Oh god, snow and DSG.....

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fazzy
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by fazzy »

Andy Beats wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:22 am
fazzy wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:00 pm I run two cars on snow with DSG and have no such problems.
What I would recommend in the snow is to stick the driving mode to ECO and chuck the gearbox into the E mode instead od D mode. The changes are smoother and lower in the rev range - no hassles in the snow.
Or just fit the right tyres.
The antipathy towards winter (or all season) tyres in the UK is weird.
It's like soldiering on with useless summer tyres is somehow admirable.
Fitting the appropriate tyres for the season is obvious and didn't think it requires any further discussion.
In winter I run on Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905 and find them even better than Michelin Alpin5.
Andy Beats
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Andy Beats »

fazzy wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:28 am Fitting the appropriate tyres for the season is obvious and didn't think it requires any further discussion.
In winter I run on Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905 and find them even better than Michelin Alpin5.
Ah, OK, so you're running winter tyres anyway.
My point about DSG is that for a given set of circumstances (summer or winter tyres), the behaviour of the gearbox always makes it a more awkward drive in snow than a manual.
it's just nowhere near as smooth as a good manual driver can manage.
monkeyhanger
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by monkeyhanger »

Andy Beats wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:22 am
fazzy wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:00 pm I run two cars on snow with DSG and have no such problems.
What I would recommend in the snow is to stick the driving mode to ECO and chuck the gearbox into the E mode instead od D mode. The changes are smoother and lower in the rev range - no hassles in the snow.
Or just fit the right tyres.
The antipathy towards winter (or all season) tyres in the UK is weird.
It's like soldiering on with useless summer tyres is somehow admirable.
Most people in the UK don't see more than a few days of snow in a year, we just don't see the kind of extremes of temperatures than inland areas of Europe. If I lived in Europe, a good 100.miles from the coast, I'd have Winter tyres and be prepared for -20C. As it is, living a few hundred yards from the Tyneside coast lowest temp I've had so far this winter is -2C, and not a drop of snow. The roads are well salted on my usual drives too. A huge majority of UK drivers that don't live in the sticks and don't live in the upper reaches of Scotland don't have a great need for winter tyres.

Soldiering on with Bridgestones in the Summer isn't admirable either :lol:

Fitting the "right" tyres isn't going to save you from the foibles of the DSG box and Fazzy has provided some good pointers there - eco mode to dull throttle response and shift up early in extreme weather, or just drive it in full manual mode to prevent the DSG doing something you don't want it to do.
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:32 pm Soldiering on with Bridgestones in the Summer isn't admirable either :lol:
Nowt wrong with my Bridgestones, mate.
I reckon you hit some diesel, pooped yourself, irrationally blamed the tyres and spunked £400+ :D
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by monkeyhanger »

Andy Beats wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:06 pm
monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:32 pm Soldiering on with Bridgestones in the Summer isn't admirable either :lol:
Nowt wrong with my Bridgestones, mate.
I reckon you hit some diesel, pooped yourself, irrationally blamed the tyres and spunked £400+ :D
On the last 4 Golfs and my Polo? They're historically crap in Potenza or Turanza, suffered them on 2 MK5 Golfs because I was too tight to replace them until they were worn out then the car is transformed with better rubber (almost no tramping, no grip issues, nicer ride) just a few months before chopping in for an upgrade. I thought my Golf R wouldn't have issues being 4WD - no tramping but skittish on low speed roundabouts. Ran them for 4k miles until I realised it was nuts spending so much on a car with epic performance that I had no confidence in until I changed for Michelin PSS. Car transformed again.

I've mainly had high performance diesels which are easy to tramp, but on my Polo GTI+ that was also easy to tramp so easy decision to bin the wife's Bridgestones on day 1 for a net £110 cost difference for PS4s after ebaying them. Decent summer tyres used in moderate winter weather are far better performing than Bridgestone Summer tyres used in the Summer.
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:33 pm On the last 4 Golfs and my Polo? They're historically crap in Potenza or Turanza, suffered them on 2 MK5 Golfs because I was too tight to replace them until they were worn out then the car is transformed with better rubber (almost no tramping, no grip issues, nicer ride) just a few months before chopping in for an upgrade. I thought my Golf R wouldn't have issues being 4WD - no tramping but skittish on low speed roundabouts. Ran them for 4k miles until I realised it was nuts spending so much on a car with epic performance that I had no confidence in until I changed for Michelin PSS. Car transformed again.

I've mainly had high performance diesels which are easy to tramp, but on my Polo GTI+ that was also easy to tramp so easy decision to bin the wife's Bridgestones on day 1 for a net £110 cost difference for PS4s after ebaying them. Decent summer tyres used in moderate winter weather are far better performing than Bridgestone Summer tyres used in the Summer.
Said it before, I'm not averse to spending money on tyres at all.
And if the Bridgestones I've got were even a fraction as bad as you suggest, they'd get binned.
But they're just not, they're perfectly fine even when pushed very hard.
Not as if I give them much time to warm up before pushing them either, my commute is only 3.5 miles (but a bloody fast 3.5 miles)
M123456789
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by M123456789 »

Was wondering if anyone can help me. Im a new driver passed my test summer last year and got my car in October so have never drove in the snow. I live on a road with no gritting but it gives me access to a road with it.
Is it safe for me to drive?
Stuart_Rendall
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Stuart_Rendall »

M123456789 wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:16 am Was wondering if anyone can help me. Im a new driver passed my test summer last year and got my car in October so have never drove in the snow. I live on a road with no gritting but it gives me access to a road with it.
Is it safe for me to drive?
I had a similar dilemma when I was newly passed and I crashed into a bush, minor damage. I would recommend either seeing how other cars take the road and if in doubt, don't risk it. Not worth the agro.
SRGTD
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by SRGTD »

M123456789 wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:16 am Was wondering if anyone can help me. Im a new driver passed my test summer last year and got my car in October so have never drove in the snow. I live on a road with no gritting but it gives me access to a road with it.
Is it safe for me to drive?
If your journey’s not essential then I’d recommend not taking your car out in ice and snow if you’ve no experience of driving in the current conditions.

I’m assuming you’re a young driver (apologies if that assumption’s incorrect), which IMO increases the chance of damage to your car and injuries to yourself driving in unfamiliar, potentially hazardous conditions. That could put additional unnecessary strain on the emergency services and the NHS (not what they need during a pandemic when they’re already very busy). Also, if you did damage your car and needed to make a claim under your insurance, then if you’re a young driver, you’d be likely to see a fairly sizeable increase in your premium next year.
Andy Beats
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Andy Beats »

Got my suspicions that post is from a bot, usernames with loads of numbers are usually a dead giveaway.
Anyhoo, our daughter passed her test about 6 weeks ago and despite me fitting her car with Michelin Crossclimates, she's not getting to drive her car right now.
She moans, I remind her it's not just her crashing we're concerned about, it's someone else hitting her too.
Imperative we get her through her first year of insurance incident-free, and inexperienced driving in snow isn't a good idea.
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Noonoo632
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Noonoo632 »

I have to agree if you do not have to drive in these conditions then don't.
My daughter who is in her 50's and has 30 years driving experience still hates driving in snow, she has no confidence in doing so.
I have 50 years experience and am trying to re-schedule a covid vaccine appointment for tomorrow. It has been snowing heavily for the past 3 hours, I have cleared car and driveway twice today and it is as bad as ever and I am confidant driving in snow but think it is maybe wise not to risk it.
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Andy Beats »

Noonoo632 wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:28 pm My daughter who is in her 50's and has 30 years driving experience still hates driving in snow, she has no confidence in doing so.
Does she fit all-season or winter tyres?
Anyone's confidence is lifted by those, as you know you're going to get going and you know you'll get stopped.
We really need to use these more in the UK.
I'm against making them compulsory, but people who can afford them should absolutely get them.
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Noonoo632
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Re: Oh god, snow and DSG.....

Post by Noonoo632 »

Andy Beats wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:39 pm
Noonoo632 wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:28 pm My daughter who is in her 50's and has 30 years driving experience still hates driving in snow, she has no confidence in doing so.
Does she fit all-season or winter tyres?
Anyone's confidence is lifted by those, as you know you're going to get going and you know you'll get stopped.
We really need to use these more in the UK.
I'm against making them compulsory, but people who can afford them should absolutely get them.
Continental tyres are on her car. I think she skidded and almost had a bad crash not long after passing her test and it dented her confidence to the extent she has never liked driving in deep snow. She is okay with a light dusting but the stuff we sometimes get in Scotland is daunting for her.
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