disco 1 tips for driving on snow/ice roads?

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mreyeball

Active Member
Posts
106
97' 300 tdi
running on 8 spokes with cooper st tires
1st winter having a land rover and the snows has dropped today, the wife uses it for work (shes a home carer so lots of driving around) and shes panicking as its sliding all over the place even, i went out to see (and have a play!!) if she was talking ****e but go into a 90c turn more than 5 mph and your in trouble, also its non abs so apply the brakes too firm and your no longer in control, have told her to take her time,be gentle with accelerator,brakes n steering wheel, and to change down to reduce speed to save locking up.
anyone else running cooper st? how are they performing for you?
any other advice so the wife doesnt wreck my pride n joy!!!
thanks
 
im on avon rangers and its fine, take the turns slowly, and dont brake hard keep it in gear and let that slow you down,
 
Diff lock is the best thing.

My old disco with no diff lock but abs was good in the snow and ice but this one with diff lock working and no abs is much more slidey and i almost lost it on an icy corner down a lane on the way to work last week. i skidded to a stop and then engaged difflock and she went really well as long as i used engine braking. slow but solid.

Also maybe chains but shouldnt need them on a disco in our winters

and cooper ats and bf muds were what my last disco and providing the tire pressures were t too high they were good.

When the snow and ice reaches the welsh marches then ill lower the tire pressures (current discos only got 2 ats and 2 road tires), and that should do the trick.
 
Simply put you can't drive a Discovery at nearly 2 tonnes in the same way you can a car, I'm not trying to be disparaging to your wife, sometimes people don't realise that 4 wheels drive doesn't mean you drive any faster.

I have GT Radial Adventuros on mine and in deep snow there are great but in icy conditions they need as much care as any other tyre or vehicle. Diff lock is a must as it helps balance the vehicle and if you like to play like me, then it is essential for correct drifting.

To sum up there are very few drivers who go from a car to a Discovery etc and get it right first time in slippery conditions purely because they expect the impossible from the car.

A few days experience and she will be fine. Take her out for an hour somewhere open and let her slide and skid to her hearts content, she will be more comfortable once she finds the limit herself.
 
Diff lock, clue in the title!! locks both wheels, so cornering is harder, as no real tolerence, will turn to a degree,
people think cos it's 4wd it's going to go anywhere! no!
like GH says you need to feel your own comfort zone, snow is easier than ice,
it's a car that is 2ton, will slip about, it is down to the driver, my mrs wont even drive anywhere when snow or ice, no confidence!!
 
first off mentally unbolt the brake pedal and throw it out the window.... then strap a raw egg to the go faster pedal.

think 100yards ahead and use engine braking and change down the gears before corners ,junctions and chages in gradient. above all keep the speed down , the slower youre going the less damage you do..
 
It's all been said, slow down, anticipate and react early, purposefully but steadily and use engine braking as much as possible .. :)

Use the Landrover technology, use difflock, use it's weight to help you round corners .. When you turn into a corner, lift off throttle a little, weight transfers to front slightly and adds weight where you need grip, the steering. When coming out of a corner don't boot it but feed power in gently so it gets the back end working and loaded up without spinning it out.

Try to keep moving! If you're coming to a traffic light, slow down early using the gears and crawl up to the line, trying to time it so you don't have to actually stop.

If you're coming up to a hill, try to increase speed a little so you can feather the throttle but still have some momentum to carry you over. When going downhill, come off the pedals, let it go it's own way somewhat, but cover the thottle pedal! If you start to skid a short sharp blip on the throttle can usually get you finding grip .. don't brake when sliding, it'll make it worse! It seems counter-intuitive, but works .. ;)

Have fun .. ;)
 
thnaks guys, shes just got in, discos still in 1 piece,
anyone know how low i can deflate the tires so they are still ok for normal road use, i live in sunderland, most of her driving is to and from housing estates, main roads are gritted and clear the estates aren't and are pure snow and ice
 
There's something called a valve on the wheel that allows air in and out of the big black thing called a tyre........ Sorry couldn't resist I'm having a bad day lol.

I would knock the air back a bit but to be honest IMO softer tyres make it roll more and that will not help her confidence, plus you run the risk of not inflating them again before a run at speed.

The best way is just to take your time and that way the confidence will grow. When I have taught someone driving techniques I have always gone somewhere open and made them push on until they find the limits. This is usually way ahead of any speed you will reach on the road.

However most of my tuition was done teaching advanced motorcycle riding and a little off road.
 
GreenHornet said:
There's something called a valve on the wheel that allows air in and out of the big black thing called a tyre........ Sorry couldn't resist I'm having a bad day lol.
Click to expand...

lol, i meant what psi could i lower them to that would be safe for normal road driving but also help when on snow
 
mreyeball said:
97' 300 tdi
running on 8 spokes with cooper st tires
1st winter having a land rover and the snows has dropped today, the wife uses it for work (shes a home carer so lots of driving around) and shes panicking as its sliding all over the place even, i went out to see (and have a play!!) if she was talking ****e but go into a 90c turn more than 5 mph and your in trouble, also its non abs so apply the brakes too firm and your no longer in control, have told her to take her time,be gentle with accelerator,brakes n steering wheel, and to change down to reduce speed to save locking up.
anyone else running cooper st? how are they performing for you?
any other advice so the wife doesnt wreck my pride n joy!!!
thanks
Click to expand...

The problem is you are not on Winter tyres. They have a different tread pattern but much more importantly they have a rubber compound designed to work at 7°C and below.

With normal tyres the compound is designed work at MUCH, MUCH higher temps. As soon as it starts to get cold, the rubber goes hard as iron and gives no grip.

If you look at what happens anywhere in the world where cold winter temps are the norm, everyone has a spare set of tyres specifically for winter. In many wintry countries it is law to run on winter tyres.

Unfortunately a 2.2 ton Disco on ice is not a good thing to drive. In snow it's no problem but on ice once all that weight gets going you'll not bring it back, unless you're on winter tyres.
 
Glb8686 said:
If your on ice then even winter tyres wont help! Spikes or chains are the only way to control yourself on ice.
Click to expand...

There's a bloke who has never used winter tyres.

I'm not suggesting that they give equal grip to a summer tyre in summer - but they give loads more grip - you ought to try before commenting old son.
 
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