Winter rats

[vulgalour]

Another vote for the venerable old Polo, preferably one that's bog stock on the original skinny wheels and sky high suspension. Additionally, any three wheeler as apparently they have the uncanny ability to go just about anywhere due to very low weight, not bad on fuel, an absolute giggle and can easily be pushed back where you want to be should it all go a bit Pete Tong.

[M'coli]

Had an old Polo - an H-reg, bought for a ton - that would have been great in snow if we'd had any that year, the non-servo brakes would have helped immensely.

 

The Saab 900 bike was good enough, but too long at 4.7 metres and too thirsty at only 32 mpg maximum.

 

Incidentally, the Granada 4x4 is rated by a farming aquaintance who said of it, "Much better than a Mercedes Benz, they got stuck in fields very easily; the Granada went anywhere a tractor would go..."

[rml2345]

My giffertronic 740 was pretty useless in the OMG SNO KAOS of 2010 but it had normal tyres on and the snow was silly deep.

Small + Front wheel drive seems to work pretty well. Yaris was no trouble on the snow but the heater is a bit pants.

Allegro?

[dollywobbler]

The problem with the BX is that when it's really cold, the doors freeze shut. Worst car I've ever owned for that! The wiper spray bar ensures you don't get any screenwash when it's a bit chilly too. I used to keep a squeezy bottle of water in the car...

 

2CV's are great, but the heater can be an issue. It's fine when you're driving along, but come to a stop and the only way to keep warm is to rev the engine like an elderly pensioner easing into a parking space. That said, you can buy fans that go in the heater pipes...

[catsinthewelder]

A bit of silicon spray seems to sort the door freezing problem. I found that out the hard way though and had to do a school run through the snow with the door held nearly shut with the seatbelt on the last BX

 

The BX, 205 and 405 have all been fine in the snow. The Megane with fat alloys and a revvy engine was crap though and had to be abandoned once. The HiJet gets you there eventually but RWD and all the weight at the front does lead to comedy drifting chaos

 

Image0165 by Catsinthewelder, on Flickr

[Shep Shepherd]

My giffertronic 740 was pretty useless in the OMG SNO KAOS of 2010 but it had normal tyres on and the snow was silly deep.

 

I've only ever had problems driving in snowy weather with The Volvo once, not long after I bought it when it was still fitted with rear tyres close to their legal limit

[oman5]

1995-2001 Subaru Justy. the swift-shape one.

Compact enough to make parking a doddle, the best heater known to man, (3 minutes after a cold start it can set fire to your feet)

40 mpg and of course it's got 4 wheel drive. even on standard shitty budget summer tyres it refuses to ever get stuck in snow. incredibly able as a winter hack. we had one for 5 years. dynamically not the best vehicle to drive but they are reliable.

One worth bothering with would be 300-600 quid. But nothing beats the feeling of sailing serenely past stuck brand new cars in a late '90s 300 quid snotter.

[Wilko220]

But nothing beats the feeling of sailing serenely past stuck brand new cars in a late '90s 300 quid snotter.

 

Not snow, but I do remember an amusing episode a few years ago when I was helping out with the running of a local fete which turned into a bit of a washout. Public parking had been organised in a field which, during the course of the day, became a complete quagmire and we were having to push and tow people out.

After spending ages trying to unstick a brand new "compact 4x4" - a rav4 I think or something similar - from the mud, we eventually succeeded with aid of a Land Rover and a tow rope. Immediately it was out of the way, some old guy in the shabbiest looking, giffer-bodged, brown mk2 Allegro, who had been stuck behind, just sailed straight through it. I guess it was either it's light weight or the way it was driven (or both) that made the difference.

[whitevanman]

Cortina, Sierra, P100 all are good in the snow, heaters can vary a bit, but when going properly they are mega warm.

[oman5]

But nothing beats the feeling of sailing serenely past stuck brand new cars in a late '90s 300 quid snotter.

 

Not snow, but I do remember an amusing episode a few years ago when I was helping out with the running of a local fete which turned into a bit of a washout. Public parking had been organised in a field which, during the course of the day, became a complete quagmire and we were having to push and tow people out.

After spending ages trying to unstick a brand new "compact 4x4" - a rav4 I think or something similar - from the mud, we eventually succeeded with aid of a Land Rover and a tow rope. Immediately it was out of the way, some old guy in the shabbiest looking, giffer-bodged, brown mk2 Allegro, who had been stuck behind, just sailed straight through it. I guess it was either it's light weight or the way it was driven (or both) that made the difference.

 

yeah Leyland FWD chod always was good for traction. something to do with heavy cast iron transverse engine slung right on top of the driving wheels, wide track and skinny tyres. My Dad's Ambassador (Y reg, natch) ploughed through stupidly deep snow between Glasgow and Peebles way back in '91.

[SambaS]

I always seem to have a Talbot Samba for the winter, they don't mind the snow... the heaters a little questionable in the Cabriolet though.

[Spiny Norman]

One of the best cars I ever had in snow was my Mk1 Punto. Modern fwd chassis with decent ground clearance meant one memorable drive up a hill past a Mitsubishi Wanker being driven by the sort of person who thinks that revving fuck out the engine will eventually get you there....

It was so funny chugging past him as he slowly slithered back down the hill and into the kerb, all 4 wheels spinning and the engine howling for mercy...

 

Past experience has taught me to leave the wide-tyred, front heavy but rwd Merc safely tucked up at home when it's white underfoot.

[Angrydicky]

My Austin A35 is/was surprisingly capable in the snow.

[M'coli]

^^^Good as it may be, it's not exactly winter rat material! I'd hate to expose something like that to salty roads day in, day out - I'd get the Imp on the road and use it like that if it were galvanised, nor is the Cavalier, hence the search for something expendable.

 

Any thoughts on the bubble Rover 200?

[HillmanImp]

I would need a RWD car so I could still control it and not be helpless when I got to a corner so would go for an old Volvo or BMW both with skinny tyres and 2 or 3 bags of sand* in the back to give traction.

 

Best car is obviously a rear engined RWD car like an Imp, Skoda, 126 etc but they are not really rats anymore are they?

 

*actually bags of sand, not 3 grand

[dieselnutjob]

i drove my 305 diesel up a hill that people couldn't walk up. I was great.

 

The Passat TDI was pretty good except the heater took ages to heat up.

 

The 806 is superb and the built in webasto heater made it heat up, but now that's broken (it just belches out atomised diesel)

 

The 607 is utterly rubbish because the tyres are too wide. I would happily have narrower wheels in the winter but I guess that this wouldn't be good from an insurance point of view so it gets standard sized but winter tyres which evens things up a bit.

[Lacquer Peel]

Cadillac V-16.

[M'coli]

Nah, looked at one of them but HBOL says the boot's only big enough for a couple of violin cases...

[Morgan84]

MK4 Fiesta Chicane 1.25 on 185/55 R14 wheels

 

Never skidded once in 2 winters,and great feel from the steering;nice little steering wheel,and good all round handling.You know when the roads bad as she starts getting a bit 'twitchy' and sort of tells you to watch your step !

[wackywacerwill]

I always find the RWD (front engined is all I have experience of) stuff much more fun though find I need the shovel/a push more often than when I'm in a front wheel drive car. The FWD understeer issue is pleasingly dealt with using the handbrake and power out method learnt in a car park many moons ago

 

The 309 I'm failing to sell would be great in the snow (205 was superb last year) though knobbly tyres on the Honda and drifting the transit will bring a bigger smile. I guess I'm lucky because I could get away without driving when it snows most of the time, the pub/shop/school/work are all within sledging distance.

[rml2345]

Surprised no one* has said this before but what about a Lada Riva or Samara? From the land of cold and snow so they must be at least half capable. Also, the Riva heaters are capable of ridiculous warmth.

 

 

*Perhaps someone did. I don't know.

[forddeliveryboy]

Probably a Saab 900 (pre'93) or W124 Merc - both utterly predictable in slippery conditions and strongly built in case anything nasty happens. Both available sub £500 and have furnace-like heaters. I'd avoid anything PSA unless you're going to go slowly - the back axle is too keen by half to go round corners. Older Citroens like CXs and GSs awesome in snow but a bit rare, precious and expensive to bathe in salt water.

 

Not much which isn't a BMW which doesn't do ok on snow with the right tyres, the 4x4 myth is just that - you only need it if you need to tow up hills in slippery conditions. I once went past a 4x4 on a steep hill in very slippery snow, driving a £150 Triumph Dolomite, with bog-standard (ie not special M+S) Eastern European tyres. All four wheels were gently spinning on the 4x4 as it slowly slid downhill.

[forddeliveryboy]

My old MoT man reckoned the old Land Crab was unbeatable when winter turned rough, so no doubt Maxis were as good. If you have to use a modern machine in winter, fitting a set of narrower, taller tyres makes a hyowge difference - especially if they're a softer compound or M+S rated. Proper snow tyres on all four wheels make driving in snow relaxing.

[M'coli]

Probably a Saab 900 (pre'93) or W124 Merc -

These are excellent suggestions - as I said previously, I had the Autoshite bike 900 and I've have one again in a shot if they weren't so long and so thirsty!

 

Good suggestions all round, chaps, many thanks.

[Lacquer Peel]

Anything is good in the winter with the right tyres, a taxi firm in Aviemore used to run a BMW 5 series and a Mercedes E Class - heavy RWD cars with wide tyres, but they didn't struggle except in deep snow with winter tyres fitted to the driven wheels.

I wouldn't be without winter tyres although I have a FWD car with narrow tyres.

With a decent set of winter tyres driving on a snow covered road is almost as effortless as driving in clement conditions, which is never the case with summer tyres.

If you look out for part worns, especially fitted to wheels that fit your car you can pick them up cheaply too.

[mouseflakes]

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

 

My diesel Saxo was pretty ace in deep snow here last winter. Heavy-ish engine over skinny wheels proved great for grip - I had to pass a Skoda Yeti that was spinning all four wheels up a hill. Good MPG too.

[Morgan84]

I've found the Sierra and other W124's pretty hopeless when slippery,as they lose traction ever so quickly.We have a flat (ish) yard which is made up of gravel,stones and soil,but when the snows been compressed a little,or gets rained on then frozen,it becomes a skating yard.Got the Sierra and a customers 260E stuck trying to move them across the yard from one building to another.Perhaps fully laden on winter tyres they could be different,but I'm too mean to buy a extra set of winter tyres !

A RWD Transit is one of the most useless vehicles,as they can soon get stuck on even wet grass !

[Pete-M]

A couple of years ago I used the XJR all winter. People told me all kinds of things; "That's got no chance, it's two tons, high powered, auto, RWD with wide wheels". It pissed it. Not a problem. Could be a tad skittish if provoked, but it got me to and from work without any issues at all.

 

 

This is the greatest winter car I've ever been in. 2.0 CLX 4x4 Sierra estate with the optional winter pack and winter tyres on. If the snow was lower than the bumper it'd make it through. Volcanic heater, heated seats and screen and it started first time even at -30°. It's dead now, there's only so many Czech winters a car can take...

[Morgan84]

Best display of a Sierra 4x4 I ever saw was at a garage sale where they were basically selling off a field full of old MG's and other random cars from a garage which was closing down.The grass field had gotten wet and boggy,and most cars,including a Morris 1000 were gettong bogged down in the mud,and snaking their ways out.Well,some guy bought this Mercury grey Sierra 4x4 estate,which looked like it had sat for a long time;we saw him headed over with some jump leads and thought " He's being optomistic "

 

Well,it bursts into life,and down goes the bonnet,followed by a few revs and he boots it out across the field with mud and grass flying everywhere ! As he makes a corner,the exhaust flys out the side,but he carrys on to the main road,and that was the last we saw of the car !