How To Drive Like A Driving Instructor | Slippery Conditions

We don't get much snow where I live in Liverpool so I used this opportunity to get out and see what my Tesla was like in slippery conditions.
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#driving #tesla #education

[@DrGeekthumb]

Did you hear that sound at the 1 minute mark Ashley? It was the sounds of a thousand detailers crying when you used the broom :D great video as always, stay safe out there folks.

[@andrewchesney]

When Ashley got the broom out and put it on the paint work I WEPT Nooooooooo!

[@bravz_]

Which was bad enough initially but then he swept the snow deposited on the drive with it and then straight back on the car 😬😬😬

[@mattsanders5372]

That hurt me, that poor car

[@timprice5]

Hahaha yes I did exactly the same! It will scratch your paintwork over time - particularly if the car is dirty, don't use this method 😄

[@nearlyretired7005]

Why would you want to drive like driving instructor in snow? I've been driving for 43 years and driven for years on snow and ice,and was a driving instructor. The standard of some driving instructors driving and teaching has declined.

[@thecraigmachine69]

You may not be too bothered, but running a brush over the car's paintwork/windscreen will scratch the paintwork, especially if the car is already dirty underneath. Some tips I find that work are to park the front of the car towards the morning sun, and using an electric leaf blower to blow off the snow. I just know when summer comes around again and the sun catches the car's paintwork you will see it marred with swirl marks from that brush you're using.

[@bmused55]

with the infamous build quality of Teslas, it probably won't make much of a difference. Still painful to watch though

[@donnyanda3191]

and he swept the floor in-between lol

[@thecraigmachine69]

Irrespective of how well the car is made, and/or how thin the paint is, the lacquer will easily scratch with a brush through any grit that might be on the car, within the snow itself or grit on the brush's bristles (you can see Ashley brushes the path (1:25) before reapplying it onto the car again) will damage the paint. I know I'm being a a bit pedantic, but I just find it painful to watch on a ~£60k vehicle.

[@fizzhogg23]

Those light scratches in the top layer of lacquer will have no effect on future value of the car a quick polish will remove them

[@sahhull]

@@fizzhogg23 A quick polish and it will look crap. You will replace the swirls and scratches with buffer trails. That dog sh_t soft Tesla paint is very easy to damage. I guess it matches the dog sh_t Tesla build quality.

[@tripnick555]

I assumed that you had a dedicated soft brush for the car, but then you swept the ground before returning to the car. One piece of grit or gravel will lead to scratches. For all the very intelligent advice you give us, I don't think this was your finest moment!

[@ashley_neal]

The brush was flipped to clear the floor 👍

[@tripnick555]

@@ashley_neal So you did. I missed that first time as you had sped it up. My faith in your advice is restored! 👍

[@15bit62]

On the winter tyre topic i can quote a friend of mine here in Norway: "Summer tyres in snow is basically the same as putting ski's on your car". In snow and ice the difference between nordic winters and UK style summer tyres is indescribable. If i were to move back to the UK i would seriously consider getting a set of Cross Climate 2's for winter, especially if i were in northern england or scotland. Though they might seem unnecessary for most of the winter, below about 5-7C the softer compound will make a huge difference in grip even without snow and ice, and they shift water well also. Here in Norway (and in Sweden and Finland), snowflake-marked winter tyres are mandatory. Full nordic winters are preferable. If you have an accident on summer tyres and the police feel that the conditions require winters, then you get a big fine.

[@thedoctor007dfw]

Agreed. I have Cross Climate 2 but have had winter tyres in the past 👍

[@problemchild1976]

Cross climates are a compromise of both conditions though. How ash is driving is how everyone should drive in bad weather, considering all the aspects of driving. But people are generally crap at driving in the uk - they don't plan, look ahead, understand their cars etc. As for winters, unless you swap back when it gets above 7 again then it's pointless and you will have unpredictable characteristics in warmer weather and you'll chew through them quicker. You can't compare a Nordic winter and a tepid UK one ;)

[@15bit62]

@@problemchild1976 I quite agree. Winter driving skills in the UK are hilarious. Cross climates aren't really a compromise of summer and nordic winters. They are a product designed for the niche of -5C to +10C winters with more rain than snow. And a bit of ice. Essentially they fit exactly winter in northern england, scotland. For south england their value is more debatable for sure. I wouldn't recommend them for summer use though - the UK gets too hot. I know people who actually use them as summer tyres here in the north though.

[@problemchild1976]

@@15bit62 what I meant is they aren't as good as summers in the summer for what summer tyres are designed for and they aren't quite as good as winter tyres in proper snow etc I used to go out as an 18yr old in the snow in Yorkshire and practice :) I got all the way back from Manchester across the Pennines back to Sheffield in abysmal snow in a metro 1.0 clubman ;) Even bump started it backwards down an icy hill when I stopped to help someone and the battery ran down. Only thing that stopped me was 1ft deep road as the bottom of my estate :)

[@ibs5080]

Excellent point about clearing ALL the snow off the vehicle and something I myself do. Otherwise there is a risk of blowing snow blocking your vision again whilst you are driving or indeed blowing onto other vehicles and pedestrians. I'd also make sure no snow blocking the air vents in the front scuttle.

[@PedroConejo1939]

I'd be wary about the brush coming into contact with the driveway though. Dedicated tools needed for anything that touches paintwork or light covers.

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@aaroo9554 Grit on the brush? Your car, your choice though.

[@aaroo9554]

@@PedroConejo1939 yeah didnt realise he was using it on the floor at the same time and then back on the car

[@RichardBeds]

Wrap a microfibre towel or soft cloth to protect the paintwork. Also, brush the snow sideways off the car, don’t apply any downward pressure.

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@aaroo9554 👍🏽

[@Remmelken]

In Germany winter tires or all-weather tires are required in icy, snowy and similar conditions ( StVO §2 (3a)). In practice tires are changed around mid october and around easter.

[@RTPeat]

I used summer tyres up until about a decade ago when we had heavy rain that froze and snow on top while I was at work, at the time I had a Škoda Superb on Pirelli PZero’s, and I came up to a junction near work, came to a halt, and the car just slid sideways, the rest of the journey home was a nightmare. At that point I bought a winter set of tyres and it was like night and day. The twice yearly tyre swaps are a pain, so on our recent cars we just swap to modern all seasons the first winter and they drive well in summer as well, so we’re running Michelin CrossClimate 2’s currently, they’re not quite as good as full winters, or full summers but for regular motoring they’re by far the best option. Take a look at some of the comparisons the Tyre Reviews channel on KZbin has done - the biggest problem with them is actually all the drivers using completely unsuitable summer tyres in snow as you’re able to stop so much better so you have to keep an eye on what they’re doing behind you.

[@zakneutron]

My dad always told me when driving in snow, everything gentle: steering, acceleration braking and when I learnt, gear changing too.

[@nicemandan]

From UK, now living in Canada, a few things I’ve picked up… On icy roads, leave a decent gap between you and the car in front when stopped at lights, and watch the cars approaching from behind and be prepared to move forward if they’re having trouble stopping. Avoid the temptation to brake hard when losing grip on corners, and go off the power. Locking the fronts, or even with ABS will keep you going in a straight line. There will be massive under steer, but the spinning tyres will get you going in the right direction and AWD cars with esp really help in that situation. When it’s really cold -10 ish, ice and snow actually gets more grippy, it’s only in the UK range of temps it’s really slippery. And winter tyres are definitely worth it!

[@ibs5080]

Hello fellow dual Brit Canuck! I'm in the UK for now but other home is Vancouver BC. Burnaby Mountain to be precise. Where in Canada are you out of interest? From your posting, sounds as though you are east of the Rockies or in the BC Interior. 🇨🇦🇬🇧

[@ibs5080]

@@nicemandan You are kidding me! Been a while since I was up to Kelowna / Penticton / Vernon / Osoyoos but I know that area quite well. How's the Ogopogo in the lake?

[@ibs5080]

@@nicemandan Do take care on The Coq. As I'm sure you know it's been featured on the tv series Highway to Hell. So you are heading to the Lower Mainland? If so, say Hello to it for me! 🇨🇦

[@rstevens7711]

I didn't learn to drive until I was in my 30s. What amazed me was the number of drivers who think they can drive at the speed limit no matter what the conditions are. Seeing people drive at 30mph in built-up areas is stupid enough, seeing people driving at 30mph in snow and ice in built-up areas defies belief. And yet these people constantly claim 'but I'm a good driver, and the limit is x' Crazy stuff.

[@jerrytracey6602]

That was an easy clear for you with the broom. Here in Scotland we've had double-digit minus temperatures, and the bottom layer of the snow is solid ice in the morning. We brush the loose stuff off, and our Nissan Leaf has a remote climate control, which clears the windows and warms the cabin, but the solid ice on the roof will take a long time to thaw. Police can stop you if your car isn't fully cleared but I'd like to hope that they take a sensible pill under these conditions, and let you off as long as windows, lights and mirrors are clear

[@BlazeFirereign]

I live in a part of the UK that gets more snow, and worse snow, than average, so I put my Model 3 on winter tyres in the colder months. (Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 - I can highly recommend them.) Night and day difference. Tried a traction test like yours, earlier in the week, on a much snowier surface; expected slip, but it spurted up to 20 without a hint of it. No problems getting onto and off a driveway covered in inches of snow. Little slip on inclines where others are struggling to get going. They aren't magic, slush is still slippy, and I'm still careful with gentle inputs, but it's a huge boost in safety, in my opinion. In comparison, when I got caught out in snow with the OEM summers on, the traction was very poor. My dual motor was brilliant at exploiting every bit of it - it scrabbled uphill at 5mph with all corners slipping but staying straight and under control, while some others struggled to make it up at all - but traction control can only work with whatever traction the tyres can provide. If you need to be able to keep moving when there's snow on the ground, using all-season or winter tyres is a huge benefit, in safety and practicality. Most of the UK gets very little snow, so I understand that most people would rather stick with summer tyres than dealing with the hassle and expense of swapping twice a year or the compromise of using all-seasons. But if your car _is_ on summer tyres, and you need to deal with untreated/uncleared roads, then the risk increase is huge. Just leave it at home.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Good stuff. I always advocate going out and getting a feel for your vehicle in snow and ice - choosing place and manner carefully! - but trying to find the limits if possible. Beware of kerbs, even in car parks. I don't feel I know a car until I've done that. There is far too much reliance on gritted roads being a substitute for being a competent driver; I'd say that if your complaint is that a road hasn't been gritted, then it's questionable whether you should be out driving in the conditions. Two things that have become deeply apparent to me this week have been: the _increased_ propensity to seriously tailgate; and the jam foos who think that you don't need lights on because they can see what their primeval brains deem to be enough. LED lights do not produce heat on the lens so they have to be carefully cleared by hand first thing. Also, clean your windscreen at the end of a drive when the washers have thawed, then you're ready for the next morning when everything is solid. As an aside, where I lived in Germany, the roads were only gritted at bus stops and a handful of other places (not salted - the goal was grip, not to melt the snow that will just re-freeze even worse than before). Traffic lights and give way junctions became irrelevant in heavy snow, the goal being for the traffic to keep moving. It was customary on the hill where I lived for pedestrians to just get behind a car and push without being asked, all with the purpose of keeping things going. Crashes were very rare. I can't imagine any of that having a chance of working in the UK, where a simple zip-merge is beyond the grasp of many.

[@toleth88]

All Season and Winter Tyres are not just for ice/snow, they can also perform better in wet conditions below 7c. I have 2 sets of tyres for my daily, a set of all seasons and a set of summer tyres. I've found this ideal for UK roads. All seasons wont give you the performance on snow/ice that winter tyres do, but they will give you far better dry/wet handling and miles better then summer tyres in the snow. If its dry, summer tyres will tend to perform better even below 7c, if its wet however, the performance drops off a cliff below 7c. All seasons are ideal for the UK since we dont get that much snow, but do often see temps below 7c and its typically very wet, roads can be damp even when it hasn't rained that recently. My second car (MPV) has all seasons fitted year round.

[@jackedrussell]

Tyres are the most important part of a car. I had the experience of using summer-bias all seasons in conditions worse than this and no amount of driving assists could help. Traction control didn't know what to do, so it basically switched itself off. ABS didn't know what to do so it basically switched itself off, same with stability control which is a combination of traction control and ABS. I had traction issues at walking speed with these tyres. I can't have been going more than 5mph and the car would understeer and brakes do nothing. Modern all season tyres are fantastic. The latest batch of winter-bias all seasons from Michelin, Goodyear and Continental are all rated for snow driving, but you can also use them in the summer without destroying them like you would with traditional winter/snow tyres. If you don't have the money and/or space to have dedicated winter tyres, I would strongly recommend using a set of those winter-bias all seasons.

[@MatthewL83]

For the point about tyres, I do believe the all-weather/all-season ones are great compromise between summer and winter ones, especially as I have no garage. When I last changed tyres I switched to them as some of the journeys I take aren't on the clearest of roads. In this current winter snap the level of grip has been been a lot more and easily noticeable.

[@clivewilliams3661]

I have run winter and summer tyres for the last 40 years and I am convinced of their effectiveness including improving fuel consumption and reducing tyre wear.

[@johnb8956]

I’ve found mixed results with them. Some are brilliant, but a fair few are just like summer tyres with a slightly harder compound. Any particular recommendations on brand?

[@kulter20]

@@johnb8956 I’m using Kuhmo Solus 4S at the moment after driving trough summer and winter on Continental EcoContact summer tires. Traction seems fine with temperatures well below zero. Haven’t tried them in snow, ice or summer weather yet. It’s not a triple A brand though.

[@neilyoungman9814]

I find Michelin CrossClimate work really well in summer and are also good in snow and ice .

[@Coooogz]

@@johnb8956 Search for @tyrereviews here on KZbin.. Reviews all winter/summer/all season and other tyres for all your tyre needs :)

[@goldilocks913]

No need to clear snow, just put the stereo on louder so people get out the way. Seems to be quite a popular approach. I recently saw an older lady scraping at some solid ice and commenting that she didn’t think it would start anyway. I resisted asking her why she hadn’t done it first- which would also aid the defrosting .

[@micheals1992]

Could be to save fuel? I always clear my car before starting the engine. Although I do a 2 stage water warm-up... Basically two 2L bottles of water one that's just off cold followed by one that's slightly warm while wiping it off the windows Asap as once it starts to evaporate it can cool back down to the freezing point. It's less work then scraping but I do just scrape if it's not solid ice or if there's a thick layer of snow Personally I think it's a myth that water defrosting is dangerous... Maybe if you're stupid and use hot water it is. but remember, it takes just as much energy to turn water into ice as it does into steam so off cold and then slightly warm water can do allot of work at removing the thin layer ice on windows. The colder it is the cooler the water I use... Sometimes if the temps drop even lower I do a 3 stage water warm-up... Basically adding cold water as the first step. My driveway is gravel & stones so it doesn't usually leave ice behind. I've done this for 7 years and never had any issues.

[@neilclark2245]

The thing is, if the car is on the public road it could be seen as an offence if the engine is running but you're busy trying to clear ice - "not being in proper control of the vehicle". You could do it on a private drive, I think, especially if you have gates you can keep closed until you're ready to move. The Tesla was using battery power to do the heating and defrosting etc but was it technically "running"?

[@goldilocks913]

@@neilclark2245 good point! But when did we get to the point that we are more worried of the police giving us a ticket for that when it’s obvious we’re not leaving it unattended and less worried it’ll be stolen? Says a lot about the state of policing policy in my opinion.

[@goldilocks913]

@@micheals1992 That’s very true , the physics is the same - your car doesn’t leap to 90 degrees !

[@neilclark2245]

@@goldilocks913 unfortunately you are correct

[@liammaggs9418]

a couple things i’d like to add about winter driving regarding the impact that gritting salt has. driving on any A road or motorway will almost certainly mean that your car will quickly be covered in nasty salty grime. make sure your screen wash is filled up and with a winter screen wash (ie one with an anti-freeze agent) because your windscreen quickly becomes foggy and nasty with salty water and you don’t want to be blinded because you’ve no screen wash or because the pipes have frozen over… make sure your number plates are clear. you don’t want the coppers pulling you over because your number plates are illegible…. carry a cloth in your car. myself and my partner did a long distance trip to cardiff this winter and i pulled into services twice each way to wipe off my headlamps to bring them back to full brightness because they had been covered in grime enough that they weren’t bright enough anymore seriously, the moment you see those ‘gritting in progress’ signs on the motorway gantry, swap the screen wash and shove an old t-shirt or microfibre in the boot, then stop frequently and make sure the plates and lights are clear

[@paultune1696]

Can you cover black ice in a video Ashley? Out in the countryside it's a much bigger risk and extremely dangerous. Maybe tips on how to avoid it (try not to drive early morning, extreme cold, untreated roads etc) as there's not a lot you can do when you're on it!

[@collynkieranmclaughlan6983]

Ive drove on black ice a few times in the past few days. When you see crystal like reflections on the road or at the side of the road at night, there's a high chance of black ice. How to combat it is, to drop a gear, dont touch any of your pedals and feel what your wheels are doing. If the back end is stepping out but the front wheels are still in control, the rear tyres will always follow the front tyres. Just take your time and if you feel confident, accelerate with your foot (obviously with no one around) and experience it, then think about how you could control it without touching the pedals or dropping a few gears. Get me? I live in rural countryside and get black ice every winter. In some circumstances, when controlled, its quite fun

[@trueriver1950]

Yeah! Long time ago while I was driving a 3ton delivery van I had the frightening experience of nothing happening when I turned the steering wheel to take a left turn that goes off at an oblique angle: there was black ice right at the junction. Fortunately I was able to safely continue with going straight on instead. The is thing there was that I was grateful for the ice lasting long enough to get my front wheels straightened up before they regained traction! A lesson that I learned from and without any unpleasant consequences beyond having to drive round the block, taking more care second time round; and taking more care ever since even when the gritters have been out. The one thing I did well in that situation was to rapidly change plans and go straight on when that was the only safe thing to do in the moment. Trying to stick to plan A would have had consequences leading to paperwork at the least ...

[@Airgunfunrich]

I would recommend people do a day on a skid pan. Did it for works Xmas do one year. Very educational!

[@cargy930]

In my experience, most people start out as carefully as you did. But, as soon as their car warms up, they soon forget the frozen roads and start to revert to "normal" driving practices.

[@SC-gs8dc]

That pattern is what should usually happen. At least in the Canadian prairies, winter driving conditions close to peoples' homes are typically quite poor whereas the mains are generally much better. As a result drivers start off more cautiously and end up driving almost normal due to the conditions, not forgetting.

[@cargy930]

@@SC-gs8dc I wouldn't know about the Canadian praries. But I *do* have 40 years plus of winter driving in the UK on which to base my personal opinion upon, and I stand by what I said above. But you have reminded me of the second common mistake I see in the UK whenever it snows: On returning to minor/local roads from well-gritted main roads, most drivers don't return to the caution level required on the ungritted surface (one might say "they forget") and only find out when they need to brake or steer.

[@SC-gs8dc]

@cargy930 We usually have a reminder when returning - the residential roads tend to have uneven buildup combined with ruts and windrows. It probably only takes high centering a car once to remember to be careful. :)

[@trueriver1950]

@@SC-gs8dc that's only half true: the forgetting comes in when they turn off the mains onto side roads again. Good drivers remember, too many drivers have forgotten or simply revert to normal habit/routine.

[@cargy930]

​@@SC-gs8dc Here in the UK we get winter every 12 months or so. But for some strange reason the UK population is always completely shocked when it happens, and thus woefully unprepared for it!

[@ibs5080]

A couple of tips for assessing the road surface: 1. I learned this one in Canada: If you are not sure whether that shiny winter road is wet or icy, wind your window down and listen to the sound of your tyres. If it's a damp "swoosh" then the road is wet but if no such sound, it's far more likely to be ice. 2. Many cars have ice alert warning lights based on outside temperature. On my car it will beep once and glow steady orange when the temperature gets down to 4C. It will beep once again and glow steady red once the temperature gets down to 0C. Just bear in mind this is all based on outside air temperature. The road temperature might actually be lower.

[@blackwallstudios4123]

We have family in Germany. We went over Christmas years ago. On the night we left my mum's friend in Germany rang to tell us my dad needed winter tyres!! He was not impressed but we couldn't have done without them.

[@MrDanNS]

My first ever driving lesson 12 years ago was in half a foot of snow. Had been snowing the day before aswell. My instructor took me for a 2 hour lesson regardless of the conditions and if im honest i couldnt ask for a better first experience of driving

[@squadmeta]

I look forward to you trying CrossClimate2 next season, perfect all round tyre for anything but harsh Scottish weather. I’ve driven on everything from all seasons to nordic winter tyres, it really is about choosing the right tyre for the situation. Watching how to drive in snow and ice tutorials while on summer tyres is akin to how to wear flip flops in the snow and keep your feet warm. Anyone from a Nordic country would see us that way! All the advice you give still applies, it’s just a lot safer on the correct compound.

[@leetori1]

Don’t brush the drive then brush the car 😱 Mrs always tells me off for testing the traction. It’s to calibrate your driving. I tend to re calibrate if there is a visible difference of snow or ice on the road.

[@MatrixFuse]

2.40 Yes Ash, dipped headlights! The amount of times you see people whack that fog light on for the slightest bit of mist 😑 I feel like people get so excited to use the fog light that they see a little mist and they're like YAY FOG LIGHT BUTTON TIME 🥳

[@robertmaitland09]

That bit of road at the beginning with all those beemers parked up, fun in the snow when they all try to swerve and slide their way to work in the snow.

[@bigDave22333]

I have huge anxiety driving in the snow, so I appreciate this video as it's very educational and helpful to someone like me.

[@bdeithrick]

Get some all seasons on. Drive as normal

[@thedoctor007dfw]

@@bdeithrick I have them but wouldn't drive around quite like normal. Driving to the conditions is key and tyres don't beat every situation. Plus, even if you are the king of drivers, there's plenty of buffoons out there who could come sliding at you because they have poor tyres and skills.

[@bigDave22333]

@@thedoctor007dfw I think you're spot on. I find myself driving sensibly, yet always end up getting tailgating, flashed to move or generally pressurised to go faster. All to save a few minutes.

[@markplenty2631]

I passed my driving test on day like this and the roads were quite like the estates, the examiner said if it starts to snow he would cancel my test and I said I had many hours of adverse weather driving and please not to cancel, and 45 mins later, I had passed.

[@laceandwhisky]

Congratulations 🎊

[@markplenty2631]

@@laceandwhisky I forgot to mention that this was in 2003… so thanks.

[@eddie275a]

On the subject of tyres… I used to swap over to winter tyres for my BMW 3 Series Touring as I was driving up and down the country all the time and in all conditions. They made a huge difference and enabled me to easily access roads that would otherwise be off limits. Apart from snow and ice, they also made a significant difference in wet conditions. Storing the tyres weren’t a huge problem in my garage. However, now that the winter weather has become milder, I no longer use winter tyres. Instead I have fitted a set of Michelin Cross Climate, all seasons, tyres. For our winter conditions, these have been excellent and worth every penny.

[@GeordieDashCam]

Winter tyres, I have a rear wheel drive auto (worst combination for snow and ice), winter tyres are brilliant. When the 'beast from the east' was raging a few years ago I was forced out to pick someone up from hospital 15 miles away along mostly untreated roads, FWD cars and even 4x4s were slipping everywhere, mine behaved impeccably, even pulling away (gently) from a snow and ice covered dip outside the hospital where ambulances had to be manhandled as they slid everywhere. I cannot recomend winter tyres enough :-)

[@billferrol4202]

Ashley, yet another good teaching lesson, thanks. One thing that didn’t happen to you was spray on your windscreen that gets smeared all over it when you go to clear it and your wash bottle is frozen, making it almost impossible to see ahead, especially when driving into the low winter sun. I use the windscreen wash that’s good down to -10C but even that freezes so, as well as the ‘survival equipment’ you mentioned I carry 2 x 2 litre bottles of water (taken from indoors and not left in the car - ice lollipops!) so I can stop and pour onto my windscreen until the wash bottle thaws. I can then have drinking water should the worst happen. Keep the good knowledge coming and have a great festive season.

[@asilver2889]

I have an old thermos, fill with warm water, stops refreezing screen when rinsing smears off, stays warm or tepid for hours.

[@Bin-The-L-Plates]

Add some Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) into the washer bottle, it increase the concentration and stops it freezing. Cheaper than Vodka…..

[@juddy_1997]

Hey Ashley. I'd recommend when brushing snow off your car using the brush is great but you might want to wrap a soft microfiber towel around the brush to prevent it from possibly scratching when wiping off snow. Just an alternative. A leaf blower is safest but I'm sure the neighbours wouldn't be appreciative of that early in the morning 🤣👍.

[@trueriver1950]

The leaf blower belongs with an electric Nissan surely?

[@juddy_1997]

@@trueriver1950 🤣🤣

[@ArnoldsKtm]

Realistically no one cares. A towel for snow? Are you kidding me?

[@trueriver1950]

@@ArnoldsKtm Realistically: It's simply not true that "nobody cares". Many do. In fact there are a huge number of car owners who care very much about minor scratches to their paintwork. I'm not one of them, but then again I've usually driven previously owned vehicles where it would indeed be silly to care about just one more tiny scratch. If I was driving a car bought from new maybe I'd be car-proud too. If you care enough to T-cut the paintwork to bring back the showroom shine it once had, perhaps you'd care enough to not degrade that shine with the microscratches from a brush. As I say, personally I wouldn't, but I'm not going to ignore the fact that many do

[@havingalook.]

@@ArnoldsKtm I wouldn't broom an auction snotter, the bloke knows nothing

[@paulsmith4783]

Girl in fiesta with P plates done really well with the conditions for a new driver👏

[@robg521]

My uncle was the chef mechanic for the F1 lotus racing team in the 1970’s [the old JPS Special F1 Car] he had a lot of experience test driving the F1 cars to set them up ready to race so was quite experienced behind the wheel. He taught his daughter to drive and on her 1st lesson he put her behind the wheel of their family mini in the middle of winter with about 6inches of snow on the road. …. As she sat in the car with the engine running he sat beside her and his 1st words on her 1st outing were, “OK.. Floor it and see what happens” 😮😂 ……… [the point of this was to get her to realise that in snow you have very little traction so if you are heavy on the throttle you will spin the wheels up]

[@nickrendell4300]

Great informative video as always, a lot of drivers nowadays think that all the safety technology on a car they can drive the same in all conditions but as you rightly said the technology will not make you invincible.

[@PedroConejo1939]

It's the SUV syndrome too - half the ditched cars are 4x4s that the drivers thought made them invincible.

[@markbrown2640]

A few years ago, I was going to work (essential employee). I was driving 35 mph in a 55 and noticed that I was catching up to the car in fromt of me. The road that we were on had been salted, but was being covered by wind blown snow. Rather than overtake the other car. I slowed down to 25 mph. I saw the other car cross into the next municipality and the road got very black. This is a bad thing. This district is notoriously slow to respond to snow and this snow had started as freezing rain. The logical and correct conclusion was that this was black ice. I slowed to fifteen-twenty mph. The car ahead fishtailed, but somehow turned into a driveway without crashing. I used a railroad grading to shave some speed off while occasionally applying gas to my front-wheel drive car to keep it straight. The township had miraculously salted and stoned the intersections, so I was able to stop and start, but I never got far above ten mph the rest of the way to work.

[@ace_55581]

When the snow had fallen last week I was at work, having cleared the car fully I too did the exact same thing as Ashley, tested grip levels for traction, steering and brake. All within the work car park and safely away from anyone else. I didn’t see one other person do this, most of them didn’t even clear the snow off their car’s properly. I think there’s a certain type of people that always try their best to be safe but are totally outnumbered by the ignorant ones. I hope Ashley’s videos find their way to every driver because we all can learn new things or change our perspective.

[@warriormonk2611]

I was clearing the snow off my car and I had a dog walker ask me why I was clearing everything. They honestly never considered snow or ice blowing up off the front or the snow or ice slipping forward during breaking. I just had visions of them being one of those "tank drivers" driving with a small window of visibility

[@glynjarvis5775]

In a Tesla, it will only activate the front drive unit if rear traction is lost. It will be “primed” for 10 minutes afterwards for instant reaction. Also, use slip-start mode and chill mode. Currently in the alps in a Tesla model 3 on winter tyres, and it was great after 20cms of snow a couple of days ago.

[@daylen577]

Here in the Netherlands, most people either store their off-season tires in a shed or store them at the garage. The garage my family has gone to for years charges €25 per year to store your tires. They shove them in their offsite storage until you make your appointment, and they let you know when they take off the tires that they need to be replaced (so I know my winter tires are due for rotation when my summer tires are put on). They aren't required here, and many people drive summer tires or all season tires year-round, but I've always had two sets. It's no more expensive than your summer tires wearing twice as fast, it costs me €25 to store the ones I'm not using and €30 per swap, so a total of €85 per year. That's well worth the extra comfort in summer and extra grip in winter, even though our weather is no more extreme than the UK.

[@TheJ0llyWalrus]

Clearing all of the snow off the car is really important. I live in a place that regularly gets snow, and the number of people that don't fully clear the snow off their vehicles is disappointing. I have seen three different types of issues caused by leaving snow on the roof. First, if it's slushy snow and you have to brake hard for any reason, the snow can easily slide off the roof onto the windshield and block all of your vision and possibly be too much for the wipers to deal with. Second, if it was slushy then froze, chunks can fly off the roof while at speed and hit vehicles behind potentially causing damage. Third, if it's light powdery snow, when you get up to speed the wind will pick it up off the roof into a cloud of snow vastly reducing visibility for vehicles behind. Another important thing to remember for those with 4wd vehicles, 4wd helps you get started moving in poor conditions, but it does not help you stop, you still need to drive to the conditions.

[@zloychechen5150]

In Russia, where most people live in a block of flats, you keep your tyres either in the balcony, or on a shelf (many apartments have a big tray underneath the ceiling in the corridor). Quite a few people, myself included, have a garage, most of which were built in the soviet times, they're just metal boxes 3x6 meters, enough space to fit a car, and all the tyres you have (got around 6 sets from a couple of cars, never getting round to selling off all the unnecessary stuff). Since a few years ago, tyre shops, car parts stores, and the like have a tyre storage service, where you can dump your tyres for a fee, and order them back when you need them.

[@rodmckendrick8140]

In Germany a lot of apartments have an assigned storage room in the basement where one can store a set of four tyres.

[@adrianellis2433]

Great Video. I had winter Tyres some years ago lived in a village up on a moor. They were amazing turned a Rear wheel drive car that in snow and ice either went nowhere or backwards into what seemed a 4 wheel drive arctic explorer

[@TheMusicianTom]

I drove my electric ID.3 on snow covered side roads on Sunday evening, and tested the brakes while doing 10mph. The ABS kicked in and the braking distance was much increased.

[@ibs5080]

Regarding tyres, I believe other countries have more stringent requirements regarding minimum tread depth. Here in the UK it's 1.6 mm minimum across three quarters of the tyres width. I recently replaced mine when they got down to 3 mm and I have a proper electronic tread depth to be able to measure precisely rather than just the coin test. I went for the Cross Climate 2 after reading reviews that it outperforms some dedicated winter tyres and yet is good year round. Haven't as yet driven on them in full winter conditions. Either way, I cannot imagine driving in full winter conditions (or even heavy rain on the motorway) with just 1.6 mm of tread.

[@15bit62]

Up here in norway it is 1.6mm min on summer tyres and 3mm on winters. When i get my wheels swapped at the "tyre hotel" in autumn and spring, they give me a printout of the measured tread depth and if it is getting close to the limit they will tell me.

[@bramelsheretan]

really enjoyed this and yes, driving in adverse conditions is not a British issue. Scotland and Wales can be a little different, but our winters are warmer. I recommend your viewers book a session on a skid-pan or in a skid car, which for the money usually is great fun. Merry Christmas, to you and all your subscribers, have a good, but a safe one.

[@trueriver1950]

Skid pans seem a lot rarer these days: I can't remember when I last drive past one and they used to be all over the place. It's not just me: it's Google too: Google maps only shows three "near" me and they are spread out over the whole of England, the nearest being more than a two hour drive away.

[@DanielAbbott31]

I never thought that turning the traction control off could help in icy conditions, I know that if I was struggling for grip, I'd be checking that traction control is turned on! Very helpful video as always Ash, I'm sure it's not just me that has benefited from this advice.

[@15bit62]

Turning off traction control only helps in the specific situation that there is a more grippy layer of road accessible by removing some material off the top. And to access that you will generally need winter-type tyres that can actually remove material with a softer and more chunky block pattern, and it is implicit that it only really occurs at low speeds. For most people in most circumstances it is better to leave traction control on.

[@DanielAbbott31]

@@15bit62 Ah that makes sense, thank you

[@problemchild1976]

@@zbf5h89ftbit's defo not - my RWD car used to sometimes not go anywhere in snow because the TC was overly safe so the car would just sit and not even spin the wheels. Turning it off gave me excellent control over the rear wheels

[@havingalook.]

I've been driving over 30yrs and never had a car with traction control, and never lost it in the ice or snow, all this parking assist, lane assist, cruise control, automatic brake is for amateurs and people who need this to get by day by day

[@CptnKremmen]

I had all weather tyres fitted when I replaced them last month. I noted the extra grip even on a dry day.

[@markbrown2640]

I live in Ohio, USA, and was an essential worker with legal permission to drive even in the most hazardous conditions as long as I was going to work or home from work. I've never had three season (as the tire companies call what you called summer) tires. I've always had all weather tires. If I had been in an area where there was no reliable snow removal or where snow regularly falls in feet of depth, then winter tires would be a must, but it has been since 1978 that driving conditions have last been that bad for more than three days in this area.

[@emmajacobs5575]

Regarding winter tyres, it's not just in snow and ice where they show an advantage, but also when the temperature is lower than about 7°C . I became convinced of the benefits after trying them at the Porsche Experience at Silverstone on their low grip surfaces.

[@Gobtik]

The problem is how much they wear out when not on winter roads, putting winter specific tyres on in say December-February is a path to quickly worn out tyres

[@havingalook.]

Yawn....

[@WolfmanWoody]

I took my test in worse conditions than you had there. The examiner said it was 50/50 whether he cancelled or not and complimented me on how I handled it during the test. Apart from the skid I mentioned in your other vid, I've never experienced anything really bad. Even when I tried to cross the Pennines where the snow I found later was 3ft thick over the tops, but I gave up in Pennistone when it got to about 8 inches thick. Just treat the accelerator and steering with extreme care.

[@BrightonandHoveActually]

Choice of tyres: Changing tyres over costs me £20 each (that is simply taking the wheel off, putting the other tyre on rebalancing and me keeping the tyre taken off. So that would be £160 a year assuming I stored the tyres not currently being used. It is possible to have two sets of tyres but you still have the TPMS on a modern car. They need replacing. So I normally use all season tyres. Some years ago I had a set of first generation all season tyres. They were good in snow but as they got older they started to understeer in warmer wet weather so i changed them earlier than I might otherwise have done. My current car came with summer tyres and I was about to drive to a ski resort so I changed them for a set of Nexen all season tyres and put the summer tyres in the dark loft of my garage to keep them away from sunlight. After 25,000 miles the front ones wore out. The rear ones are still going well. They handle well. At present I have two of the summer tyres on the front because I live in the south of England, do not plan to drive to a ski resort this year and whilst there is snow on the ground my snow socks will be able to cope with it. When I need to buy new tyres, though, I will get all seasons. What I did notice with my Nexens is that they have a different tread pattern to the summer tyres. They are also different to my 1st generation all seasons in that they are unidirectional - i.e. they must rotate in one particular direction. The 1st generation ones used a system where the outboard side of the tyre was a summer tyre and the inboard one a winter tyre - so it had to be omnidirectional. This worked quite well but did have limitations and the Nexens are superior. The disadvantage is that they are not really practicable as spares because there is a 50:50 chance the tyre with the puncture will be on the wrong side. So I suppose if I were to carry a full sized spare I would probably choose an omnidirection winter tyre. Yes it would be less good in the summer but I would only have it on the car in an emergency and compromising summer performance would be preferable to having a gendarme ask why I was driving round a ski resort with a summer tyre on my voiture.

[@15bit62]

Here in scandinavia we buy two sets of wheels with the car. That gets around the problems of replacing TPMS modules. If you are willing to swap them yourself and have space to store them, it also gets around the cost of having the tyres swapped.

[@havingalook.]

£20 to change a tyre, you're getting stitched, it would pay to buy a cheap steel set of wheels to have the winter tyres fitted to and just swap them when you want

[@alanscott989]

Decided to take a gamble on a set of 4 commercial 8 ply van tyres on my Smart for four diesel . The amount of grip available in icy and heavy snow conditions was unbelievable . Maybe changing from the 195/50 x 15 to 175/75 x 14 also helped, the car certainly had a more compliant ride and coped with pot holes so much better.

[@broadsword6650]

Re tyres: I've had Michelin Cross Climate tyres on my car for a couple of years. They are superb - give great confidence in heavy rain or snow. They are no noisier and even quieter than other tyres I've had. Only problem is that the tread does pick up s lot of loose gravel from the road surface.

[@forresten]

Here, in Hungary, we have advisories to change to winter tires. No obligation, just advisory. But; recently, police forces started checking people's tires, especially those that are proper for the season. Most folks run on tires that are long overdue for a change. Our tread depth is 1.6 millimeters as well - however I feel that most just run them till they are slick. To this end; I'd like to see some sleet and slush. People who do not dare to drive would be at home early, the pros would be in the ditches a little later, and the roads would be clear. Also, I just bought a C-Max from 2004. That thing will be a good car, but currently brakes are shot (scheduled for a full replacement and fuel change next week - Christmas gift?), and the -at least- five years old summer ones aren't doing any favors. So I'll see to buying a full set of Continental's all seasons, because the peace of mind over being safe is not to be sacrificed for boy-racing. To Hyundai's i30: the later generations are okay, the early ones ... Not entirely a fan of. Planning to buy an i30N? Also; I've seen a drive on the local parts market to get rid of the Koreans and Japanese, in favor of the Europeans. Is the situation in the UK any better? Because, if not .. why not stick to the VW a little bit longer? (at least you can get parts for it .. whereas I struggle to keep a 2005 Hyundai intact, due to the lack of parts (even aftermarket ones).

[@trueriver1950]

Fun fact: a few years ago the East Midlands Ambulance Service had to call out the Kinder Mountain Rescue to bring people down the steep hills on Sheffield's housing estates because the ambulance couldn't safely get up the hill, and the paramedics didn't have equipment to safely walk with a stretcher down the pavements, let alone keep control of a gurney This happened twice in the same winter. In one case an old lady who'd fallen in her home and had a suspected broken hip was astonished to be rescued from her kitchen by a team in full ice climbing gear, and walked down the hill on a strap-in mountain rescue stretcher. But better than being tumbled off a stretcher if a paramedic had slipped over on the icy pavement. Do take icy conditions seriously, and be over cautious rather than reckless

[@98vasa]

For my Astra SRI Estate I bought 4 second hand steel wheels and had winter tyres fitted. They make a significant difference in poor conditions especially snow. Although there is an initial expense, when you switch them over for winter use you are not of course wearing out the summer tyres. So makes sense if you intend to keep the car for a reasonable length of time.

[@kenbrown2808]

a big tip, though, if you're not replacing the car with one that takes the same wheels and tires, send the winter tires off with the car, or they will clutter up your garage for the rest of your life.

[@problemchild1976]

And you take them off when the temp goes above 7degC?

[@kenbrown2808]

@@problemchild1976 as a general rule, you switch to winter tires around november, and back to summer tires around march. adjusted for local climate, of course.

[@problemchild1976]

@@kenbrown2808 and that's my issue - people say "you are dangerous if you don't put winters on" then leave them on throughout a long period of time where temps are consistently above the temp where summer tyres are better. Winters / cross climates performance of shifting water (Uk is temperate and thus wet) is not as good as decent summer tyres. So it's a balance always. But can't berate those who don't use winters if people keep them on when summers are better :)

[@kenbrown2808]

@@problemchild1976 it's cute that you think winter tires aren't made to clear water out of the tread path. metal studs aside; the primary weakness of winter tires in summer is that the tread compound is softer, so it can wear faster, and in a skid, the tire surface can abrade more easily, decreasing effective traction. this is a tradeoff for summer tires not being able to effectively grip the minute imperfections in ice, while winter tires at least have a chance to. when I was still driving a car I put summer tires on, the tread depth on the summer tires was significantly less than the tread depth on the winter tires, and the times we had an early frost, the cold weather traction on summer tires was the worst traction it had.

[@themittonmethod1243]

my rule of thumb when following... used to be solo, 2 sec... now i use 3s.. at city speed as a baseline... add a second for every complcation... second bike.. third bike... (fourth and more bikes is a large group and treat as 3...) at night.. in rain.. in snow.. in a van.. in a small box truck... every added one adds a second.. so a box truck, loaded, at night, in the rain would be 2+1+1+1+1 = 8 seconds.. on the motorway, at 60mph, i use a 5-6 second in the 8100kg hino195 box truck .... it makes the 40km bits more comfortable! cheers!

[@ibs5080]

One thing I love on my Focus is Ford's "Quickclear" heated windscreen. I still clear any snow and ice but the extra feature also helps greatly. It actually comes on automatically below a certain temperature though you can switch it off manually. Only thing is, I had to have a windscreen chip repaired some time ago and now that small area (passenger side) doesn't feature in the Quickclear, likely due to a break in the wire elements. Incidentally those wire elements are barely visible and totally different to those for the rear screen. Of course in addition to the Quickclear feature, one can also use the regular heating system.

[@geordiegeorge9041]

I have lived in Germany for almost 50 years. In the 70's and 80's we used to have snow from November until March. All the cars were fitted with snow tyres, so we didn't have a lot of accidents. A couple of years ago we got a lot of snow in Jan Feb, it caused chaos. And why did it cause chaos, the people must by law fit winter tyres. But the majority of drivers have never driven in heavy snow, they are too young,

[@Kromaatikse]

I've said this before, but it's worth repeating here. Here in Finland, winter tyres are mandatory when winter conditions exist on the road. Conversely, it is forbidden to use tyres with ice studs in summer, or more specifically when winter conditions are neither actually nor likely to be on the road. In principle it would be allowed to use "friction tyres", which have a winter compound but no studs, all year round, but most people here use all-season tyres (typically on alloy rims) during the summer and studded winter tyres (typically on steel rims) in the winter. Garages are kept busy during the changeover period, and often open pop-up tyre-changing workshops in a supermarket's car park or similar. There are tyre storage services, or you can use your own garage; my landlord owns farmland, so keeps them in a barn. Because the sun is always fairly low in the sky, regardless of winter or summer, at least daytime running lights are mandatory when the vehicle is running, regardless of the time of day or year. Dipped headlights are an acceptable substitute for running lights, on cars not so fitted, and are also necessary at night and in low visibility. In the winter months, it might never get lighter than twilight in some parts of the country, in which case headlights are required at all times. On my bicycle, I keep two sets of tyres and change them on the rim twice a year. (I also have serviceable spares of both types if required.) This year I got new summer tyres, Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus, which turned out to be quite reasonable on the first powder or compacted-powder snow that fell this year. I have now switched over to winter tyres which have a softer compound, a deep snow tread, and plenty of ice studs. They are of two different brands, with the rear tyre having a wider and flatter tread profile to support the majority of the weight, and the front tyre having a narrower and more pointed profile for easier steering in a significant snow layer. In my experience, the most dangerous road conditions occur when the temperature hovers near freezing, rather than when it is actually cold. If the road and air freeze first before snow falls, and then stays frozen, it is relatively easy to find a way to grip, especially with studs. It's also easy for ploughs to clear the road in this case. But when snow partially melts and re-freezes, or when rain falls on a frozen road, that is when you start getting sheet ice and black ice, which are the danger factors. Water on top of ice makes for the slipperiest kind of ice, on which traction is almost literally zero without studs. Bridges are the most likely place to find ice first, because they vary in temperature much more easily than a solid road foundation. Actively falling snow is also dangerous but not so much because of poor traction, rather poor visibility, especially if it is being blown around. Blizzards are a regular feature of Finnish winter weather, and there is always significant transport disruption and a spike in road accidents during them. Ice studs make driving or riding on ice *possible* but it is still very easy to slip - and on a bicycle, any even momentary slip of the front wheel could result in a hard fall. When there's any possibility of ice formation, I take extra care on certain parts of my regular route that I know are prone to it, and make an extra effort to stay on the most level part of the road camber, where the least amount of lateral traction is needed to stay upright. Ruts are also a particular hazard for cyclists, because the wheel might slip along the ridge rather than climbing over it, much like a wet tramline. More than once I've found myself suddenly on my side, sliding to a gentle stop on a solid sheet of ice, uninjured *only because* the friction on the road surface was so low. The national weather service routinely monitors expected road conditions on a regional basis, and issues official weather warnings accordingly, rolled into the same system that warns of forest-fire risks and gales, etc. Warnings are not issued when road conditions are "normal for the season", which in winter would be significantly "worse" than what Ash is driving through in this video. The difference is that drivers here are properly equipped (winter tyres), properly trained (mandatory skid-pan experience), and generally become accustomed to local driving conditions over time. So when a road conditions warning *is* issued, it's something to actually pay attention to. Usually a yellow warning refers to significant snowfall or likely ice formation, and an orange warning to a severe blizzard or unusually prevalent ice formation. There's a separate category of pedestrian warnings, where it is likely that there will be especially slippery ice underfoot on pavements as opposed to the road.

[@Pattoe]

Thanks for the vid Ashley. I'm a cyclist but I watch your driving ones as it helps to know the motor vehicle side of things as well to keep myself safe. Any chance of a cycling in the ice / snow related video from yourself? I know a lot of cyclists will be out in these conditiuons with the rising popularity of bicycle delivery services and the cyclists who work for them needing to keep an income coming in. I see many cyclists staying in the gutter which is full of snow and ice where they should be taking a more primary position due to the conditions.

[@Gobtik]

I ride to work, once the weather is going down to 0 I put on studded tyres and stick to roads as the council don't grit the bike lanes very much. I see plenty of delivery riders (not cyclists) out there but the fact so many don't even have lights, ignore traffic lights, no entry, one way etc, I think coming off in snow is the least of their worries

[@ianmason.]

That looks pretty mild compared to what we got in East London. Firstly on Sunday we got a lot more snow than the Scousers, and then after another day of just above zero temperatures with partial melting of the snow we got a hard -5ºC overnight frost which left the place covered in hard packed icy snow and ice by Tuesday morning. When I was forced to go out on Tuesday I abandoned my original plan to go out at 11am and left an extra couple of hours later just to give the roads a bit more chance to thaw. Still horrible conditions which required serious caution to not get in trouble. Main roads were OK, but any side road was a potential skating rink. The locals were driving uncommonly well and although I saw a few bits of stupidity I didn't see anyone making egregious mistakes.

[@liamrusselldrums]

As a fellow i30N owner,I appreciate your appreciation @24:41

[@susiejones3634]

I watched this video this morning, then mentioned it to my co-worker when giving him a lift home at 10.15pm, (roads were icy) and he's a fan too! Two fans in a grocery store in Lincolnshire. How cool are you, Ash?!

[@hywelsuchevans]

I had the Seat Taracco before and now I have a VW Tiguan. They both have Summer and Winter Tyre Pressures. Basically they lower the pressure in the Winter to increase the tyre contact with the road, but the MPG also goes down. I get around 30MPG in Winter tyre pressure and 45MPG in Summer tyre pressure. I don't drive much due to back problems so I leave them as they are.

[@nuttyslack]

Excellent drive, Ash; it’s all too easy to get caught out with complacency in these conditions. I recently took the plunge and bought myself some budget winter shoes for the motor - what a revelation! Being able to stop in straight on an icy gradient without any drama, I am impressed with them. Also, the car feels more grippy/positive in the wet allowing for a more progressive drive. I think I’ve been converted!

[@Khaisz.]

In Sweden you need Winter Tires by Law between 1st December and 31st March and its forbidden to use them between 15th April and 31st September unless road conditions are still snowy or expected to get snowy early. But because of how far north in Sweden I live, I change tires already in mid-late October and then I keep them on until I'm 100% sure no more snowfall will happen, even if that means I will keep them on past 15th April.

[@richardgiles2484]

Wouldn't recommend using the brush on floor as well as you may pick up grit and damage the paintwork 👍

[@DeltaHFF]

Living in Norway, I didn't think these conditions were bad at all... until you started talking about tires. I would never drive on snow or ice with summer tires. It is also illegal here I think

[@Equiluxe1]

You need to start worrying when the road looks dull and tyre noise stops as you are then on black ice. Those roads look good compared to the ones here in Norfolk, the one outside our house the ice is a quarter inch thick and no sign of a gritter. The worst roads I have ever driven on were in Spain,Cristmas 1972 I was in a horsebox lorry up in the mountains and the ice was six inches thick with the snow coming down so hard you could only see fifty yards, there were boys at the bottom of the steep parts with chains that they put onto your wheels and rode up the mountain with you for a small fee, they then hitched a ride down again, one team worked one side and another the other side. The etiquette was a bit different to that here, the trucks going up the mountain gave way to those coming down as it was easier to get going than stop. There were quite a few that went over the side into the gorges, lost our chocks that way as the lorry in front of us started to slip sideway son a right hand bend with a vertical cliff on the right and a thousand foot drop on the left with an adverse camber to the left, all the drivers behind rushed forward to hold the truck on the road so I got out and put the chocks to help stop the slide and when the truck managed to get around the bend my chocks had disappeared, no idea if they went over the edge or someone else made off with them, caused a bit of grief coming back through France as chocks were mandatory equipment. Ever since then driving in snow and ice here in the UK is a doddle and some of what I have seen here is laughable in ineptitude. I think maybe it should be compulsory for skidpan training.

[@daze1945]

It doesn't matter how good your brakes are if you are on ice you gonna slide. Just keep it slow and gentle. Don''t assume main roads are clear, remember there are wind paths that can keep ice in unexpected places. Being a biker forces you to learn many things. Stay safe everyone.😘Regarding tyres a Finish friend told me that it was a legal requirement to have winter tyres and summer tyres. What most people do is have the two sets of tyres one of and one in storage. They go to the storage place and they replace the tyres. Makes sense but their winter is vastly more sever to ours but things seem to be slowly changing. 🤔

[@itsbilln2178]

The solution for the UK should be for all new vehicles to be fitted with 3PMS marked all season tyres, and for an MOT pass to require them too. The standard fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres on the Model 3 RWD, like all summer tyres (especially performance tyres) just do not work as well below 7°C, especially on anything but dry roads, and especially nearer to 0°C. Snow and ice aren’t needed to make good all seasons tyres worthwhile - even in just damp conditions at 2-3°C, summer tyres like the PS4 get very hard and it can feel like the car is floating above the road rather than the rubber digging into the surface and really gripping it.

[@Albert5522]

Great video Ashley! Basically be cautious and dont accelerate or stop/slow too quickly and look out for bad patches. Like you say we don't get much of this weather but good to keep out of trouble while we do!

[@alidavemason4417]

I remember years ago when ABS was an optional extra on a new car. Heard people saying 'I'll be ok in the winter, the car's got ABS', Thinking the car will just stop without skidding. I replied, 'that means you technically have no brakes if you hit black ice'. I then had to explain how ABS works and how the vehicle will eventually stop but in a much longer distance. Hopefully people remembered our conversation when driving in winter.

[@ibs5080]

At 3:14, the tyre tracks in the snow looks like a double heart!

[@thefatboyhotmailcouk]

Having a decent set of winter tyres takes away a lot of the anxiety of driving in cold slippery conditions. I have run a set of Michelin Cross Climate 2’s for the last 2 winters. Worth the purchase price.

[@kenbrown2808]

a few add-ins: you should always plan your trajectory to avoid the need for a sudden correction; but also plan it to allow for the possibility of a slip. so not taking the racing line through a bend if there is a chance someone oncoming will make you need to change lines abruptly, but don't hug the outside edge of the corner if a slip will put you in the ditch. antilock brakes were never intended to stop you faster. they have always had the intent to keep you in steering control in hard braking. the problem in ice is a hard enough jab at the brakes can stop all four wheels at once, and then the ABS is defeated because as far as it can tell, you're stopped. you should always be aware of the spray of water or slush that your wheels are kicking up. in cold weather, it will affect other road users even more than just water spray will. in many ways, slush is worse than snow, because thick slush will cause a hydroplane at a much slower speed than nearly any other condition. fully frozen snow can actually be better driving conditions than slush. in my state, the law is that in snow prone areas, the highway department can set a requirement to either have 4WD/AWD and tires rated for traction in snow, or to be carrying some form of traction aids (I.E. chains) in the car. during a significant enough snow event, they can require the chains to be mounted before the vehicle passes the checkpoint, and in a worst case scenario, they will close the road to all traffic. people who violate the requirements can have a fine imposed. one of the inherent risks of driving in deteriorating conditions, here is that drivers who aren't properly equipped will waste so much time arguing at the checkpoint that the conditions will deteriorate to the point the road gets closed, and people who did prepare properly will be stuck along with them. I don't use winter rated tires on my daily driver, as my preferred option is to simply refuse to drive it in snow and it inherently has a lot of tire wear.that would make snow tires very expensive.. - and I can sympathize on the volkswagen, since it is currently in the shop waiting for a drive shaft to arrive. tried to stretch a bad U-joint until I'm off work in a week, and it didn't stretch. so now I'm driving the mrs' wagon which does have all season tires.

[@robburrows2737]

I had all season tyres on my Leaf. The research had shown them to be almost as good as the best winter and best summer tyres. The only downside for an EV is tyre noise as you could hear them more and range as they're not eco tyres and the Leaf was a short range vehicle. However in practice I did not notice any real range reduction.

[@pandy280677]

Anyone notice the love hearts in front of Ashley's driveway made by the tire marks in the snow! This should have been filmed on Valentines day! LOL

[@superiorbeing95]

That feeling when you break and slide towards a parked car with no idea if you'll stop in time, I always test break when there's ice or snow.

[@Bin-The-L-Plates]

I live on a hilly housing estate that doesn’t really get gritted, and when I taught in my BMW 1 Series I put on winter tyres around the start of November to around the end of February. I believe they recommend below 7° to put on winters. Made a massive difference on cold damp roads, and of course when it was frosty or snow on the road there was so much grip. My EV is front wheel drive and I’ve not put winters on, I’m seeing how it behaves this winter and maybe get a set if it struggles.

[@spurs_stu6474]

I enjoyed this one but I do feel like you jumped the gun a bit with the weather. I understand you do what you can when you have the time, but we've had some really frosty days and nights recently. What I'd really like to see is you demonstrating how to cope with seriously icy conditions. The roads were generally fine, if a bit slushy in places.

[@ashley_neal]

It’s still not been too bad in Liverpool

[@RichardBeds]

Good point about white lines and other road markings being slippery. As a fellow cyclist I’m sure you’re particularly careful in the wet.

[@thedoctor007dfw]

Hi Ash. I live in the Derbyshire Dales and drive an automatic Skoda Octavia. With previous cars, I've had winter tyres and summer tyres and changed over twice per year. However, increasingly mild winters and the cost and storage issues, made me opt for all season tyres instead for this car. I had a full set of Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2, in 2020 and they were superb in snow. I have videos of them on my channel. The front set were due for change in September but the rears were fine. I've put Michelin Cross Climate 2 on the front and they are the best in snow of the all season tyres apparently. Very impressive in the light snow we had but hoping for heavy snow to test them further 👍

[@ChrisCarries_EDC]

I believe that in Germany you can pay a garage to store your summer tyres during winter, and vice-versa. I think you can also tax a vehicle for 6 months in case you have 2 cars, one for winter and one for summer. In terms of clearing the car of snow and ice, I recently bought a windscreen cover for my car and it's magic. No ice on the windscreen, no condensation on the inside. I'd highly recommend getting something like this - it massively cuts down on time spent de-icing and waiting for the windscreen to clear! I would also recommend making sure all your lights are free of ice/snow for maximum visibility. Finally, I try to not park on corners at junctions in case people slip and slide while trying to turn, as they may crash into my car.

[@ianmason.]

In Germany if you have separate summer and winter cars you can move the taxation between them was you swap over cars. So it's not taxing them for 6 months but having movable tax. In some circumstances it's even possible for your summer and winter vehicles to carry the same registration number.

[@fiskurtjorn7530]

1:26 I use a soft broom too, but avoid its use on the street to shun scratches by sand caught in the bristles.

[@jerrytracey6602]

Certainly in France and Germany it is against the law to go out between October and March without snow tyres or chains, but their winter conditions are usually more severe than ours. On our last car we fitted 4 season tyres, which helped with grip most of the year, as we are in Scotland! But our new Nissan Leaf has low profile, low rolling-resistance tyres and we are being Very cautious during the current freeze

[@leewatson8129]

The ABS varies massively depending on the supplier of the brake modulator. Bosch and ATE / Continental are generally extremely hard to beat by the driver modulating the brake pedal. Some supplier of modulators are truly shocking in comparison.

[@jomil524]

I literally paused the video and cringed so hard when you used the brush to remove the snow! However you made up for it with your excellent advice & standard of driving in these slippery conditions. Top drawer m8 as you say!😂

[@havingalook.]

I gave up during the broom idiocy

[@michaelgreenwood1162]

Hi Ashley, It’s one thing driving on the flat roads in slippery conditions, but it would be good to see your take on steep climbs and descents. I worked on the top of a 1750 foot hill and it was interesting to see some people trying to descend in too higher gear, too fast and using brakes to try and slow. Keep up the good work.

[@mk1aquatic739]

The last time we had really significant snow in the south was about 10-12 years ago and I discovered that switching off traction control actually helped control the vehicle better. Trouble is we hardly ever get cold conditions and very little snow, certainty not in the south of England anyway. So we get very little experience of driving in those conditions as they so rarely happen.

[@CosmocraftGaming]

I own a hyundai i30 63 plate and its really nice to drive and extremely reliable :)

[@graemewilliams6697]

In 2010 I was driving (mainly on my side road) on about a foot of compacted snow, with all the other main (bus route) roads clear of snow and had no difficulty, everyone was driving carefully. Your roads look very clear to me. If you are on a bus route then the roads will be fine. I have all season tyres on my car and they are great all year round, no changing tyres for me thanks. Not had any snow to drive on but with a very steep hill going through the village not very keen on trying them out in real snow.

[@ibs5080]

Had a feeling this video was imminent. Looking forward to watching and learning from this. Comments to follow.

[@havingalook.]

There was no snow...

[@dylc413]

Definitely good to take all the precautions you can but it's also good to know that there are times when you just become a passenger. Be especially careful of large vehicles like buses - Hit a patch of black ice in a coach doing 12kph on a straight road and we slid 45 degrees back and forth 3 times before regaining grip.

[@djtaylorutube]

Although these conditions aren't in any way challenging, on the Tesla and for that matter, any other EV with regenerative braking, is to consider reducing the regen amount. You did mention to be gentle but meeting ice and sudden lift off, could induce a rear wheel lockup which isn't necessarily expected for people unfamiliar. You've also got the other modes in the Tesla to reduce acceleration (to chill mode) to slightly reduce the torque and also "snow mode" but then you'd want some proper slow for that rather than ever so slightly slushy roads that are mostly just wet.

[@tommul6078]

Living in Essex the weather is not as cold as many parts of the UK. Though I did consider switching to winter tyres, the temperature does not often stay below 4C for very long. Understanding the limitation of summer tyres is key. My simple rule is go out, if the grip and braking under appropriate speed (usually below the speed limit) is good then drive on. If not go home and stay there. Having to stay home has only hapened twice in some 40 years of driving in Essex. I have been caught out a couple of times going home. Reducing speed and anticipation is key. I once had to drive home along the A12 from Colchester. I could easily been one of the last cars leaving the town, as the slip road is up a steep hill. Typically the A12 is both fast and dangerous. That night everyone was moving at 20mph, we just kept moving with good distance between us. So Ash you are right, stay calm, don't rush and keep the wheels rolling where possible.