Z4 + Snow

Anything rwd with wide summery tyres is turd in snow with normal tyres. Fwd with skinny all season tyres and most of weight over em is what you need!
I've not bothered going to work, working from home. Normally it's ok if very steady, but this snow ontop of compacted snow is just zero grip! I got stuck on a flat street haha, so no joy with any form of gradient!
 
I've been working down in Basingstoke for a while, and this is what would have greeted me had I been working there this week.
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And it's not just Z4M's that get stuck - my mate's M5 hasn't moved for about a week - although he does live in the Peak District.
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I've had to go to work in my Dad's X5 again! Looks like the Z4 will be redundant for the rest of the week :(
 
Having had the opportunity to get some snow driving practice in, courtesy of a couple of local supermarkets, I'm finding the Z much more manageable in low to moderate levels of snow. My beloved Z is the first RWD auto/semi auto (SMG) that I've had the pleasure of ownership in the last 30 odd years or so, and so some refresher training was definitely required. After some fun on the icy car parks, I've found that for those of us with SMG's, manual 2nd or 3rd gear selection for pulling away from a standstill, almost at tickover revs works fine most of the time. I also found that selecting "sport" mode can actually be helpful in some circumstances as it gives greater throttle control and feel.


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And in response to the TT quattro queries, mine (225 quattro Coupe), as might be expected, was just fine on average snowy/icy roads. But of course, as with any vehicle be it 4wd 2wd etc. a significant reduction in speed, gentle use of the throttle and brakes, and common sense all contribute to arriving safely. Quattro TT's put most of their power through the front wheels most of the time anyway, another aid to traction on slippy stuff, but with increased understeer in some circumstances.

I'm sure many will agree that my greatest concern when driving in adverse conditions is usually with the standard of driving of other road users . . . .so ta very much Tesco, and can I just ask the Norwegians to puncture the bubble of High Pressure above them and let us get back to Global Warming in the good ole UK as soon as possible, ta very much

Delboy :)
 
Just checked the Met Office website; the weather station at RAF Benson (2 miles from me) is curently showing -15.1C ...another duvet morning tomorrow I think... :wink:
 
Bought myself a £900 1.0l 12v Corsa (v plate) for my birthday and Ive been running about in that without any problems. The Zed is parked up in the garage after a good wash and has been for almost 2 weeks now. The Corsa is fab since a: I dont car where I take it, or what happens to it and b:it keeps the mileage and all that salt off the Z4 and finally c:its doing 47mpg lol! haha. :D
 
lamaman said:
Bought myself a £900 1.0l 12v Corsa (v plate) for my birthday and Ive been running about in that without any problems. The Zed is parked up in the garage after a good wash and has been for almost 2 weeks now. The Corsa is fab since a: I dont car where I take it, or what happens to it and b:it keeps the mileage and all that salt off the Z4 and finally c:its doing 47mpg lol! haha. :D
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And I guess the insurance and tax are next to nothing? Seriously tempted to do the same myself, with £1K as the limit to spend!
 
Really have become bored of digging the car out of the drive every morning, especially now it's a lump of ice... feeling lazy today I tried something different: took a couple dust sheets from the garage, laid them on the ground.. out first time!

Got a couple miles down the road and was sent back home.

Taz X - I think there's still enough out there as people still need to find the rest of the cash for the new car... my issue / worry, is the people who are scrapping interesting cars and potential restoration projects. I guess it's collateral damage from what appears to be a good scheme for the car industry and drivers alike. :cry:
 
there are many good benefits of having a 'shed' as well as something nice in the garage, plenty of my mates have done it, in fact one of them went on holiday so left his car at my house (a passatt estate) as i live fairly close to manchester airport, he said i could use it whenever i wanted, so i did 6 runs to the tip in the thing ! brilliant.
 
PawnSacrifice said:
Really have become bored of digging the car out of the drive every morning, especially now it's a lump of ice... feeling lazy today I tried something different: took a couple dust sheets from the garage, laid them on the ground.. out first time!

Got a couple miles down the road and was sent back home.

Taz X - I think there's still enough out there as people still need to find the rest of the cash for the new car... my issue / worry, is the people who are scrapping interesting cars and potential restoration projects. I guess it's collateral damage from what appears to be a good scheme for the car industry and drivers alike. :cry:
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It was -17C at RAF Benson last night, and still -12C this morning....little wonder! :)
 
Well, you can transfer you no claims to a second car so it cost me £180 to insure it, £30 for AA cover and about another £50 on an e-bay haynes manual, oil change and new plugs, air filter etc..very easy to work on though - much cheapness!. Do check the insurance first though, just in case.

As far as the scrap scheme - didnt make much difference here in Lincolnshire - lots of cheap run around kicking around in the local rag - most the ones I looked at were pretty reasonable for 10 year old skips :)
 
My Zed hasn't been out once in the snow, my 406 is a lot better at dragging itself around in the white stuff.

Probably about to be scrapped though, and PawnSacrifice has got me looking at Panda 4x4's. If only we had snow like this more often, I'd love one.
 
I wish i could actually get my car off my road! The main roads are ok now but it's just stuck at home. I'd love to be acting like a chav on Asda car park down the road :lol:
Dad's X5 again today for the 3rd day in a row! It seems to have stopped actually snowing but where i live the snow will be settled for weeks it just doesn't clear as i live on an enclosed private road where no vehicles go down except the ones that live there in the 4 houses on it, and only the X5 and Range Rover have managed to leave the street. My neighbors Mercedes got stuck yesterday so he ended up putting it back in the garage and got someone to pick him up on the main road.
So i might get the shovel and grit out so that i can get out for the weekend. That'll take ages :(
 
lamaman said:
Well, you can transfer you no claims to a second car so it cost me £180 to insure it, £30 for AA cover and about another £50 on an e-bay haynes manual, oil change and new plugs, air filter etc..very easy to work on though - much cheapness!. Do check the insurance first though, just in case.

As far as the scrap scheme - didnt make much difference here in Lincolnshire - lots of cheap run around kicking around in the local rag - most the ones I looked at were pretty reasonable for 10 year old skips :)
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chain cam as well if I'm not mistaken....
 
I have not driven my Z4 since yesterday. I was almost hit by a truck 2 weeks ago. In fact, it is nice to work from home (save fuel and time). :)
 
Damn - my X5 has frozen solid. You can unlock the doors but they won't latch closed.
Mrs CJ has therefore just driven off in the Zed and I'm worried :( as she had the rear wheels lit up backing out the drive and on the road and it's all level....

Still I have to count myself lucky - some tw*t at my daughters school decided to demo a handbrake turn and totalled 3 student cars yesterday. My daughter had left 10 mins earlier and she'd have been in the damaged line.
 
careful with the X5. Loads of notes regarding the frozen handles on the X5 forum and the effects of opening them (i.e. some part breaking on the inside which leaves them inoperable).

My drive is currently covered in about 50 - 60 cm of snow and I have only managed to clear the first 10 metres of it. So now have 1.5 metre high piles on either side. Still can't get any cars out though.
 
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