Antone watch BBC breakfast TV this morning (Sat 12th) about 8am? They played a segment about driving safely in the snow. This was accompanied by numerous amusing clips of cars skidding fairly gently but menacingly out of control. I am sure that one toward the end showed a black FL2 drifting crookedly down a snowy hill before bumping into the hedge. Here I am looking forward to perhaps enjoying the car in the forecast snow and now...........well.

I missed that one.

If it was a FL2, could have been bad tyres, bad driver or ice under the snow. Our cars reduce the winter driving risks but can't ever eliminate them unfortunately.

I do like the prediction of "significant accumulations" from the Met office though. _________________
Gone - 2010 Rimini XS

That clip was shown repeatedly on the news last year, going down hill in a Freelander with all the gizmos is no more safe than any other car if you have your foot on the brake, if anything its worse, it is no more than a two tonne sled.
As with most mishaps, driver error is the No.1 factor.

If it snows, find a nice hill, park safely and laugh at all the others, better than telly

There's a link on the BBC news website which looks like it should be this, but instead links to an item about insurance black boxes! Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

Edit: This link is now fixed and available to view on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20997094

I don't know if he did it deliberately, but in those circumstances I'd say the FL2 driver did exactly the right thing by steering into the bank. The rougher ground and fresh snow should give grip where there's none on the road, and help stop the car (as indeed it did). I might have gone in at a slightly shallower angle, though, to try to avoid a spin.

Last edited by pab on 12th Jan 2013 2:03 pm. Edited 1 time in total

OK say I have to go down a snowy icy hill (road) and for the sake of argument there are no other cars around.
Is it a case of selecting snow on the terrain response, then hill descent, foot off the brake and just steer?

In principle, yes. And to an extent you can control the speed with the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel. In very tricky conditions, though, the descent can be a bit too quick even in first, and of course the FL2 has no low range. In such circumstances a gentle application of the brakes can help, and won't lock the wheels as the engine and 4wd system will keep them turning (on a manual, at least!). A hard application of the brakes will, however, stall the engine and turn you into a toboggan!

Yep, feet off the pedals and use the cruise button on the steering wheel to adjust your speed and let the ABS do the rest.

However, Taz is correct in that 2 tons takes some stopping; the last bad winter i had a devil of a job stopping mine downhill even with HDC. Mind you it was very icy and steep but the car just kept going.
I've got winter tyres now and much improved  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Also, different techniques are required depending on the conditions. On fresh snow locking the wheels can sometimes be the best thing to do - the snow builds up in front of the wheels forming a wedge and stopping the car. Disastrous on hard-packed snow or ice though! In the past (not in an FL2) I've descended a steep slope covered in snow (where I really didn't want to build up any speed due to the stone wall at the bottom!) in a series of more-or-less controlled slides. Release the brakes momentarily until the car starts moving, then lock them, Snow builds up, car stops. Repeat until down. Scary, but given the right conditions, effective!

Such situations are, of course, best avoided, but sometimes one doesn't really have a choice.

Last winter in the Feb snow, I went down a steep hill covered in compacted snow and ice with a sharp right hand turn at the bottom.

I used HDC and GGS mode and just let the FL2 take me down on the slowest HDC setting. The winter tyres must have played their part because at no point did it even hint at a skid or even begin to slide sideways etc. To be fair, never had any trouble in 2010 when I just had the OEM wranglers fitted, so how you drive plays the major part.

The problem with a lot of motorists, (Driving 4x4's or 2WD, winter tyres or not), is their failure to think ahead. They follow too close to the car in front and will approach a junction and brake close to it and expect to stop

The tried and tested method of good stopping distances and slowing down with the gears is the key.

P.S, a chap in the 4x4 group I work with was driving his Defender through the Peak District in the bad winter of 2010 during heavy snowfall when Mr Invincible overtook in his BMW X5 doing about 50. A few corners later the BMW was spotted upside down in a ditch. Serves the daft tw right.  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Poetic justice Doc. And +1 to all your other remarks.

The Doctor wrote:

Last winter in the Feb snow, I went down a steep hill covered in compacted snow and ice with a sharp right hand turn at the bottom.

I used HDC and GGS mode and just let the FL2 take me down on the slowest HDC setting. The winter tyres must have played their part because at no point did it even hint at a skid or even begin to slide sideways etc. To be fair, never had any trouble in 2010 when I just had the OEM wranglers fitted, so how you drive plays the major part.

The problem with a lot of motorists, (Driving 4x4's or 2WD, winter tyres or not), is their failure to think ahead. They follow too close to the car in front and will approach a junction and brake close to it and expect to stop

The tried and tested method of good stopping distances and slowing down with the gears is the key.

P.S, a chap in the 4x4 group I work with was driving his Defender through the Peak District in the bad winter of 2010 during heavy snowfall when Mr Invincible overtook in his BMW X5 doing about 50. A few corners later the BMW was spotted upside down in a ditch. Serves the daft tw right.

What's GG5 (GGS) mode?  Yuri
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