Who's buying a 4x4 for the Winter then????
Discussion
As the title says!?
I bought a Kia Sportage for £300 last November. I didn't buy it for the winter as such, I just bought it because it was a bargain!!! Anyway, a couple of days after I bought it the bad snow hit us, and I have to say, the little Sportage was a valuable asset!! I ran it until the end of January, and sold it for a profit!!
So, now on to this year. I'm on nightshift at the moment, and as I am so bored, I am trawling all of the usual sites to pass my time. PH, Autotrader, Gumtree and E-bay. I have noticed that a lot of people advertising 4x4's right now, seem to be saying in ads "don't get stuck in the snow this winter!!". I can't seem to find anything to say there is a particularly bad winter forecast, but if I found another bargain 4x4 I could certainly be tempted to hedge my bets!!!!
Anyone else tempted after last year's winter???
I bought a Kia Sportage for £300 last November. I didn't buy it for the winter as such, I just bought it because it was a bargain!!! Anyway, a couple of days after I bought it the bad snow hit us, and I have to say, the little Sportage was a valuable asset!! I ran it until the end of January, and sold it for a profit!!
So, now on to this year. I'm on nightshift at the moment, and as I am so bored, I am trawling all of the usual sites to pass my time. PH, Autotrader, Gumtree and E-bay. I have noticed that a lot of people advertising 4x4's right now, seem to be saying in ads "don't get stuck in the snow this winter!!". I can't seem to find anything to say there is a particularly bad winter forecast, but if I found another bargain 4x4 I could certainly be tempted to hedge my bets!!!!
Anyone else tempted after last year's winter???
k, I need to buy a UniMog, NOW.
Nah...
Z4 is in garage. We have the FWD Fabia VRS to get us out of bother.
With all the torque its a decent enough car...
If i feel like its about to go on the slippy stuff. I stick it into a higher gear, lift off the clutch and let it push its way through...
Corners are another matter though!
Z4 is in garage. We have the FWD Fabia VRS to get us out of bother.
With all the torque its a decent enough car...
If i feel like its about to go on the slippy stuff. I stick it into a higher gear, lift off the clutch and let it push its way through...
Corners are another matter though!
Just remember the winter tyres.
Winter tyres are better than regular tyres on any conditions under about 7degrees.
It's as much to do with the rubber compound as it is to do with the tread.
I have a set of 4 winter tyres on old wheels sitting in my garage, and when winter rolls around I just get the local garage to swap them over for the cost of a pint or two.
A lot of modern cars come with summer tyres. They give fantastic performance on a regular road, low MPG, no rumble and everyone loves them. But in the snow and ice they are useless.
Even if you have a 4x4 if you don't have decent winter tyres you just have 4 tyres slipping rather than 2 – this is one reason why a lot of the Cayenes and X5s of the world get such bad reviews in the snow.
There are of course all weather tyres, all road tyres, ultra rain sports, or whatever that fall between winter and summer tyres in performance.
I guess you pay your money and take your chances.
I've had my 4x4 for quite a few years now.
And, if I ignore the drives to Europe, it's still been through quite a lot of snow and floods in the UK.
As a conservative estimate I reckon that for a good 2-3 months of the year I'm grateful I'm in a 4x4 rather than a RWD.
RWD in the snow is great fun to fool around in. But it becomes less fun when a 45 minute motorway drive turns into a 3 hour trundle.
Winter tyres are better than regular tyres on any conditions under about 7degrees.
It's as much to do with the rubber compound as it is to do with the tread.
I have a set of 4 winter tyres on old wheels sitting in my garage, and when winter rolls around I just get the local garage to swap them over for the cost of a pint or two.
A lot of modern cars come with summer tyres. They give fantastic performance on a regular road, low MPG, no rumble and everyone loves them. But in the snow and ice they are useless.
Even if you have a 4x4 if you don't have decent winter tyres you just have 4 tyres slipping rather than 2 – this is one reason why a lot of the Cayenes and X5s of the world get such bad reviews in the snow.
There are of course all weather tyres, all road tyres, ultra rain sports, or whatever that fall between winter and summer tyres in performance.
I guess you pay your money and take your chances.
I've had my 4x4 for quite a few years now.
And, if I ignore the drives to Europe, it's still been through quite a lot of snow and floods in the UK.
As a conservative estimate I reckon that for a good 2-3 months of the year I'm grateful I'm in a 4x4 rather than a RWD.
RWD in the snow is great fun to fool around in. But it becomes less fun when a 45 minute motorway drive turns into a 3 hour trundle.
I'll be looking at a set of winter rims and rubber around the end of October. Only running 15s, so I figure they'll be cheap - although I've managed the last few cold spells in RWD cars without getting stuck. Could do without a first time though.
Edited by Zwoelf on Wednesday 7th September 09:01
4x4 as the family car, something more entertaining as my car. All bases covered.
Have to say though I've never been stuck in a FWD/manual, as long as you're sensible you can pretty much get most places.
Do like the idea of an old defender, some of the army surplus look quite interesting
Have to say though I've never been stuck in a FWD/manual, as long as you're sensible you can pretty much get most places.
Do like the idea of an old defender, some of the army surplus look quite interesting
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff