General Bravo that is scary in the snow

[gloomyandy]

Hi Folks,
This is my first post here so please be gentle!

I have a 09 Bravo Dynamic Duallogic 1.6 Multijet 120 with 17" rims. And have found it a very comfortable car over the summer, covering many miles and generally enjoying driving it. However the recent winter weather (in the UK) has shown it to be a bit of a beast to drive in the snow. A combination of the wheels/tyres and no clutch can make starting off rather interesting, and making the thing stop downright exciting. Now I'm not a rally driver in the snow, but I don't think I'm that bad, but this car just seems way worse than others I've owned!

So what am I doing wrong? Is there anything I can do to the car or the way I drive it to make things better (like preselecting second when starting etc.)... Is it just me or do others have similar experiences? Do I just have to live with it for (the hopefully few) weeks a year we have snow....

Thanks

Andy

 

[dave]

you could fit winter tyres:idea: welcome to the forum

or get snow socks

 

[gloomyandy]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I had been considering both options. Have any forum members any experience of either? With winter tyres, do you need to fit them all round, or just front tyres?

I had to stop yesterday at a crossing, I was going downhill very slowly (< 20mph) and on a main road (some slush), I still ended up sliding for some distance, with the ABS doing its thing. The car did keep a nice straight line though!

Thanks

Andy

 

[Hellcat]

Best is all around winter tyres, but you could get away with just the fronts.

Is the 1.6 on 225/45R17 tyres? The reason I ask is it's a bit lighter than the 1.9 so might not be pushed through the snow as well. Have you tried bringing the tyre pressure down a little?

 

[Jazzist]

You fit them all round and put them on the car all winter (or whenever average temp is below 10C (some say 7)). If you have a garage to store 4 wheels and tyres in you can buy them ready fitted to rims and swap them over yourself in 30 mins using the jack/wrench in the boot well supplied with the car. I have winter tyres on my Bravo and can thoroughly recommend them, you won't get stuck but you will find everyone else still makes the roads impassable by blocking them up as they can't get anywhere on summer tyres! You'll only struggle with ice that has an absolute mirror finish (compressed snow is fine) and snow deep enough that it bottoms out the car. You wouldn't believe the gradients you can get up on a fresh set of winter tyres.. and unlike many of the 4x4s currently buzzing about on summer boots as if they have unlimited grip you'll be able to stop - fast. Plus, you'd be generally safer in all conditions in winter where average temp lower than 10 (or 8 or 7 whoever you believe). Winter tyres :worship:

Have a look here for help choosing your tyres, these are the German tyre tests (by Germany's AA equiv.) (winter tyres are compulsory in Germany so they are very clued up about them), use Google translator to get the results in English (I ordered the top rated TS830 Conti Winter Contact):
http://www1.adac.de/Tests/reifentests/winterreifen/default.asp?TL=2
They don't test all sizes but most tyres are available in many sizes so pick the closest size reviewed and order the top tyre in your specific size.

My fiancee is a primary school teacher and the school opened for the first time in 2010 yesterday. All the other teachers had to leave their cars on the main road. I drove onto the "impassable" estate, straight up to the school and into the >6" deep car park, unloaded all her crap and drove straight back out no bother ;-)

Enough FIATForum for today I think

 

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
That's great. Thanks for the pointers. A little more research now required!

Anyone actually used the snow sock things?

Andy

 

[gloomyandy]

Is the 1.6 on 225/45R17 tyres? The reason I ask is it's a bit lighter than the 1.9 so might not be pushed through the snow as well. Have you tried bringing the tyre pressure down a little?

Yes it is on 225/45R17 tyres. I've not tried dropping the tyre pressures. But I will. How low can you go?

Thanks

Andy

 

[Hellcat]

I'd only let out a few PSI - just enough to allow the tyre to flex more.

 

[flyingscot]

Yes it is on 225/45R17 tyres. I've not tried dropping the tyre pressures. But I will. How low can you go?

Thanks

Andy

Low profile wide tyres are the worst IMHO for snow.

 

[dave]

a member called sludgeguts swears by the snow socks

https://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-lounge/219690-severe-weather-warning-5.html?p=2357901

 

[gloomyandy]

It's good news that the snow socks work, because so far I've been unable to find anyplace that actually has any winter tyres that can be used on my car in stock. I've even asked about switching to a different tyre/wheel size but that doesn't seem to help... Anyone know what wheels can be used as an alternative to my 225/45R17 allows, if any?

 

[Jazzist]

Have a look at mytyres.co.uk for ordering the tyres. They're based in Germany so have a massive selection. You can also order them pre mounted on steel rims there. There are also some uk based etailers (google for them) that offer winter tyres but I'm not sure if any offer them delivered on the rims. You'd not normally run winter tyres on the same rims that accept low profile/wide tyres as you can't normally find low profile winter tyres. That's just not the way it's done. You don't want low profile/wide winter tyres. Look in the handbook for the recommended winter tyre rim and tyre, it'll probably be the same as mine but can't check right now as the handbook PDF is on my other computer: Item: Komplettrad für Fiat BRAVO 1.6 JTD Steel wheels with winter tyres (LK 4 x 98.00 x 58.00) mit Continental WinterContact TS 830 205/55 £126.40+VAT each.

 

[Hellcat]

It's good news that the snow socks work, because so far I've been unable to find anyplace that actually has any winter tyres that can be used on my car in stock. I've even asked about switching to a different tyre/wheel size but that doesn't seem to help... Anyone know what wheels can be used as an alternative to my 225/45R17 allows, if any?

15 and 16 inch rims. Need to be 4x98PCD - Not sure what the offset would need to be - offset on the 17s is 31.

Then you can fit 195/65R15 or 205/55R16 tyres.

 

[wegi]

My little 90hp is coping rather well in the snow, but I think thats down to the fact that its the lowest Bravo in the world (im betting) and I think the lower down the better the grip?

 

[BWeasel]

15 and 16 inch rims. Need to be 4x98PCD - Not sure what the offset would need to be - offset on the 17s is 31.

Then you can fit 195/65R15 or 205/55R16 tyres.

Hi all
195/65R15 work better in deep snow than 205/55R16. But they look a little bit too small for this car. Id choose 16 inch rims.