Best cars for snow and ice

[Splatt]

Sitting at my desk looking out at the Arctic waste that is my front garden I wonder if the sages on this site have thoughts on the best car to handle these conditions. The A class with vario transmission seems a good choice for icy hill starts. But on the other hand would the longer wheelbase of the C class be more stable ? I remember that some cars with wheel track and wheelbase about the same dimension are, on ice, quite as happy spinning in a circle as following the intended course. Heavy cars like my previous Volvo V70 are fine until you reach the bottom of a hill and need to stop at which point inertia causes it to becomes a sledge. Are big fat tyres an advantage or do they just ride on top of the snow where thinner tyres will cut through more ? I have already found the bicycle is a No No, one firm push on the pedal and you are on your back with the thing on top of you. Needless to say the Council gritter has not made it yet.

 

[hawk20]

Sitting at my desk looking out at the Arctic waste that is my front garden I wonder if the sages on this site have thoughts on the best car to handle these conditions. The A class with vario transmission seems a good choice for icy hill starts. But on the other hand would the longer wheelbase of the C class be more stable ? I remember that some cars with wheel track and wheelbase about the same dimension are, on ice, quite as happy spinning in a circle as following the intended course. Heavy cars like my previous Volvo V70 are fine until you reach the bottom of a hill and need to stop at which point inertia causes it to becomes a sledge. Are big fat tyres an advantage or do they just ride on top of the snow where thinner tyres will cut through more ? I have already found the bicycle is a No No, one firm push on the pedal and you are on your back with the thing on top of you. Needless to say the Council gritter has not made it yet.

Used to live and drive a lot in the Peak District in the days when it still snowed a worthwhile amount of the time in UK. I preferred front engine rear drive because you have so much control in a slide by adjusting the throttle. Hence nearly all luxury cars go for that layout unless 4wd.

However, if you live in a snowy area the ML is fantastic at getting out of steeply sloping drives, rutted tracks etc etc.

Trouble on main roads is that once the snow drifts and the traffic stops you can't move because of all the normal cars blocking the road.

Normal wheels and normal tyres are way better in snow than big wheels and low profile tyres IMO. And they aquaplane far less.

 

[stumpy]

I think it is a question of swings and roundabouts really. Each type of vehicle has pluses and minuses. One overiding factor though is to make sure it is an old banger. Whilst I might be a competent driver on snow, I don't trust some other bozo not to slide in to me. Luckily, the Bentleys are not in use today !

 

[television]

Thin wheels cut through the arctic stuff, and fat wheels slide around on top of it.

The best go anywhere car that I ever owned was a Citroen CX

 

[carlsson20]

integrale Evo on skinnys

 

[PeterCLK]

4 wheel drive the best followed by front wheel drive. The weight of the engine is over the front wheels and additionally they "pull" rather than "push" which does help.
Had a rear wheel drive in the early 80's when I worked on the edge of the Pennines and often struggled to get up the hill to work. Switched to fwd - no problem.

 

[jberks]

Best car for snow I ever drove (aside from 4wd obviously) was a diesel vauxhall cavalier taxi. skinny tyres, heavy engine, fwd and lots of torque (low revs) it went everywhere effortlessly. We had a couple of occasions when it snowed and all the drivers got stuck in their mondeos etc and gave up. Our littel 'cavvie' just trundled on. (good night - new years eve and there were only 3 of us left working on double time!) I even managed to get it to climb a really steep hotel entrance road at 3am whilst it was still coming down in buckets. I figured I'd get 1/4 the way up, slide down again and then have to walk up to get the punters, but it never missed a beat all the way up.

All that said, my E270 with silly fat tyres, rwd and auto is way better than I expected. I've only been stuck once - oddly on my flat drive - once freed after 30 secs of R-D-R-D-R..., I went up hill and down dale - no effort. All down to the ESP I suspect.

 

[jubhi]

My Subaru Impreza STI was great in the snow, even with the Semi-Slick Tyres!

 

[megah0]

not so great for going UP the hills though

 

[popuptoaster]

Sierra 4x4 on skinny wheels, light enough at 1400kg to not be to hard to stop but has enough weight to get through thin snow to the road, they have abs and power steering standard and most of the XR versions have heated screens and mirrors, the 4x4 is biased 64% to the rear and the viscous diffs are not snatchy, they are also cheap enough not to worry about bending them, ive had loads and they are brilliant when the wetaher gets bad, ground clearance isnt great but i've driven one 30 miles through almost a foot of snow without getting stuck once, the V6 is a torquey beast, no nasty turbos to spool up and suprise you.

tyres make way more differnece than 4x4 though generally, wide low prifiles are terrible for snow as the wont bite.

heres one of my favourite old 4x4 sierras, ignor the wheels, they were ugly and i soon changed em.

 

[GseRacing]

I saw a couple of people slip sliding today but my good old ML just trolled on through. take more than an attack from an icing shaking to scare my wee beatie!

But Carlsson20, your bang on if im honest! Big time fun although i will admit i have never had the pleasure.

 

[100%Bitch]

Mine was fun this morning on the back roads. I even had to put it into W for Wimp.

 

[Cole@MBS]

Do a ML off road course, it will open your eyes as to what they are really like off road!!!

Amazing, and im talking about the 163, the one everybody loves to hate!!!

 

[roofless]

this is what i use to pull the ml out when it's stuck

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Do a ML off road course, it will open your eyes as to what they are really like off road!!!

Amazing, and im talking about the 163, the one everybody loves to hate!!!

AND they are brilliant for wading safely through deep muddy culverts and along flooded service roads - I'm talking Spanish flash floods ......

 

[JEZ.S320L]

this is what i use to pull the ml out when it's stuck View attachment 6357

Behave yourself, roofless

 

[Cole@MBS]

Off road courses i have done was with 163 and a landrover course,

In my mind the 163 knocked the spots of the whole LR range without trying,

I dont like the 163 as a car, but as a off road 4-4 it is unreal!!

 

[roofless]

Behave yourself, roofless

jez your ml can live with this old dog off road with a lsd & locking hubs hi-lo gears ...sh$t on road thou

 

[Cole@MBS]

jez your ml can live with this old dog off road with a lsd & locking hubs hi-lo gears ...sh$t on road thou

Have to agree with you Roofless, but with the ML you dont have to select all that stuff, it does it for you!!

 

[roofless]

Have to agree with you Roofless, but with the ML you dont have to select all that stuff, it does it for you!!

that's why it's a soft roader