Car is a Volvo S40 1.8 1998s. During freezing weather earlier this year I was unable to stop the car completely going down a steep hill. Hill was not gritted and covered in ice.
I was able to slow to less than a crawl but not stop completely and had to resort to hitting the kerb which did the trick. Other cars were struggling but appeared to eventually stop without the aid of the kerb.
In the end I had to wait for all cars to reach the bottom of the hill and procede in 1st gear breaking when needed, luckily the cars behind saw the problem I had and waited at the top.
I immediately had the car checked out at Volvo, it had just been serviced previous to the incident, but nothing could be found. My only thoughts were the weight of the car prevented it stopping, anyone had a similar experience.
I am forced to use the same hill commuting to work and for obvious reasons would like to prevent the same ahppening again.
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I assume the wheels were locked? or was the ABS kicking in?
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The ABS was kicking in but still didn,t enable me to stop the car.
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The ABS was kicking in but still didn,t enable me to stop the car.
You've experienced the downside of ABS. In snowy/icy conditions, it's not as effective as all 4 wheels can lock up, rather than just one on a damp road and the other 3 on terra firma. With all the brakes on all 4 wheels continually pulsing on and off can make the stopping distance longer.
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I,ve discussed this at work but the lads who tend to work on their own cars led me to believe ABS doesn,t come in at very low speeds. I was crawling down the hill at less than 2mph.
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If you are on sheet ice,Going downhill wont help.it wont matter what braking system you have.if a tyre cannot get a grip to stop,*it slides*, it has no option
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Steve
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ABS usually doesn't become "active" until a certain speed is exceeded, I think mine is above 5mph. Having been activated, it then acts until all the wheels are at a standstill. On sheet ice, with no grip, the wheels may come to a standstill(stop rotating), but not necessarily the vehicle!
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What are the tyres ? How old, what condition ?
When the abs comes on do you release the pedal, press it down hard or just hold it at the same point ?
How much practice have you had driving in poor conditions ?
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>>What are the tyres ? How old, what condition ?
What bearing will this have on sheet ice,ie nothing for tyre to grip on,No amount of practice in poor driving is going to stop you/car if tyre cannot grip
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Steve
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Tyres (Pirelli,s) were fairly new but well run-in and I have the usual driving experience after more than 25 yrs driving.
Take your point re driving on sheet ice downhill but my concern was that other cars were able to come to a stop although everyone was struggling. It was quite a strange experience as though slow motion, I had plenty of time to react as I had left lots of room between myself and the car in front. Tried various ways to stop including the mentioned braking techniques until gently ditching into the kerb. The fact I had some steering indicates the surface was not total ice.
My theory is the cars extra weight giving more momentum.
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Steve,
if other cars did manage then it suggests that it was possible ;)
Beepbeep was able to steer into the kerb - so there was some traction. I think that it is quite unusual for there to be sheet ice over a large area.
Tyres do make a significant difference to grip in poor conditions. Many sports tyres in particular can be very bad at gripping when cold, I once had PZero's that were frightening first thing on a winter morning.
Not knowing who a poster is I dont know if they are 18 or 88, and if they have ever driven in poor conditions. Experience does matter, depending on conditions you can do better following others tracks or avoiding them. Inexperienced drivers are more likely to be abrupt in their use of controls, which of course makes a difference. Personally I dont think I would use first gear in this situation (yes I know - impossible to tell without being there)
I dont think an S40 is that heavy. The poster is, very reasonably asking about what might have caused his problems, OK, my post might have been a bit abrupt but I think raised valid points.
ymmv
M
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Mark,
All comments are taken as constructive and welcome.
As you can see from my last posting I have plenty of driving expereince. I used first gear to give me some braking when I realised however I tried using the brakes it was not going to stop the car.
Cold tyres could have contributed as the hill is only 200yds from my house.
I did try stopping half way down the hill in an effort to see if the car would stop but it was exactly the same. This would indicate my driving was not at fault, to me anyway! As stated earlier, I had plenty of time to react and used the brakes with differing techniques.
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Mark,
I will agree to dissagree on this,IMO no amount of Experience can prevent a car sliding on sheet ice.whether others have or not may be pure luck not experience
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Steve
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