The dirty road season hath cometh

[Welly]

As we aproach December I have noticed the roads have started getting dirty again with the road surface barely drying out all day. This mixture of mud, oil, salts all get sprayed up over our lovely 406's making them look rubbish.

I did a super-sparkle clean yesterday and dressed the tyres and black trims but I know by next weekend it will look nasty again.

I've also had a few 'slimy road' scares recently prevoking mahoosive understeer, huge wheelspin (in second ) and the application of ABS

Are you a regular 'dirt fighter' or do you let it build up and then clean it? myself I do a weekly clean. I just think the 406 looks sooo much better when very clean

How do you 'estaters' get on with your cut-off back end - this normally collects dirt very fast.

Welly.

[mjb]

I generally get the bucket and sponge out when I can't see clearly out of the areas of the windscreens that aren't covered by the wipers, so in the winter I end up washing a lot more often than in the summer

Also I'll give it a wash as soon as possible after I've been on a gritted road (or worse, after I've lost half my paintwork overtaking a gritter)

[110]

i dont bother unless it`s mot time ,my wifes toyota has not been washed for 11 months but now she is moaning that her uniform is getting dirty when she gets in and out of the car which does not go down well with the senior consultants but i always think when they do get cleaned it`s a nice surprise for us and the cars.

[Welly]

uniform is getting dirty when she gets in and out of the car

I know what your saying here 110, the dirty door cills can really ruin my white trousers when I go out on a Saturday evening

[110]

lol yeah my flares get dirty round the turnups as well.

[Welly]

Why not try corduroy trousers? they don't tend to have turnups, just a plain hem

[steve_earwig]

Oh yes, out on the pull with your cords...

In the 7km between my girlfriend's house and mine my Pug gets absolutely filthy. I only washed it Friday and already it's hard to see what colour it is. Bluddy tractors...

Speaking of sliding about, I notice they now do cold weather tyres in the UK (not snow tyres like what I does have) because the rubber they make normal summer tyres out of hardens below 7 degrees and doesn't do the job so well. Blurb.

I went for 195/65 R15s when I originally got my winter tyres (this being the narrowest tyre I could get on the spare rims I got without being silly) because the narrower profile means more pounds per square inch, i.e. more traction. Looking at Michelin, I got it right. They were cheaper too...

Ok, it looks a bit crap with plain back steel rims, so what? Anyway, it doesn't notice when the whole car's brown.

[mav]

How do you 'estaters' get on with your cut-off back end - this normally collects dirt very fast.

i barely make it to the end of the road b4 my rear windscreen is gettin filthy!!
mine gets a proper scrub with the bucket and sponge once a month, polished too. but it gets a weekly dash thru thr car wash, just so i can see whats behind me.

[Eric]

Erm...Cleaning - What's that?


I just drive faster through puddles

[TooT]

Next time mine will get a wash it will be March.

Hate washing it only for the first artic going the opposite way to shower it in sh*t

[mjb]

I went for 195/65 R15s when I originally got my winter tyres (this being the narrowest tyre I could get on the spare rims I got without being silly) because the narrower profile means more pounds per square inch, i.e. more traction.

I disagree here. As with over-inflating your tyres, although the contact pressure is significantly raised, you have less contact area with the slippy surface. The increased pressure would also significantly raise the chance of skidding due to melting the ice under your tyres leaving you effectively aquaplaning - the same principle behind ice skates.

For ice/snow you want the biggest under-inflated tyres you can get to increase contact area and decrease pressure. Look at the tyres on vehicles designed to go on snow/mud; they're huge and as good as flat. Heck think about the principle behind tracks too...

Don't believe me? Find a wet/muddy/loose surface empty road, and compare ABS braking distances between over and under-inflated tyres.

[old codger]

i work in a gravel pit,sand slurry everywhere. Luckily i have 2 pugs,406 for weekends & evenings out with SWMBO & the aged 405 estate in sand slurry yellow with bits of red here n there

[old codger]

Forgot to add-4 nice piles of sand where the car sits overnight

[steve_earwig]

I disagree here. As with over-inflating your tyres, although the contact pressure is significantly raised, you have less contact area with the slippy surface. The increased pressure would also significantly raise the chance of skidding due to melting the ice under your tyres leaving you effectively aquaplaning - the same principle behind ice skates.

For ice/snow you want the biggest under-inflated tyres you can get to increase contact area and decrease pressure. Look at the tyres on vehicles designed to go on snow/mud; they're huge and as good as flat. Heck think about the principle behind tracks too...

Don't believe me? Find a wet/muddy/loose surface empty road, and compare ABS braking distances between over and under-inflated tyres.

No, sorry, I drove a 4x4 last winter and it was utter rubbish in the snow, because the huge tyres spread the weight it just doesn't sink in and make any decent traction - we're going left here... LEFT HERE! Oh, ok straight on, have it your own way.

There's a big difference between an incorrectly inflated tyre and one doing what it was designed for. There's also a big difference between gravel, mud, ice, compacted snow and loose freshly fallen stuff. Ask any Eskimo.

[Eric]

Apparently under inflated tyres spread the load and are less likely to sink in.
On the Arctic and African Top Gear challenge one of the tricks was to let the tyres down to get out of snow/ mud.

Over inflated tyres will cut a groove, dig in then bury themselves.

The same applies to trackdays, for the best grip you let the tyres down a bit so you get a wider surface area with more grip.