Driving an M4 in the winter

[Smatty]

Tomorrow I put down the deposit on an M4 Cab (pics to follow) that is dealer stock, so I will have the car within a week.

My only concern is driving such a beast in the winter - I will be putting winter tyres on each corner, and the car will be my daily vehicle for commuting, running the kids about, that kind of thing.

Does anyone have any experiences using the M4 as a daily car during a british winter - did you survive, was the experience hairy or relatively normal and boring.

Cheers folks

[JNW1]

Smatty said:

Tomorrow I put down the deposit on an M4 Cab (pics to follow) that is dealer stock, so I will have the car within a week.

My only concern is driving such a beast in the winter - I will be putting winter tyres on each corner, and the car will be my daily vehicle for commuting, running the kids about, that kind of thing.

Does anyone have any experiences using the M4 as a daily car during a british winter - did you survive, was the experience hairy or relatively normal and boring.

Cheers folks

Lots of torque at low revs makes for a potentially interesting drive on slippery roads but with a sympathetic and sensitive right foot you should be fine (especially on winters).

[rassi]

DCT or manual? If DCT you can drive it with the slowest gearchange setting, and the speeder response in normal, and you would be fine, as long as you don't have a lead foot. Good call on the winter tyres!

[nickfrog]

Agreed, it's essentially about throttle modulation. Using the eco pro mode might give you even more throttle travel so that could help although on my humble M135i it means less linearity past about half the travel. Will you fit narrower 18' tyres ? I think the 18' rest of Europe wheels won't foul the calipers.

[theboss]

Good call on the winters. I haven't bought a set for my M5 yet. This morning was interesting as it was the first chance I've had to take the car out in cold but otherwise fine, dry conditions - yet the MPSS are a different tyre when it's freezing. Any more than 50% throttle, even in comfort setup and at speed, and traction would break. I personally like the fact that the M5 forces you to engage your brain at all times and the lack of traction is also a reminder that braking and lateral grip will be equally diminished - but the reduction in friction owing solely to a temperature drop was profound.

I'd better sort something out as I depend on the car as a daily for high miles.

I can only imagine the M4 is going to be the same proposition if not worse owing to the manner of its power delivery.

[Smatty]

I was going to put 19's on the car, rather than buying an OEM set with alloys - the salesman gave me a tip on pulling away, which was to feather (light touch) the accelerator which kicks in a 2 to 4mph speed - helped a lot as this is the first powerful car i've had.

[John D.]

A light touch on the accelerator sounds like a good tip

[cycle tramp]

I've recently collected my new F80 M3 (manual) and I'm not anticipating any problems over the winter. LSD might help a bit if we get a bit of snow.

What I do worry about in the ice / snow, is not my ability to drive in low grip situations, but some other spanner who really cant drive crashing into me. That, and the damn gritters flinging rocks at the car.

[Jim1556]

Good god people!

Like any weather affected drive, just go sensibly and drive to the conditions, leave extra room etc etc etc!!!
Or, if you're like me, leave loads of room so there's no one around, then you can have some slidey fun!

[Sneaky Pete]

A couple of winters ago my daughter got up late and missed her lift to work and so I had to take her in my M3 on summer tyres. It was showing about -6C and the local roads were untreated and very slippy but with a gentle right foot (and a good deal of irritation at all the morons driving too close behind) I got her to work safely. Her usual lift ( a small fwd hatch) on the same roads ended upside down in a ditch with the driver and passenger unable to get out!
So its not about the tyres or the car its about driving within the limits of the road conditions.

[JNW1]

Sneaky Pete said:

its not about the tyres or the car its about driving within the limits of the road conditions.

+1

[theboss]

JNW1 said:

Sneaky Pete said:

its not about the tyres or the car its about driving within the limits of the road conditions.

+1

...which are going to vary considerably by tyre

[S800VXR]

Personally id buy a 1500 shed and drive that for kids, shopping etc and save yr nice new M4 for the summer. First pass of a grittier and I'm sure you will regret using it, that and the general driving public appears to have little to no idea how to drive nowadays so whilst yrs will stop on winters the f#%kwit behind you wont.

[JNW1]

theboss said:

JNW1 said:

Sneaky Pete said:

its not about the tyres or the car its about driving within the limits of the road conditions.

+1

...which are going to vary considerably by tyre

The OP did say he was going to fit winters and, while that might be a wise move for someone new to a powerful rear-drive car, they're far from the be all and end all IMO. Same applies to things like four wheel drive, traction control, ABS, etc; arguably all nice to have but ultimately what really matters is the person behind the wheel having an awareness of the conditions around them (and that includes what other road users are doing, not just how slippery the road surface might be). Thought that was the point Sneaky Pete was trying to make which was why I agreed with him!

[Wills2]

My M5 span up its rears alarmingly and wagged its tail at 90mph on the M1 tonight, be careful out there.

[nickfrog]

Sneaky Pete said:

So its not about the tyres or the car its about driving within the limits of the road conditions.

What about both ?

Once a certain amount of care and skill is reached then it is essentially about the tyres.

Compare the stopping distance between winters and summers at -6 deg : no amount of skill is going to prevent that moron from pulling in front of you, and then your physical integrity depends on the amount of friction generated at the road/tyre interface.

[Wills2]

It' about both, but tyres make a huge difference I'm constantly surprised by the number of people on PH (and motoring forums in general) who don't seem to understand this.

I saw a post the other day when a poster claimed his "sticky soft MPSS" would be great in winter and he couldn't be persuaded otherwise!

[FazerBoy]

Wills2 said:

It' about both, but tyres make a huge difference I'm constantly surprised by the number of people on PH (and motoring forums in general) who don't seem to understand this.

I saw a post the other day when a poster claimed his "sticky soft MPSS" would be great in winter and he couldn't be persuaded otherwise!

Agreed.

Anybody who thinks like this can't have actually driven on a set of winter tyres in snow and ice - the difference is night and day.

The massively improved grip is down to a different rubber compound, chunkier tread pattern and the sipes which are designed to fill with snow which then in turn grips the snow on the ground. The compound of summer tyres means that they become soft and sticky when warm but they go hard and slippery in very cold temperatures.

It is debatable whether we have ice and snow on the ground for long enough in the UK to justify buying winter tyres but the actual benefits of these tyres cannot seriously be questioned.

I have bought a spare set of used wheels fitted with winter tyres which I keep in my garage and swap over myself. It only takes about half an hour. When I sell the car I will sell the winter wheels and tyres and recover a large proportion of the amount I laid out. Bear in mind also that while I am using the winter tyres I am not risking damage to my expensive summer wheels and obviously not wearing out my Pilot Super Sports so the net cost over a few years is less than you might expect.

If your car is not a garage queen and you will be using it over the span of several winters I would recommend getting a set of winter tyres.

[Terminator X]

Even my 130i was treacherous in the ice and snow! Be very careful.

TX.

[Kawasicki]

The M4 should be fine on decent winter tyres. It is designed to be driven in the winter, after all.