 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
@Weathercam, narrow tyres much better than wide ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
@under a new name, I know that !
But when you're driving a VW Van one does not have that option 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| Quote: |
When descending from Verbier on early (5am) driving an airport transfer ( 4 regular snowtyres( I reached the freezing rain level - very scary stuff, about 1 to 2 inches thick. It took me 2 hairpins of holding the front of the van into the bank (I had barely been running at tickover in 1st) to stop.
While putting the chains on I fell over many times and the van pivoted through 90 degrees, it kept trying to squash me.
|
 I hope your clients appreciated your efforts, Idris.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@Weathercam, all tyre pressure gauges are relatively not absolute so if you set your tyre pressures at altitude they will be correct. It is as you say people who are travelling from low countries that will see the pressure difference, they should reset their pressure when at altitude and reinflate again before driving home. In many cases the lower temperature at altitude will offset the pressure difference anyway. I run my tyres at the pressure stated in the handbook.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| Quote: |
I run my tyres at the pressure stated in the handbook
|
so do I. The handbook doesn't suggest changing at different altitudes, just for very different loads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
By my calculations the difference in air pressure between sea level and 1000m is 1.4psi. That's pretty meaningless in terms of tyre pressure. Temperature will have a far greater impact than altitude.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Temperature will have a far greater impact than altitude.
|
As will driving for two hours at 80 mph
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Idris, @Chris_n, Ok thanks for the info, I stand corrected!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
@clarky999, think of it not so much corrected but as learning from out experience. I am still convinced that good (not all are equal) 4wd with studded tyres is the best for us who are here for the full season and more but I still am yet to convince myself (actually my wife) to buy such a vehicle. I do have an Audi Quattro but unfortunately it is a TT so not really suitable for our location in the winter so it stays in the UK, maybe I need to convince her to get an A3 Sport/Black/S Line. I have experienced a lot of what b]@Idris[/b], says and seen the opposite where vehicles are going up the hilĺ and are forced to stop and reverse and put the brakes on, this can lead to the car immediately locking the front wheels and swapping ends. If you are lucky this will happen within the width of the road no harm done, if not then a trip over the edge or into the wall!
My landlord has an A6 Allroad with studded tyres and in 5 years I have never seen it fail but I have also seen more modern 4wd vehicles fail miserably both here in Austria and in the Pennines in the UK. For instance a friend has a Volvo XC70 and that is hopeless, if it spins one wheel when standing still it will sit there all day. You need to get all four wheels moving at an equal speed for the electronics to engage correctly. One of my fondest memories is seeing a proper pimp my ride Range Rover Vogue getting pulled out from the side of the road by a rusty Merc Sprinter at Weardale after a day skiing in the Pennines.
If you have all of the tools available you soon learn which is the best to use. Before I had spikes I would frequently use snow socks to get up to my apartment on an evening when I was caught out with lack of traction (I don't know if my winter tyres were the best but they did have good reviews when I bought them. But given that my winter car is a Corsa 1.7 Diesel with lots of torque just above idling speed and all of the weight falling behind the driving wheels and on the drivers side it spins the other front wheel without hesitation) but always put chains on before going to work in the morning.
I hope I am not coming across as a scaremonger but I have driven competitively in motorsport so it could be said I have reasonable car control and do have a reasonable amount of experience driving in the Alps, Scotland and the North of England ski areas so have maybe seen more than my fair share of difficult conditions to know that when things go wrong they do so fairly quickly.
All I am saying is it pays to be aware of the risks and to be aware of how to mitigate them, in the case of the OP knowing EXACTLY where they are going and that if the forecast changes they know where to go to get the appropriate equipment will suffice.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 27-02-16 20:59; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Chris_n, FWIW if you do convince her to get a 4x4, my Duster with winter tyres has been unstoppable so far, even on god awful unploughed plate ice forest roads
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
@clarky999, we seem to have a bit of an affinity with Audi going on having had one or two over the years despite the fact that my son has got into problems with both his A3 and A4 Quattros (but then he can't drive and until this year had a youthful oh but you are old and it can't happen to me attitude, he now regularly phones and asks what he needs to use after I caught him stuck sideways between 2 walls earlier in the season).
Not in any way distracting from what you are saying about your Duster but IME ploughed roads can be more of a problem when all of the nice crusty uneven stuff that offers loads of grip is scrapped off then freezes over leaving a sheet of glass.
Just had a look at the Duster spec and although it isn't my ideal vehicle to drive to get here ( I prefer relaxed high speed cruising) it does rather fit the bill once here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
@Chris_n, I enjoyed pulling a Porsche Cayenne out of a snowdrift with my Fiat Multipla. Did have to put my chains on to get enough traction for that.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@pam_w I disagree - I've driven to the Alps only three times now, and the first thing we did before our first trip was to buy some snowchains, at a very reasonable £48 for decent branded (Thule) chains. A couple of trial fittings on the drive on a sunny September afternoon showed me they were completely trivial to fit and took no longer than about 3 minutes each side. Even if they took me 10 minutes each side, what's 15-20 minutes delay vs sliding off the side of a road with a family of six onboard worth?
I've needed the chains on two of the three occasions (both in Flaine at Feb half term), first time just to get out of resort and this last time both on the inbound and outbound journeys for about 3-4 miles of the route. Fitting and removing at the side of the road was as simple as fitting on my drive (albeit a little colder!), I doubt that socks would have been any less hassle to fit and I would have got equally cold!
I just can't see the USP of socks - just as timeconsuming to fit, take up similar amount of space in the car, similar price, less grip than chains.
(As it happens I've also had use out of the chains in the UK when I went mountain biking with my son at a trail centre in North Wales. Almost no cars could make it to the car park, 5 minutes of chain putting on and we were up there with smug grins on our faces!!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
@Idris, @Chris_n, Scary stuff!
I was in a similar position this year. We were due to leave at 04.00, driving down a narrow, short, steep hill to the main road. At 16.00 the night before, water from melting snow was pouring down the whole road, and at 01.00 I woke in a cold sweat wondering what to do if the water had now turned into sheet ice. I walked down the road to check, and somehow it was completely dry, no snow, water or ice, despite being -9 deg. I'm still not sure how that happened.
Lying in bed before knowing the road was clear, I had been toying between the two options of putting on snow tyres and chancing the ice, or waiting for daylight and warmer temperatures, but missing my crossing by several hours. Would it have been foolhardy to have chosen the first option?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
By the way, I drive a front wheel drive estate with snow tyres on all wheels
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
| Quote: |
Just had a look at the Duster spec and although it isn't my ideal vehicle to drive to get here ( I prefer relaxed high speed cruising) it does rather fit the bill once here.
|
Don't know what it's like where you are in the Eastern Alps, but over in the French Alps (well Chx anyway) it seems like every other car is a Duster. A lot of it might be to do with the price point making them very attractive as a second car to leave at folks holiday homes maybe?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| Quote: |
I had been toying between the two options of putting on snow tyres and chancing the ice
|
you decide what shoes your car will wear day by day??
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
I had been toying between the two options of putting on snow tyres and chancing the ice
|
you decide what shoes your car will wear day by day?? |
Ooops... I meant snow chains. Doh!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| midgetbiker wrote: |
| Quote: |
Just had a look at the Duster spec and although it isn't my ideal vehicle to drive to get here ( I prefer relaxed high speed cruising) it does rather fit the bill once here.
|
Don't know what it's like where you are in the Eastern Alps, but over in the French Alps (well Chx anyway) it seems like every other car is a Duster. A lot of it might be to do with the price point making them very attractive as a second car to leave at folks holiday homes maybe? |
And the fact that they're effectively a Renault. The French love to buy local. They also like cheap 4WD - I remember seeing Lada Cossacks in the Alps in far greater numbers there than there ever were in any other country I visited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Quote: |
They also like cheap 4WD
|
they hoovered up lots of those old Fiat Pandas....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
... or stopping in the middle of a busy road to fumble with them for ages.
