RCZ in the snow!

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, new to these forums, just placing an order for the 200Gt with every option under the sun! Was about to buy a 335 M Sport Coupe, but fell in love with the RCZ when car shopping with my girlfriend, and decided then and there to buy it. Was amazed by the looks and the amount of options that come as standard - makes me realise what a rip off BMW are! also with the savings from my Part exchange and difference in price for a new Bimmer, I can book myself a nice holiday as well (I almost had a heart attack when I saw how cheap this car was - When I say Cheap, I was expecting a £40k price tag)!

Anyway was reading these forums to help kill the time until my RCZ arrives, although I think its actually making the wait worse!! Noticed this one on winter driving. Having been driving for 15 years now, including in lovely places such as Norway and Germany in the Winter, I can add a few tips to the already good advice provided here, hope you find them useful.

1. Buy a spare set of wheels with winter tyres. pick them up cheap on Ebay, especially at the moment as its summer (also is a saving in the long run as it increases the life of your sports tyres which deterirate quickly in cold weather apparently). This will massively change the performance of your car, try it and be amazed! There are no bad cars in the snow, admittedly 4wd is best, the main obstruction is the thicker the tyre the worse your grip, as is alluded to, as soon as tthe wheel ices over, you effectively have 4 skis. Thinner tyres cut through the snow better and therefore improve handling. The best car I ever drove in snow was a 2CV6 (which im sure had bicycle tyres), particularly enjoyed chuckling to myself as i tootled past Land rovers that were stuck!

2. Low Revs and as high a gear as possible. The higher the gear, the less spin you will cause, improving handling.

3. Imagine your car is a Dog and you are putting your arm down to stroke it. Take smooth gentle actions, such as gently braking, turning into a corner smoothly and letting it know what you are going to do and it will respond (this actually applies to all driving). Make jerky actions, violent turns, harsh braking etc and it will bite your hand off!

4. Let the engine do the braking, use your gears to control speed.

5. I actually find that turning Stability control, and traction control in deep snow and ice improves handling. This stops the engine providing more torque to one wheel which in slippy conditions causes it to spin more. Might just be me though

6. Give yourself plenty of room on both sides and in front, I call them escape lanes, make sure you have them.

7. Watch out for the other idiots on the road

Hope this helps, currently have a Boxster 3.2S and driving that in the snow is amazing fun.... Not!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, new to these forums...Anyway was reading these forums to help kill the time until my RCZ arrives, although I think its actually making the wait worse!! Noticed this one on winter driving. Having been driving for 15 years now, including in lovely places such as Norway and Germany in the Winter, I can add a few tips to the already good advice provided here, hope you find them useful.

1. Buy a spare set of wheels with winter tyres.
2. Low Revs and as high a gear as possible. The higher the gear, the less spin you will cause, improving handling.
3. Imagine your car is a Dog and you are putting your arm down to stroke it.
4. Let the engine do the braking, use your gears to control speed.
5. I actually find that turning Stability control, and traction control in deep snow and ice improves handling. This stops the engine providing more torque to one wheel which in slippy conditions causes it to spin more. Might just be me though
6. Give yourself plenty of room on both sides and in front, I call them escape lanes, make sure you have them.
7. Watch out for the other idiots on the road

Hope this helps, currently have a Boxster 3.2S and driving that in the snow is amazing fun.... Not!!

Hi Wiggers and welcome to the forum :greetings-wavingblue: . Excellent points above, thanks for posting. Just one wee point, though...in number 5 you've left out whether you turn Stability control ON or OFF :lol: !!!

Hope your wait isn't too long before getting your hands on your own RCZ and enjoy the forum in the meantime :thumbup: .

 

[Anonymous]

the scariest i remember of snow driving was at my old college with my fiat grande punto sporting they used to get rid of the snow but did not grit at all so obviously that created pure ice lets just say you always said your hail mary's when driving on the campus to get to the car park

i remember a 5 car pile up with parents on the drive to the campus because of it. (what makes it stranger most of the cars involved were 4X4's)

I am yet to drive it in snow but it shouldn't be too bad considering its FWD which they often say its the best for that time of year, but the wider wheels should cause more trouble than my previous car

 

[soundwave5150]

Never driven in snow or ice myself, the girlfriend is a great winter weather driver having lived for a time in Moscow, and her Yaris is great on ice so RCZ won't be risked if i have it before winter. Alternatively, the other half fancies a custom mud-plugging Defender so could get one of those as 3rd car :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

in number 5 you've left out whether you turn Stability control ON or OFF :lol: !!!

Woops!! believe it or not, I turn it OFF!!

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone tried snow socks for the front tyres? They cost in the region of £50, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anti-Skid-Snow-Sock-Tyre/dp/B0049NKA7W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto4 It seems they are much easier, and therefore quicker, to fit than snow chains.

I'm not sure about UK legislation on fitting snow chains as I believe they can damage the road surface. Though I can't imagine the weight of my RCZ with snow chains would do much damage to the road surface but they do seem like overkill (hmm, is that an unfortunate choice of word).

I've read that snow socks should be taken off once the snow has melted to the point that the road surface reappears otherwise they'll quickly shred.

 

[Anonymous]

Snow socks are available within our accessory range and sized to fit.
For those unfamiliar with them and coming along to the Owners Event on Sunday, we will have some to hand.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just been online pricing up Wintergrips (ha ha I've not even taken delivery of my 61plate yet, but I'm already fretting about the weather - but being in Aberdeen, I think I'm allowed). Anyway the cheapest I've found online are Michelins from mytyres coming in at £320 (each!!!) for 19" wheels. Last year I had vredestein wintrac extremes on my 207, which I trust with my life, amazing tyres, but you can't get them in the 19"s. Seems RCZs have right awkward tyre sizes. So I'm contemplating the 235x35x19 vredesteins which are £156 each - my OH will also have the same on his Focus RS. I think it knocks the speedo out by about 3% so instead of 70mph I'd probably be doing nearer 72ish. You can get more choice if oyu go for the 45 profile but I fear they'd rub more with the snow buildup under the arches. I guess it sounds daft going for a lower profile but the tyres are half the price and if the snow's really that deep to make a difference then I'd probably stay home!!!

My OH used snow socks on the RS last year before he got tyres and they did make a helluva difference! It's just a pain in the but having to stop and take them off when you hit bare tarmac.......

 

[Anonymous]

im considering pirelli p4 all season 18" they should bee good in snow?

 

[Anonymous]

Never driven in snow or ice myself, the girlfriend is a great winter weather driver having lived for a time in Moscow, and her Yaris is great on ice so RCZ won't be risked if i have it before winter. Alternatively, the other half fancies a custom mud-plugging Defender so could get one of those as 3rd car :lol:

I has a yaris and there wasn't anywhere this couldn't go- never once got stuck! I was driving past land rovers abandoned on hills and everything! It just keeps going! Crazy!

I hate driving in snow I just hope the rcz's as good in it as the yaris was! Lol my other half got a Subaru in march and he's dying to take it out in the snow!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Short version: Get winter tires, drive like a boss.

I've been driving my RCZ in Norway since november. If you want to stay on the road, the biggest help is getting a spare set of wheels with winter tires. I'm using Continental Conti Viking 5 currently and have only twice experienced the rear end sliding. At those instances, the traction control corrected the slide. Traction control and ABS helps a lot in winter conditions, but no substitute for common sense. Tight turns at 50+ km/h will probably result in disaster. So if you're planning a winter holiday or something, the RCZ works fine in snow and on ice as long as you have winter tires.

On a related note: If you're parking it outside and there's a high chance of ice forming on the car; carry an ice scraper with you. When the doors are opened, the windows slide down an inch or so. If there's ice, the window motor will churn and whine. When going outside in the morning with ice on the car, I first scrape of an inch or two at the bottom of the window before opening the car. So keep a ice scraper inside the house or something, so you dont have to open the door first to get it.

 

[RCZ1]

Protect your seals with a seal protector (I use Swissvax Seal Feed but there are others available) and put Gtechniq G1 on your windows (incuding the side windows). It helps to minimise ice forming on the windows - it literally brushes off with your hand. Worked well in last years -17C temperatures. :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

you should have stuck with the 335 M SPORT :eusa-think: