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Driving in the snow..


richiep350

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Iv had my Z for around 5 months (and loved every second of it :thumbs: ) but now its getting towards winter and i was wondering if anyone has tips for driving the Z in the snow/ice etc.

 

I guess the best advice is just to not go out in it but what if you had to or it started to snow while driving?

 

Again this is my first car with traction control, is it best to leave it on in the snow or does that make it even harder to drive?

 

Any help would be great :)

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Try and drive smoothly, use the clutch with very little revs to pull away. Dont drive fast, dont brake too hard, be careful if using gears to slow you down as the back end will sway if you come down too quickly.

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If you really have to......... lots of weight in the boot, winter tyres (or snow socks if you don't mind the hassle of putting them on/off as they will disintegrate quickly when not on snow).

 

Pull away in 2nd gear stay off the foot brake and always use the gears to slow you. Use the handbrake (quickly on and off) going downhill on ice which should be as slow as possible, so you can still steer the car. Aim for fresh snow if you do start to slide (if you can) to increase grip/traction which is usually better than staying on compacted snow/ice which is more likely to increase the car's momentum downhill.

 

But best of all don't use it 'cos if you are fortunate enough to get away without an incident, chances are some other idiot out there will end up using your motor as a buffer :dry:

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Think about your route before you set off, are there any hills that can be avoided? give those short cuts down narrow lanes a miss. Listening to the weather forecast can avoid a lot of grief, despite all of the warnings yesterday there were still loads of people who went out and got stuck :shrug: . If you must go out, always take a shovel, a heavy blanket and something to eat and drink. Leave a bigger gap to the vehicle in front than normal, remember, its highly likely that the roads will have been gritted and grit can spell disaster for the front end of your car. Make sure you have plenty of water in the washer bottle and add some washer anti-freeze while you're at it. If snow is falling, use dipped headlights and your rear fog lights. Finally, if you manage to get home in one piece, give the car a clean as soon as the weather allows and never park a grit and snow covered car in a closed garage. One other tip for extremely cold weather, leave it parked up in gear with the handbrake just lightly pulled up. I found this out the hard way and a friend of mine actually snapped his cable trying to get the handbrake off.

 

 

Pete

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I drove my zed all weekend like others on here have driven my zed through all weather including last two winters of heavy snow...last year had horrendous time almost wrote the zed off going downhill!!!

However i have also learnt loads on how it handles in the snow so this year snow flurry is not to bad

have had back end let go but new it was coming i had throttle controller in eco 5 and no tcs got on fine.

But its stopping that you have to be skilled at not very easy and thats prob main reason you will stack it.

Its down to you as a driver if your not confident ...dont go out..if you dont trust your tyres/brakes...dont go out...now its ice even worse now high gears all day :lol:

got a few snaps anyway

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  • 10 months later...

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