Winter rats

[M'coli]

The winter rat: a phrase I first heard of sometime in the mid-90s and originating from North America, it describes an older vehicle that the owner won't mind using in harsh conditions but with a strong heater to keep the cabin warm.

 

I'm considering a winter rat to keep the Cavalier from being used in front-line duty throughout the coming months, and am wondering what other people's experiences are like in snow and ice of certain cars? Winter tyres will obviously make some difference to the grip a car has in snow, but some cars just seem better suited than others. The other factors that I would be looking towards are more than 38mpg is a must (preferably 45 or over), and shorter than 4.2 metres, preferably much shorter - you can get a short car more sideways on the same width of road than a long one!

 

Good cars in my experience are:

Austin/Rover Metro - excellent grip, rust like buggery, poor heaters.

The Cavalier - good enough grip, decent heater, rusts like buggery.

The Avenger - grip ok, fierce heater, rusted like buggery.

Pug 106 - grip ok, heater ok, not bad for rust and can be bought with a diesel engine.

 

 

Poor cars in my experience:

1998 Honda Civic 3dr 1.5 VTEC - shocking lack of grip, the rest pales into insignificance compared to how scared it made me!

2000 VW Polo variant - not great in the grip stakes, locks froze and broke far too easily, seats give me back pain (so that's out).

 

I know 4-wheel-drive is meant to be the way to go, but for reasons of being picky I don't want to try one - also, although the Volvo 240 Torslanda is meant to be good, it may struggle to meet the 38mpg requirement.

 

So, are there any other suggestions?

[Cavcraft]

Fiat Cinquecento.

Small decent to drive, good on fuel and a bit of fun if you get the 'Sporting' version. That sort of silver-grey colour is the one to have apparantly. Oddly enough...

[M'coli]

Oh, yes, another stipulation is not to have a colour that will look like a slushbank to a brain-dead Discovery driver. nice try, Billy!

[Cavcraft]

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Lada Samara.

[dollywobbler]

Tricky. A Volvo 740 features one of the best heaters ever fitted to a car (and they heat up quickly) but 38mpg? Er, no. What about a 440? They came in diesel flavour. No idea what the heater is like though.

[sporty-shite]

I think the best solution would be to go to Devon and buy Brookjm's Saab. Start driving north before realising it's colour is too much like a slushbank. Then decide to detour via Bolton and swap said Saab for a bright red Audi Coupe with a warm heater.

 

I just might know where to find such an Audi, should you wish

[skattrd]

Best winter hack I used was a Fiat Panda (2wd 750cc) and it was so small and light if you went off the road you could push it back yourself.

Any car with decent snow tyres will be fine in winter, look at the Swedes/Finns etc, they drive everything all year, just using the right tyres.

I did find my Saab 900 good in winter, reasonable grip and awesome heaters.

 

4wd kei cars are ace in the snow ... I'm not sure if I should own up to this,but ...

[ruffgeezer]

My Xantias have all been good in the snow, especially the ABS equipped ones, probably a bit longer than you were asking about so I'd recommend a 2cv or ax diesel.

[Lacquer Peel]

I ran a 405 TD through two of the worst winters I've seen; with cheap winter tyres it was extremely capable, the heater is like a furnace (better than a Volvo's I think) and works quickly and it happily started at temperatures down to -25C on a mix of spurious fuels.

 

I have a Citroen Xantia 1.9D now which might be even better with its magic suspension to ride over the deepest snow.

[dollywobbler]

Aside from 4x4s, the best thing I've driven in snow is actually my Citroen CX auto. It was truly superb, even on cheapy non-winter tyres. Doesn't really fit the economy/size thing too well though, and the heater was shite.

[garethj]

Pretty much anything with narrow tyres is your friend in the snow, I've had no problems with a Volvo 740, old VW Polo or the current Pug 205. Generally diesel cars have heaters that warm up slower, but shouldn't really be a problem.

 

Avoid wide tyres and driving like a twat and you'll be fine in almost anything.

[Shep Shepherd]

Volvo 850s and 70s are GR11 winter cars. I speak from experience

[M'coli]

I'm sure they are! Too long for me though, I like small cars.

[beko1987]

I loved my Puma in the snow, used to go out for drives when it was quiet. ABS keeps things tame, whilst still allowing for plenty of spin and rear end swingage with the handbrake.

 

Plus, with it's light weight and wide tyres it kept planted, don't think I ever had an oooohshit moment unless I made it happen! Plenty for silly money now too Watch the rear arches though

[Shep Shepherd]

I'm sure they are! Too long for me though, I like small cars.

 

I've not driven anything smaller than a Sierra since I got into Volvos in 2002

[willswitchengage]

Subaru Justy

 

Featherlight Citroen BX in case you want to take a shortcut and

.

 

Weirdly, a lot of FWD vans. Saw a Berlingo make mincemeat of traffic in last year's SNOW KAOS.

 

Avoid: anything with direct injection/common rail as they take too long to heat up, my old Skoda SDI once did ten miles without the heater coming on full!

 

Oh, and HGVs.

 

P1030582 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

P1030583 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

P1030587 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

P1030585 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

 

That was a fun day

[dollywobbler]

Avoid wide tyres and driving like a twat and you'll be fine in almost anything.

 

This.

 

That's what I thought until getting mightily stuck in my BX in Winter 2010. Mind you, that was a LOT of snow, and it was only the steep hills that stopped me (bends too tight to keep any momentum up). 165 section tyres. I've got a full set of winter tyres now, and chains, so it'll never snow ever again.

[garethj]

I had some Snow Socks for the Volvo 740. With normal tyres it was better in the snow than any normal car, with the snow socks on it was just me and the serious 4x4s on the road.

[M'coli]

Avoid wide tyres and driving like a twat and you'll be fine in almost anything.

 

This.

I would agree with this mostly, unless the Civic was a one-off - on deep snow it was hopeless, even on gritted streets it was poor.

[HMC]

my old 2cv was always suprisingly capable in the soft stuff with its spindly footprint. Rt hon Alan clark mp also used one as a winter rat, perhaps to save his more valuable cars from winter roads? I read a passage where he related being quicker in his point to point over high alpine swiss roads than some swiss gent in a ferarri 250 in the late 60s

[Wilko220]

Peugeot 309

[Formula Autos]

Another nomination for the 400 series Volvo. I had a H reg 460 in povvo spec (I think they galled it 'GL') with:

Skinny(ish) tyres on 14 inch rims.

A great heater.

Arse-warming seats.

 

It was also not too bad on fuel, and managed to shrug off the odd unfortunate (low speed) contact with solid objects (on icy roads) with nary a scratch.

 

The only downside was the engine - it had the 1.7 Renault lump, which wasn't too reliable.

 

The rest of the car was great though. If you could find one with a Volvo engine in it and ABS it would be near enough perfect as your winter rat.

[Justin Case]

Saab 96 V4; it has a lot of weight over the front wheels and with 155 x 15 tyres and a smooth undertray beneath the engine it will go through surprisingly deep snow and grips well on slush. Don't forget that it was designed for Scandinavian winters; mine had a quilted 'muff' that you could clip onto the grill in winter so the interior was never less than furnace-like. You'll be lucky to get 35mpg, even with the most feathery of foot, but that is a small price to pay for its other abilities

[theorganist]

Austin Maxi?!! I was told anecdotely that in the Yorkshire Dales in the 70's it was only farmers in tractors and Austin Maxi owners who could get out of the villages during winter snowfalls!! Not sure how true that is but the one winter I owned mine it was very good in the snow and the heater was nice and toasty as well!

 

Not sure what the salt on the roads would do to one however!

 

Pete.

[Guest]

£150 of Peugeot 405 TD with £150 worth of 4 snow tyres. Get followed by the snow plough.

Most things even rwd are totally transformed by a set of appropriate tyres, even a 220bhp rwd Nissan 200SX.

[RobT]

A diesel BX, if you can find a decent one. My old one (which is now Mr catsinthewelder's) had the best heater EVAR, was actually too hot on the full setting sometimes, and the heat went to your feet rather than shins like it does in some cars. And 50mpg on a run isn't to be sniffed at.

[CreepingJesus]

Mk3 Fester we had as a garage hack, was immense in snow. 1.1's heater was better than the 1.8 oil burner (which was a bit too nose heavy for my liking anyway) and smooth driving on the snow saw good economy too.

Also my Mk2 Ashtray for much the same reasons.

And I've never had a snow tyre in my life! I've just never felt the need.

[Spiny Norman]

I've just fixed the heater in the Saab so it's ready to rock. Front heavy fwd car with relatively skinny tyres and winter ones on standby should the need arise, bring it on!

[purplebargeken]

Another vote for the 440.

 

I had a R19 Chamade that happily trundled through snow and so on.

 

If a Fiat Panda really floats your boat, I know of a very tidy one for sale with a bloody long MOT. It's also black.

 

It's in Hertfordshire though.