Best Shite in the shit (weather)

[twosmoke300]

Well I did a 400 mile trip yesterday in some pretty foul driving weather and was glad we took the Saab 9-5.

 

So stable and solid , good lights , heater etc etc. Plenty of power to blast past the spray from lorries .

 

Actually used the night panel too , thought it was just a gimmick but was genuinely usefull in poor conditions .

 

 

Got me thinking what you guys first and last choices are in poor weather . Now obviously everyone is going to say a 4x4 for snow but for general wet, windy dark , just want to get there sort of driving.

[Shep Shepherd]

1st - Volvo estate

 

Last - Ford Capri V6

[Asimo]

Of my sheds, the Subaru Legacy is pretty good.

The MR2 less so but much better now it has good tyres.

The Transit Connect is running on three and the engine management light is on since splashing through floods yesterday.

The old Civic has new tyres, so that is the choice for todays M4 duties.

[Split_Pin]

Anything by SAAB sounds good, particularly a 9000 like my dad had.

 

I thing any big car, weighing over about 1.2 tons with good tyres and brakes, together with a good heater will see you through though.

 

As such, my natural choice has been a skittish wee car with 4 different brands of tyres which weighs as much as a hankie. It's also lowered. GR8 4 Daily Express 100MPH WIND CHAOS moments.

 

I have this nice image in my head of owning a Rover 75. It's hugely wet and windy outside and I jump into the Club SE interior, thunk the door shut and the weather is shut out until I get home.

[twosmoke300]

Tis funny how saabs are good in the poor conditions cos on paper a 1.6t car with 235hp going through wide tyres and fwd sounds a nightmare

[ShiteRider]

Best for me we be a toss up between my lupo and my beige cortina.

Both have skinny tyres, good heaters and weigh the square root of fuck all.

Worst was my old XJ40, that was genuinely scary.

[saucedoctor]

Tough one.

 

At the top would either be my current X Type, with AWD and M+S tyres, although my Hyundai Tucson was no slouch either. I've never got the Rover stuck. Ka was good in snow.

 

Worst: my 911, despite 4WD, was useless, although I suspect that was more to do with the tyres. And the badermatic C200K was dreadful also.

[mercrocker]

Technically, the best vehicle we have for shite weather is the 190E....However as the shit-head decided it hates the damp its  not really any more use than a Leyland Mini.   Last Saturday night we were faced  with a 60 mile round trip on the motorway in torrential rain and were forced into taking the Minor.   Apart from feeling a little under-illuminated it was perfectly OK.   (the cross-city option of avoiding the motorway was too horrible to contemplate).    I normally use the Oxford in the winter but coudnt be arsed to get it back  on the road this year.  Best winter  car for us is in fact the Minor - positive steering, thin section tyres, uncomplicated electrics, responsive but tame amounts of rear wheel drive traction, narrow width body (GR8 for sliding between wheelspinning Binis) and quarter lights that enable precise amounts of ventilation.  

[dollywobbler]

Subaru Legacy has obvious appeal. Not just because of all-wheel drive, but the Japanese also tend to be good at heaters. Very powerful. Citroens tend to be a bit crap in this regard, though my CX auto was incredible in snow. Single wipers with crappy spray bars are annoying though.

[beko1987]

The XM's been ok so far, had to raise it up to 'intermediate' height once to clear a flood.

 

However I've worked out why the front bumper supports rust like fuck, ever little puddle, let alone big ones splashes up onto the bonnet, blatently soaking everything underneath. Even puddles that every other car I've driven through them just splashes it off to the side.

 

Pretty shit in wind though.

[purplebargeken]

Never found a problem with anything I've driven in shite weather including significant snow, although my Mk1 Sierra was a bit twitchy in high winds. My Mk2 Granny was ace at doing snow induced controlled slides, etc, on a deserted carpark somewhere in the 1980's.

[Jim Bell]

http://bit.ly/1fAigrB

 

Pricey, but handy for traversing floods/parting rain, pushing BMWs out of the way.

[skattrd]

The Volvo S80 I had was pretty damn good in any/all conditions - I do think I'll have another.

Subaru SVX was pretty good as well, power and weight meant it was pretty hard to get blown around and even with cut slicks on the car it was good in the wet.

[dieselnutjob]

our dented 806 is always great in bad weather

 

it has good traction from the diesel engine over the front wheels which are narrow by todays standards

pretty good ground clearance

sitting up high is useful in the spray

the air inlet is quite high on these as well

 

it's also useful that it's utterly worthless and battered so not big deal if something does happen

[fordperv]

The best car in shit weather for me is a toss up between an e30, capri and rover 214 but I've never had a car that was dismal in shit weather

[CortinaDave]

I suspect the ZT will be shit in the snow big, wide wheels with Chinese tyres. Hmmm...

 

A few years ago we had exceptionally bad snow and no one could get out of the street - including me in my Cougar and the knob of a neighbour across the road who had a brand new golf.

 

While he was wheelspinning away in a vain attempt to get any kind of traction I got out of the cougar and started defrosting my SD1 V8, much to his amusement .

 

" you're having a laugh if you think you can get that out today" he said.

 

I nudged or into reverse and it happily moved out of the drive without a hint of wheelspin, and I drove off down the street - much to the amazement of the social climbing neighbour twat who thought his golf couldn't possibly be inferior in any way to my autoshite.

 

I had Skinny tyres in the Rover at the time. It had no trouble at all with the snow

 

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[jonny69]

I had a Ford Pop through winters 2007 and 2008 and that was good. The heater was always great in that car but a combination of light car, loads of ground clearance, soft suspension and skinny crossplies that cut through anything meant it would drive pretty much anywhere.

 

I used my hotrod through the winters of 2010 and 2011 and it was fine, but it was a bit more of a handful. Long narrow wheelbase meant it was a bit of a pendulum and the tread pattern at the back was basically radial grooves in the crossplies. Ground clearance was awesome. The 1940's brakes were fun and probably would have been hard work in an emergency but, get this, I drove appropriately that I wouldn't find myself in that sort of situation. Cunning plan eh? Could have done with an electric windscreen wiper on the motorway mind.

 

Used my Anglia for most other winters since 2000 except 2004/5/6 while I was restoring it. Was my work vehicle in 2009 and I was lugging tools around with me across London when we had a lot of snoes. Never had a problem with it despite it ticking all the 'wrong' boxes for snodrivin. Only gripe is it leaks like a seive even after I've repaired all the holes and THAT is annoying.

 

Before 2000 it was in my 107E. Main issue was that car didn't have a heater and it made early morning driving absolutely DIRE. The hotrod with no proper roof or heater was fine because you dressed for it. Doesn't seem to matter how you many more clothes you put on in a closed car, it's just freezing cold and miserable.

 

So in the winter my small Ford of choice is the Ford Pop - but make sure you've got a heater

[scruff]

Sierra XR4x4 - used to work with a bloke who had a 2.9 and it was the bollocks in shitty weather. 

[Dave_Q]

http://bit.ly/1fAigrB

 

Pricey, but handy for traversing floods/parting rain, pushing BMWs out of the way.

 GR1000 for nailing a caravan to the back to make a shite camper.

[eddyramrod]

RWD Volvo estate. 

 

As said above, a bit of weight on your side is a good thing.  Old Volvos are also very well-made, so you get good draughtproofing.  You also get a good heater, which is allowed to work because of the absence of draught.  And heated seats of course.  And if the worst happens, what would you choose to be in when you invade the scenery?  I know where I'd want to be.

[Asimo]

MAN SX25.440 6x6 EX MILITARY CHASSIS CAB 2008 #CHOICE OF 2#

MILITARY, OFFROAD, ALL WHEEL DRIVE, LIKE UNIMOG

 

I would choose that over a new disco at rhe same price any day, but in what way is it like a Unimog?

 

Oh yeah, MAN is a german brand.

[pompei]

Another vote here for the Saab 9-5 although the lights on mine are pretty hopeless.  

[wuvvum]

I did 250-odd miles yesterday in the Carina E. Not brilliant tbh- apart from the noisy wiper motor (which started smelling hot after 30 mins on high speed), crosswind stability left a lot to be desired.

 

Last choice would probably be the Innocenti though - too light to be stable in high winds, mediocre demisting and a not-particularly-quick single wiper which is GR2 for visibility when HGVs are chucking up Niagara Falls style spray.

[The Moog]

I did 300 miles yesterday in xantia. Nice and wafty, only issues are headlights can be pathetic and being estate loves to catch the wind. Having decent winter tyres certainly makes a difference

[Lord Sterling]

I did about 100 miles in the Sterling yesterday in the torrential rain and wind. It didn't seem that bothered about the weather, nor did it seem bothered about the flooded road that was nearly up to sill level that I had to cross on a back road.

 

My other Sterlings coped very well in the snow almost acting as if it wasn't there. The Micra is pretty good in snow given its light weight and skinny tyres.

[Stanky]

We had a Daihatsu Cuore 989cc at the time of the snow in 2010 and it was ace. I thought it would be a total deathtrap given its minimal kerb weight and revvy engine, but it gripped like a limpet even on sheet ice. I guess bicycle tyres helped but was genuinely amazed at its abilities. Never tried it out in strong winds but I'd imagine it would be cock-shrivellingly terrifying even while stationary, let alone on the move.

 

I was out in the Kia yesterday on the M27 and it was getting blown all over the shop in the wind. I was probably doing 45-50mph, 3 up and the experience has shortened my life expectancy by at least 12 months.

[twosmoke300]

So the general feeling is - big luxo barges for wind and rain and general shittyness and little 1.bugger all cars in the snow/ice.

[Sigmund Fraud]

I've been commuting in the MX5, as it's the only one of my cars that is currently working.

 

The fact that I haven't died despite the WINDCHAOS/RAINCHAOS either means that the weather hasn't been all too extreme or that any car can get you to your destination if you drive sensibly enough.

[Junkman]

Anything that's paid for, running, has a working heater, and was made in 1986 or earlier.

[DVee8]

We have had Nissan X-Trails for the last 8 years.There has been nothing to stop them yet