Difficulty getting to work

diystarter7

diystarter7 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

I've negotiated worse in a low-slung sports car with normal tyres; there were no other vehicles available, and I worked shifts.  Just be careful, drive slowly and change up early to avoid putting too much torque through the driving wheels.  Plan, too, and try to avoid using the brakes.  Most cars will steer on snow if they are rolling, but won't if the wheels lock up.  Gentleness is key.  

Hi

It does not matter if its a "sports car" or not, just saying

What matters is often

Drivers ability
Snow/ice conditions
The steepness or angles of roads etc
Whether you car is front, rear or 4x4
Wherther car has gadgets to help snow/ice etc
Your car is manual or automatic
The width of your tyres
And this has a massive impact, if you have winter tyres or summer tyres

NB: The above list is not exhaustive but covers a lot of what most will encounter,

Thanks

Hi
Been out to get a few odds and ends as Mrs Diy kept on moaning. A couple of Mercs & one bmw stuck outside people's drives as that one of our kids houses. We rang them and they said it was next doors car stuck since yesterday.
Sides roads like skate rinks, main roads all good. Lots of people in shops inc
older kids as schools, some may be shut.
Where we live, slight incline, then small dip in the road to our drive its like a skid pan as the front of the house is north facing.
I had to put the car into "slippery mode" and you can tell the difference straight away on compacted ice. Its a 4x4 big tyres
and bigger/wider at the back I think about a foot 325mm and they dont like the compacted iceed snow as all-weather tyres
but the "slippery mode" does wonders,
Still too many people driving too fast down side roads.

So if you have a gadget on your car to help in snow etc, utilise it as appropriate.

Thanks

Longwalker

diystarter7 said:

diystarter7 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

I've negotiated worse in a low-slung sports car with normal tyres; there were no other vehicles available, and I worked shifts.  Just be careful, drive slowly and change up early to avoid putting too much torque through the driving wheels.  Plan, too, and try to avoid using the brakes.  Most cars will steer on snow if they are rolling, but won't if the wheels lock up.  Gentleness is key.  

Hi

It does not matter if its a "sports car" or not, just saying

What matters is often

Drivers ability
Snow/ice conditions
The steepness or angles of roads etc
Whether you car is front, rear or 4x4
Wherther car has gadgets to help snow/ice etc
Your car is manual or automatic
The width of your tyres
And this has a massive impact, if you have winter tyres or summer tyres

NB: The above list is not exhaustive but covers a lot of what most will encounter,

Thanks

Hi
Been out to get a few odds and ends as Mrs Diy kept on moaning. A couple of Mercs & one bmw stuck outside people's drives as that one of our kids houses. We rang them and they said it was next doors car stuck since yesterday.
Sides roads like skate rinks, main roads all good. Lots of people in shops inc
older kids as schools, some may be shut.
Where we live, slight incline, then small dip in the road to our drive its like a skid pan as the front of the house is north facing.
I had to put the car into "slippery mode" and you can tell the difference straight away on compacted ice. Its a 4x4 big tyres
and bigger/wider at the back I think about a foot 325mm and they dont like the compacted iceed snow as all-weather tyres
but the "slippery mode" does wonders,
Still too many people driving too fast down side roads.

So if you have a gadget on your car to help in snow etc, utilise it as appropriate.

Thanks

Hunted all over my car for a button or dial that says slippery, cant find one??

Got one that says Eco, sport or comfort , but be darned if I can see slippery

NBLondon

  It's the one at top left....

Ditzy_Mitzy

diystarter7 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

I've negotiated worse in a low-slung sports car with normal tyres; there were no other vehicles available, and I worked shifts.  Just be careful, drive slowly and change up early to avoid putting too much torque through the driving wheels.  Plan, too, and try to avoid using the brakes.  Most cars will steer on snow if they are rolling, but won't if the wheels lock up.  Gentleness is key.  

Hi

It does not matter if its a "sports car" or not, just saying

What matters is often

Drivers ability
Snow/ice conditions
The steepness or angles of roads etc
Whether you car is front, rear or 4x4
Wherther car has gadgets to help snow/ice etc
Your car is manual or automatic
The width of your tyres
And this has a massive impact, if you have winter tyres or summer tyres

NB: The above list is not exhaustive but covers a lot of what most will encounter,

Thanks

You are correct to state that what affects handling on snow is weight distribution, wheels driven, wheel size, tyre profile, ground clearance and gear ratios.  What matters, however, is that the average sports car is designed to handle well on road, so generally comes with a set of attributes, vis a vis the preceding list, which do not favour driving on snow.  My error, which I now recognize as egregious, was the assumption that forum readers might already know that, most being familiar with both snow and sports cars.  I apologize unreservedly to all.  

And, for the record, my car was an old BMW and not an Aixam Mega Track.  

Savvy_Sue

NBLondon said:

  It's the one at top left....

Thanks for confirming: I have nothing like that! But would not expect a 'normal' Toyota Yaris to need such a thing, so not unduly disappointed.

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

You are correct to state that what affects handling on snow is weight distribution, wheels driven, wheel size, tyre profile, ground clearance and gear ratios.  What matters, however, is that the average sports car is designed to handle well on road, so generally comes with a set of attributes, vis a vis the preceding list, which do not favour driving on snow.  My error, which I now recognize as egregious, was the assumption that forum readers might already know that, most being familiar with both snow and sports cars.  I apologize unreservedly to all.  

:rotfl: I may not be typical of MSE, but I have ONCE driven a sports car: shifting it a foot up a driveway, with my heart in my mouth. My friend indulged in a red Lotus, which they discovered was too wide for their garage. Went away one particularly windy weekend, and the car alarm started going off every five minutes. Shifting it slightly closer to the house solved this. I will never drive anything like it again: it was too low and dreadful to get in and out of - and this is 40 years ago, you wouldn't catch me in one now! No idea how they handle on the road. 

I did spend one snowy winter in Durham with a Ford Anglia, and I was a fairly new driver. Boyfriend at the time had a mini: we mostly used that. But I did learn how to drive in snow, and still can if I have to, although it would be more difficult now: we used to live opposite the depot where the gritting lorries lived, but they've moved. The downside of being woken by beeping lorries reversing to pick up their next load was more than compensated for by knowing that once you were off the drive, the road would be fine! 

NBLondon

Savvy_Sue said:

NBLondon said:

  It's the one at top left....

Thanks for confirming: I have nothing like that! But would not expect a 'normal' Toyota Yaris to need such a thing, so not unduly disappointed.

I would be amazed if it did... diystarter7 referred to "slippery mode" in a 4x4.  That's why I illustrated it with a picture of the controls for a Land Rover Terrain Response system - being the only place I've encountered this option.

Savvy_Sue

NBLondon said:

Savvy_Sue said:

NBLondon said:

  It's the one at top left....

Thanks for confirming: I have nothing like that! But would not expect a 'normal' Toyota Yaris to need such a thing, so not unduly disappointed.

I would be amazed if it did... diystarter7 referred to "slippery mode" in a 4x4.  That's why I illustrated it with a picture of the controls for a Land Rover Terrain Response system - being the only place I've encountered this option.

Ah, in my skim reading habit I missed the reference to a 4x4. We have very few buttons, and that's the way I like it!

MovingForwards

Savvy_Sue said:

NBLondon said:

Savvy_Sue said:

NBLondon said:

  It's the one at top left....

Thanks for confirming: I have nothing like that! But would not expect a 'normal' Toyota Yaris to need such a thing, so not unduly disappointed.

I would be amazed if it did... diystarter7 referred to "slippery mode" in a 4x4.  That's why I illustrated it with a picture of the controls for a Land Rover Terrain Response system - being the only place I've encountered this option.

Ah, in my skim reading habit I missed the reference to a 4x4. We have very few buttons, and that's the way I like it!

I've the little cousin of your car. It handled the snow quite well earlier in the year, even though it was deep. 

Agree with having less buttons and other bits, not much to worry about going wrong with them.

diystarter7

NBLondon said:

Savvy_Sue said:

NBLondon said:

  It's the one at top left....

Thanks for confirming: I have nothing like that! But would not expect a 'normal' Toyota Yaris to need such a thing, so not unduly disappointed.

I would be amazed if it did... diystarter7 referred to "slippery mode" in a 4x4.  That's why I illustrated it with a picture of the controls for a Land Rover Terrain Response system - being the only place I've encountered this option.

Try Mercedes Benz that have command systems on a 4matic and when the dial is turned to a star, the "slippery" mode signs appear in the console and central screen along with a big picture of the car both in the central console dials and screen
NBLondon

diystarter7

Hi OP

Did you get your new tyres and socks - how did it go?
Thanks