Driving in the Snow

[WhipLash]

Well here we are again with arctic conditions!

The Dublin roads this morning were in a pretty bad shape, leading me on to this rant….where the hell were the road gritters :realmad: ? Its the same story every time the roads are in a bad way. They come out and grit the roads when the thaw is upon us. Do these guys watch the weather forecast at all :rolleyes: ??

Also, as usual the ABS brakes on my car just can’t operate normally in snow. Touch the brakes even lightly and ones foot is shaken ferociously by the ABS mechanism. What is the advice given for ABS brakes in these conditions? Are you supposed to keep the brake planted to the floor as per normal ABS operation, or does the brake peddle need to be pumped in order to stop the ABS locking up :confused:

[BeCos]

IMO the BMW system is really annoying. I think it cuts in way too early, even in the dry, and the kickback through the pedal is ferocious.

The system in my Alfa is far superior, allowing massive reduction in speed before cutting in with only the merest hint through the pedal. It also seems as though the Alfa ABS will cut out completely once grip is restored.

The ONLY way to drive with ABS safely is to keep the pedal planted. However to a more experienced driver the quickest way to stop is to press the pedal firmly, when the ABS kicks in release and reapply. The only problem with this is it takes guts and you usually dont have the distance to spare so taking the chance with your own abilities could be disasterous!!

As for the gritter and snow ploughs........I've only ever seen them on the telly!!!

Actually I'm glad the gritters aren't used that much. I think the grit does more damage to the vehicles as nobody ever comes around to clear it OFF the roads!!

[WhipLash]

I saw a road gritter vehicle out this morning in a south Dublin suburb. In fact the driver did a U-turn right in front of me and nearly forced me to skid into him!

I agree about the grit damaging the car bodywork though. I really hate driving through it and hearing it spray up around the bodywork, with nightmarish visions of additional chips and scrapes it is causing. I've NEVER heard of grit being cleared by those who are responsible for spreading it. Its just left to clear over time by passing traffic. Thats rather dumb, IMHO.

[Junior]

The problem with most gritters is that they don't spread Grit they spread Salt as well which in the case of Alfas is disastrous ...

I've been in a snow plough once or twice and yes in Ireland !!

[Anders]

When I was a kid, a friend of mine used to get a kick out of stealing snow ploughs. I don't know what they look like here, but in Sweden they are huge things. Imagine a 7 year-old driving one of them.

I believe the problem in Ireland is that the snow isn't removed immediately. In countries with an organisation capable of dealing with snow, the ploughs run all night to clear up snow and if necessary keep running through the day. Salt is used too for sure.

[BeCos]

Are you sure they use salt here........I thought it was only grit....in fact I'm sure of it!!

[Junior]

I'm extra Certain Becos .. mainly because me Dad worked with the County Council (no jokes please) as a truck driver and I've been out with him when they were *gritting* the roads.

[BeCos]

Well they should be shot for using salt on the roads......have they always done that or is it a new thing?

'Cos if they did that back in the '70s' then I'm holding your Dad personally responsible for the lack of thoroughbred Classic Alfa Romeos, Lancias and Fiats on our roads today. ;)

[Junior]

They've been doing it with bloody years !!! Ahh yes Becos has seen thru our cunning plan to destroy all things Italian .. I'll ask him whats the current sitaution with it, as do they use a mix of grit and salt .. or what way it is mixed ..

Although then again I could never figure out why he bought a Ritmo 75

[BeCos]

Your Dad had a ROTmo !!!

Jeeeez he really WAS tempting faith ;)

[Junior]

Yeah a blue one CIP reg, ahhhhh the fun we had with that .. 5th Gear and reverse used to go regularly .. my brother and I were reverse gear for ages...

Now you know where my Italian influences came from ..

[Anders]

Out here in the sticks the road conditions have been appalling today. Useless poxy Wicklow county council, what a bunch of useless wasters.

In the midst of all this I get a call from some woman at a dog kennel farm in Newtown Mnt Kennedy saying she had a problem with her PC. Woman in distress, what do you do? So I asked her where she was at and what the roads were like, and it was something like "oh I'm only up the road from Newtown Mnt Kennedy, there's a bit of a hill here but you should be ok". Yeah right, I hesitantly drive there in the RX-7, incidently about the worst vehicle on the planet in slippery conditions. It turns out she lives in the mountains, way into the mountains. There were several feet high piles of snow along the road. How the hell I managed to get to that farm and back in one piece is still a mystery to me. Most of those roads would have required a tractor.

[WhipLash]

Well Anders I hope you disinfected your feet when entering/leaving the farm!

BTW, how do you find the new Rav4 in general?

[Anders]

The RAV4 kicks ass in conditions like this. Solid like a rock.

It's a very easy car to drive, rolls quite a bit in corners obviously, but has a very compliant ride and handles quite well.

I'm underwhelmed when it comes to the build quality, though. The bonnet hasn't been fitted correctly and there's a rattle from the interior somewhere. I expect better from Toyota. That the bonnet fit isn't perfect is a scandal in my opinion. I think overall there's some amount of cheapness, some of the buttons are very cheap looking and other aspects of the car don't exude solidity. But I like the interior overall, it looks kinda funky. And the rev counter is in the centre, just like it should be.

[Junior]

Well Kudos to Anders for being Mad Enough to take out a 450bhp Rwd car in the snow ... Now any chance of teaching me how to drive a RWD car Please ?????

[Anders]

I want to see pityful humiliation... No seriously, you can go for a spin in it so long as you behave, which means you can't explore four-wheel drifts or anything... Josh has shown an interest too. Are you still in the SE or thereabouts? Maybe we can meet up some time in April to unleash the flame spewing fury.

[Junior]

*grovel grovel* I promise that I'll behave as much as I can possible I promise.. *ahem*

Yeah I am based back in the SE again, yeah April sounds kool enough. I have an Idea where there will probably be about a two mile straight open by then.

[BeCos]

Just keep an eye out for ablue 155........and let it past when it flashes !!! LOL ;)

[Junior]

Hmmm I hear you've light problems so it's not my fault if I don't see you flash *your lights*

[BeCos]

I thought that flashing blue lights would be exactly what you'd be on the lookout for!!!