As most of you are aware it's been snowing a little bit over the last few days and me being the stubborn old(er than some) git that I am have point blank refused to bow down to tha acursed stuff.
That and the fact that the car is my only transport and its the S or the bus, yuck! (yes I know i'm a snob )

So i've been merrily pootling my way around Bolton over the last few days, taking my time and occasionally applying a degree or two of opposite lock and to be honest it's all been a bit of a laugh. I've always viewed snow as a test of my driving skills (super smooth steering input, egg shells under the pedals etc) But now after 18 years of driving, in all conditions and various vehicles, the bloomin' stuff has finally got the better of me! and i'm ashamed to say that I've had to abandon my S at the bottom of a hill, not an 8th of a mile from my house

So after the short walk home, I switch on my PC and decide to cheer myself up a bit by reading about the snow related woes of others on a few of the other motoring forums (nothing quite so uplifting as reading about others more unfortunate than oneself dontcha know (no offence meant to any that have had their pride and joy wrecked or been injured, I hope everyone makes it through the winter unscathed ) Only to be confronted with various snow related threads about "muppets that can't drive in the snow" and "Ive had no issues driving my (insert brand name here) supercar up the side of mount everest..... in a blizzard..... at night!!!" etc

Now in my defence the conditions are not good for a light(ish) weight, rear wheel drive sports car that is the S - the roads around my way are an inch thick of the fresh stuff laying over at least 2" of previously compacted and frozen snow or half an inch+ of freezing slush where they've gritted, i'm shod with Eagle F1s on 16" rims and it's mostly uphill, so surely i'm not without some excuses.

But I do not count myself as one of those drivers who really don't have the foggiest idea about what they are doing or why they are doing it.

So I put it to you the good poeple of this forum, after reading the evidence-

Am I a crap driver?

 

Th S in the snow - is do-able but not always easy as you've found out. Don't worry about it chap.

 

Better to crash it than abandon it or leave it at home!

So the answer is YES

 

Generally they're fine as long as they're moving, it's when you stop and have to start going again, or are faced with a hill that you have a problem.

The best drivers in the world can only bend the rules of physics, not break them.

I had a similar moment this morning - I was trying to reverse out of the parking area (which means traversing a slope) and nothing was happening. To make matters worse, the rear screen was frozen inside and out.

Didn't have time to let the car warm up, or set about de-icing inside and out, so I now have a giant hole in the rear screen (about 12" x 6") to compliment the crack I gained earlier in the week.

Looks like it'll have to be the whistling hard top for the time being

Still, at least it has a rear demister.

Don't worry about abandoning your car, but yes, it makes you crap :-P

 

In the past, for a short journey or to just get past the last hill I have had success by letting the rear tyres down. Not totally flat but partially.

 

I got mine stuck on the slight incline at the end of my road back in February. That was the day when the snow was 4 inches deep though; I'd made it every other day. Lots of FWD cars were driving past me and laughing too.

Using the handbrake helps a lot as that stops the diff from spinning one wheel, up to a point anyway.

TBH mine hasn't been out the garage this time round.

 

It doesn't matter how good a driver you are if the force of gravity is greater than the coefficient of friction between the driving wheels and road surface you aren't going to be going anywhere other than down the slope.

Simple physics really.
Its not just driving skill but tyre type, amount of wear and age of tyres will also make the biggest difference.

Having said that I saw a brilliant demonstration on 5th Gear on the benefits of traction control. Tiff Needel was unable to drive up an icy slope with the TC off. Switched it on and the car inched its way up the icy incline.

 

I've managed pretty well so far, although the slight incline up t my garage did require a run up the other day, I've since cleared the snow to make things a little easier.

Normally I wouldn't be out at all in these conditions, but yesterday I had to get my car MOT retested, which involved a trip to Wheels in Motion to fit a new drop link (and do a test geo at the same time).

My road has not been gritted and is a bed of thick compacted snow/ice, but it's flat so was easy enough to negotiate. Other than that, I stuck to main roads which were a bit slippy in places (usually at junctions where slippery stuff had been deposited from cars joining from side roads). I had a couple of very minor squirly moments, but nothing to set the heart racing. There were large numbers of abandoned cars strewn all over the place from the previous night's carnage.

I did get stuck in the Wim Car Park which was covered in deep snow, but the ever helpful chaps were able to dig me out and I made it up onto the ramps.

Interestingly, my geo was "out" as follows (numbers shown in degrees and minutes):
Rear Camber
L: 1-57'
R: 1-41'
Rear Toe:
L: 0-30'
R: 0-21'

Front Camber
L: 1-29'
R: 0-48'
Front Toe:
L: 0-02'
R: 0-04'
Caster
L: 6-44'
R: 6-26'

But this did not cause me to crash

After the drop link was fitted (for no charge - thanks Tony) and the geo straightened out, it was off to my mother's to install her new DVD/HDD recorder. Tony kindly gave me a push to get my moving out of the car park.

The main roads were now a little better, but the side roads were very slippy. I made it up the gentle gradient of my mother's road, but got stuck on the kerb trying to turn into the drive.

Fortunately, some of her neighbours were out clearing driveways and the road, so we were able to dig/push out and I was able to park up in the road.

Off to Crown, and again, sticking to the main roads, all was fine, and the new drop link meant I've now got an MOT certificate.

Well done to Three Rivers/Herts CC for keeping the main roads clear. They certainly did a better job than Bucks CC did, although it was clear that the snowfall in the Chilterns was significantly worse than down here in the Colne Valley.

Now that's all over, the car will remain in the garage until Friday. Heating up, AV system on (which nicely warms the room) and vegitate...

 

Thanks for the assurances that i'm crap (i've suspected it for years but it's nice to finally know the truth, now I can move on with my life )

Just been back to check on my car and it's not going anywhere for a while, not unless someone can lend me a couple of tons of grit and a snow plough?!
Luckily I don't have to go anywhere for the next few days so hopefully the cold white stuff will have buggered off and I can collect my baby.

Oh and to all those drivers of rubbish, skinny tyred euro boxes who giggled at me as they sailed past....... just you wait till summer (wanna swap for a couple of days?)

Be careful out there, especially if it's your first winter with the S, don't want to read about any more S2000's heading off to the racetrack in the sky.

 

I did warn you about that hill when you were considering it!

The one with the 'Lude was funny yesterday; I was driving it around in snow as if I were Finnish yesterday. Parked on show, which the 'Lude compressed into white ice. Could I get it moving again?

Ended up getting a push UP the kerb & drove along the pavement, thus keeping death off the roads...