Ford Ka or C-Max for driving in the snow?

catflea

I've had the joy of driving two cars in the current weather conditions and although not identical there are parallels;

Rover 100 (aka metro) 1.4 Engine, Short Ratio Gearbox and Skinny tyres (no ABS)
Ford Escort Estate. 1.8 Turbo Diesel and Medium (185) tyres

The Rover was a dream, light nippy and had no problem on ice, or slush but for some reason in fresh powder the back end was a little "loose" but nothing that very sensible driving couldn't handle. The key was keeping in the highest gear possible and smooth, gentle control.

The Escort on the other hand was a bit of a pig - it got going better in the powderl, but was harder work on ice. It felt a lot more like it was going to break loose. Horrid experience

I reckon that the key is a light car so that its easier to transfer the moment of inertia when you go round a corner (the heavier the car, the more likely it is to want to go straight on!) Think about it as throwing a tennis balll and a ping pong ball - which is more likely to be blown by the wind (turning force)

I say take the Ka. Try not to use first gear - set off in second and use the gears to slow where possible only using the brakes when you are already dead slow. Also remember that it can take upto 10 times longer to stop the car in icey conditions :eek:so leave plenty of stopping distance!

If you dont think that you can make it at any point, theres no harm in turning round and trying again later. Better to arrive late than never!

ukjoel

Have driven both in snow and would probably stay at home but if you must go take the CMAX - 2 litre diesels wernt available in the basic spec so will be zetec or above with ABS and probably ESP as standard ( some guesswork there).

It will also have bigger wheels and better ground clearance and its more metal around you in case the guy coming the other way.

Also more comfortable for sleeping in in case you get stuck in the snow.

flyingscotno1

catflea wrote: »

I've had the joy of driving two cars in the current weather conditions and although not identical there are parallels;

Rover 100 (aka metro) 1.4 Engine, Short Ratio Gearbox and Skinny tyres (no ABS)

The Rover was a dream, light nippy and had no problem on ice, or slush but for some reason in fresh powder the back end was a little "loose" but nothing that very sensible driving couldn't handle. The key was keeping in the highest gear possible and smooth, gentle control.

The Metro was a fun car, my Mum had a 1.1 in 1994 just before rebadging as the 100. Keeping it in a high gear is trickier than it sounds- only 4 gears and could be a bit slow in every one! :rotfl: The days of a choke, no PAS and you had to be able to work a gear box and if it all went wrong you had a 1 star safety rating and nice leg lacerations! People today don't know they are born eh? :rotfl:

goldspanners

my fiancee's dad has a s type jag, all singing all dancing, and thats about all it does in the snow is dance, it literally won't budge, its too heavy and takes a bit of power to get it moving, my 1.6 focus only requires me to lift the clutch pedal slowly with no revs and it pulls away gently, weve had 3 weeks of terrible weather and ive not been stuck once, my transit is the same lift clutch gently and away it goes no matter what the road surface is like.
i would favour the smaller car, if it gets stuck its easier to get it moving again even if it has to resort to pushing, i don't fancy pushing a heavy c max.

waynedance

An easy one to answer, whats got the most airbags, lol..............

catflea

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

The Metro was a fun car, my Mum had a 1.1 in 1994 just before rebadging as the 100. Keeping it in a high gear is trickier than it sounds- only 4 gears and could be a bit slow in every one! :rotfl: The days of a choke, no PAS and you had to be able to work a gear box and if it all went wrong you had a 1 star safety rating and nice leg lacerations! People today don't know they are born eh? :rotfl:

2 Star Actually Mines just post rebranding 5 cog short ratio box great fun when mated to the 75 brake engine. No choke either on mine....

If you can't work a gearbox should you be drivning a manual? :eek:

bbl_2

Personally for the safety factor i would take the cmax, KA has little chance in accidents tbh

JoanneC_2

Thanks for all your advice. Just wanted to let you all know that I decided to take the Ka. The CMax was in the drive and the Ka was in the garage so my husband reversed the CMax out of the drive so I could get the Ka out of the garage........the CMax got totally stuck in our road and he couldn't get back into the drive whereas the Ka slowly but surely made it all the way into work this morning and all the way back this evening!!!
Thanks again for all of your thoughts and opinions it helped me to make a decision that I felt confident about, even if you all don't agree!

JonathanA

Good one! Glad you got there and back safely. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter what any of us said, it is down to which one you feel most comfortable driving. Small is beautiful!!

996ducati

Sorry to hijack the thread a little but there seem to be quite a few comments on here from people who seem to think that a bigger car must be safer. Sadly, not always true.

Have a look at the European Crash tests website and compare the official results. Might be a bit of an eye opener!

Theres a section on the left of the home page to check cars by make/model etc. "how safe is your car"

http://www.euroncap.com/home.aspx

Kind Regards