all. Mind you, on a short slimy muddy incline up to a driveway of the house where we're staying at the moment, the 4x4 got up without any problem (and just the barest hint of sliding sideways a couple of inches) whereas my FWD car had great difficulty after we'd done it a couple of times. Even the locals say that the rain (and therefore the mud everywhere) is exceptional. We're having flagstones put down to give better grip in snow and mud - and to prevent big unsightly ruts.

Different tyres make a lot of difference to traction in snow. On that same drive a few years ago (in snow) my Pug 306 with cheap budget tyres got up far more easily than my wife's old Honda Civic with expensive tyres that do much better in rain. That's for normal. not winter, tyres. Not sure whether it was the weight distribution (both FWD cars going uphill) or the different tyres that made the difference.

"FWD cars are better in snow than RWD" - but not going uphill where more of the weight will be on the back wheels. In other situations, I can imagine that having traction in the direction of travel rather than at an angle to it (when an RWD car turns a corner) will be better.

I remember reading that in extreme conditions, as long as the road is clear, it's better to turn the wheel broadside when stopping in an emergency in deep snow to build up more of a "wall" of snow to help you stop - but beware of the car suddenly shooting off where you've steered once the front wheels do start to grip again.