This year was the first year I've actually awaited snow - woke up this morn, on my day off, to find it had laid about an inch or two down where I live! Normally I'm all "ffs, hate snow" (cos it makes my job even more of a misery, and all the idiots can't drive in it) but straight away I got up, dressed, and out to the car to clear it off, so I could test the winter tyres I fitted last weekend
Where I live, the road out of the estate is block paving. Looks great, but a fucking nightmare with the snow. It compacts into sheet ice after a half dozen cars have driven over it, and it doesn't help it's on an incline to get out to the main road. Not to mention I have a 90deg turn to get on the incline, then another 90deg turn to get on the main road at the top. By the time I'd got out, two beemers and a merc had failed to get out; two had slid back down and abandoned their cars at the bottom, and the 1-series had pulled into the empty parking bay next to my car. So I warmed the car up, and gave it a try.
Fucking sailed out like there was nothing there
No wheelspin, no slip, no TRC light, just gripped, pulled, and fucked off. Stopped at the end of the road, with no ABS kicking in, and then pulled out onto the main road with no fuss, and off I went
I even diverted off the main road, and down some side roads that were just pure white ice, and it gripped no problem. Granted I didn't boot the fuck out of it, as that's not how you drive on ice, but even so, I gave it a bit more than I normally would have done, and no fuss. ABS kicked in a little on braking, but less so than I'd thought it would (and only when coming to halt with the clutch down).
Had a little bit of rear end tramping (if that's the right word) on black ice on the main road, when hooking up first gear. At first I thought the left rear was flat, as it felt the same. Checked it and it wasn't, so just put it down to the road being iced over and the left side is off camber. Once back on the regular ice and slush it hooked up fine and drive fine.
Then sat in traffic for an hour cos all the other cunts didn't wanna go over 5mph
(that and a lorry jacknifed a couple miles away and old bill closed the road)