Snow grid

A.J.

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On my build sheet it has 1U2 - SNOW GRID listed. What is a snow grid.

I have obviously missed something over the past few days because my W204 is bluddy useless in the conditions we have experienced. That coupled with the sensitive traction control it has been a difficult week, Glad its all over, hopefully :rolleyes:
 

John Laidlaw

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It’s just a plate to stop snow blowing into the radiator area, won’t stop the complete uselessness Andy
:confused:
 
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A.J.

A.J.

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keefysher

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3 or 4 bags of sand in the boot, traction control off, 2nd gear to start, may help in future
 

L John

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You blame the car, not the tyres?
Rear wheel drive is always going to be poor in the snow on any car compared to front or all wheel drive.
Did you put winter tyres on?
If not it's a bit like blaming a t' shirt for being useless in bad weather.
 

LostKiwi

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You blame the car, not the tyres?
Rear wheel drive is always going to be poor in the snow on any car compared to front or all wheel drive.
Did you put winter tyres on?
If not it's a bit like blaming a t' shirt for being useless in bad weather.
The old beetles were one of the best cars around in snow. All that weight over the driving wheels... Just don't let it go too sideways!
 
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Naraic

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The old beetles were one of the best cars around in snow. All that weight over the driving wheels... Just don't let it go too sideways!

My father had one. In the great snow of 1963 we were the only car in our street able to move...we couldn't stay off school!!

I wouldn't take the Porsche out in it though.
 

LostKiwi

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My father had one. In the great snow of 1963 we were the only car in our street able to move...we couldn't stay off school!!

I wouldn't take the Porsche out in it though.
My point exactly. It's not where the driving wheels are, it's more about where the weight is and the tyres. That's why the Porsche would be rubbish - super wide sports tyres just don't work in snow!
 

L John

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The old beetles were one of the best cars around in snow. All that weight over the driving wheels... Just don't let it go too sideways!

Skinny wheels too.
I had a Hillman Imp that was good for traction in the snow but the steering was the downside. Just getting out of a cambered parking space in snow/ice could be difficult because the front was being pushed.
Rear engine rear wheel drive have the pendulum effect if the rear loses traction so I don't think it can be seen as better than front engine with front wheel drive in adverse conditions.
Not saying one is better than the other, all configurations have good and bad, we all have choices and if we make the wrong choice or even make the right choice for 90% of driving conditions we really can't blame the car.
 

curious

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Going up hill in the snow all things being equal rear wheel drive will be better. Again, more weight on the rear wheels. Recently skiing in France saw all the VW T5s having to reverse up the hills to get any sort of traction. Glad I've got a Vito!
 

Naraic

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Going up hill in the snow all things being equal rear wheel drive will be better. Again, more weight on the rear wheels. Recently skiing in France saw all the VW T5s having to reverse up the hills to get any sort of traction. Glad I've got a Vito!

Travelling in snow uphill behind a Cortina whilst in my Renault 12 I have to...disagree.
 

Craiglxviii

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My father had one. In the great snow of 1963 we were the only car in our street able to move...we couldn't stay off school!!

I wouldn't take the Porsche out in it though.
We had a 2CV that was similarly good in the yard deep snows of 1984.
 

john f

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I was slightly disappointed with our 2010 W164 ml300 I got stuck in snow where my work colleagues Astra got through
I had to turn off the ESP and do a bit of spinning to get out
The tyres on our car are not suitable for this 2-3 days a year problem 265 45 20 Avon Summer

ps After driving with esp off I couldn't switch it back on , Diagnostic tool said Yaw sensor and the the display said tyre inflation monitor not working or words to that affect
Cleared the codes with the icarsoft and back to normal perhaps the snow packed rims affected the sensors
 

john f

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My point exactly. It's not where the driving wheels are, it's more about where the weight is and the tyres. That's why the Porsche would be rubbish - super wide sports tyres just don't work in snow!

My Porsche 911 is not too bad in moderate snow , I am cheating slightly its a C4 (4 wheel drive) an old 1991 model
but as you say a two wheel drive 911 is positively dangerous
 

M80

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"The old beetles were one of the best cars around in snow. All that weight over the driving wheels... Just don't let it go too sideways!"

Ah memories.
A great car for drifiting, on loose surfaces as there wasn't enough power otherwise, even in the 303S.

Didn't need a dial rev counter the audio rev counter served well enough, on any station.
The heating system sort of worked but as the double skin heat exchanging, tin, exhaust was good for 6 months exhaust fumes in the cab were the heating.

A revolutionary idea of using spare wheel pressure to work the windscreen washers might well mean a flat spare when needed.

Boot space under the bonnet, but not big enough for a suitcase. There was space behind the rear seat though, that could take a briefcase.

Rear seat that was good for 2 small children, how the hell we conceived our eldest on that really baffles me now, But where there's a willy there's a way.

Plastic seats that were excellent, for piles in winter.

Top speed 78mph,
28mpg at best.

A blessing that the speed and acceleration were limited as the headlights were sad.

Fond memories of scraping ice off the windscreen as I drove, because it was on the inside.

Ah the good 'ole days.
 

umblecumbuz

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Beetle? That brings back memories. Great in snow and terrific fun.
The downside was akin to throwing a dart backwards if you got it wrong.
 

John Laidlaw

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Back to the old thing-
Almost every car these days sits on fat wide low profiles which are useless in anything resembling snow whereas in the past it was the opposite
Iirc my old Escort had 15 in wheels probably 215 wide with a 60 profile or so
 

EmilysDad

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.....
Iirc my old Escort had 15 in wheels probably 215 wide with a 60 profile or so

Must've been pretty new then with wheels and tyres that big. The Mk1 I passed my test in would've had more like 13" rims with a 165 tyre ..... that's what my MKIII Cortina was fitted with ;)
 

L John

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As the OP was saying how bad the W204 is in snow, I took mine out today to find the worse hilly side roads in my area that are still covered in snow. ****** brilliant.
Easy hill starts uphill on compacted snow and on fluffy snow.
I even went down a dead end road and had to turn around to go back up the hill. I would not have gone down there on summer tyres.
Oh and I didn't even bother putting it into comfort mode as sports mode has no issues on the snow, it only slipped when I intentionally pushed too far on acceleration or braking which was fun.
Rear wheel drive W204 with 4 good winter tyres is perfectly capable in snow.
 

d215yq

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Going up hill in the snow all things being equal rear wheel drive will be better. Again, more weight on the rear wheels. Recently skiing in France saw all the VW T5s having to reverse up the hills to get any sort of traction. Glad I've got a Vito!

Hmm did a ski season in France sometimes sometimes driving those FWD vans and whilst that is true for very steep gradients, going up backwards they will always beat a RWD going forwards and so are much more "useful" as with a RWD if you get stuck going up forwards there's nothing else you can do. I used my W124 with rear wheel drive and winter tyres for the season and only got stuck once, up a very steep gradient, winter tyres make a huge difference. When I did get stuck we tried all sorts of starts but in the end the only way to clear it was to get a push start and then just driving at 50mph on the speedo whilst it was inching forward it finally dug its way up to the top....then needed a diff oil change as that had all burnt in the process! Once I was out of the way a new BMW mini and golf (on winter tyres) went up without any problem. All things being equal the physics of FWD is better than RWD for most things.

That said, contrary to popular opinion an auto is far better than a manual for starting in real slippy conditions which might be why your vito appears better? When we had snow over ice my RWD auto was better than FWD manual cars as it started moving and they didn't. The problem was the moment it changed gear it would then spin a wheel and get stuck...as my W124 could only start in 1st I remember driving round resort at 3,000rpm...one slight unsmooth input of the throttle and it would spin a wheel dig and get stuck like if it tried to change to 2nd, but with practice and concentration was manageable. Also had to remember to knock it in neutral before braking or the engine would keep turning the back wheels very slowly and it would never completely stop. Fun times.
 

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