Jimny in the snow and ice.

In the bad weather today l took the Jimny as it was in front of of the (new model) Defender and was less frozen/covered in snow.

l was actually surprised at how good the Jimny is in these conditions. My wife had previously commented on how it sailed past stuck vehicles last time we had snow fall.

l fitted Geolanders earlier this year and l don't know if these are particularly good snow tyres, but a lot of the time l didn't even need 4wd

As it's so light, it seems better than the Defender particularly going down hills where it's a lot less scary.

l guess it's partially down to the tyres. l've just fitted some Wrangler A/T's on the Defender (it came with road biased tyres) so will see how it gets on with those.

They muddle through even on H/T tyres, although you'll slip sideways a bit.  On 3PMSF tyres (which many A/T tyres are) they are really good.

While I have been lucky so far with the weather (I despise snow, it's hateful ) what little bit I have encountered has been dispatched with contempt by the renegade at5's, so happy that modern tyre technology is as good as it is.

Our turn this morning

 

Robin
 

They are quite good in snow, although the Gen 3 was a lot less hassle.

(I don't recall compacted snow freezing round the wiper spindles on the gen 3 like it does on the gen 4, and the windscreen continually mists up in the Gen 4 with the aircon on AUTO, it never blows onto the screen. Took me a while to figure out how to make it blow on the screen in the dark......)

I was taking the kids to school last week when it was a little frosty here.  I was surprised that the Jimny rear slid a few times, especially when I was being really careful on the road.  I then felt I was driving too cautiously but didn't want to land in a hedge.  

What tyres?  All tyres will.slide on hard ice to some extent (except studded tyres, not used in the UK).  On snow, you do get a bit of side-slipping on the standard H/T tyres.

Hankook Dynapro ATm's 

I probably needed to let them down a bit.  My 4x4 hasn't worked since I've owned it so went and bought new manual hubs from Lamberts today so if I do hit some fairly rough conditions that I'm not quite as worried 

All rear wheel drive cars slip and slide a bit on snow, unless they have (as Roger says) studs or loads of electronics to control the slide.

I had Dynapros on my Gen 3 but have Maxxis now on my Gen 4, it still slid a bit on a slow bend on the snow.

If you get your 4WD working, remember you can only use it when there is slip on the road as there is no slip differential between front and rear axles and you will wind the transmission up until something breaks if there is no wheel slip.

Robin

Rogerzilla wrote:

What tyres?  All tyres will.slide on hard ice to some extent (except studded tyres, not used in the UK).  On snow, you do get a bit of side-slipping on the standard H/T tyres.

Oh the studded tyres slide too, but more controlable. But most important is the rubber mix and age of them. Old tyres slip and slide much more than fresh. Here winter tyres are old and more or less useless at 5 years studded or not. Most people here in Norway use tyres with no studs now but with a better and softer rubber compound.
 
 

So when you're driving on snow or ice you all keep it in 2wd until you get to a patch where you start slipping or a climb where you can't manage without 4wd then turn it off again?

sixmile wrote:

So when you're driving on snow or ice you all keep it in 2wd until you get to a patch where you start slipping or a climb where you can't manage without 4wd then turn it off again?
 

Yes.

But it's turn on 4WD when it starts slipping.

If you use manual hubs, when it is snow, ice, or off-road, switch the hubs to 4WD position before you set off, then when you want to use them switch the Jimny between 2WD or 4WD using the lever (or push buttons if your car has these), this engages the front drive shaft and if your manual hubs are locked then you get 4WD.

When I had manual hubs, I drove most of the time with them unlocked (free wheeling) as there is a slight power loss turning the front shafts and front diff from the wheels.

One other advantage of manual hubs, you can keep them unlocked then engage 4WD-L, as the front hubs are unlocked this gives you 2WD Low range, habdy if you have to move something heavy or just want to control vehicle speed in good grip.

Robin