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Post by kharnynb on Nov 24, 2012 8:45:57 GMT
yep, I already checked the winter kit 2 months ago, although the finnish winter this year is exceptionally mild. Finally had the inside heater(basically a plug that connects to the outside) installed and now have a nice toasty car every morning. no more scratching windows for me  |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 24, 2012 9:22:45 GMT
At 100 mph... very important if you are racing, and worth thinking on, but for "normal" commute traffic, which I think I may be right at averaging 28mph at best, as I say, I dont see the worry?...
We WANT fuel efficiency, sure, aesthetics are becoming less and less important, and Ford have just released a car that shuts the front grill when not needed to aid efficiency, we are getting there, but, as you say, we still want a car that looks like a car... those that wander too far off the "Norm" get a lot of stick for it?...
And those that drive a fugly 4x4 slug will always want a brick shape whatever you try?....
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Post by c64 on Nov 24, 2012 22:44:08 GMT
First of all, if you can commute that fast, why wouldn't you do that? Once upon a time when gas was cheaper, I certainly did And the average doesn't count since 10mph more waste a lot more fuel than 10mph less will save you. The peak speed is what hits your wallet hard! |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 29, 2012 7:43:59 GMT
(quote)First of all, if you can commute that fast, why wouldn't you do that?
Because its a limit not a target....
Not everyone uses Motorways to commute?...
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Post by c64 on Nov 29, 2012 13:15:25 GMT
(quote)First of all, if you can commute that fast, why wouldn't you do that? Because its a limit not a target.... Not everyone uses Motorways to commute?... What limit? The only limit there is the maximum speed of my car which is even a lot greater. But 100mph is a speed which is still comfortable and feels right with my car, a speed where the fuel consumption is still reasonable low for high speeds. Above 100mph, you feel the car struggling to drive faster and it will consume a fortune in gas. |
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 29, 2012 17:20:20 GMT
you will seldomly drive 100 mph, i doubt anyone outside of germany drives that fast on a day to day basis.
Especially in winter(back on topic)
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Post by c64 on Nov 29, 2012 17:37:10 GMT
you will seldomly drive 100 mph, i doubt anyone outside of germany drives that fast on a day to day basis. Especially in winter(back on topic) That's true. Too many cars with incompetent drivers or not capable to take a little snow are blocking your way. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 30, 2012 8:53:20 GMT
You can only go as fast as the vehicle in front.
Sometimes even that is not wise......
Its a speed limit, not a fork-ing target.... speed limits should be guidance for "Best quality" road conditions, subtract minimum 10% if it even starts to rain, half for Fog, and dont be bloody silly in the snow....
I spend all day driving professionally much lower than the posted limit in the works truck, and I almost ignore speed limits as a limit, 'cos I seldom get that fast anyway, but a sudden drop from say 40 to 30 as a posted limit is important to me,...
Why?...
Its advanced warning that the road conditions are about to change, say from Rural fields to Built up area.
Winter driving, ALWAYS adhere to the "If you cant stop in the road space you can see, your going too fast"
I drive by the rule "I get there when I get there", I adapt to the road conditions, and am almost immune to the pleas from Transport Managers "You gotta speed up".... they dont work on me, I go at my own speed, if you want faster, drive it yourself.....
Does that affect the work I get?...
Yes.
Strange I get MORE work for that?...
No.
The Transport managers ask for me because of my 10 years NO CLAIM bonus (Max you can get in bonus) on Insurance.... 20 years PLUS since I had any serious insurance claim that was any fault of mine.....
And even then that "Fault" was backing onto a loading bay I hadnt inspected and breaking the back lights on a dodgy bit of ironwork........
As for taking on a little snow....
Yes, many drivers of smaller vehicles do not know HOW to cope... they panic.
Thus this thread... its here to give advice to all of us on how to get ahead and prepare.
A LITTLE snow therefore should not hinder us as much....
The trick is knowing when to stay home.
I always refuse work on the first day of the Big White....
Reason?... its a skating rink out there, other drivers spinning out, other drivers driving too fast for the situation and conditions, and I just dont want to sit there in the queue to get past the accidents... the first day of the Big white always is a busy day for insurance companies.
Its a self preservation thing....
And the loads will always be there the next day?....
IDW freight (Irregular loads) are always shipped dependant on the road conditions, thats my speciality.
Today is a Frosty day, black Ice, on the local news that covers 50 miles from here, I hear of one jack-knife wagon, a Tyre shredded and in the road on one motorway, and one crane that has fallen over whilst being transported... NOT a good day to be trying to get anywhere near those incidents.
If it snows in the next few days, we will have snow on top of ice....
I am taking a few days off, doing the School run and not much more.
I wont be part of the statistics?...
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 30, 2012 11:28:37 GMT
As i've once said before, it generally isn't an option here to not go out when there's snow on the roads.
Outside of snowstorms, I don't mind driving on snow, though we do tend to have better snowtyres here than most of central europe.
Generic tips for snow driving:
-keep it slow(over here, max speeds get reduced for wintertime)
-slow down ahead of corners, don't brake when already turning, you will make it worse.
-no sudden movements, no sudden acceleration.
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Post by c64 on Nov 30, 2012 13:22:42 GMT
Actually, the very same is true for driving on warm, dry asphalt. The only difference is that you can drive a lot faster.
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Post by c64 on Nov 30, 2012 13:34:08 GMT
Its a speed limit, not a fork-ing target.... speed limits should be guidance for "Best quality" road conditions, subtract minimum 10% if it even starts to rain, half for Fog, and dont be bloody silly in the snow.... This depends. In my area, the speed limits are aimed very low. Even cars of the 70s could do a lot better than that even when the road is wet. And the speed limits start way ahead of minor trouble which is usually behind the second or third sign. Its different in the council to the south. When there's a lonely 30kph sign, they really mean it because this council is in a hillside with very hard corners and slopes. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 30, 2012 13:34:49 GMT
I am just hearing on the latest news that they had freed one driver from an overturned Gritter lorry somewhere close to here... (Didnt catch the location...)
Now I know many Gritter drivers (Road salt and grit) and I thought many were some of the most careful drivers on the road?... so what happened, I dont know, but it just goes to show that we are not always immune from accidents/incidents....
Its usually when we all get a little TOO over-confident that we make silly mistakes, or take the eye off the ball and miss a penalty from some twerp who is in too much of a hurry to go past you safely.
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Post by the light works on Nov 30, 2012 15:26:02 GMT
Here speed limits are based almost entirely on how much the legislator in authority wants to push people around. our neighboring town to the south just reduced their in town speed limit to 25 MPH. mind you, that's the BEST CASE speed limit. not the nighttime/winter speed limit. it's also on a state highway - not the local side streets.
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 30, 2012 18:03:57 GMT
25 mph is around 40 kph, that's usual speed here for any city street.
Big roads are 60 kph/38 mph. within citylimits or 80 kph outside of city's
highways at 120 kph summer or 100 wintertime
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Post by Antigone68104 on Nov 30, 2012 18:53:25 GMT
I haven't seen lower speed limits for winter-weather conditions, but around here the police can ticket you for driving too fast for road conditions even if you're under the posted speed limit. Since I've never gotten a ticket for that, I can't say how they go about justifying it should the driver take it to court. Maybe it's an add-on ticket -- "you were doing 30 in a 30 MPH zone, until you spun out on the ice and smashed into two parked cars? :: write, write, write :: ".
I'm lucky; not only can I do my entire commute on snow emergency routes (roads with the highest priority for plowing/sanding), but I'm headed to work well before most other drivers. It's much easier to take the drive a little slower if you don't have idiots riding up your tailpipe or leaning on their horn.
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Post by c64 on Nov 30, 2012 19:06:33 GMT
120 kph summer or 100 wintertime Here in Germany, it's illegal to drive with summer tires during winter. But they couldn't come up with a good definition for the difference between summer and winter so they can't give you a ticket for driving with summer tires unless there is really snow on the road. But the real punishment is that your insurance may refuse to pay for your damage when you drive with summer tires during winter, those can tell you what is a winter and what is not by contract. |
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Post by kharnynb on Nov 30, 2012 21:02:46 GMT
here it is start of november till end of march, you have to have wintertyres, and can use studded ones.
Of course if snow is early or lasts longer, you can use them earlier/longer.
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Post by c64 on Nov 30, 2012 21:41:47 GMT
here it is start of november till end of march, you have to have wintertyres, and can use studded ones. Of course if snow is early or lasts longer, you can use them earlier/longer. That would legalize driving on snow using summer tires when there is snow out of the season. If you rent a car, you need to either order snow tires and pay for them as an extra [up to €40] or you need to gamble if the car is equipped with tem anyway or not and risk an €80 fine and one point in Flensburg. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2012 5:08:59 GMT
here they simply post areas where snow might be an issue from november to april; and require you to either be using winter tires, or carrying traction devices. they can then refuse to allow yo to proceed if there is snow and you don't have appropriate traction tires or devices.
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 1, 2012 7:10:24 GMT
Summer tyres are not freely available in the UK, you cant just rock up to the local shop and expect them to have them in stock...
Its just something we dont do....
We all have all weather tyres as standard.
Not in any way saying you cant get Summer tyres, its just we drive all weather tyres all year... perhaps its a lazy thing, or perhaps its just we tend to get all the weather all the year?...
UK residents, as I may have already stated, normally dont have a pot-of-glue about tyre chains, or how to fit them.... thats a lack of education on behalf of driving schools, most drivers have never even SEEN tyre chains on a car.
Speed limits in the UK, are always posted in the knowledge that the Car driver should bloody well know already that this is a "Best conditions" limit, and you should have been told that by your driving instructor.
Our limits are always divisible by 10, so thats 30 mph, 40, 50, National speed limit "De-restriction sign" 60 and Motorway which is currently 70.
We now have voluntary code 20 mph signs past schools and in residential area, I wish they would make them actually law, but mostly people stick to them anyway..... and its good to have the sign up that warns you you are approaching a school anyway...
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