Winter tyres saved me three times!!!!

[Dieselman]

I would be interested to know where exactly in Germany these sub zero temperatures were as I can't find those listed in the weather reports.
Lots of heavy rain shown though.

 

[Apial]

Borys...give it up...no tyre will save you in black ice...I don't care how often you have done this...luck saved you.

Save you or not, winter tyres have a higher coefficient of friction on ice, inc black ice, than standard tyres. Scientific fact. And there are plenty of videos on youtube to demonstrate this too. And if I'm wrong then please show me the video proving otherwise.

Boris, using cruise control though is really reducing your chances of survival as cruise control will do the complete opposite of what you should do when you start to lose traction ie it will accelerate.

The worst temperatures are when water is at the point of freezing and water and ice coexist, around the 0-2C range. This is when the roads are at their slipperiest. Also temperature drops at the rate of 1C for 500ft in altitude. So when you see a temperature display of only 1C on your car's display you are probably travelling literally on thin ice, especially if you are going up a small hill.

 

[Apial]

I would be interested to know where exactly in Germany these sub zero temperatures were as I can't find those listed in the weather reports.
Lots of heavy rain shown though.

Winterberg 6 Day Snow Forecast & Skiing Weather for 735 m

I don't know when Boris had fun on the ice, but I have no reason to doubt him. The weather never stays the same and I see sub- zero temeperatures and snow are forecast with freezing levels down to 1600ft this week in Winterburg.

 

[Borys]

It was somewhere Berlin area.
Would agree using CC was risky but after first crash was off.
Happy New Year and stay safe

 

[Stratman]

MB CC is quite clever, as witnessed by the number of posts asking why their CC has failed since they fitted different sized tyres. When the microbrain detects anything out of the ordinary it disengages the CC faster than you can blink.

I was travelling back from Cardiff along the M4 last winter in heavy rain. I had good tyres with plenty of tread and was doing about 65 with the CC engaged. I hit a patch of standing water and the car just gave a little shimmy as the CC dropped out and the ESP kept it in a straight line. It had sorted the problem before I really knew something was amiss.

 

[Dieselman]

Winterberg 6 Day Snow Forecast & Skiing Weather for 735 m

I don't know when Boris had fun on the ice, but I have no reason to doubt him. The weather never stays the same and I see sub- zero temeperatures and snow are forecast with freezing levels down to 1600ft this week in Winterburg.

That explains my misconception, I thought Boris was travelling across central Germany, not skiing in the upper alps.
Aren't you getting ahead of yourself in terms of timing? The weather was warmer and the trend is for it to get colder towards mid January, sub zero temperatures are not expected in low parts of Germany until 14th and 15th of the month.

Berlin - DEU Weather : FREE weather forecast for 12 days - Today Sunday 1 January 2012

The weather has been raining. You can't have rain and ice at the same time, if it's warm enough for the rain to stay as water it isn't cold enough to freeze once it hits the warmer ground.

I've no doubt that Boris was on a slippery surface, but ice is invisible due to being clear, I suspect it was possibly frost or water.

 

[Dieselman]

Happy New Year and stay safe

And to you. Drive safely.

 

[Borys]

Blitz ice as explained previously

 

[whitenemesis]

No.3 child is in Berlin and I have spoken to her each evening leading up to and including New Years. The last 3 nights have been freezing rain, bitterly cold.

 

[superhandsjeff]

glad to hear that you are ok.,!
if you was driving in Sweden or Denmark with summer tyres this could of been a serious problem. driving conditions there can be highly dangerous on summer tyres. In denmark everyone i know changes to winter tyres ( i have lived there on and off for 5 years)
the issue is with foreign drivers who seldom change to winter tyres. with minus 10 temperatures ( more in northern sweden),summer tyres will be like walking on ice with only a pair of trainers...i had a jag there last winter, and learnt huge lessons.
my advice if your driving North in from November to March, leave summer tyres at home.

just to add after reading some posts and chatting to a lot of english born drivers, we really need to educate people about the importance of winter tyres. someone mentioned it above, that scientifically its proven tohelp using winter tyres. the english winters seem to be getting worse, and if temperatures drop year after year the government and highway agencey needs to help to educate drivers about such a rudimentary thing at winter time = winter tyres/

 

[BTB 500]

No.3 child is in Berlin and I have spoken to her each evening leading up to and including New Years. The last 3 nights have been freezing rain, bitterly cold.

South of Germany (Stuttgart area) was about 11C today according to the in-laws. Very mild indeed for the time of year.

 

[whitenemesis]

South of Germany (Stuttgart area) was about 11C today according to the in-laws. Very mild indeed for the time of year.

Yup, seems totally mad! Colleagues have mentioned how mild it has been in Ludwigsburg this year compared with last year.

 

[Apial]

I hit black ice this morning on the Lincolnshire Wolds. And what was the forecast???? Supposedly the minimum was +3C. So much for the gutter press and so much for the equally gutter weather forecasters.

 

[Dieselman]

the english winters seem to be getting worse, and if temperatures drop year after year

Only the temperatures are rising, not dropping.
We've just had the 2nd Warmest December in the last 100 years and haven't had any decent snow in the last 20 years (even including the last two Winters).

If too many drivers go for fitting Winter tyres the Council will have to send road sweepers out to sweep up all the overheated rubber bobbles.

 

[This is Pete]

Yep. Down here in the south-east, the temperature has rarely dipped below 10C over the Christmas period.

 

[mika]

I hit black ice this morning on the Lincolnshire Wolds. And what was the forecast???? Supposedly the minimum was +3C. So much for the gutter press and so much for the equally gutter weather forecasters.

apparently it was -1 in west yorkshire very early this morning but it rose considerably with a little snow too

 

[d w124]

I'm not English to pass by without checking

Was there a need for such comment??

 

[Apial]

Only the temperatures are rising, not dropping.
We've just had the 2nd Warmest December in the last 100 years and haven't had any decent snow in the last 20 years (even including the last two Winters).

If too many drivers go for fitting Winter tyres the Council will have to send road sweepers out to sweep up all the overheated rubber bobbles.

John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect. It may be that the stark change from last year, which was the coldest December on record for the UK, has led many to think it has been unseasonably warm."

 

[Apial]

Yep. Down here in the south-east, the temperature has rarely dipped below 10C over the Christmas period.

The past year has been the second warmest on record, the Met Office has said, despite the summer being disappointingly cool.

It said provisional figures show that only 2006, with an average temperature of 49.5F (9.73C) was warmer than 2011's average temperature of 49.3F (9.62C).

 

[renault12ts]

John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect. It may be that the stark change from last year, which was the coldest December on record for the UK, has led many to think it has been unseasonably warm."

Christmas Day at 13oC...a record...a fact...yes it was warmer than last year by about 30oC...what a plonker he is. And, we have used half the oil we normally use to heat the house at this time of year, not just compared to last year. So, although the cost of oil is 33% higher than this time last year, the true cost is about 40% less.