Snow stories!

[Dis86]

When I got my first BMW - 320d it snowed quite heavily about 2 months later.

I was going round a roundabout and my back end went. Somehow, and I have no clue how, I ended up keeping some semblance of control and drifted 3/4 of the way around the roundabout to the exit I wanted where traction came back and I turned off as if nothing was wrong.

It would have looked utterly epic to anyone watching. I was crapping myself!

 

[Amp34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s

I'm not sure how to integrate this vid but it shows grip on ice.

And that’s why I put winters on from November to April here! We don’t get a huge amount of snow, but there’s ice everywhere. And why I’d recommend winters in the UK too. Just because it doesn’t snow doesn't mean it’s not icy a fair amount in Winter.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Cold tyres, only grit on half the round about (where the main road goes through, not on the remaining half) and not much at that). Car spun, fortunately at a low speed and with plenty of room for error either side. The car who stopped to give way must have found it entertaining! managed to catch it, but only because I eventually found enough grip. Would hate to hit black ice at speed.

 

[theone8181]

Just had a slight skid in the works carpark this morning as i was pulling into the space. Was about 2-3 inches from skidding into the car next to me which was a bit of a brown trouser moment (only at maybe 10mph) but car stopped just in time. I straightened it up got out and noticed the guy in the car i'd almost hit hadn't looked up from his phone but wow did it catch me off guard. This was with winter tyres on gritted car park however its block paving which always seems slippery. Weirdly my boss in the passenger seat didnt seem too concerned but it shook me up.

 

[m4rmite]

BMW 320d 8 inches of snow (midlands) and never stuck once.
On Monday i put 4 bags of rock salt in the boot - along with a snow shovel - and all was well.
Planned my journey for less hilly junction stop starts and only time i skid was pulling into my works car park.

I live on a side road so negotiated the 100 yards or so of thicker ice/snow a treat.
Quite uneventful really, it did drive me mad in traffic when drivers stopped at icy junctions (then proceeded to spin/skid) when they could have rolled to and away from them.

 

[jpaul]

Most of the population cannot exhibit a smooth driving style in the dry, let alone the snow, where :
- you have assessed roundabout joiners, some 100's of m back and synchronize your arrival to fit in, or give a larger gap in front of because you know from evaluating their behaviour that the person up front will stop look left and right (as tufty prescibed millenials must be watching something on their phones) and then proceed, or if it is a lorry.
- you take your foot off the accelerator earlier so you are doing 30mph as you cross the speed limit sign
indeed avoiding braking
brakes are also good to maybe tap occassionaly if the driver behind needs training to increase their gap to you, give them a sense you might do something unpredictable.

I have rounded down the tyre pressure in the past when it has been snowing/icy so it is not at the 4 passengers+baggage value.

 

[jpaul]

so smeared windcsreen this morning, with premature attempt to use combined wash&wipe;
usually those Bavarians think of everything, but with non-heated nozzles, why did they not give independent controls ? this is a safety issue after all.
(need to put this on must-have for next purchase, or start using 100% fluid)

 

[wesimmo]

A few years ago I was living in a village with a dip in the road and then a very steep hill out of it and I had an Integra, so not ideally suited to snow.

I got a decent run up at the hill, managed to maintain momentum until about 3/4 of the way up and finally came to a stop, then started sliding backwards.

A school bus luckily saw what was happening and so stopped in the dip at the bottom of the hill as if I'd slipped all the way back I'd have been carrying some speed by the time I got to the bottom.

I finally managed to regain traction and somehow made it to the top at which point I stopped and looked back to see how the bus was doing.

Unfortunately he was now stuck in the dip, not having enough momentum to reverse back or proceed. Some kids owe me a day off school!

 

[Amp34]

so smeared windcsreen this morning, with premature attempt to use combined wash&wipe;
usually those Bavarians think of everything, but with non-heated nozzles, why did they not give independent controls ? this is a safety issue after all.
(need to put this on must-have for next purchase, or start using 100% fluid)

Stronger will help, although only to a certain extent. I use neat -40c stuff and the damn stuff still freezes when it hits the windscreen! Presumably heated nozzles only stops it freezing at the nozzle?