Ok So just moved house....

Graydawg

Ok, so my girlfriend and I have just moved to England from the North of Scotland.... and it looks like we've taken the weather with us!!
First week here and it's been -13 in Norwich, with 4" of snow at our house in Dereham, and just tried to get to the office in Norwich today to find that none of the express buses are running and there is no way on this planet we're taking the BMW out in this weather! (They aren't the best in the snow at the best of times!)

More snow forecast too.... might have to dig the MTB out and have a play!!
Anyway, welcome to England! Land of the free......zing! lol

the playing mantis

norfolk cc/norwich cc rightly being taken to task about the complete meltdown in norwich caused by a bit of snow that was known about days in advance. even for the 6 fingered/7 toed they should have been able to been able to cope. Our nation is pathetic.

why would u not take a beemer out in it though?

Graydawg

the playing mantis wrote:

Our nation is pathetic.

why would u not take a beemer out in it though?

You're right, our nation is Pathetic even when it comes to a little bit of snow! Just take a look at iceland, sweeden or northern American territories to see how infrastructures deal with proper snow....!

Wouldn't take the Beemer out, it's rear wheel drive and they are renowned for being shite in the snow.... Plus the fact it's only 3 years old and don't wanna risk some tw*t driving in to it because they canny drive in a little bit of snow :P

the playing mantis

ahh indeed ultimate driving experience of rear wheel drive, i had forgot, but then agian u cud have had an x sumthing 4x4.

my m8 and his missus living in canada and in n alberta at the mo, something like -20 the other day he said, yet life goes on.

we just fall apart. its not just the councils fault though its the population itself, too retarded to know how to drive in snowy conditions even when the roads have been gritted and dont take adequate precautions. loads dont even bother to remove the snow/ice from their roofs of their cars or mirrors or indeed half their windscreens so when they do venture out, they hold up everyone else as they creep about cos they cant see out...dont get me started on the schools either, shutting at the merest threat of snow cos the teachers can't be ar*ed to turn up (its not about health and safety). likewise the pr*cks who work for greater anglia railway. tarins and emergency speed restrictions were put in place monday evening even though there was no snow, with the best ever excuse that snow can damage trains motors and speed restrictions are in place as falling snow from the train can damage signals and points...seriously wtf! tomorrow morning, even though no snow is forecast till at least midday they have cancelled a number of trains already.
and then theres the council workers....good luck seeing them turn up in the snow...

i work in the city, i have capabilities to work from ome and do, but on occasions i simply have to go into the office. if i dont im in the shit. if public sector workers had the same attitude and implications for not turning up cos of a bit of snow, especially schools, this country would be in a damn better state. what are people meant to do about childcare if the school randomly decides to close at the threat of snow (in all my school days in the 90's my school was shut once for snow, once. the rest of the time we were just kept inside, at lunch and break, and stayed in the ame classroom all day with the teachers rotating around.

still at least we can all enjoy it over the weekend and hopefully there will be no excuses for schools, etc not to have got their houses in order in time for monday...although i doubt it.

rant over!!!!!

Graydawg

Haha - too right - i totally agree - up from where I'm from originally we just kinda get on with it as well, though there is too much of the Health and Safety police now closing schools at the slightest flake of snow.... this isn't an emergency, its winter... thats what happens, snow comes to this country every year and somehow our country just falls apart every time... it's poor show!
You're right though, the Ultimate Driving Experience for sure in the dry, but in anything else it can be a bit of a b*tch to handle.... so it's safer just not bothering taking it out in the snow...
Again, you're right the amount of people driving around with 4 - 6" of snow on their roofs is crazy... AFAIK it's also a motoring offence because it can cause a danger to the person behind you!
In the 90's (When I was in school too) we were never closed because of snow.... hell I was saying to my GF yesterday whilst walking to the local corner shop in the snow yesterday that we used to have to walk to school in this type of weather and the only danger was dodging the snowballs and the "deckings" from the "big ones" (older pupils!!)

Must admit the ability to home work has its advantages, but unfortunately, it doesn't mean I get a snow day!

But I'm quite content to sit here in my slippers, with a cup of coffee, the heating on, interwebz on standby and watch out the home office window looking at the pretty snow falling from the sky, and the bunny rabbits freezing their fur off!

pinno

Rear wheel drive is the best in the snow. ?!?

But not if your valve caps are mssing.

dodgy

Graydawg wrote:

the playing mantis wrote:

Our nation is pathetic.

why would u not take a beemer out in it though?

You're right, our nation is Pathetic even when it comes to a little bit of snow! Just take a look at iceland, sweeden or northern American territories to see how infrastructures deal with proper snow....!

Are you suggesting that the UK invests heavily in snow ploughs and other infrastructure to deal with snow?

Graydawg

Maybe not heavily - I'm not inferring that we spend £m's for more snow ploughs... BUT.... we have known this weather was coming now for almost a week.... It is not a national emergency....it is poor weather and companies should make preparations for employees to struggle getting to work, maybe home working where possible....perhaps a UK wide rescourse of gritters should be in place? Maybe with some way to pull or purchase / rent grit / gritters from other regional councils which aren't struggling...

just suggesting that there is capability to deal with the poor weather in a smarter way.

Graydawg

pinarello001 wrote:

Rear wheel drive is the best in the snow. ?!?

But not if your valve caps are mssing.

Think you're missing a part of that sentance......


"Rear wheel drive is the best [fun] in the snow. ?!?"

dodgy

Graydawg wrote:

.it is poor weather and companies should make preparations for employees to struggle getting to work, maybe home working where possible..

Which is precisely what I know to be happening with me and several mates in other companies. What makes you think this isn't already happening where possible?

We get snow now and again, I haven't personally had disrupted travel plans due to snow in years. I think the balance on snow handling kit is adequate as it is, I'd rather we spent the money on ensuring our roads are pothole free, either preferably by preventive measures, or getting a grip on repairs more quickly.

GiantMike

Graydawg wrote:

Ok, so my girlfriend and I have just moved to England from the North of Scotland....

Well done. Best decision you'll ever make. Now, just learn to speak like a bumpkin and you'll fit right in (as long as you have 6 fingers on each hand).






Oh, nearly forgot the get-out-of-jail-free wink

willhub

SEND THEM BACK.

Spender

We don't want them back You keep them. Not much snow here in aberdeenshire.

Briggo

Graydawg wrote:

Ok, so my girlfriend and I have just moved to England from the North of Scotland.... and it looks like we've taken the weather with us!!
First week here and it's been -13 in Norwich, with 4" of snow at our house in Dereham, and just tried to get to the office in Norwich today to find that none of the express buses are running and there is no way on this planet we're taking the BMW out in this weather! (They aren't the best in the snow at the best of times!)

More snow forecast too.... might have to dig the MTB out and have a play!!
Anyway, welcome to England! Land of the free......zing! lol

Get some winter tyres, not had a single problem with mine and no they arnt just for a few days of the year. I do laugh when you see the other BMW/Merc drivers without suitable tyres on all over the place and I drive right on by.

I'd like to know where you think you're going to play with the MTB around Dereham though.

Ben6899

willhub wrote:

SEND THEM BACK.

Every now and then, there's subtle hint of genius in Will's posts.

Yossie

But its only a Beemer. There's loads of them everywhere.

Errr, was that the wrong thing to say?

k-dog

Briggo wrote:

Graydawg wrote:

Ok, so my girlfriend and I have just moved to England from the North of Scotland.... and it looks like we've taken the weather with us!!
First week here and it's been -13 in Norwich, with 4" of snow at our house in Dereham, and just tried to get to the office in Norwich today to find that none of the express buses are running and there is no way on this planet we're taking the BMW out in this weather! (They aren't the best in the snow at the best of times!)

More snow forecast too.... might have to dig the MTB out and have a play!!
Anyway, welcome to England! Land of the free......zing! lol

Get some winter tyres, not had a single problem with mine and no they arnt just for a few days of the year. I do laugh when you see the other BMW/Merc drivers without suitable tyres on all over the place and I drive right on by.

I'd like to know where you think you're going to play with the MTB around Dereham though.

Yep, I've got snow tyres for my Volvo (which is monumentally useless in snow too - although not as bad as a BMW) and they're fantastic.

I have a friend picking me up tonight in his new 335i with snow tyres. I'm interested to see what it's like. £1000 for the set but I reckon you pay them off in 3 winters - I went through a set of fronts a few years ago just spinning every time I got going. Now both my summer and winter set have most of the tread (and mine were something like £350 for second hand alloys and then the tyres from Reifen).

the playing mantis

335? couldnt he afford an m3....! or better yet a alpina bi turbo.

daviesee

Briggo wrote:

Get some winter tyres, not had a single problem with mine and no they arnt just for a few days of the year. I do laugh when you see the other BMW/Merc drivers without suitable tyres on all over the place and I drive right on by.

Quite right. They seem to manage quite fine in Germany which gets a lot more snow. It's all about the tyres.
Queue the post saying it's not worth getting winter tyres. The post that appears every year.

Spender wrote:

We don't want them back You keep them. Not much snow here in aberdeenshire.

The IQ in both Countries just went up. /stolen/

ariege_cyclist

daviesee wrote:

Quite right. They seem to manage quite fine in Germany which gets a lot more snow. It's all about the tyres.
Queue the post saying it's not worth getting winter tyres. The post that appears every year.

They manage fine in Germany and Switzerland and Austria etc.. because it's the law to have suitable winter tyres on your car. Worth the money in snow but even better on icy roads.
I used to live near a shady bend in the Pyrenees and on bad black ice days could tell who had winter tyres and who didn't by the speed people went (or the ones without who just spun off the road into the conveniently placed picnic spot!)

schweiz

No, it's not the law in Switzerland to have winter tyres. It's just that most people do! This is mainly driven by the insurance companies who, if possible, will reduce a payout if the accident could likely have been prevented by winter tyres with a tread depth of 4 mm. The law still only requires 1.6 mm of tread.

What is often missed in the annual winter tyre debate is that below 7°C, winter tyres reduce braking distances as it's not just the tread pattern that is different to summer tyres but an increased silica content.

I still chuckle when snow is forecaset in the UK and my Facebook feed comes alive with everyone panicking about how they'll get to/home from work. I drive the most unsuitable car for the snow but with winter tyres I'm generally okay and when all else fails then it's time for chains. If that fails then I take the wife's Impreza!

k-dog

I'm in Crieff today and just drove up a ridiculously steep hill with 4" of fresh powder. Only other thing up there was the hotel land rovers.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vOv2g5qTpvA

Seen a whole bunch of videos like this recently too. An M3 is usually practically undriveable. Can't find the other or but they had the same scenario but with a 4x4 Jeep and it beat that too.

k-dog

Found the 4wd one.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=STaximkaQxo