Why oh why do they do it

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Joderest

Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
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758
Location
East sussex
Car
2003 ML270 Silver
Well, minus 13 this morning, untreated roads, covered in ice and snow. 05.30 on way to work, driving slowly, not using brakes to slow down but gears (in Mini). yet the fools that think they are invincible still flash and over take on back roads. Twice in an hour, first was a delivery driver in ford Transit, came across him further up the road in a hedge !!!!, 2nd was some twit in a RAV 4, upside down in a ditch, both drivers out and looking like thinking "why did that happen????".
 
The usual tale seems to be all the owners in their 4x4 SUVs and RRs who have great traction in moving off and delight in demonstrating to everyone their shrewd choice in vehicle, but fail to realise that doesn't mean they can stop any quicker than the rest of us :wallbash:
 
The usual tale seems to be all the owners in their 4x4 SUVs and RRs who have great traction in moving off and delight in demonstrating to everyone their shrewd choice in vehicle, but fail to realise that doesn't mean they can stop any quicker than the rest of us :wallbash:
I did that.
 
The internet abounds with amusing stories of foolhardy motorists this morning. Like the guy tweeting from the A11 saying his commute has gone wrong: he hadn’t be able to move his VW for 2 hours because of traffic stuck in the snow, and now the low fuel light was on. Who sets off in the worst snow for some years with (presumably) only a 1/4 tank??

Perhaps it’s hard to shake people out of their normal routine: if you’ve hared along to work at 6am for years, maybe you just do it on autopilot without thought for the road conditions. I’m sure the many Scots contributors to this forum are laughing at us crazy Southerners making such a bad job of the snow...
 
Having 4x4 will not stop a top-heavy vehicle from obeying the laws of physics.


Having a 4X4 and no brains turns Mr & Mrs average in lethal weapons. Some really do believe that the 4x4 badge is an anagram of "invincible". No need to learn to drive, I have a 4x4 - CRASH
 
I remember a picture in a newspaper a few winters ago of a motorway where a snow fall had stopped traffic, some drivers and passengers were throwing snowballs and generally making the most of the novelty of standing on the tarmac.

Of the 10 or so cars I could see in the photo at least 7 of the were 4x4 'SUV' types...going no where.

Unless everyone on the road has the necessary traction and skill to use it you (me) will be stuck behind them. That's how it works in the UK. Luckily (for you if you were to be behind me on the road) I am not going to be driving my RWD C55 AMG on summer tyres in the snow today :eek: . Mainly because I am not in the UK at the moment, the car is sitting forlornly at a UK airport (has been for weeks) maybe I will be posting something about car batteries in a weeks time o_O !
 
Having a 4X4 and no brains turns Mr & Mrs average in lethal weapons. Some really do believe that the 4x4 badge is an anagram of "invincible". No need to learn to drive, I have a 4x4 - CRASH

Yes, I learned about that in a Celica GT4 many moons ago. Prior to a small re-calibration in my head, I would come on to the ABS long before it seemed right. The traction on acceleration gives you an unrealistic expectation of the braking capabilities when you have been used to 2WD cars.
 
I was given a Limited (Carlos Sainz) Homologation GT4 in Black by the then Director of Toyota UK - Andy ???. This was a brand new - straight off the docks car, and included a water mist spray for the turbo. It was one of the best fun cars I have ever driven/owned. I then went on to buy another one that was previously owned by Tony Pond and had been fully tuned by Blitz Tuning. That was just plain scary to drive. If it were to let go, I suspect you would be dead. The levels of grip were simply astonishing. It was never a comfortable road car as the gear box was extremely harsh. giving you sore neck.

I sold it, and to this day regret that. I should have kept it and just enjoyed weekends with it. The plate on was TRD ;^)
 
I bought an old G wagen when I was working as bad winter was being forecast and needed it to go to work as the c220 auto was useless in snow.

One day when snow was about two inches deep I was driving to work, empty roads early in morning, in four wheel drive and scorpion snow tyres. Doing a steady 40 mph with no problem, looked in rear view mirror could not see bmw badge on front of car following me far too close, first time I braked, very lightly, he soon got the message. Still do not understand why he was so close, he could not get pass, road had more turns than Jeremy Corbyn

Run the car for two bad winters then sold it for a small profit, well pleased with car although it had all the well known faults of a g wagen, but mechanically perfect. I called it winter toy, the w107 was summer toy.
 
I was given a Limited (Carlos Sainz) Homologation GT4 in Black by the then Director of Toyota UK - Andy ???. This was a brand new - straight off the docks car, and included a water mist spray for the turbo. It was one of the best fun cars I have ever driven/owned. I then went on to buy another one that was previously owned by Tony Pond and had been fully tuned by Blitz Tuning. That was just plain scary to drive. If it were to let go, I suspect you would be dead. The levels of grip were simply astonishing. It was never a comfortable road car as the gear box was extremely harsh. giving you sore neck.

I sold it, and to this day regret that. I should have kept it and just enjoyed weekends with it. The plate on was TRD ;^)

Yes, mine too was a black Carlos Sainz and a company car as I started work for Toyota in '92. It was a re-hab car (!) coming off 18 months in an XJ220....to ween me slowly back to more 'normal' road cars:rolleyes:
Of course it wasn't standard! With an on going connection to TTE that was hardly going to be the case. But it did work and within 2 years I was in comfy V8 luxo barge....an LS400 which replaced my W124 estate. Yes, great fun cars, but not the ideal vehicle to plough a furrow from Norfolk to Heathrow.
 
Not great to drive any distance in, but I bet you could launch it in the snow (saves stress on the power train). - The little GTiR takes off like a scalded cat in the snow, and as long as you calm down before there's any braking to be done, I don't see the harm in it.

Think of it as a community service; I'm clearing the road for the other cars.
 
An old school friend was an RAC man for a while, he said his most common job in this kind of weather was pulling X5s out of ditches.
 
Yes, mine too was a black Carlos Sainz and a company car as I started work for Toyota in '92. It was a re-hab car (!) coming off 18 months in an XJ220....to ween me slowly back to more 'normal' road cars[emoji57]
Of course it wasn't standard! With an on going connection to TTE that was hardly going to be the case. But it did work and within 2 years I was in comfy V8 luxo barge....an LS400 which replaced my W124 estate. Yes, great fun cars, but not the ideal vehicle to plough a furrow from Norfolk to Heathrow.

My sun roof stopped working. It was found that the roof was twisting due to the torque ;^)

I had a Supra turbo before this and it kept breaking. Toyota could not fix it and came up with a solution to make me happy. Andy Goss brokered the deal.


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Luckily (for you if you were to be behind me on the road) I am not going to be driving my RWD C55 AMG on summer tyres in the snow today :eek: . Mainly because I am not in the UK at the moment, the car is sitting forlornly at a UK airport (has been for weeks) maybe I will be posting something about car batteries in a weeks time o_O !

Or in a field about 5 miles from the airport that passes as "secure valet parking" when the owner is out of the country....
 

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