Casualties of the snow

[rwb]

I hope that this is the first and last story of snow-related mullock to be added here today.

Went to the gym. It was closed. Coming back, started to understeer into the slush at the side of the road on a right hand corner, hit the kerb with the wheel side-on. Knackered an alloy and bent the big bottom arm -- it's sort of twisted and pushed upwards.

Can't get a new arm till Tuesday, and it's going to be over £100, and even then we won't know if/what else is bent and needs replacing until that's straightened up.

[lozz]

sorry to hear that mate,

[Bailes1992]

This is where I'm going to big up ESP again.

I've been out and about helping my mother who's a district nurse get around. I've had to switch of ESP to pull off but other than that it's been great! Few times I've turned the steering wheel and not much has happened, ESP has applied the brakes and got me around the corner quite happily! It's also put me in a few 4 wheel drifts to help me around the corner

Sorry to hear about the lower arm though!
Why don't you try change it yourself? Could probably do it for £40?

[DaiRees]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that mate. That's why I haven't been out! Still nothing been up my street, I don't plan to be the first either...

[grasmere59]

What you need is a 406 with ESP and winter tyres,just done a run of 115 miles with no dramas! Sorry to hear about the damage to your car though,just what you need after the expense of xmas

[rwb]

Well I ordered an eBay lower arm for £50 (£140 at Euro, so they can keep that). Then it's down to what else is bent after the straight arm goes on.

I can't help thinking this is trying to tell me something. If I cared about it as much as I claim to then maybe I'd have been more careful. Should never have sat in that 407

[V6Exec]

ESP is good - been out playing in the snow on a country lane.

ESP on and there is a real sense of security. The acceleration is OK, but rev limited to not much above the current road speed with my foot to the floor. ESP off and the engine heads for the redline and the car heads anywhere it feels like.

ABS is also very good.

Seriously considering getting winter shoes too.

[KozmoNaut]

I'd give winter tyres a much higher priority than ESP. After all, ESP can only work with the available grip. If you have no grip, ESP will not help at all. It's the same story with ABS. No grip = nothing for you or any electronic system to work with.

Activation of ESP, traction control or ABS usually means you did something wrong. You drove too fast for the conditions, weren't smooth enough, braked too sharply etc. and should be taken as a message to slow down and smooth out your inputs.

If you understeer around corners enough that you need ESP to save you, you're going too fast for your tyres and current grip situation. It's a clear and concise message from your car to slow down and smooth out your corners, not just plow on like nothing can happen.

Keeping your foot in it because "the traction control will limit my acceleration" is a false economy, you'll have much more control if you just modulated your throttle inputs better.

I'm sorry if I sound like a "you drive like an idiot" message on repeat, but I've driven my 406 through a veritable hell of winter snow storms over here, with winter tyres, no ESP, no traction control and no trouble at all. The 406 is extremely good at communicating what's going on at the front end. Use that information!

[Bailes1992]

I'd give winter tyres a much higher priority than ESP. After all, ESP can only work with the available grip. If you have no grip, ESP will not help at all. It's the same story with ABS. No grip = nothing for you or any electronic system to work with.

Activation of ESP, traction control or ABS usually means you did something wrong. You drove too fast for the conditions, weren't smooth enough, braked too sharply etc. and should be taken as a message to slow down and smooth out your inputs.

If you understeer around corners enough that you need ESP to save you, you're going too fast for your tyres and current grip situation. It's a clear and concise message from your car to slow down and smooth out your corners, not just plow on like nothing can happen.

Keeping your foot in it because "the traction control will limit my acceleration" is a false economy, you'll have much more control if you just modulated your throttle inputs better.

I'm sorry if I sound like a "you drive like an idiot" message on repeat, but I've driven my 406 through a veritable hell of winter snow storms over here, with winter tyres, no ESP, no traction control and no trouble at all. The 406 is extremely good at communicating what's going on at the front end. Use that information!

I sort of agree with you. But sometimes you can be in a slight slide without you knowing! I could have got around all the corners that I've aimed for myself, but my car realizes it is understeering slightly so helps me out.
Thats what ESP is for!

[lozz]

Idont think it matters what functions are on acar,
people will get caught out relying on Modern technology,

All it takes is common sense, drive slowly
set off 15mins earlier than you normaly wouid ,

[steve_earwig]

I saw someone driving slowly yesterday, one of those tiny joke cars (Tico? Thicko more like). It came out of a side road, turned across me so it was on the other side to me, drove about 50 yards and stopped with its indicators going. Unfortunately the coach they'd pulled out on wasn't driving slowly, all wheels locked and horns blaring he started sliding over to my side, so I pulled as close to the kerb as I could and carried on. I was expecting to hear a big crunch but didn't.

I remember when I got my first car with ABS, the first BX 16Valve, I started off by taking the ABS kicking in as a sign I'd done something wrong. Eventually I was driving to it the whole time. And the rev limiter...

I reckon people drive towards the limits of their car's abilities, so with all these gimmicks the limits are far faster, so when those limits are crossed there's so much more kinetic energy left to get rid of...

The yoyo has traction control, rather than anything fancy in the transmission, it's shite. I think it just compares the speeds of the wheels on each axle, so when both back tyres spin at the same rate it doesn't do anything about it. The other day I dropped some wood off at a mate's, coming back I gave it a bit too much of a boot full pulling onto the old high road and nearly ended up facing the wrong way. Not really an accident, the road was clear and I just wanted to know what would happen.

[grasmere59]

I used to do a lot of green laneing in an old Range Rover and i found the best way to drive in slippery stuff to use the torque of the engine,you see the pics on the news of people slipping around revving the nuts of the engine and going nowhere fast,my drive is quite steep and although i have winter treads on i just let the car pull itself up on tickover.

[OdinEidolon]

I don't understand why winter tyres are so uncommon in the UK. After all you have your fair share of white stuff every year, not much but enough to block the country. Winter tyres are just so great in the snow, once you have tried them (good ones at least) you cannot go back!

[steve_earwig]

As Dai says somewhere, most of the time the UK winters are quite mild so it's a bit hard to justify the expense. It's not a legal requirement either.

Winter tyres are just so great in the snow, once you have tried them (good ones at least) you cannot go back!

I'd rather drive with bald tyres in the rain...

[lozz]

Iwouidnt buy snow tyres,

500 quid or so to use for 3 or 4 weeks then have them taken off and the other tyres put back on