Driving Xantia in snow

[Homer]

Tut tut, brakes to stop, gears to go.

Gears on modern cars aren't designed to take so much weight "engine braking", you should leave it in high gear and not depress the clutch until you get near stall point though.

Engine braking is a throwback to the days when cars had very poor brakes, which were at risk of cooking if used too heavily.

No Xantia ever had such poor brakes, nor any other Cit with LHM in it's brake pipes.

[addo]

I've always taken the truck driver's approach to braking - with the exceptions of red lights and emergencies - if you need the brakes you're probably not driving efficiently. Never had a lesson from anyone, save for the advanced driving courses at $300-odd a pop.

Reality of city driving is, that sometimes you need to be proactive about your forward buffer zone and this means more braking will be needed. In a place with no snow, there's a lot of psych games to play whilst driving - some for fun, others out of preservation.

While this might sound irresponsible, what it means is you are 100% watching what everyone else is doing around you, and considering how it may impact upon your progress... I've been in a car that's gone from 50MPH to a dead stop in just a few feet. It's noisy, frightening and provides long-lasting memories. The people who navigate in some sort of bubble, worry me, and I can only feel that they'd concern me more if snow was about!

Regards, Adam.

[Xaccers]

I was a bit miffed when i failed a mock test after going driving down a country road which had just been gritted.

You rightly failed, and she should have explained to you why though, otherwise how else are people supposed to learn?

As a learner on a test (even a mock one), you should treat every advisory warning as mandatory to show that you are aware of the information, understand the reasons why it's being given, and adjusting your driving accordingly.
If you were doing 70mph on a dual carriageway during a test, but the advisory speed limit signs were on showing 50mph, wouldn't you expect to fail?
Learners on test should drive approx 5mph under the limit to show that they understand it's a limit, not a mandatory speed to travel at, and that it is safer to go slower.
At a crossing I was taught to drop down a gear and slow down as I crossed to show that I was aware someone could jump a red light, and prepared by being in a more responsive gear and able to stop in a shorter distance.

An OK instructor will teach you how to pass the test, a good instructor will also teach you how to drive properly once you've passed your test.

Do you remember that woman who couldn't understand why she failed when she drove through a puddle and splashed a pedestrian?
Her attitude was "Well what was I supposed to do? There was a car coming at me so I couldn't swerve to miss it"
I would have hoped that by the time someone is put forward for their test they'd have learnt what the middle pedal was for...

[mooseshaver]

i dunno what i'm going for yet, i really like the look of the old trooper , but i'll see what is on ebay at the time i get the money,

Make sure its had the recall to have the injectors replaced. I think the 3.0 diesel was the ones affected.

[Napolian]

Tut tut, brakes to stop, gears to go.

Gears on modern cars aren't designed to take so much weight "engine braking", you should leave it in high gear and not depress the clutch until you get near stall point though.

Engine braking is a throwback to the days when cars had very poor brakes, which were at risk of cooking if used too heavily.

No Xantia ever had such poor brakes, nor any other Cit with LHM in it's brake pipes.

I have been diving daily on snow covered country roads for a week now.

I used to drive SAABs that had a free-wheel. On reason for the free-wheel was because the original SAABs were two stoke the second reason was that free-wheel gives that maximum adhesion on ice. My first drive on snow with the Xantia was a bit of an eye-opener. Tried a handbrake turn and discover that some French factory worker had connected the handbrake to the front wheels. The second problem was that the brakes were over efficient and would quickly lock the front wheels thus cutting the engine out. With some trial and error I discover the best technique was to either dip the clutch or put the car into neutral if it start to drift on corners. When coming to a nice gentle stop, dip the clutch and brake with the weight of a feather.

The road holding of the Xania in ice and snow is very impressive and generally I actually find it difficult to skid.