[Mac]

Just going through some pretty bad weather here in the UK with snow and freezing temperatures causing absolute chaos. Even the Chunnal Eurostar has been affected! Problem is we don’t get this sort of weather every year so when it hits it catches everybody out. Lots of rear wheel drive BMWs & Mercs getting stuck and having to be abandoned. ….but my new XC60 D5 ADW has been great with no problems at all. Even when putting two nearside wheels into the deep snow there’s plenty of traction from the other two and keeps me going when most over cars had slid to a halt. The way the drive is transmitted to each wheel must be quite sophisticated as I’ve had no problems at all despite only having the standard road tyres. Heater warms up very quickly which is a bit unusual for a diesel, perhaps there also a built in electric heater? Heated seats are great too but lowest setting is warm enough. The novelty has worn off and I’ve had enough of the snow now and just looking forward to everything thawing out so I can get the hose out and give my Volvo a good wash!

 

[BHart]

I'd like to feel sorry for you but.....

It was -25c here this morning. Most people in Canada have snow tires, almost all the Mercedes here are 4matic and our trains are never on time anyways so no one would notice. Washing a black car with all this road salt is almost pointless (but I do it anyways).

Our winter will not be over for another 8-10 weeks.


If the snow gets any deeper, here's an option;

 

[Mac]

I'd like to feel sorry for you but.....

It was -25c here this morning. Most people in Canada have snow tires, almost all the Mercedes here are 4matic and our trains are never on time anyways so no one would notice. Washing a black car with all this road salt is almost pointless (but I do it anyways).

Our winter will not be over for another 8-10 weeks.


If the snow gets any deeper, here's an option;
YouTube - KEN BLOCK'S TRAX STI CAR

-25c…Yep that puts the weather here in the UK in prospective. I visited Toronto last year and was told that your winters aren’t as bad as they used to be…but sounds severe enough to me. My mother was Canadian and used to say that Canada was always a lot more prepared than we are here. A friend of mine just picked up a brand new Citroen on Saturday in white and it still looks relativity clean despite the salt and slush. My previous dark blue (almost black) Audi A4 looked great when I first washed it but even in the summer the next day it always showed up a layer of dust. My XC60 is in Barents Blue and stays looking ok....but still want to give it a clean though. The Owner’s Handbook says that it doesn’t need to be polished for the first year but I’m not sure why as I didn’t go for any special paint treatment? I like the Youtube footage…saw something similar at the NationalHeritageMotorMuseum that was fitted on a old Landrover (1960’s?) but I would think that it wouldn’t have been good for much more than 10mph.

 

[BHart]

Most Canadians would like winters to get less severe. The whole concept of Global Warming seems like a good thing, if you live north of the 49th parallel. They'll need to market it differently if they want to convert anyone who lives with snow for more than 2 months of the year.

If you've got a lot of time, inside where it's warm, in front of the computer, here's a bunch of OTT Brits to study;
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.phphttp://www.detailingworld.co.uk/

I studied this last winter, bought some polishing equipment, and started practicing on an old Mini boot lid. Buffed all the off-road scratches from my Rubicon and, when I was feeling confident, polished the black Grand. Yes, it turned out beautifully. My work over the last 10 years with computers have forced me to learn patience - you need it with polishing too.

 

[Bvgary]

Damn it, man, this is just awful. I understand you, because I have encountered this myself. This is all turning into a real hell, you don't want anyone to be in this. Especially if you are riding a snowmobile somewhere, as it was with me, and then you have a torn track, and you are alone in such weather conditions. It's good that everything worked out then, and after that I found new tracks on

https://compositsnowmobiletracks.com/tracks-by-types/trail-snowmobile-tracks/