Winter road handling.

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NewId3
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Post by NewId3 »

With the 1st frost and snows approaching/here, interested to hear what peoples experience will be of the ID3 handling in poor conditions.

Haven’t faced these conditions myself yet this year but braced for the rear wheel drive plus high starting torque providing some fun…
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Post by Deleted User 192 »

I had zero issues last winter, no snow to contend with though.
Jamh2000
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Post by Jamh2000 »

Loads of snow here in Burntwood/Lichfield today. It was OK, took it carefully, a little sliding at times when actually driving on fresh snow but overall it felt quite confident.
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AndersG
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Post by AndersG »

Looking forward to testing, but I do not expect it to be that much different from any other RWD car, like my 1970 beetle :) We have degrees below zero here now, but no snow. We have winter tires with spikes.
woodentom
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Post by woodentom »

tried to get out of my cul de sac yesterday and with snow on the road, no chance. it was shockingly bad. i ordered winter tyres a few weeks ago so will try again with those on
monkeyhanger
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Post by monkeyhanger »

Drove like a nun out of our street to the main road where its salted from there onwards. No issues driving on 400 yards of sheet ice with a great degree of caution.
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mediumbird
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Post by mediumbird »

Live in NE Scotland and just failed to get out of my shallow snow covered drive. Wheels spinning. Time to look for winter tyres, or time to decide its just a city car......
NewId3
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Post by NewId3 »

Thanks for the info all - so not too brilliant in the snow. Will be interested to hear how people get on in icy conditions over the winter. We will be using a lot of unsalted routes over the winter so should know more in a few months.
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Flaming76
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Post by Flaming76 »

Can we run snow socks on the car? They work well on our RRVs and DCAs.
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gailjon
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Post by gailjon »

Issue with any car in snow and ice is tyres. Best option if snow and ice cause issues is to buy a second set of wheels (steels shouldn't be too expensive) and get a set of winter tyres fitted. Change March/October and away you go.

previous cars we had would see me head to the bay for a used set of wheels with winter tyres already fitted. Germany is a good source for this but since the B word many sellers aren't posting to us unfortunately.
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Scratch
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Post by Scratch »

gailjon wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:25 am Issue with any car in snow and ice is tyres. Best option if snow and ice cause issues is to buy a second set of wheels (steels shouldn't be too expensive) and get a set of winter tyres fitted. Change March/October and away you go.

previous cars we had would see me head to the bay for a used set of wheels with winter tyres already fitted. Germany is a good source for this but since the B word many sellers aren't posting to us unfortunately.
I certainly don't disagree that winter tyres are a good idea but I wonder what is classed as "shouldn't be too expensive"? I might just be a skinflint but I did a quick quote for steel wheels with winter tyres yesterday and it came out at about £1000 and the tyres were probably not classed as the best available. I Know, it's a £30k car and tyres are a very important safety item, so what's another £1k? I have a Life model that has no jack, so changing the wheels will be something else I would have to pay for. And what about tracking? I also seem to remember when I lived in Germany, that there were "warehouses" that stored your wheels when you needed to change them. Is that available in the UK?
monkeyhanger
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Post by monkeyhanger »

gailjon wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:25 am Issue with any car in snow and ice is tyres. Best option if snow and ice cause issues is to buy a second set of wheels (steels shouldn't be too expensive) and get a set of winter tyres fitted. Change March/October and away you go.

previous cars we had would see me head to the bay for a used set of wheels with winter tyres already fitted. Germany is a good source for this but since the B word many sellers aren't posting to us unfortunately.
Hard to get a set of used winter wheels with tyres for the ID3 right now. Something like a Golf should be no problem, but the ID3 has a niche tyre size and rolling diameter. That'll be your biggest problem.
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

We dont get much snow nowadays East of London in Essex. We have only just had our first heavy frost. Sadly its evidence of climate change.
Despite that I follow this thread as I have 2 RWD cars both autos. I wondered whether if conditions did get bad if its best to drive in D or B. Is B breaking sufficient to cause the rear to slip or would the cars software deal with that?
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gailjon
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Post by gailjon »

so changing the wheels will be something else I would have to pay for. And what about tracking? I also seem to remember when I lived in Germany, that there were "warehouses" that stored your wheels when you needed to change them. Is that available in the UK?
Normally I would get Kwik fit to change the wheels over - about 40 pounds normally. if they don't do it for free. (Which they have occasionally done). Tracking is not needed to be done when swapping the wheels over. Kwik Fit and others do have wheel 'hotels' when ere they will store them for you over summer/winter periods as required. Oor local Audi dealer used to do it but I don't know if the local VW dealer does. We just used to keep the wheels in our garage.
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NewId3
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Post by NewId3 »

Dave, will be interesting to see the difference between D and B - I imagine D should be better just by the fact that braking is limited but as you say, I don’t know what smart things the car might do.
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