Modern cars

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Blaketon
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Blaketon »

I doubt many people have snow tyres locally, as it's not that regular an occurrence. I've never owned a set and with perhaps a little less air in the tyres, my cars seem to cope (The Minis were superb). Perhaps modern cars, with wide, low profile tyres, have a greater need for snow tyres.
philthehill
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Re: Modern cars

Post by philthehill »

Wide low profile tyres are the problem!
Wide tyres trying to push through the snow with very little grip do not have a chance.
Never had a problem with my Ser 2 Minor with 13" wheels & 155 x 13" tyres fitted. Even better with the 14" Wheels and 145 x 14" tyres fitted. Those 13" wheels & tyres did see and encounter some serious snow when I lived in Cumbria and so did the 14" wheels and tyres when I lived in the Cotswolds.

ampwhu
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Re: Modern cars

Post by ampwhu »

winter tyres? ive never heard such nonsense. they are a sales pitch by the tyre people. if you cant drive properly in the snow/sleet/rain/monsoon with a set of standard tyres on your front wheel/rear wheel drive car, get the bus.

never owned any "winter tyres" nor will I need to buy any. I have front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars in the household and I don't struggle to drive either.
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Re: Modern cars

Post by TDV102 »

Totally agree, my Minor was my daily through the vicious winter of 81/82. Always started, even at -20C, afew turns of the handle, then pull the starter.Was never stuck once, even in over 6" of snow. Michelin Xs, 155 x 14s and moderate power output is a good combination. Unless you can hear snow scraping the underside it isn't deep. I also lost count of the number of times I jump started newer cars. On the flip side, the fug-stirrer heater was rubbish. A hot water bottle in the glove box helped demist.
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Nickol
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Nickol »

Winter tyres - plenty of informed articles in places which have snow and cold temps - but I found this UK one

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/advice/ ... ter-tyres/
Gott schütze mich vorm Sturm und Wind und Autos, die aus England sind.
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les
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Re: Modern cars

Post by les »

Yes, easy to dismiss these things by folk who rate their driving skills, I've never used winter tyres but certainly not too proud to accept they may well have a benefit. I avoid driving in snow if at all possible. Whatever skill one may feel they have, its too easy to slide and end up loosing the no claims bonus. :-?

Blaketon
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Blaketon »

The roads are only as safe as the worst driver on them. I came to my shop by mountain bike and at least if that get's stuck, you can push it. There wasn't much about, as I came in on Sunday and it is reassuring to know you are the only idiot about. Those that you see in cars are usually pretty clueless but what is most worrying, is that on those mornings, where it could be slippery (Say in a hollow, where the Sun hasn't reached first thing), most seem to drive as if it's a hot sunny day. Having seen those same people, all at sea in the snow, you wonder how they would cope if they suddenly hit ice.

En ex traffic policeman told me that the A449, between Raglan and Newport, is prone to icy patches, due both to slight hollows and due to passing over bridges. He told me that often you would be called out to a multi car shunt, to find that each car had gone off on it's own and followed the same trajectory into the ones already crashed. He said that nobody ever seemed to take heed of the crashed cars up ahead :roll: .

We don't get a lot of snow and it rarely lasts but I have a spare set of wheels for the Traveller and if hard Winters ever come back, I could stick a set of snow tyres on there, if they come in 145 or 155 X 14.
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Re: Modern cars

Post by ManyMinors »

Proper mud & snow tyres do make a big difference as I'm sure anyone who has used them will confirm. I have had them on my Minor for many years and swear by them. Bridgestone sell a good one. The Minor is a great car in the snow having fairly low power, reasonable ground clearance and narrow tyres. I've always added a bit of weight inside the boot too and have got around without any trouble at all.
Mark Wilson
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Mark Wilson »

Blaketon wrote: I came to my shop by mountain bike and at least if that get's stuck, you can push it. .
Do be very careful, though. I hit black ice on my road bike a few years back and you don't get any warning at all. A broken hip and twelve weeks on crutches was actually a lucky escape - this injury doesn't always heal as well as mine did. :(
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Re: Modern cars

Post by ianmack »

'and followed the same trajectory into the ones already crashed. He said that nobody ever seemed to take heed of the crashed cars up ahead '

This reminds me of a story from the Monte Carlo rally in the 1950s. A car crashed off the icy road and landed on the roof of a fellow entrant. The driver called down to see if the other crew were alright. The reply came that they were ok but were a bit concerned about the people in the car below them!
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Blaketon »

Mark Wilson wrote:
Blaketon wrote: I came to my shop by mountain bike and at least if that get's stuck, you can push it. .
Do be very careful, though. I hit black ice on my road bike a few years back and you don't get any warning at all. A broken hip and twelve weeks on crutches was actually a lucky escape - this injury doesn't always heal as well as mine did. :(
I've hit black ice on the road bike and it was slightly amusing. The shop is on the 400 foot contour and if I am on the all tarmac route home, I climb to about 1700 feet in four miles. You don't always know what to expect. One dark night, I was going across the top of this section and saw some kind of jeep up on the verge. I was just wondering why would anyone park there, when the bike began to slide. I caught the slide and turned the pedals over, so that my cleats were on the flat side (That split second can make all the difference). I rode on carefully and came to a brow, when suddenly, the bike went sideways. My feet dropped to the ground and with two wheels and two legs, I slid to the side of the road. When I tried to stand on the road, I couldn't, so I had to push the bike down the grass verge. As I neared the bottom, the gritter went by and so I waited a while and then rode on. Having lost height it didn't seem as bad. It made me wonder why if I could stay on the road, why couldn't the driver of the Jeep?

Most of the time I use a mountain bike (In part it's because I sometimes use a forestry road, that connects two quiet, dead end tarmac roads) and last year (I think) I was going home via the all tarmac route, when I hit snow at the top of the same climb. With an off road tyre (That works quite well on tarmac) and disc brakes (Plus my half and half pedals), I wasn't too bothered. Another Jeep went by me but shortly afterwards, I saw it's headlights facing me and then pointing to the other side of the road :o . The jeep had spun 270 degrees and come to a halt. I cycled past and the jeep followed me carefully all the way until I pulled off on to the cycletrack on the far side of the mountain. It must have looked odd to see a jeep following a bike like that. My front light gives up to 2000 lumens, so with that, plus the lights of the Jeep, we could both see the road ahead.
ianmack wrote:'and followed the same trajectory into the ones already crashed. He said that nobody ever seemed to take heed of the crashed cars up ahead '

This reminds me of a story from the Monte Carlo rally in the 1950s. A car crashed off the icy road and landed on the roof of a fellow entrant. The driver called down to see if the other crew were alright. The reply came that they were ok but were a bit concerned about the people in the car below them!
There used to be an excellent historic rally on the Eppynt ranges. It was called the Coronation Rally and I seem to recall that Sporting Cars magazine sponsored it. There is an infamous blind brow, which precedes a bend in the dip beyond it, called Deer's Leap. Get it wrong and the car is still airborne when you need to be turning slightly left. This is what happened to a Lotus Elan and soon after to a Reliant Sabre, which landed on the Elan (Crew had left the car) and did a lot more damage to it than the original shunt. The white bonnet of the Sabre is on top of the Elan in this photo.
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Blaketon
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Blaketon »

On the subject of snow tyres, on a Minor would you fit to all wheels or just the rear?
ManyMinors
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Re: Modern cars

Post by ManyMinors »

I have only ever fitted them to the rear. I've heard it said that you should have them fitted to all four wheels (so that the other non driving end also grips - particularly when steering) but just the driving wheels fitted with them makes a huge difference in snow. I can remember the Post Office Minor vans being fitted with "Town & Country" tyres on the back in rural areas which again, made a big difference.

I first fitted mud & snow tyres many years ago when I changed my modern car from a Morris 1800 (front wheel drive and good in the snow) to a Marina 1.8 Estate (rear drive and pretty poor in the snow!). I fitted mud & snow tyres to the rear wheels and the difference was quite astonishing. I've had a pair on some spare wheels for the Minor ever since and have got around in quite deep snow when many modern cars simply couldn't move.
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Re: Modern cars

Post by geoberni »

ampwhu wrote:winter tyres? ive never heard such nonsense. they are a sales pitch by the tyre people. if you cant drive properly in the snow/sleet/rain/monsoon with a set of standard tyres on your front wheel/rear wheel drive car, get the bus.

never owned any "winter tyres" nor will I need to buy any. I have front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars in the household and I don't struggle to drive either.
Winter tyres are mandatory in some jurisdictions around the world, even in some you wouldn't expect
In my RAF career, I was fortunate to spend 3 years in Nevada, just outside Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is around 2,300 ft elevation, but surrounded by mountain ranges that go up to about 12,000+ft. Between Dec and March, the mountain roads would often have signs out saying that Winter Tires (sic) or Chains were mandatory on non 4x4 vehicles. Luckily we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee :wink:
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Re: Modern cars

Post by POMMReg »

Driver's nowadays are cacooned in their modern vehicles, whether it be floods, snow,ice the coming of the Antichrist, all they know to either slow down or stop is to use the brake pedal.

Having the cab dr window open, using the gears, handbrake & occationally the throttle where appropriate...but going downhill, do NOT touch the brake pedal!!
Further investigations uncovered it was an inside job!!
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geoberni
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Re: Modern cars

Post by geoberni »

POMMReg wrote:Driver's nowadays are cacooned in their modern vehicles, whether it be floods, snow,ice the coming of the Antichrist, all they know to either slow down or stop is to use the brake pedal.

Having the cab dr window open, using the gears, handbrake & occationally the throttle where appropriate...but going downhill, do NOT touch the brake pedal!!
Reminds me of a sign I photographed in Yosemite National Park in the US, because obviously the average US Driver does not know what the numbers on the Auto Shift actually do......
2010_0729Yosemite_Sequoia0635.JPG
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:roll:
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Re: Modern cars

Post by POMMReg »

Wind up prank call on youtube about a auto bmw not working at night...D = Day & N = Night..
Further investigations uncovered it was an inside job!!
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Re: Modern cars

Post by Blaketon »

geoberni wrote:
POMMReg wrote:Driver's nowadays are cacooned in their modern vehicles, whether it be floods, snow,ice the coming of the Antichrist, all they know to either slow down or stop is to use the brake pedal.

Having the cab dr window open, using the gears, handbrake & occationally the throttle where appropriate...but going downhill, do NOT touch the brake pedal!!
Reminds me of a sign I photographed in Yosemite National Park in the US, because obviously the average US Driver does not know what the numbers on the Auto Shift actually do......2010_0729Yosemite_Sequoia0635.JPG
:roll:
So far as I am aware most American cars are automatic. I don't think I have ever driven an automatic but I didn't think you had engine braking with that kind of transmission?
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geoberni
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Re: Modern cars

Post by geoberni »

Blaketon wrote:
So far as I am aware most American cars are automatic. I don't think I have ever driven an automatic but I didn't think you had engine braking with that kind of transmission?
I think you'd know if you'd ever driven an Automatic, well unless your memory is going :wink:
P=Park. You can't take the keys out unless it's in Park. Some drivers will use this without engaging the parking brake, thus putting strain on the transmission and are then surprised when the car slowly rolls away!! **
R = Reverse
N = Neutral
(does what it says on the tin - on some cars, to correctly check the transmission oil level it has to be warmed up, running and set to N
D = Drive


That is where many drivers restrict their usage to.
Every automatic I've seen also has 2 and 1, sometimes they have 3, 2 and 1

These additional and rarely used selections basically keep the transmission in those gears and you can move the control lever to them whilst moving.
So yes, you can have engine braking by staying in a Low Gear and not get to the bottom of the steep hill with glowing and ineffective brakes.

One of our neighbours had a visitor last winter and the visitor was a non male person driving a Dodge caravan or similar imported people carrier. She could not get it off their slightly sloping drive because she was spinning the wheels in D on the thin coating of snow on the driveway.
I went over and told her to use 1 to get off the drive and then go back to D...
Magic, it pulled away without problem. :roll:

My daughter has a Vauxhall Astra estate automatic (her husband is American and only sat an Automatic test when he came to UK). She had a bit of problem back in the summer with the auto not changing up when accelerating, yet it would happily change up the gears using the selector. Fortunately, my local friendly garage man did a 'Reset' on the Transmission 'Computer' and the fault went away.

**
My son-in-law was cured of this habit when the car rolled into the front wall of the house!!
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philthehill
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Re: Modern cars

Post by philthehill »

The auto classic mini was perfect for using the left foot for braking, the right foot for engine revs and the left hand for the gear change as you could use the gearbox as if in manual mode. The auto classic mini would change gear very quickly or could be held in the selected gear so you could drive it very quickly.
Having driven a large and wide L/H drive American auto with foot operated handbrake around narrow Cotswold lanes my preference is for the Classic Mini with auto box.
The larger BMC cars with the Borg Warner type 35 auto gearboxes drove well.
As above - the Borg Warner auto gearbox had to be checked with the engine running using the dip stick which was found under the bonnet.
You will get some engine braking with a torque converter as the auto fluid is directed back to the front rotor but you will get very little if any with a fluid flywheel.

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