A topic about the Monaro and Winter weather

[baz7175]

I remember Stu posting not so long ago about how he had used a Monaro during the winter with no real trouble...

Today I left the office here in Aachen and after turning onto the Autobahn and driving maybe 500m at around 100-120kmh the sky changed, day became night and an absolute snowstorm ensued...I was very fortunate that the section of road was sparce with other cars as the big lump wasn't in any mood to slow down in a straight line no matter how gentle or on-off I was with the brake pedal...thankfully I pulled off onto a rest area within a couple of km's (after having crabbed the car through that few km's I may add as the car even in third/fourth gear at crawling pace wanted the passenger side to overtake the drivers side of the car)...

The road that normally takes me 15-20mins to travel to and from work today took an hour due to having to nurse the big ozzie lump home and prevent it from going roof surfing with some of the local wildlife in a random field along the way...

It's not as though I don't know how to drive in the snow, even last year I used the car back in NI during the few bouts of snow over there, but that whole run home today was heart in the mouth stuff from start to finish....and tomorrow morning first thing I'm going hunting for a small car to use during the winter months as I don't want to risk the biggie

Edited by baz7175 on Friday 9th November 15:11

[o.versteer]

Sensible enough, but, as an alternative, ahve you considered winter tyres? Everyone over there runs round on them for good reason. Yes, knobbly tyres on steelies might look shit (although I suspect they wouldn't if they were black and wearingf dog dish hubcaps), but if they keep your Monaro mobile and pointing shiny side up surely it's worth a look.

[baz7175]

The issue I can see there is where do I acquire a set of steel rims to throw the winter rubber onto? Even trying to acquire a set of 2nd hand Monaro alloy rims can be an expensive game...why didn't the 'ro come in at least a "semi-normal" offset/hub size

[AM04ARO]

I have used it to commute over two winters.

Not been a problem at all even in ice/light snow (went past a couple of BM's that had lost it).

Not sure I would want to risk it on heavy snow though.

[gareth h]

I had similar probs in a 968 a few years ago, been really worried about the ro in the snow, there are some socks which slip over the tyres and give similar performance to winter tyres in the snow, I'll try to find a link.

[S600VXR]

baz7175 said:

I remember Stu posting not so long ago about how he had used a Monaro during the winter with no real trouble...

Today I left the office here in Aachen and after turning onto the Autobahn and driving maybe 500m at around 100-120kmh the sky changed, day became night and an absolute snowstorm ensued...I was very fortunate that the section of road was sparce with other cars as the big lump wasn't in any mood to slow down in a straight line no matter how gentle or on-off I was with the brake pedal...thankfully I pulled off onto a rest area within a couple of km's (after having crabbed the car through that few km's I may add as the car even in third/fourth gear at crawling pace wanted the passenger side to overtake the drivers side of the car)...

The road that normally takes me 15-20mins to travel to and from work today took an hour due to having to nurse the big ozzie lump home and prevent it from going roof surfing with some of the local wildlife in a random field along the way...

It's not as though I don't know how to drive in the snow, even last year I used the car back in NI during the few bouts of snow over there, but that whole run home today was heart in the mouth stuff from start to finish....and tomorrow morning first thing I'm going hunting for a small car to use during the winter months as I don't want to risk the biggie

Edited by baz7175 on Friday 9th November 15:11

Is that Aachen as in on the way to the Ring..in Germany...?

[baz7175]

Thanks in advance if you can find a link Gareth.

And yeah as in Aachen en route to the ring - moved out here in May...

[stevieturbo]

Arent there some rope style tyre chains ? I think with them being rope, they were more suitable for long term use, whereas chains were strictly for snow ?

[anonymous-user]

Up 'till last year I used to ride my motorbike in the snow but in the end I got sick of falling off. Driving a rear wheel drive car in the same conditions is a doddle by comparison!

I'm more concerned about corrosion to be honest.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 9th November 19:24

[wolfracer]

Last year took my Mazda MPS (4WD) "off the beaten track" in fresh snow and had a hoot with full control. HOWEVER...
To put it in context, i can't even drive along a dual carriage way in the damp without getting a few squiggles from the back end.
Leave snow to the electronically equipped or 4WD crew. Walk to work it will be safer.....!

[well_fans]

well my one claim in 20 years of driving came thanks to a 20mph spin on a sheet of black in the 'ro so if it looks like getting below 5C she stays in the driveway.

[J. J.]

Why did you buy the car anyway? 400ish BHP and assocociated torque will always cause problems - remember the good days!(not a good answer, maybe, but those are the reasons I bought my car. Have to add, I have a 4x4 for inclement weather.....)

[gareth h]

Found it! http://www.autosock.co.uk/

[baz7175]

J. J. said:

Why did you buy the car anyway? 400ish BHP and assocociated torque will always cause problems - remember the good days!(not a good answer, maybe, but those are the reasons I bought my car. Have to add, I have a 4x4 for inclement weather.....)

I bought the car over a year ago when I was living in the UK as I had been saving my pennies for the previous few years after news broke about the Monaro coming to the UK in the first place (it was placed on my list of cars I'd love to own at this point), I only moved out here to Aachen in May this year and yesterday was the first time having to deal with really bad weather due to below freezing point for most of the day...

Getting some brekkie just now and then heading into Aachen to UKO Opel dealership to see what they have to offer, as from what I can see online Opel are doing a 0.9% finance deal on their "navi" models at the moment...

[baz7175]

1.2 NAVI Corsa ordered today while it's available with 0.9% finance for 3 years, so at least the big lump can go into storage in my spare garage out here for the winter - was a bit worried when they said up to 12 weeks delivery, but when they realised i wanted it plain with no extra options it suddenly dropped to 2 weeks which is all good

Cheers for the socks link, I may order a set anyway to have in the car just in case due to the drastically changable weather out here during the non-summer months

[Demolition Man]

Snow and Monaro's are like white socks with dark shoes..... they just don't go together.... and anyone who tries it, is either mad...or a fashion disaster waiting to happen....

I got caught in that storm this time last year - tried getting home, got nowhere fast. Abandoned the Ro and got a lift home in an Audi Estate with 4x4.

Live for the non snowy days

[C8PPO]

I had wondered about this subject - fortunately there's a Series 3 Landie with a 3.5 V8 sitting outside the house with my name on the V5