MX5Ireland

Is that a Green '5 I spotted in the new Burger King ad.... the opening shot, just before they remove all the furniture from the store?

You can see I'm going stir crazy trying to amuse myself while house-bound....especially as the O2 data network failed for over 8 hrs today and left me with no internet connections....agggh.

Incidentally, what's the reality of driving the 5 in this white stuff? Is it worth renting a 4x4 if this snap continues for a week like predicted?

I gotta get back to work on Monday....

Teena, assuming there's still a lot of ice and snow on your route I'll be very honest and say that if you can get hold of a 4x4 or even something with front wheel drive, then do it .
I love my 5 , drove it in the worst of the snow at 1:30 Friday morning and a few times to work since and it has not been a re-assuring experience. Certainly , you get the chance to get the tail out, spin the wheels etc., but given the nature of the 5 it's gonna bite you hard on the arse if you so much as put a foot wrong.
The family car is a focus estate, front wheel drive, and herself was away with the family for the last 2 days, when she got back last evening, I took the focus to go down town...a WORLD of difference in terms of handling on the ice/snow. My 5 will not be venturing back out while the snow is still there, even if I have to walk to work.

Cheers

John


PS....

BTW, it probably is a BRG 5 in that add, sure we all know that BRG owners are more than fond of their junk food











Running for the door now..................

Teena don't bother with a 4by4 it makes no difference when it comes to stopping in snow or ice. If it's proably worse because of the weight and the lack of feel in the steering. Personally I like small light and fwd for the snow.

Cheaper to buy a set of steel wheels (or very cheap alloys) and put snow tyres on them, then pop those on every winter. That's how the rest of the civilised world deals with snow.

Reckon that would cost EUR400 (wheels and tyres) and you'd get 10 or 12 years of use out of them since we only get snow irregularly

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s713p0

mmm, thanks guys. Think I'll go for 4x4 option, along the thinking that a crunch would cost a bit either way, but would hurt my heart a little less if it woz someone else's vehicle.... is that very wrong????

Now... anyone got any tips for driving a 4x4... locking differentials, lo and hi etc...

I presume I only switch to 4x4 when I'm taking off or in danger of wheel spin. And ditto lock diffs, and only if I'm heading straight ahead.

I take it the normal routine still applies, driving in high gear, gearing down to slow, avoiding breaking and sudden acceleration... ?

Depends on what 4x4 you have in my discovery it has traction control that does all the work. Just leave it 4wd.

Ivan wrote:Depends on what 4x4 you have in my discovery it has traction control that does all the work. Just leave it 4wd.

Thanks Ivan. I like the sound of that. Won't really know what I'm getting until I pick up at the airport this afternoon. The company said Nissan XTrail 'or similar', so here's hoping.

I feel like Santa's coming twice this year. (...steady...)

I'm not above wondering if my concern is motivated more by the snow, or the chance to play with a shiny new car for a couple of days...

PS. Think one of the best bits of advice I've got was from my dad (aged 84) - he reckons what I need to do is 'drive like you've got a glass of champagne balanced on the dash'......... I like that!

Your dad would right. I think most of the x trails are only 2 wd. So ask before you take it.

TeenaG wrote: 'drive like you've got a glass of champagne balanced on the dash'.........

That qualifies as drink driving, surely??

Let's be careful out there

Ivan wrote:Your dad would right. I think most of the x trails are only 2 wd. So ask before you take it.

+1

Yeah, worth renting if you've a bit of driving to do.
We've been using our Cherokee over Christmas to get around on the snow + ice, it was great. It got us out of an uphill iced up driveway with no drama where others had had lots of difficulty.
(It runs downhill to the left through gates)


Just put the part-time 4wd on (transfer case locked) when needed and off we went (would pop it back to 2wd when the road was dry). No slipping/sliding unlike the front wheel drive tailgating us that ended up in the ditch, .
As Ivan said, you can't stop much faster though so you obviously still need to travel at a speed to match the conditions.. but the grip is v.reassuring..

Hi guys. I did it.....! Thanks for all the help and advice - this site is GREAT...

Took all the advice on-board (including dad's) and ended up with a 2ltr turbo diesel Nissan XTrail automatic 4wd. Feels very reassuring on the road, so I appreciate all the warnings about not getting complacent, longer stopping distance needed, and being aware of the loss of 'sensitivity' to the road conditions.

Drove carefully home from the airport no prob... then 'threw' her around a bit to get the feel of 'er... Yay All for research purposes, of course....

Posted holding photo, albeit small and dark, in the Weather thread....

Thanks again, and be safe out there.

PS. Y'know, mum gets the final word (as always)... she reckons I just wanted something bright and shiny to play with. And, she's probably right.

Cool, have fun!

Ivan wrote: Personally I like small light and fwd for the snow.

Your mum would be right I think.

Good one steve...... First car to go across the sahara....

Spiders frank spiders

That vid with the 2cv was cool, didn't we "establish" a definitive link between the 2cv and the mx5 some time back? Will look back and see if I can locate the picture of the hybrid
John