Fiat Coupe Club UK
The forecast is a cold spell.....
Posted By: SimonN
The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 00:03
....so, er, whats a coupe like in the snow??
Posted By: JonH
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 00:50
Depends how fat your tyres are. Its those sort of days when you wish you were driving a 2CV.
Descending a windy country hill with hairpins - not good !. A few rotations before it stopped in a bank and then abandoned.
A car attempting the same hill later on wasnt so lucky as he had a few rotations and stopped in the tree beside mine!.
Posted By: barnacle
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 06:33
Winter tyres and a light right foot are your friends.
Posted By: Mark_S
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 08:20
Your first challenge will be to get into the car with frozen door locks. After that snow driving has never been a problem for me, I'd say the Coupe copes very well
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 09:38
Yes the Coupe is ok in the snow - the key being all that weight over the front axle. Just be light-footed on the throttle and use the torque to pull away in 2nd..........
Posted By: SimonN
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 10:41
I was expecting some horror stories but it doesn't seem to bad. I expect the torque will help, but I guess it's as much about the tyres than anything else - and then there's the type of snow...
Posted By: Mark_S
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 12:43
I remember really enjoyed passing (at an appropriate speed) BMWs and other RWD expensive machinery struggling to cope get up the mild slope of the A3 at Guildford
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 13:06
They're fine, just keep a gentle foot and be careful on the brakes as the arse often likes to come round - they're not the best balanced car, especially on the brakes.
Posted By: SimonN
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 08/01/2016 13:30
I think the fat tyres on beamers and Mercs have a lot to do with it....
Posted By: Submariner
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 10/01/2016 07:50
...and rear wheel drive with no weight at the back
Posted By: came2dance
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 11/01/2016 12:51
...and rear wheel drive with no weight at the back
That's the one. When we had all that snow a few years ago it was the rear wheel drives that couldn't get up the hills where I live. coop was no problem.
Posted By: SimonN
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 12/01/2016 14:42
I think also the trend for 'efficient' tyre tread design can cause big problems. There's lots of concentric circles, which is great for motorways, and may well dispel water, but rubbish on loose stuff.
I handful of years ago I turned my old octavia estate from a snow mobile to a sled just by putting new tyres on.
Posted By: samsite999
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 12/01/2016 15:02
Not as bad as one would expect, the diff on the front helps as does the weight of the front end. I got everywhere I ever needed to get and was only stopped by the people who couldn't continue in front.
You can have the best snow winter car in the world, it counts for nothing if there are 20 other people infront in RWD beemers with fat nearly bold tyers in the way.
Posted By: Nigel
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 12/01/2016 15:19
I got the Coupe up a snowy hill that so-called off-roaders were failing to negotiate
A low-compression turbo engine (off-boost, obviously) and a viscous coupling made for decent progress, despite the Toyo summer tyres
However, I have to say that I've been staggered by the grip offered by proper winter tyres - now into my third winter with them on the Alfa
Posted By: Fishy_Dave
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 12/01/2016 16:26
My 325 ti compact and Pug 206 are both on winter tyres, just need some winter weather now!
The last two years I've bought winter tyres and barely had a frost here in the south west.
Posted By: AnnieMac
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 17/01/2016 23:10
The handbrake freezes on so best to leave it off if you can.
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: The forecast is a cold spell..... - 19/01/2016 11:09
Had our first snow day of the year here on Saturday. My door locks froze and my battery died.
Took the girlfriend’s Audi out instead.
I had my Coupé all the way over the Cairngorms in heavy-ish snow early last year, just after buying it. No problems at all, it happily trundled past all the bigger machinery that had got stuck.