Todays Weather

[Megaman]

Well today has been the first day that ive felt more like a passenger than a driver of a car on the way to see a client over the tops. I navigated two extremely steep hills and found getting up was easy - just keep the back end under control and it made its way up.

However in the excitement of pretending to be a rally driver thrashing it up the hill I forgot all about getting down. Needless to say i inched about halfway down the hill then due to gravity and snowy ice, the abs went like buggery and i started picking up speed like a freight train. I managed to stop with 1/4 of the hill to go somehow managing to get the car fully sideways across both lanes of the road.

Some numpty decided to put traffic lights at the bottom of the first steep hill so i had no option but to time the changes in my head, then gently ease the front end round, coast down in second with diff locked and steer to maintain a fast 1/4 of a hill under relative control. Luckily as I got to the lights the road was clear and they had gone green so i could simply power up the other side of the shallower hill and avoided any damage.

The same happened a second time a different way on the way to work over the tops with none gritted roads so i thought id turn round, find a main road relatively clear and get back to work safely. I must admit last night I was laughing and taking the micky out of a new Focus RS which was stuck getting up a hill and was even going to post in their owners club forum to wind him up. However following todays events i think i will back off and join the club or most cars are shite in the snow without the right tyres...

It took me from 7:30 to 10:45 to try to visit the client and then to go back to work. Hopefully my journey home will be a bit simpler as there arent as many hills on the way back

Anyone else had any "excitement" today?

PS we had around 5-6 inches when i set off from home and over the tops and on the main roads theres about 2-3inches now. Any none gritted roads and the WR1 was turning into more of a snow plough...

[CAVEMAN]

very true....always forget about the stopping part too. But here there are massive snow banks to side swipe to scrub off speed. Flicking it from left to right also helps shed speed without even touching the brakes.

With a proper sets of tyres though, you would of been laughing at everybody else, and even going across the fields to show off.

[WR1 Owner!]

i was supposed to travel to skipton for my new job.. looked out of the window and went back to bed.. screw that lol

[danr55]

jealous. that sounds like fun. no more snow here yet. However, i've done a snow dance, and am waiting impatiently for a downfall

[Megaman]

over the tops when i popped out earlier it was just over my knee!
been snowing all night and day here...

[John Mc]

I built 3 massive snow pyramids (just for Dan.. )

[Micktype WR1]

Thanks for the write up Mega. A good read indeed.

Ive just had to go out again in the snow so although I had no problems getting going, I did remember what you'd written about stopping !

[eck]

No snow here yet and the temp was high twenties.

Oh but i im in Egypt ers

[The Swede]

No snow here yet and the temp was high twenties.

Oh but i im in Egypt ers

High twenties here too. Minus that is

Nobody pretending to be a rallydriver though. Only Finns and Russians who're defo more used to drive on snow and who're equiped with the adequate tyres.

[The Swede]

Other thing to do when it's weather like this:

So had to wash the bedcovers today, put them out to dry and...

[Chris 280]

6" here in north wales(snow that is )diff locked to get home,freezing now so might be getting the bike out of the shed,anybody know a good cheapish size and set up of tyres/wheels, to get a bit better grip for future downfalls,might be an idea to get a spare set of winter wheels/tyres,dont know if anybody has ever tried a group buy on these?

[Megaman]

id be careful mate as i found out today that if you get much more than 6inches of snow on the road in front of you that your car turns into a snow plough and the winglets at the front start to get bent inwards as you drive which cant be doing them much good. Also noticed the mud flaps seem to get clogged with a lot of ice which gets noisy and can bounce off the tyres if you dont keep on top of it.

Oh and for the brake techies out there - how come when I was stuck sideways down a 150 degree hill.. when i came to a stop and kept my foot on the brake all was well. If I tried to put my hand brake on and then take my foot off the brake the wheels would move again and away i went... strange..

[The Swede]

6" here in north wales(snow that is )diff locked to get home,freezing now so might be getting the bike out of the shed,anybody know a good cheapish size and set up of tyres/wheels, to get a bit better grip for future downfalls,might be an idea to get a spare set of winter wheels/tyres,dont know if anybody has ever tried a group buy on these?

For those interested, I still got my Hakkapeliitta 4's of the old STi in Finland. Happy to fly them over. They're half worn and not ideal for Finnish winters anymore, but I tried them in UK few weeks ago and I left everything on the road standing (including the coppers ).

20 quid per corner and there yours

As ref, I just fitted 4 new Hakkapelliita 7's and they're 250 per corner...

[Chris 280]

what size rims would these go on mate?

[Megaman]

Hakkapelliita

Now theres a mouthful for you John...

[The Swede]

what size rims would these go on mate?

Mine always run on 17". They're 225/45/17.

These are the ones I got stopped by the police with in Croydon for 'pulling away too fast at the trafficlights'

Unfortunately, the studs are not good enough anymore for Finnish roads, so I had to fit new ones.

The only problem is that they inspire a bit too much confidence, which has given me a bit of a scare few days ago...

[Chris 280]

roadkill rudolf style,nice pic mate.you have a pm

[The Swede]

Hakkapelliita

Now theres a mouthful for you John...

Sorry, got an L too much inthere.

Imagine me ordering the new ones last week getting my best Finnish out to give the guy the type and size...

"Nokian Hakkapeliitta Seitsemän, kaksi sataa kaksikymmentavisi / neljakymmentavisi / seitsemäntoista "

Turned out the b*stard spoke perfect English !

[The Swede]

roadkill rudolf style,nice pic mate.you have a pm

No, I don't, hit "send" !

Didn't kill Rudolph, but had to throw the car 180 degrees around and floor it in second gear while slide backwards to avoid the geezer

[Chris 280]

santa would be proud of you mate

[The Swede]

santa would be proud of you mate

Yeah, the snowplougers probably also had a laugh when they came back the next day and they saw the shape of the rear of an Evo pressed in a snow-bank

[Megaman]

Great picture Swede - did you hit the dear in the end??

By the way I felt like these guys today when my car stopped then lost traction and started going down a steep hill like a freight train...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvp-MMsSleQ

[The Swede]

Great picture Swede - did you hit the dear in the end??

By the way I felt like these guys today when my car stopped then lost traction and started going down a steep hill like a freight train...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvp-MMsSleQ

Scary stuff !

No, I didn't hit it, but as I saw it running towards the road, I felt I was going way too fast to stop still. (I had calculated my speed to slow down for the next corner, ignoring all advise of my ex father-in-law about wildlife in Lapland ).
So the only option then is to get the car into the other direction on the handbrake, slam it in second, put your foot down and pray...

As I originally tried to get into a small road on the right, I was sliding backwards towards the snowbank on that corner and stopped with the back pressed into it.

No damage, and a long story for something that happens on a fraction of a second

Not the first time this happens though.


Lesson 1 when it's snowing and roads are icy: Pull the handbrake a few times when driving off to ensure it bites well when you need it.

[CAVEMAN]

Always brake test before your first real test...just to be sure! Also try clearout any snow or ice you may have stuck to the inside of your rims....this will act like more counter balance and will put you in a massive shake.



as I found out the other day



So glad you guys in the UK can experience a bit of snow for a few days....think of those conditions lasting for 4 months or so!!

[John Mc]

Always brake test before your first real test...just to be sure! Also try clearout any snow or ice you may have stuck to the inside of your rims....this will act like more counter balance and will put you in a massive shake.



as I found out the other day



So glad you guys in the UK can experience a bit of snow for a few days....think of those conditions lasting for 4 months or so!!

If we had this 4 months a year I would defo get proper snow tyres, studs even! Doesn't last long enough here though.

[The Swede]

Always brake test before your first real test...just to be sure! Also try clearout any snow or ice you may have stuck to the inside of your rims....this will act like more counter balance and will put you in a massive shake.



as I found out the other day



So glad you guys in the UK can experience a bit of snow for a few days....think of those conditions lasting for 4 months or so!!

If we had this 4 months a year I would defo get proper snow tyres, studs even! Doesn't last long enough here though.

No, just long enough to crash your car...

I'd always have winter tyres on a performance car unless I lived in the Med' area. They are not only for snow but also way better in the rain and when it's cold.

[Megaman]

Problem with the UK is the weather can be good one day and bad the next. I for sure dont have the time or patience to change all 4 tyres if i get up to go to work and see its raining, likewise if its a sunny day. If our seasons would even out we could better prepare ourselves and cars for it

[CAVEMAN]

hence why the WR GP2 is the better choice.

the Nokian version Sandy and I have are for the more extreme weather...the GP's are very good all round tyres.

[Megaman]

hence why the WR GP2 is the better choice.

the Nokian version Sandy and I have are for the more extreme weather...the GP's are very good all round tyres.

These bad boys?

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?d ... sowigan=Wi

[John Mc]

hence why the WR GP2 is the better choice.

the Nokian version Sandy and I have are for the more extreme weather...the GP's are very good all round tyres.

These bad boys?

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?d ... sowigan=Wi

Decent price, not much more than my pzero neros.