A (rather obvious) word of warning

[kieran325]

I got stuck in my close, I reversed up it and drove off - simple.

[pony]

I have been driving my standard 1985 316 M10 auto.

I thought myself pretty adept until I turned into a side-road to turn around after visiting a friend this evening...

I drove down the road, hand-braked beautifully to face back where I came... then preceded to gently spin on the spot for a few anguished minutes. I think the road consisted of a layer of ice with a fresh layer of snow on top.

After eventually reversing some distance, it appeared I found a spot without an incline. Bear in mind I couldn't even detect this incline until I found myself the wrong way on it! Even in motion with no accelerator, the back was still spinning and my egress from the road of potential doom was painstakingly slow.

In addition... I'm perfectly au fait with how to respond to over-steer in any weather. Counter-steering and sensible use of throttle come pretty naturally as I imagine it does to most of us. The physics makes perfect sense in my head.

What I cannot overcome is when my front end loses traction. If you use the brakes, the front loses traction whether you have traction at the back or not... Panic makes me brake more, even though my brain correctly tells me it's a terrible idea! (I speak as a person who, as a child, would grip onto my bicycle through any turmoil rather than 'ghost it' and avoid injury)

CAN ANYBODY OFFER ME ANY ADVICE PLEASE?

Should I simply never put myself into the situation where I need to brake when my front has no traction.. Or will using my handbrake help? i.e. when traction is lost, am I able to brake in a way that will re-balance the car and help regain traction?

if the front or rear tyres have no grip on the road......then the braking will be barely minimal. touching the brakes will result in locking them up VERY EASILY

oversteer.........look in the direction you want to go. Countsteer and modulate the throttle

understeer.........i think the normal cause of action is to lift off the throttle and possibly touch the brakes (not sure on this last bit).........be careful though...........if you lift off the throttle to suddenly you will go into OVERSTEER. The quicker you lift off the throttle the more violent the oversteer.

[Morat]

Buy some winter tyres? There's really not much you can do if you have 0 grip, even if you're some sort of Scandinavian ice rally god.

[jonny323i]

I'm still managing to get around OK.

Sometime next summer I'll be looking at buying a pair of tyres to go on my spare rims. I think I'll be talking to Dezzy about what winter tyres are available at that time.

the 2 latest bmw mags ive had have discussed winter tyres and both seem to speak very well of the uniroyal rain sport 2 they have even stated that they have never heard a bad review
one thing i will say i dont know about fitting them to an e30 but im using goodyear excellence at the min on a vw and they have proved to be very good all year usage and great in the snow while still being reasonably priced

[StuBeeDoo]

the 2 latest bmw mags ive had have discussed winter tyres and both seem to speak very well of the uniroyal rain sport 2 they have even stated that they have never heard a bad review

I wanted to have a go at the Uniroyal Rainsport2 based on various reports I'd read, including that they're pretty good in snow.
Dezzy couldn't get me any, and neither could a couple of other places locally, either.

I have to say that the way I drive the Toyos aren't that bad, particularly with 10psi less than normal in.

[Simon13]

my tip? an LSD. My e30 is by far the best car i have for the snow and better than any e90 or runflat tyre bmw!

[robbo86]

Well the snow finally came down my way, and in big fashion. 6-8 inches I reckon, didnt stop from at least 2am this morning till about 5pm. Yesterday the ice had me off my bike and I slid around 10 feet on my back. Apart from feeling like an arse, it was quite funny.

Today I took my e34 to the garage and didnt particularly have too much difficulty. Mind you that was mostly main roads! Lets see what tomorrow will bring!

[ultralinear]

Thanks for the advice gents... I will be getting a LSD hopefully when Gareth gets back to me!

[Bakedbean100]

Ive been using my e30 as a daily in the heavy snow and ice, ive had some fun as i work nights i drove home at 4am the other morning...sideways. It has been useable, however i got STUCK for the first time ever on my own road which is embarrassing.

I got stuck going up the hill, went to reverse back down and go the other way into my room and my car cut out and wouldn't start so i was stuck.

[daimlerman]

Seems that at least part of the secret to winter tyres is the section of the tyre.

My little Toyota,running budget 145 13's has not got stuck or badly out of control on my back road trip to and from work,despite the local council's best efforts! The swine's have changed the gritter's route.....no longer is my route fully treated!

[Morat]

I pulled an Audi A3 3.2 Quattro out of the car park yesterday, most satisfying
okok, I did it in a Jeep with MandS rated tyres.


but still, winter tyres are awesome.

[Speedtouch]

Agree with daimlerman on tyres. I've just had some new 155R13 tyres fitted to (slot mags) on my Minor Traveller, and it's been excellent in the snow, with just the right lack of grip to make things amusing

[Jesus325iTouring]

I've always found driving an E30 in the snow easier than any FWD i've had, my Leon was struggling pulling out of junctions on the way home this morning with just a slight incline.

Might be tempted to insure the touring and take it out for some fun once i've finished tonight

I agree,took the missus' A3 out the other day and it was useless,it was all over the shop,and ultimately I lost control at all of 5 miles an hours and hit a curb.
The car was totally unpredictable and uncontrolable.

The Touring on the other,just fine and perfectly controlable in the snow,never had a problem.

[suhinaffy]

I think my tyre pressure was a bit low, I destroyed a tyre overtaking a truck on the forth road bridge.
This is the result of driving a mile with no air.

[Speedtouch]

I have been driving my standard 1985 316 M10 auto.
CAN ANYBODY OFFER ME ANY ADVICE PLEASE?

Sell it and get a later manual E30 with ABS brakes

[e30-EVN]

LOL but +1

[Gortour]

My 94 318i auto has been tailhappy but controllable, just took it easy and drove slowly.
The wife has a Hyundai Getz 1.6 Sport, she's been everywhere she needed to in 5" of snow, and sheet ice the next day.
No disrespect to anyone, but in many cases, some of it is the driver, not the car. I've witnessed some SCARY driving in bad weather.

[ciaranthemurph]

I have this:



Fitted these:



and now I'm

I live in Glasgow and since last Wednesday when the snow started up here I've been using the touring every day. This has included a trip to Inverness and back and two trips to Aberdeen and back. It wasn't so good on the P6000s that were fitted to it, but now the snowproxes are on it is brilliant. I've set off when the news has been telling you not to and there are 'Severe Weather Warnings!' and (touch wood) I've had no problems what so ever.

My thinking is that in winter Germany, Sweden and Norway all get far more snow than us, but they manage to still drive BMWs and the like all year round, so why can't we.

I also have an Audi S2, which should be great in these conditions (4wd, locking differential, ABS etc) but because it is so unreliable, the touring has been pressed into daily service.

Anyway, my general point is 'Get appropriate tyres!' they make such a difference I wish that I had done it years ago.

[DanThe]

Defo agree with the tyres, there are a hell of a lot of drivers that have never had to drive in the conditions weve had over the last 2 or 3 winters, I think a lot are ignorant to the tyre choice out there.
Well worth stashing a set of steels away with snow tyres on for future use