Get Ready For Winter Folks?

[Paulus17]

Read HERE

[CharlieFarlie]

Oh lovely ... You really know how to cheer us up Paul .......

[Ady-Rav4]

Well it reads quite grim, but at the end of the day, it's a long range weather forecast. I'm still gonna start buying bags of grit while stocks are high. No problem for our RAV, but I drive a rwd Tranny! Burrr, got the central heating on now....

[voyager t180]

Isn't that the same forecaster who told us to get the barbecues ready for summer?2012 -;)

[bothwell_buyer]

Good news! We have ordered hundreds of fence slats and have a good stock of fence posts for the replacement of fencing blown down!

Salt and grit - we cleared our stock so might need to re-think that.

And we have 2 JCBs, both of which have buckets capable of shifting tons of snow, with the largest being able to shove 10 tons of snow in one push!

Nummers 1 and 2 RAVs both have new tyres fitted. Just need to buy some of that screen wash from Lidl now !

[silly sausage]

We had heavy snow in March, November could bring anything......

March 2013.

[Paulus17]

Oh lovely ... You really know how to cheer us up Paul .......

Well you know what they say Charlie Forewarned is forearmed.

You just never know the way the weather is lately

[CharlieFarlie]

Oh lovely ... You really know how to cheer us up Paul .......

Well you know what they say Charlie Forewarned is forearmed.

You just never know the way the weather is lately

Quite agree me ole mucker but if we believed the weather men ..............................

[Red Yaris 54]

Oh lovely ... You really know how to cheer us up Paul .......

Well you know what they say Charlie Forewarned is forearmed.

You just never know the way the weather is lately

Quite agree me ole mucker but if we believed the weather men ..............................

The weather forecasts have been quite accurate over the last year.........why not believe them?

Not too sure about believing the "Express" headlines though!

[Big Kev]

Also note the berries on the Rowan Trees......very red and plump and plentiful.....ma auld mother in law, when not scudding about on her broomstick, always said the Rowan berries were a sure indicator of a bad winter to come.

Reminds me of the old folk song......."Oh Rowan Tree, Oh Rowan Tree, you make such nice Fruit Gums for me......."

[LeaderBob]

how does the RAV perform on standard tyres in the snow. I have driven front wheel drive cars until i purchased my RAV last month, and living not far from a bus route have in the main got around.

[Big Kev]

how does the RAV perform on standard tyres in the snow. I have driven front wheel drive cars until i purchased my RAV last month, and living not far from a bus route have in the main got around.

Extremely well, Boab........impressed you will be.

[silly sausage]

how does the RAV perform on standard tyres in the snow. I have driven front wheel drive cars until i purchased my RAV last month, and living not far from a bus route have in the main got around.

Extremely well, Boab........impressed you will be.

You will be impressed Bob, far better than a bus.......

[LeaderBob]

Thanks guys. i meant the local council seems to be pro-active in keeping bus routes clear making it easier for us car drivers to get around. But i think you probably guessed that!.

This Winter will be the first i won,t need to follow the daily commute round the M25. so no stress about leaving home at 5am to try and get in to work. I used to drive a focus diesel which actually had decent traction if you were careful. I have never driven a AWD prior to my RAV so this winter will be a new challenge.

[Big Kev]

Usual laws of fizzix still apply obviously, Boab.......all cars slide sideyways.

What you will like is not having to think of putting it into 4WD, or worrying if it is in 4WD.........all done in the blink of an eye, undetected by you. Just remember it always takes away in 4WD, then decides if it needs it.........bliddy magic.

[philip42h]

You really won't want for traction in a AWD RAV assuming that your tyres aren't completely shot ... :)

We live half a mile up a single track lane on the Welsh borders. The local authority ignore it completely when it snows so once we've had more than a couple of inches normal cars can't get up. Which is why I bought a RAV in the first place ...

The first year (2009) I took the RAV to try to get it stuck so I could try out the diff lock button and failed - I could get stuck in the first place. In 2010 when we had that horrendous weather in early December and the UK ground to a halt we drove to where East Germany used to be [to see the grandchildren. I said it was not a sensible idea, but we had to visit the grandchildren as planned.] And while that got rather 'interesting' at times we never had any issues with traction.

But I also got to see what good use the Germans make of cold weather tyres ... even BMWs are able to get about.

The real benefit a RAV driver will get from winter rubber is a much improved ability to stop ... I've really no concerns about getting up our hill (or anything similar) but I do start to get a little concerned at times about going down. The better vehicle for going down the hill is the wife's Fiat 500 - on winter wheels ... ;)

[LeaderBob]

Thanks again, great replies. I never managed to get stuck in the Focus ,but i agree , fixxix still apply. December 2010 the M25 became gridlocked through Leatherhead towards Reigate hill. I had just gone past the Leatherhead junction , then spent from 4pm until i got home at 2.30am. a distance of about 10 miles hardly moving . When i finally escaped and came down a long hill on a rural side road ,it was a white knuckle ride all the way down. 1st gear and no throttle and def no brakes. I,m not looking forward to the snow, but just wanted to hear your experiences in a vehicle with AWD. i only drive for pleasure now and i will probably give East Germany a miss!!

:)

[Guest]

But if it does snow, find a big empty car park and have some fun..... It will give you an idea of what the car does without you knowing it :) I tried and couldn't get it to slide :)

Gus

[anchorman]

Press and hold the TRC button Gus ;-)

[Guest]

Press and hold the TRC button Gus ;-)

I can now, didn't have the choice on my 2009 Rav, but even when the TRC button has switched everything off the Rav even tried correcting my steering if I tried to steer the wrong way in a skid :)

Gus

[Big Kev]

Somebody's got tae keep ye right......even yer car disnae trust ye, min........

[Guest]

Oi 3 Stars... Be up your way this week, watch out, I will join Bothy on the hunt to pick up 4 wheels cheap. :)

Gus

[webleymk3]

Hello all.

Read the MetOffice's response to the Express's optimistic and sensationalist headlines:

http://tinyurl.com/lodgkas

Weblers

(PS. Hello again! Tis been a while)...

[Big Kev]

Hello all.

Read the MetOffice's response to the Express's optimistic and sensationalist headlines:

http://tinyurl.com/lodgkas

Weblers

(PS. Hello again! Tis been a while)...

FFS Webblers min......yer alive.......will tell wife tae stop lighting candles, min, and praying......had convinced her you were on hard shoulder of N Way north of Lisbon, 2AD Engine on the ground, wipers still clearing mosquitoes off windscreen, new 12v chiller box only thing keeping youz alive. Welcome back all nearly 4 of yeez.........have ye had yer tea.......?

[webleymk3]

Hello all.

Read the MetOffice's response to the Express's optimistic and sensationalist headlines:

http://tinyurl.com/lodgkas

Weblers

(PS. Hello again! Tis been a while)...

FFS Webblers min......yer alive.......will tell wife tae stop lighting candles, min, and praying......had convinced her you were on hard shoulder of N Way north of Lisbon, 2AD Engine on the ground, wipers still clearing mosquitoes off windscreen, new 12v chiller box only thing keeping youz alive. Welcome back all nearly 4 of yeez.........have ye had yer tea.......?

I am alive... just... but what a load of sloblock (think about it!!) we went through.

Bullet point summary:

• Started Fine
• Wife got sick
• Hospital in France on a drip (baby fine i add)
• 1100 mile drive in a day from Le Mans to Algarve, through Madrid and a serious thunder storm.
• Nearly ran out of diesel cos every filling station decided to close that night
• 10 days running after bairn and caring for sick wife
• Drive to Madrid. Buy crap food sold as Tapas. Meh!
• Drive to Zaragoza then to Pyrenees. NOW we're talking... cannot wait for next day as we drive through them SLOWLY
• Next day: heavy downpours and fog.. Saw hee haw.. Meh!
• Learner Frog pulls out in front of me... Rav's ABS is outstanding - Praise the Lord
• Get lost as brand new motorway doesn't exist on any map.
• Back in Le Mans - went to raceway! LOVED THAT. The cars were out doing laps!
• Drove home missing out last stop in Calais as wife still sick.
• Slept and cried quietly as i toted up the bill of a holiday gone wrong.

As this is a car forum i should talk about the car. SUPERB! She didn't miss a beat. we covered over 4500 miles and not one hiccup. The Air Conditioning coped nicely with the 35C heat and the boot has excellent wine storage capacity beneath the floor.

Never before have i returned from a holiday and looked forward to going back to work.

Webz