driving in snow

onetomany

hi i no this sounds silly but has anybody got any good advice on driving in snow?, we are ment to be getting in our area the end of the week and im pooing myself, last year i didnt drive much the couple of times i did i hated it but this year im working as a home carer so need to drive to service users houses any tips ?

seafarers_wife

allow yourself plenty of time to get to places, dont rush anything, stay in as low a gear as possible, have deicer etc in car, possibly even a shovel. i will be keeping a new sweeping brush in the car when/if snow is forecast to brush it off the roof so that there isnt the extra weight in the car.

the main thing is just take your time!

johnfarquhar74

seafarers_wife wrote: »

allow yourself plenty of time to get to places, dont rush anything, stay in as low a gear as possible, have deicer etc in car, possibly even a shovel. i will be keeping a new sweeping brush in the car when/if snow is forecast to brush it off the roof so that there isnt the extra weight in the car.

the main thing is just take your time!

I was always told to drive in a higher gear as it has less torque? When in snow or ice I usually start off in 2nd as 1st could cause wheel spin and when you polish off the ice/snow with your wheels you're pretty much stuck!

rikbar

Hey there,

My advice would be to keep lots of room between you and other cars, keep a good look out on what is going on ahead and anticipate as much as possible. The key to driving on anything slippy is making sure you don't make any sudden changes to direction or speed.

I drove my rear wheel drive sports coupe last year on all but 1 day in the snow and although there were a couple of heart stopping moments, managed to get on better than some in their front wheel drive cars.

Always remember slow and steady, don't let anyone rush you and you should be fine.

Another thing I did was to carry a change of clothes, as if it gets too bad it is better just to pull into a hotel and stop the night, rather than risk anything else.

HTH

Rikbar

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

First off, go out now and buy a big bag of grit - before everyone else does, and before the shops therefore run out of the stuff. Also make sure you have some table salt for your dinner, as the fools always buy that too!

You should treble, even quadruple your normal stopping distance.

Don't go out unless you need to.

If you can afford to, buy some winter tyres and fit them now.

thescouselander

johnfarquhar74 wrote: »

I was always told to drive in a higher gear as it has less torque? When in snow or ice I usually start off in 2nd as 1st could cause wheel spin and when you polish off the ice/snow with your wheels you're pretty much stuck!

I agree - a high gear is the way to go and keep the revs low. If you're going a long way and you know its bad take a bag of grit and a shovel (as already suggested) and maybe a flask of tea.

Also, if you get stuck and you don't have the above to hand placing the mats from your car under the driven wheels may get you moving.


Basically the driving strategy for snow is to minimise acceleration in any direction - that means go easy on the brakes, don't turn too hard and don't accelerate too hard. Usually when stopping I try to use the gears more than the brakes. When you're on a slippy surface it might be best not to come to a complete stop if you can help it.

Of course the best advice is to not go out at all if you can help it.

curlytop12

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

First off, go out now and buy a big bag of grit - before everyone else does, and before the shops therefore run out of the stuff. Also make sure you have some table salt for your dinner, as the fools always buy that too!

You should treble, even quadruple your normal stopping distance.

Don't go out unless you need to.

If you can afford to, buy some winter tyres and fit them now.


sorry,what and how much are "winter tyres"?:)

vaio

tyres designed to work in snow and/or low temperatures. The difference between them and normal tyres is huge so if you have to go out in all weathers (and your job looks like you do) then I'd strongly suggest you get a set, even a secondhand set off ebay.

If you are really luck you'll get a set with the right rims for your car, that way you avoid having to pay to change them over

flyingscotno1

seafarers_wife wrote: »

allow yourself plenty of time to get to places, dont rush anything, stay in as low a gear as possible, have deicer etc in car, possibly even a shovel. i will be keeping a new sweeping brush in the car when/if snow is forecast to brush it off the roof so that there isnt the extra weight in the car.

the main thing is just take your time!

As others have said no to that one. High a gear as possible to stop spinning wheels.

We had a guy in a car park couldn't get over the speed bump. Reason he was spinning in 1st moved into 3rd and sailed over it.

newbie007_2

Get a set of winter tyres if there are only a few days of snow here and there, if there are continuing snowing then get snow tyres. Very dangerous to drive in surface snow with normal tyres. Snow/ice is 10x normal stopping distance. Camskill has good prices take a look - http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s0p0

Hammyman

Another one here for changing to winter tyres.