Snowed Under Lotus

[ant111s]

Mrs went to work earlier than me via public transport, 1 girls already called in that shes written off her brand new mini, another just made it in late saying she slid on the way there in her car.. Think ill be working from home today!

[miss notax]

Good plan. I drove into work in the Elise (the Volvo is in the garage - great timing!) and never again

Was absolutely awful. Sliding everywhere, a 180 degree spin coming out of our lane and - later on - ending up in a bush.. Fortunately only about 5mph so car and me ok. Oh, and no brakes on several occassions. I'm never doing this again

Edited by miss notax on Monday 2nd February 09:46

[Scuffers]

light car + wide tyres + snow = zero grip

[miss notax]

Scuffers said:

light car + wide tyres + snow = zero grip

Yep. I knew it would be a case of driving VERY carefully, but I must admit that I didn't expect it to be that bad. Never again

[ant111s]

miss notax said:

Good plan. I drove into work in the Elise (the Volvo is in the garage - great timing!) and never again

Was absolutely awful. Sliding everywhere, a 180 degree spin coming out of our lane and - later on - ending up in a bush.. Fortunately only about 5mph so car and me ok. Oh, and no brakes on several occassions. I'm never doing this again

Edited by miss notax on Monday 2nd February 09:46

WOooo Thats what i was afraid of and as ive only had the lotty for about 2 months not 100% confident in my handling abilities with the car as it is! Bugger doing 180 spins in the snow lol. hope you got no scratches from the bush wacking!

[miss notax]

ant111s said:

miss notax said:

Good plan. I drove into work in the Elise (the Volvo is in the garage - great timing!) and never again

Was absolutely awful. Sliding everywhere, a 180 degree spin coming out of our lane and - later on - ending up in a bush.. Fortunately only about 5mph so car and me ok. Oh, and no brakes on several occassions. I'm never doing this again

Edited by miss notax on Monday 2nd February 09:46

WOooo Thats what i was afraid of and as ive only had the lotty for about 2 months not 100% confident in my handling abilities with the car as it is! Bugger doing 180 spins in the snow lol. hope you got no scratches from the bush wacking!

Thankfully no scratches

I know what you mean, i've had my car less than a year and I was definitely not ready for that this morning!

[steveott]

I crawled to work in the lotus today - took a long time but no slides for me.

[Loudman]

....at least the lotus is better than my old tvr, which had even wider tyres and a savage v8 trying to get you into the ditch at every opportunity. And the heater works in the elise. Palatial!
I think I'll be putting some bricks in the boot later.
The worst thing is that I'm at work, so getting snowed in now would not be good!!!

[kambites]

I got a lift in this morning having left the Elise at work last Friday after an extended pub lunch/drinking session... be interesting to see how it handles driving home this evening.

[ant111s]

Loudman said:

....at least the lotus is better than my old tvr, which had even wider tyres and a savage v8 trying to get you into the ditch at every opportunity. And the heater works in the elise. Palatial!
I think I'll be putting some bricks in the boot later.
The worst thing is that I'm at work, so getting snowed in now would not be good!!!

snowed in at work couldnt think of anything worse lol.

Not being able to drive it now makes me wana drive it even more, damn you snow!

[miss notax]

ant111s said:

Loudman said:

....at least the lotus is better than my old tvr, which had even wider tyres and a savage v8 trying to get you into the ditch at every opportunity. And the heater works in the elise. Palatial!
I think I'll be putting some bricks in the boot later.
The worst thing is that I'm at work, so getting snowed in now would not be good!!!

snowed in at work couldnt think of anything worse lol.

Not being able to drive it now makes me wana drive it even more, damn you snow!

Don't be tempted...!

[Gad-Westy]

Am I the only one who finds the Elise great fun in the snow? I admit the brakes don't work when its slippy but everything else seems managable and lots of fun. I'm going to crash on my way home aren't I?!

[miro]

Gad-Westy said:

Am I the only one who finds the Elise great fun in the snow? I admit the brakes don't work when its slippy but everything else seems managable and lots of fun. I'm going to crash on my way home aren't I?!

Expensive if you have even a little ding though

[miss notax]

miro said:

Gad-Westy said:

Am I the only one who finds the Elise great fun in the snow? I admit the brakes don't work when its slippy but everything else seems managable and lots of fun. I'm going to crash on my way home aren't I?!

Expensive if you have even a little ding though

Yes, fun in an empty car park with nothing to hit.... Not fun when there are lots of objects that could batter your little car

[lee111s]

I've left mine at home today...I don't see the benefits of taking the risk...I've already buckled one wheel on black ice costing almost 400 beans...I don't fancy another

[nsm3]

We need Cyberface to log in and give a report on his new winter tyres - be interesting to hear if they are any better in these conditions?

[ant111s]

Then youve also got the case of other people sliding and or not stopping at a junction and ploughing straight into you!!! Instead sat in bed doing work from the lappy while watching Punkd.. Ahhhhh Bliss!

[Gad-Westy]

miro said:

Gad-Westy said:

Am I the only one who finds the Elise great fun in the snow? I admit the brakes don't work when its slippy but everything else seems managable and lots of fun. I'm going to crash on my way home aren't I?!

Expensive if you have even a little ding though

Any car is though. I just find the Elise more controllable than most in adverse weather so if I have to drive, I'm happier taking the Elise.

[ant111s]

Gad-Westy said:

miro said:

Gad-Westy said:

Am I the only one who finds the Elise great fun in the snow? I admit the brakes don't work when its slippy but everything else seems managable and lots of fun. I'm going to crash on my way home aren't I?!

Expensive if you have even a little ding though

Any car is though. I just find the Elise more controllable than most in adverse weather so if I have to drive, I'm happier taking the Elise.

luckily snow isnt settling any more so i may get to drive it today after all.
I just had visions this morning of going out in the lotty, going round a corner and ending up in someones living room!.

[cyberface]

nsm3 said:

We need Cyberface to log in and give a report on his new winter tyres - be interesting to hear if they are any better in these conditions?

MWUAHAHAHAAAA!!!

I've been out having fun! The snow tyres, funnily enough, work in the snow. The carpark I leave it in was under 5 inches of snow, the Exige had 4 inches on (pics later when I can download off my phone) and because nobody here could make it into London today (trains not running - this country is a bloody pathetic shambles) everyone was trekking into my carpark because it's next to Knole park where everyone was sledging or skiing (yes, really). Snow in the carpark was packed on ice - lots of cars stuck at the bottom of the hill.

The Lotus was incredible. It'd slide around on the packed snow but it would always move. Part of this is the weight distribution - the FWD cars were having all sorts of trouble. Once on the town and minor roads, slush and snow, it really was utterly fantastic. My girlfriend was moaning that driving the Lotus would be dangerous but the first few traffic lights and corners proved her wrong - no wheelspin and the ABS didn't kick in once.

The Growler would have been much more dangerous with 420 lb ft of supercharged V8 and summer tyres with no traction control.

Let's put it this way. I never once felt unsafe driving in really deep snow. Today was as deep as I've ever driven in, including Swiss ski trips. Winter tyres work in the snow, especially on lightweight Lotuses - I was keeping up easily with the local LR defenders and even though the forecast is for snow all week, I'm confident that I'll make Somerset this weekend regardless of the amount of snow.

The only sketchy thing is the other idiots on the road on worn summer tyres without 4wd - and with zero rearward visibility in the Exige S I can't see if someone behind is getting too close or can't stop in time...

Fun fun fun!

Pics later