Jusforfun

It is unusual for Ireland to have snow or ice that lasts longer than a few hours so being granted the pleasure of nearly one month of it has been an eye opener for a lot of people.
I am (unfortunately) old enough to remember cold winters from back in the 60s and even one in the 80s but most of the population of drivers here are either too young and misguided or too old and too slow in every sense of the word to drive on anything but asphalt.
The prolonged cold spell (apart from the odd overnight -17c) has fluctuated around freezing point which has made for some very interesting driving conditions.
I see now why the Eskimos have 40 different names for snow. We got some that didnt mix with salt and some that stayed fluffy even after it froze. We dont see chains we dont really need snow tyres, I dont think I could get studs if I needed them and I certainly never met anyone who has a second set of "Winters" to put on.
Now to the point, I live on a hill, its not the steepest hill in the world, its even part of a bus route but it seems to seperate the men from the boys when it comes to snow driving.
The worst cars... BMW hands down. They just wont go in snice and are almost undriveable. I will concede that if you are at the top you can descend with brake control but if you want to look foolish just offer to drive a Bimmer out of a rut for next one being abandoned in your gateway.
Second worst in my book of "wait there I have some large mats inside" big Mercs. So bad in fact that even today in temperatures of 10c (yes thats what we call Summer) I actually saw a merc still driving with its socks on!
I saw several older Mercs descending the hill front brakes locked up and back wheels spinning trying to push the car faster. Its amazing how fast you can shout "wind down your window now release your brake to get steering and put your car in neutral. Trust me or you will hit that pole!".
Third on my list of heroic hill fails is a joint win sorry lose... its two wheel drive Audis and VWs of virtually any model. It must be the wide tyres! I mean Audi drivers seem to be such a well educated careful thinking non risk taking bunch of neatly dressed people. Honestly I have never seen so many well dressed for every occasion except being stuck in snow people. Maybe its because Christmas is a big thing over here but all Audi drivers would appear to be caught out by being caught out!

In complete contrast the Q7 and in particular my Q7 as its now on Toyo Proxes M&S loves it. I cant believe how fast it can accelerate in any conditions, on any surface. There ought to be 0-60 figures for it. Its actually mind blowing, brings a smile to your face, leaves the man at the traffic lights with the wheelbarrow of sand to throw under your car, well, flabbergasted. Its positively dangerous for pedrestrians (in Ireland people walk accross the road if its clear) who look at a line of cars on a hill taking a green light and think "its good they are miles away".
On one occasion a man came out of his house to offer me some rubber mats believing I was stuck... only to fall over and slide away down the hill using his mats for brakes. The Q shrugged it all off. I felt guilty driving away UP THE HILL but I know if I got out to help I would just fall over!
Q7s are great in snow and ice but dont do what that guy tried up in Foxrock, towing in snow. Torsen Quattro is not for this. He reminded me of that video of the Q5 failing to drive up the rolling ramp. Yeah LOL say what you want the Q7 drives beautifully, throttle control, feedback, feel, response with just the right amount of traction control and ESP.
Yesterday I had to drive through a small flood caused by a thaw reaching a frozen drain... sploooosh followed by tzzzist tzzzist of the brakes wiping themselves dry after we emerged, so good!
I do have one complaint, the wipers... Snow builds up at either end of the wipe to the point that they slap slap slap. Only cure get out and clear it. Which is not easy. Compressed slushy snice stuck behind the cranking arm WTF I am an Audi driver I am not carrying tools not wearing a coat and always forget I have automatic wipers.
So my conclusion.... I hate all Land Rover drivers they go too fast, they look too smug, they keep towing the defeated out for another go!

PS best small car Peugeot

drcyrus3d

Love your post! I do have to say people in Audi's look better than the rest of the drivers. )

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

ny_driver

Hilarious post.

The NYC area had its first big snow storm with parts of the city covered this Monday/Tuesday. I haven't seen so many cars abandoned in ditches or trapped. Cars and vans were just doing 180 or 360s. One accident after another on the major highways.

This is when I do love the Q7. No problems getting in or out. Driving was a pleasure, you just have to watch everyone else who is spinning and flailing.

tas2573

I was driving my new '11 Q7 TDI this Sunday in the NYC area when the snow was coming down hard. I noticed while driving that the wipers were icing up pretty bad. I had the front defroster on the whole time and it was still bad. I had to stop several times to clear the ice off the wiper blades.

Has anyone experience this problem with your Q's? I noticed this same issue when I had the Touareg back in '04.

arU4ic

I am in Lake Tahoe, CA and we had 3 feet of new snow overnight and during the day today, temperatures were in the 20s and I saw no icing of the wipers. BUT, I agree with JustforFun that the snow builds-up on the drive side of the windshield, but I found that clearing it once was enough. If it helps anyone, the washer fluid that came with the car is pretty potent and I use it liberally.

justinator

We are in Westchester Co. NY and after we got 20" or so recently, the wife wanted to put it into lift mode to drive out of the driveway before I began snow throwing. With 18" wheels and Blizzaks...she didn't even spin to get out of the driveway even going through some deep drifts. She was very excited.

Driving on partially plowed street, she kept on exclaiming how much more stable it felt than our old Suby Forester (although to be fair, the forester was only shod with all-seasons).

Likely it was coincidence, but of the 4 wrecked cars we passed that day (2 having been rear-ending offenders, one in a ditch, one rolled over) all were Toyotas (2 RAVs, 2 Highlanders). Go figure.