hows your bx in the snow

[electrokid]

Yeah that is a bit on the deep side Mat but then most cars (and most drivers ?) wouldn't have got that far into the snow anyway

I've been driving for most of the day - ok in the morning but then it snowed and that affected all of the minor roads still covered in compacted snow with a layer of ice on top and even some of the gritted main raods as well - saw the results of a couple of quite serious corner-to-corner accidents and a Ford Ka in the ditch on a straight but very icy road.

There's a twisty hilly road nearby which wasn't gritted (council being stupid there) - one of the main access roads to the local Sainsburys / Homebase - almost sheet ice from top to bottom - one of the accidents was unsurprisingly at the bottom end of that one with the remnants of the cars at both sides of the road not helping access to the start of the hill.

Going up the hill the car in front was having difficulty keeping traction - I was able to get wheelspin if I tried but I figured I had about twice the grip with the snow tyres which, on that hill would have made the difference between having to keep moving to get up the hill where I would have been able to stop and get going again without much difficulty.

Coming back down the hill (after not finding what I wanted at Homebase ) there was a mini less that a car's length behind me which was of some concern so I flashed the rear fogs - whether it was that or his discovering we were on sheet ice he did pull back - which was just as well as I had to stop to allow oncoming traffic past the obstruction at the bottom of the hill.

[kiwi]

Of course when it gets really bad your better off with one of these



Dont let the picture decieve you just up that road was some rather large snowdrifts

and when its that bad you simply find one of these

[mat_fenwick]

most cars (and most drivers ?) wouldn't have got that far into the snow anyway

That was on the entrance to our place coming back - I wouldn't have left had it been like that in the morning! We're probably going to have a quiet weekend in now, I've measured 16" and it's still coming down.

[electrokid]

The only thing capable of getting through 16"+ of snow is going to be Lana's horse - and I doubt if you'll risk that

[Mothman]

Every car has its limits but the real test is the drivers confidence and ability to drive it in those conditions and know the point where it is time to give up and seek an alternative.



I agree with you there very much bud but most people dont have that ability, especially in this country where we are spectacularly unprepared every year.
My point was that BXs aint particularly special in the snow compared to 4x4s. I certainly cant be bothered with chains and one of the main problems today was vehicles stopping on hills. They were then screwed but those of us in 4x4s had no trouble in stopping or starting off again. Even a really skilled snow driver has a problem stopping on an incline and then continuing on uphill. Ergo 4x4 much better than a BX.
I get in my pickup and go when and where i want with no difficulty but the depth of snow being a problem.
As i said before, my Mazda is easier to drive in the snow than my BX and i would rather use that if i didnt have my pickup.

Andy

[kiwi]

I agree with you there very much bud but most people dont have that ability, especially in this country where we are spectacularly unprepared every year

Even less prepared and skilled in this country including those who target the ski areas, hence inch of snow and it all stops. South Islanders are a bit more prepared and used to snow conditions.

My point was that BXs aint particularly special in the snow compared to 4x4s. I certainly cant be bothered with chains and one of the main problems today was vehicles stopping on hills. They were then screwed but those of us in 4x4s had no trouble in stopping or starting off again.

the ring type chains piece of cake to fit and can be done under a minute per side if you know what your doing. I would disagree with the comment about 4x4s because they are the ones that we seem to go more often to involved in accidents on snow and icey roads. Then again they are driven by Jafas (Aucklanders) who complain of freezing temps when it goes below 10c and it never snows in Jaffa land anyways
The area we get the most snow here is one big hill and yes those that stop are the ones causing the problems but then again 2wds are required to fit chains if needed to procceed beyond the checkpoint. You know when its bad when 4wds need chains

No car is special in the snow the driver is the key to being able to continue or fail miserably. Believe me there are not many drivers where I live able to adapt to snow driving. Out of control sliding is a past time I try to avoid where necessary unfortunately in the winter months thats my job to ferry people who dont have that ability or should say crazy streak to drive in the snow. At least I know its only for a 10km stretch and I can go home to no snow [/quote]

[scarecrow]

The only thing capable of getting through 16"+ of snow is going to be Lana's horse - and I doubt if you'll risk that

Oh - 16" of snow I thought it was Mat bragging

[Kitch]

The car did the rest (thanks to the natural forward creep of the automatic) and I was on my way

The auto box does help traction, and a trick I've found if one wheel has grip but the other doesn't is to apply the handbrake slightly. You will slow the pinning wheel, and hopefully divert some drive to the wheel with traction. Has got me out of mud before!

Sorry to hear about your prang Phil - glad it wasn't worse and hope you get things sorted satisfactorily.

That's a really clever way of exploiting the diff, I'd never thought of that! I'll just have to wait until it actually snows down here to test it.

[scooters]

Had heaps of snow in Scotland over the last month - only about 8 inches at the moment but very very cold (as is everywhere)

We're using a 4x4 Volvo 850 which is great in the snow and even better when you get into a slide - has one of those viscous couplings that means when you start to slide then you just rev out of it.

2 weeks ago when we had 2-3 feet of snow even the AWD 850 wasn't playing so we resorted to the old Volvo 240 Torslanda Estate - these were special editions - very spartan and made for the swedish winter so extra insulation, no electric flummery, lots of rubber and no chrome - slapped a set of chains on her and she goes anywhere

My old BX TZD was great in the snow - at the time we lived in the Grampians and the narrowish tyres gave superb performance with the suspension flexibility to get out of drifts - with chains on the front and in a high suspension setting IMHO the BX is one of the best "Im not getting stuck cars" in the snow

the most fun I have ever had driving in the snow was with a 1973 Daf 55 Mararthon Saloon which has a 1.5 Gordini Renault Engine, a sports exhaust system but best of all a Variomatic CVT transmission which acts like a LSD - together with the narrow tyres and the revvy ralley tuned engine this was wonderful in the snow - would go anywhere at speed and would slide with confidence - the best fun was to put on a crash helmet, tighten the seat belts and drive at speed on 6 inches of virgin snow on a b road - with the exhaust tone and the 70's atmosphere you felt like Carlsson himself - especially amusing when overtaking an X5 struggling away with low profile tyres and even more amusing when you offered the driver of said vehicle a lift!

[kiwi]

You know those little black spoilers you can have on a ph2 BX.

They I found were awesome in the snow to act like snow ploughs

[Kitch]

Having just run the BX back from the MOT station in the snow and ice I would say it's not that great in the snow and ice (more ice)! Or not as good as an MG ZS would I would consider to be a boggo normal car.

[MULLEY]

195 tyres on light car, probably sounds about right to me Is there much tread on your tyres Kitch? If you've got less than 5mm, they will be shit unfortunately.

[Kitch]

195 tyres on light car, probably sounds about right to me Is there much tread on your tyres Kitch? If you've got less than 5mm, they will be shit unfortunately.

195's yeah. Brand new though, 6mm or so. The MG runs 205 or 215, and only has about 3 mm left on ditchfinders

[MULLEY]

Hmmmm, that's odd, i would have laid bets that the bx would have been miles better Mind you, sometimes certain cars for whatever reasons seem to excel a lot more than others.

[citsncycles]

I put a new set of 165's on the 14 last week, and other than a small amount of wheelspin when pulling away on the more slippery bits it's been fine, although not as secure felling as my GS after I fitted new front tyres last winter, or the Dyane, but I seemed to manage much better than many more modern motors.

One of my workmates has a Japanese sports coupe (don't ask me which - they all look the same to me ) and all that happens on snow is the traction control & ABS both kick in and the car goes nowhere.

I've also seen that while a 4x4 is better than 2wd, a well driven FWD car will run rings round a badly driven 4x4