Just got in from work after spending 40 mins on my 5 min journey in Milton Keynes having great fun drifting in the snow. Roads are empty and covered in about 6 - 8 inches of snow! God I have forgotten how much I love rear wheel drive. Milton Keynes is the city of roundabouts and a few very happy individuals driving round with smiles like cheshire cats - I was one of them! Tonight it was the best driving road in the UK!
Just arrived at work in Leighton Blizzard & wasn`t too bad (about an inch or two) but the side roads were fun! More to come later apparantly so should be a mare getting home.
You are both crazy - I am going nowhere in this snow. My ex-wife had to sleep at work last night cos her RX-8 slid to kerb and just wheel-span from then on. :o)
Snow rocks, anyone who doesn like driving in it should get some skid pan training - I got a load of my family and friends some skid pan time and now they don’t worry about snow at all. Just take it easy on the throttle, always brake, change gear and accellerate in a straight line and keep the speed down so you don’t bring on understeer.
I put my snow tyres on the 5 last week so driving around this morning was completely uneventful. Summer tyres were much more fun.
That said, I don’t normally drive the MX5 in the snow - I usually keep something mid-engined and twitchy for when the grip runs out as it makes every journey an adventure. Haven’t crashed one yet, and I’m not that good a driver - I just got some training and make sure I get a bit of practice.
I do agree that I really need a skid pan training day - I am sure all RWD drivers would benefit and get much more out of their car that way. But until that day… lol
If you work shifts and the roads empty then find a quiet stretch of road and practice for free. If not then go out tonight when it is quiet. You will be surprised how natural and easy it is to control and provoke a slide. Just steer into it. For those moments when it gets hairy just take your feet off the pedals and allow the car to grip itself. High gear and low revs for normal driving and allow plenty of time to slow down for junctions and be aware of those idiots who drive too fast and then lose control.
Have fun. I am 
Is that the best advice? Don’t you want the rears turning at the rate of progress?
I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that I thought different…
I had a couple of skidpan sessions when i had my RX8 and I remember the first time as a bit of an eye opener.
I
did a couple of runs without too much fuss, chucking the car from side
to side and hanging the back out to brink of spin then bringing it back
in line at will. Driving back to the start line I was quietly thinking ‘I
dont give myself enough credit, I’m pretty flippin good at this’.
The instructor then lent across and switched the all the electronic gizmos off.
Unfazed
I went for the next run with newly assessed driving god status and went
30ft at best before the car swapped ends spectacularly. Oh well, it was
bound to happen, even to someone of my talent. Three spins later on the
same run was enough to confirm how good those pesky little electronics
are.[:)]
Probably the reason while we’ve been fighting over the keys to the 6 today and there’s a mx5 shaped igloo on the drive.[:)]
You can get lucky at low speed and it’ll sort itself out most of the time, but it’s not best practice. Clutch down is safer as it removes the risk of clumsy accelerator work (either too much or too little) spitting you off the road.
Best thing to do is practice to the point where you know you can control throttle and steering all the time without ever deviating from your intended path. To do this you really shouldn’t be on public roads, what with the innocent passers-by, Police, kerbs, Police, other traffic and Police being all over the place. Sliding cars on the road is for people who like crashing/points/guilt.
I’m doing passenger rides at Norfolk Arena on the 21st Feb - bung a quid to the organisers and anyone can be a passenger in any car and get a cup of tea/coffee thrown in free (not while you’re in the car though).
Hiya. When I drove in Sweden I was taught by my girlfriend to depress the clutch and bring it slowly back in when in a non-grip situation. Important to have the wheels revolving . I’m sure we’ve all gone into a bend before and whilst changing down have been alarmed that there was a momentary loss of rear traction due to jerky clutch control.
Removing your feet from the pedals could promote a stall, which would lock the rears just when you don’t want it.
Not being miserable but let’s not forget that every slide you do leaves ice for the next poor guy.
No practicing on public roads please… treat the current road condtions with as much respect as you can. However clever you may think you are things can always catch you out. We don’t want any photos of bent 5s on account of someone getting stupid in the snow.
When I was younger, my mother owned a driving school. During the first winter after passing my test we had a good deal of snow in Harrow. There was a place called the Harrow Driving Center this was closed for learners during the downfall. The great thing was that My Mum and some other driving schools got together and managed to open the Center for a day for bad weather driving training. WHAT FUN! I learned more in that afternoon than I have ever learned up to that point about real car control. This has stayed with me all through my Army career and has been very useful on many occasions since.
If you get a chance during this snow, find an empty car park. Drive to the middle, and play. What you will learn may save your live and maybe the lives of others. Just make sure that there are no people/other cars there.