The Dogfather
27th October 2012, 10:43 AM
Last night we went to see Skyfall the new Bond film, which was excellent BTW.
We knew it was going to be cold, and the forecast was for light snow overnight. I thought that the roads would be OK as the snow would be unlikely to lie if it was light. I knew the MX5 was poor in snow without the winter tyres on but I thought it was too early for the winter tyres. :argh:
We came out of the cinema at 10.30pm to a blizzard, this was at Gateshead Metro Centre which is at close to sea level. We then had to journey home to Burnhope which is at 853ft. The roads at first were a bit tricky but I managed to keep the car going. Just outside Stanley we had our first moment, proper tank slapper into the opposite lane, I caught the slides and kept us going.
The came the climb up into Stanley, I kept the car going and thought we’d make it until a BMW driver stopped in front of us. Bang went the momentum. We had another 3 attempts at the hill but by now the snow was starting to build up. We were 4 miles from home, there was no Taxis running and Jackie only had a light coat. Fortunately I managed to flag down a couple who lived in the next village along to ours and they gave us a lift.
The snow that fell last night was only 2 inches deep. I’ve driven the MX5 with winters in snow nearly 7 inches deep without a problem. This is the difference winter tyres make, I think we wouldn’t have made it home last night if we’d not have been rescued by the couple in the volvo.
Needless to say that the winter tyres will be going on the car as soon as possible…...
We knew it was going to be cold, and the forecast was for light snow overnight. I thought that the roads would be OK as the snow would be unlikely to lie if it was light. I knew the MX5 was poor in snow without the winter tyres on but I thought it was too early for the winter tyres. :argh:
We came out of the cinema at 10.30pm to a blizzard, this was at Gateshead Metro Centre which is at close to sea level. We then had to journey home to Burnhope which is at 853ft. The roads at first were a bit tricky but I managed to keep the car going. Just outside Stanley we had our first moment, proper tank slapper into the opposite lane, I caught the slides and kept us going.
The came the climb up into Stanley, I kept the car going and thought we’d make it until a BMW driver stopped in front of us. Bang went the momentum. We had another 3 attempts at the hill but by now the snow was starting to build up. We were 4 miles from home, there was no Taxis running and Jackie only had a light coat. Fortunately I managed to flag down a couple who lived in the next village along to ours and they gave us a lift.
The snow that fell last night was only 2 inches deep. I’ve driven the MX5 with winters in snow nearly 7 inches deep without a problem. This is the difference winter tyres make, I think we wouldn’t have made it home last night if we’d not have been rescued by the couple in the volvo.
Needless to say that the winter tyres will be going on the car as soon as possible…...