Anti skid warning

[Wiz201]

Had my Aygo flash it on when I was driving up a snowy road. I had to slow down behind a cautious audi driver who had stupidly stopped on the slope of a junction which usually I would have kept my Aygo going with a quick glance to the right as usually nobody comes up the road I was turning onto that often. Anyway unfortunately with the weak 3 cylinder engine and me having to set off again in first it made the wheels spin a bit and the warning light came on. Just goes to show that if nobody had been there I'd have been straight up around that bend with no trouble. Seems to happen for a minute then the all season tyres suddenly found grip and I was fine.

[alan333]

1 hour ago, Wiz201 said:

Had my Aygo flash it on when I was driving up a snowy road. I had to slow down behind a cautious audi driver who had stupidly stopped on the slope of a junction which usually I would have kept my Aygo going with a quick glance to the right as usually nobody comes up the road I was turning onto that often. Anyway unfortunately with the weak 3 cylinder engine and me having to set off again in first it made the wheels spin a bit and the warning light came on. Just goes to show that if nobody had been there I'd have been straight up around that bend with no trouble. Seems to happen for a minute then the all season tyres suddenly found grip and I was fine.

Many accidents are caused by people only looking right at junctions and failing to look left onto the road they're actually entering - just to crash into someone in that lane (and with right of way) overtaking a tractor or something.

Leaving plenty space behind the cautious driver would allow you to do what you want, but with the added bonus of it not being possible for them to run/slide back into you if they get into trouble.

[Wiz201]

it wasn't a busy junction, it was a cul de sac ;) I did leave plenty of space but I still had trouble setting off.

[crofter]

Could be that the Audi driver had one of those " hardly ever "drivers in front of them when they got there so they stopped and you were not able to do what you normally like to do, Isobel.

It could also be that that driver, like many others, were on their first venture into driving on snow so could be nervous and not be, what you considered to be, too cautious.

Not trying to teach anyone to "suck eggs" I found that you were sometimes better of starting off in second gear and allowing a bit of clutch slip as this gave less torque on the driving wheels so less apt to spin.

Could understand  your temperament if you were on a emergency call out  though

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think part of the problem with traction is the Aygo's light weight. Starting at 840kg, it is around 25kg lighter than the Fiat 500, approx 90kg lighter than the VW Up!, Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto, and approx 100kg lighter than the Fiat Panda.

[AYGOSTU]

Turn the traction control off in this instance, like in snow or mud. It stops the wheels spinning, and cuts power, but you actually want to get the power down..  others may disagree, but it always goes off in my Aygo if it’s on snow, or if I drive on fields to park at events/ shows etc..

[Wiz201]

Mine has been ok on fields and she goes to agility shows regularly on grass in the summer season.

[zuh]

Hi,

Maybe the all-season tyres are not enough for snow?

To me, the Aygo is excellent on snow thanks to its narrow tyres and its light weight. The light weight is also a disadvantage because the engine is so light (around 60 kg) that there is not enough weight on the drive wheels to provide good grip in steep slopes.

One thing that does not help is the pedals sensitiveness. The throttle is overly responsive while the clutch is not enough. It can make adjusting the acceleration a little hard. Sometimes, when the road is wet, I hear the tyres skidding a little.

[Wiz201]

2 hours ago, zuh said:

Hi,

Maybe the all-season tyres are not enough for snow?

To me, the Aygo is excellent on snow thanks to its narrow tyres and its light weight. The light weight is also a disadvantage because the engine is so light (around 60 kg) that there is not enough weight on the drive wheels to provide good grip in steep slopes.

One thing that does not help is the pedals sensitiveness. The throttle is overly responsive while the clutch is not enough. It can make adjusting the acceleration a little hard. Sometimes, when the road is wet, I hear the tyres skidding a little.

Admittedly its the worst conditions they've had to cope with and I still think they grip ok because they can brake on ice when needed. Hopefully we won't get any worse snow than that.

Yeah I agree about the acceleration, even in my automatic if I press it too hard the wheels just spin so I have to be light footed.