 Poster: A snowHead
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My (t)rusty old car is needing rather a lot of work (£££££), given it's age I've been considering whether it's worth spending the £££ on it or replacing it.
Given where fuel is going, been looking at small cars to maximise the MPG figures for a new car. So looking for suggestions and personal experiences of getting ski gear into small cars. Any that might surprisingly swallow a pair of 180 to 185s? Would rather the gear goes in the car than on the roof as a box or rack would reduce the MPG scarily on a small engined car climbing a mountain road!
Also any experience of said cars driving in snow with or without snow tyres? My old car got up roads many a 4x4 didn't on summer tyres that were only just legal in winter 2010 (which is part of the reason I'm somewhat reluctant to replace it, but it's 15 years old this autumn!)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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IMHO fold down seats would work, VW Polo, corsa, fiesta, think they all do very efficient models nowadays....
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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?
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My old punto was awesome (except when I let the battery go flat),I did put winter tyres on the drive wheels as I was living on a steepish hill that didn't get ploughed until everything else had been. Didn't need chains ever. You could get two pairs of skis in by taking the parcel shelf out or up to 5 pairs and 5 people if you put them down the side of the front seat, was a bit cramped for the passengers that way though.
That car was the best £75 I'll ever spend.
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kitenski,
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fold down seats would work, VW Polo
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My skis go in my Polo without the need to fold the seats down! But perhaps Winterhighland isn't a pixie... 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Winterhighland, You'd have trouble fitting a small bag of shopping in an iQ let alone a pair of 185's. Again I'm not sure about the iQ but a work mate had a Smart and it even got stuck on a small down hill in light snow.
Mrs. ricfrench's fiat 500 is brilliant in slippy conditions, same floor pan as a panda, so that should be ok and better load space.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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In small cars easiest way to carry skis inside is to recline the front passenger seat as far as you can, and then put the skis there - preferably in a bag to protect the seats. You can even strap them in like a passenger. I do this when renting small hire cars for transfers.
Works find unless you need the seat for a human instead...
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Panda - excellent in the snow and space for kit.
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My Citroen C2 fits two people, skis, boots and luggage without problems. But any more than two people with or without skis/luggage would be an issue. I only ever drive to the airport or the snowdome, it's not cost effective to drive to a resort.
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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.
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Winterhighland, Fiat 500 good in the snow, but my 179s are a tight fit inside and either steal passenger space or rest on the shoulder down the middle. The boot is boot bag shaped though, and there would be room for a packed lunch as well as 2 pairs of boots  I'd go Panda / Polo
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Kel, 120's in an iQ, they would still be far too big 
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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.
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| Quote: |
In small cars easiest way to carry skis inside is to recline the front passenger seat as far as you can, and then put the skis there - preferably in a bag to protect the seats. You can even strap them in like a passenger. I do this when renting small hire cars for transfers.
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You don't need a bag. A pair of 'Kilt socks' work great (I have somehow managed to accumulate 3 pairs). Always got strange looks when putting them on but protect the seats and the belt perfectly. Some sort of waterproof bag arrangement for collecting the drips off the bindings on the way home is good too
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Much to my disgust I was given a Peugot 107 as a hire car last year, but I ended up being quite impressed. It was a four door and took four people and two people's luggage to the airport in reasonable comfort, drove quite nicely and was economical. I can't remember f I skied or boarded that week (apparently I'm bi-curious) but didn't have a problem wedging four people and their skis/boards in for movement round the resort. Often smaller cars like this drive better on snow due in part I think to their narrow tyres.
I was given a renault scenic another time, that was very roomy (took five people and boards and skis at a push). I don't recall spending much more on fuel than when I've had small cars.
Fiat Punto Grande would take the skis no problem, and they do a diesel which is very economical, it's just that they (and the regular Punto) have a bloody awful driving position and for such a small car it's impossible to see where the car ends! Never have that problem driving lorries...
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You know it makes sense.
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When trying to find out how much a car will cost to run it's useful to have a look at the data created for the car tax calculations here:
http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/
You can even download a spreadsheet with all the fuel consumptions for every car on sale in the UK. I did this for the 2009 data and fiddled arount with it in Excel and sorted by fuel cost. You may find the results useful: 2009sort.xls (1.2Mbyte)
Scanning down the list, you might want to look at the Skoda New Fabia Estate which beats the iQ by a small margin.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Agree about small cars, narrow tyres and snow. Our Hyundai I10 sailed past Jags & BMWs in January with no problem.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| altis wrote: |
Scanning down the list, you might want to look at the Skoda New Fabia Estate which beats the iQ by a small margin. |
We've got a Skoda Fabia Estate. The main criteria for choosing it included the ability to carry 200cm skis. Which it will without impinging on the front seats, so long as they are put in diagonally and with the back seats folded. Downhill skis shouldn't be a problem. We've got the 1.9 Diesel. It was cheap to buy. Fuel consumption is remarkably good. It takes four adults easily, and lots of luggage. It goes, it stops. The only real flaw in my eyes is that it is not happy bumbling along in slow traffic. But that may not apply to the other models.
Image might be a problem - it seems to be the Nordic skiers' preferred car
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My IQ fits easy 2 pairs of skis and boot bags with seats down they arn't massive skis 165 or 150 loads of room 
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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?
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| welshskier wrote: |
| Agree about small cars, narrow tyres and snow. Our Hyundai I10 sailed past Jags & BMWs in January with no problem. |
That might have a lot more to do with the weight being over the driven wheels than width of the tyres - a lot of Jags and BMW are rear wheel drive, so in slippery conditions struggle to grip, a small front-wheel drive car has its engine over the front wheels and not much weight to drag around with the friction it has got.
To the OP, I'd look quite seriously at diesel estates - just because a car is economical, it doesn't have to be small. Simply outrageous amounts of fuel economy out of some of the newer offerings from Skoda, Ford, VW and others. Especially if you can live with a smaller engined diesel, they will start getting into 50-60mpg. If you want to cart skis around, that's the best way to do it. Plus you won't look like a girl.
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Monium, definitely agree about fwd, but the narrow tyres do help. My father used to drive a rwd Morris Minor over the Brecon Beacons with 1 cwt of sand in the boot and was never stopped.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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debski, maybe I should go back to my old 165 1080s then! But interesting, might mean slightly longer kit may go in an Aygo? Thinking of going round the dealerships with a ski bag and be like 'Well i'm interested in a new car, but this has to go inside' !!
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| Winterhighland wrote: |
| debski, maybe I should go back to my old 165 1080s then! But interesting, might mean slightly longer kit may go in an Aygo? Thinking of going round the dealerships with a ski bag and be like 'Well i'm interested in a new car, but this has to go inside' !! |
Given where you live, I don't think you'll be the first. Given that is your main criterion, I don't see why you shouldn't.
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Fwiw from ukhotdeals
424° - Hyundai i30 Classic 1.4 5 Door - £8625 pre-reg @ DrivetheDeal 36.5% off RRP - View
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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.
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My brother (an instructor covering a number of French resorts) has had a Fiat Panda for the past few years, and has been delighted with it. Obviously needed to be a roof rack, but he seemed to get on fine.
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I have an mx5 and can get my bro 179s in it with the roof up, no passenger mind! You also do not want to be anywere near snow with it...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| welshskier wrote: |
| Agree about small cars, narrow tyres and snow. Our Hyundai I10 sailed past Jags & BMWs in January with no problem. |
Best snow car I have never driven is a fiat seicento, weight over the front wheels, narrow tyres and weighed nothing - it was beating the 4x4 tonka toys up snowy hills no problem.
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