WInter Driving

I don't think you'll have any problems. I live in Yorkshire (about 3 hrs North of London and 2 Hrs south of New) and although right ow it is still very cold, there isn't much ice about. I've used my 360 quite often end of Dec and early Jan so far, just need to give it a damm good wash to make sure all the salt an crap is off before it goes in the garage.

You'll be using Mortorways and Main rd's anywy and these are well looked after anyway.

I don't think you'll have a problem at all and if you want to do it, do it. (long way mind)

 

Drove my 456 into work today without a problem. Besides the motorways are always clear.

 

Is there a minimum recommended temprature for the tyres on a 599? The tyres on a Carrera GT are not recommended to be used at less than 8c for example.

 

I live (near enough) in Newcastle Upon Tyne and you should be fine. Enjoy your trip.


NOTES:

Due to the variability of our weather, it is a national obsession. You will find regular national and regional weather reports on the radio and television (often too hysterical "THE SNOW IS COMING -RUN FOR YOUR LIVES"). That should give you some warning. Also on:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_weather.html
http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic/


When we refer to "gritting the roads", actually we spread rock salt as a de-icing agent, not sand. It is cheap, but not entirely fool proof. Generally the salt, plus some dampness and traffic is enough to remove ice and light frost.

One of the biggest surprises will be the amount of screen wash you will need, make sure your washer bottle is full, as the salt spray dries onto the windscreen and you will need to wash it regularly.

Beware that the roads can still be quite "greasy" due to oil film, cold surfacing, cold tyres and so on. But at normal speeds you'll be fine, but braking distances are more like wet conditions.


Black ice is RARE, but is a problem when it occurs:
If the ground temprature is below freezing and there is a shower of rain, this can freeze looking dark and glass like (hence "black" ice). If the road looks wet, it is cold (less than 4oC / 40oF) and the surface is very quiet and producing no spray... then you might be on ice. I tend to slow up and do a momentary braking test, if the anti-lock triggers, you're probably on ice. Coast your speed down, use a feather light touch if you need the brakes (preferably in a straight line) and avoid sharp steering inputs.
If you drive very smoothly, relatively slowly and allow about 10x straight braking distance you can drive on a surface you can't walk across! Don't try to steer and brake at the same time, there is not enough grip to do both.


Snow is RARE, but certainly not impossible in late January:
It is a big problem because we do not get a lot of snow, consquently there are not enough snow ploughs and it can take a day to get a light snow fall under control. Frankly most British drivers haven't got a clue how to drive in snow and modern wide tyres are useless! There will be shunts and cars stuck in 2cm of dammed snow.
If there is snow and you haven't driven in snow before, I recommend you do NOT use the 599, hire something with a low insurance excess, a high ENCAP crash rating and have a play instead!


The other brilliant one is the road surfacing on the major roads:
The last 10-15yrs we have been using SMA (stone mastic asphalt), known as "whispering asphalt". When you drive onto it you will note the colour is darker and the surface very smooth and even looking, but mostly you will hear the tyre noise decrease dramatically.

It seems to be a lovely running surface... BUT... (winter or summer):
1) when wet (or even damp) it produces an intense fine spray, which reduces visibility incredibly.
2) When new it suffers poor skid resistence until traffic scrubs in the surface.
ie: new SMA can produce slightly worse skid resistence figures, than the "worn out" traditional HRA surfacing it replaced.
On a busy motorway the period to "scrub in" is a few weeks, on a quiet road it could be 6 months!
3) Even when "scrubbed in" I've heard some discussion that the skid resistence is still questionable.

So if the surfacing suddenly goes quiet and smooth, treat the road as if it is wet, give yourself a bit more braking distance and you will be fine.



Also note we use a fine variety of speed cameras. On the motorway roadworks (eg: M1 which you will probably be using) there is a 50mph limit enforced by average speed cameras. These log your car registration plate at points throughout the whole speed limit section and calculate your average speed. So do not accelerate after your find the camera(s), cruise through the whole section until you reach the limit end signs.



Damm, I didn't mean to write an essay - I got carried away and have made it sound much worse than it is.

Really you will have little trouble, if you are aware of the possible (if rare) problems. It will probably be easier driving here in winter, than there in typhoon storm!

Enjoy your trip and the night-life in Newcastle is excellent. The Bigg Market can be a bit noisey and crude, but Dean Street is full of bars and the Quayside is great (although quieter than a couple of years ago...).


David.

 

If you haven't driven in winter conditions, I wouldn't risk it personally but as others say if you are sensible it probably would be OK. I find that roads that have been gritted repeatedly also suffers from poor grip.

Harry

 

Wow whatta write up..... V good

 

Yes , a big +1, especially for the black ice info. well done. It can be, to say the least, unnerving. I tend to blip the throttle instead of brake to test conditions, I find it a quicker method to determine what is underneath although it probably isn't as safe.
For some confidence, you could spring for the appropriate Sottozeroes. I believe Ferrari used them for the 599 Panamamerica PR tour.
They work well on my Anglia .

 

Hi, Is whats a sottozeroes, your to clever for me now your a Rossa sub...

A Ford Anglia...?

 

Hi Steve, a belated Happy New Year to ya!!! Sottozeroes are Pirelli Snows and I believe 'sotto' means 'sub' in English. I have to drive with the best snow tires in winter (studs are allowed here) simply for piece of mind. BTW, all sorts of Fords and Vauxhalls and Hillmans and Standards were sent here from Jolly Old in the 60's and 70's, and although I was teasing about the Anglia, we did have a 105e in the barn for years.

 

Danke Is, I got yer now!, it's been pretty cold over here this year but not quite stud weather..

BTW Your always teasing....

 

I'm amazed that there is so much discussion on this topic. A 599 is a modern car. It can be driven in the rain. It will be better equipped for this kind of journey than 90% of the other cars on the road because it will have a good heater, comfy seats, a decent stereo, and probably even sat-nav. I wouldn't do the trip in an F1 car (actually that's a lie. I mean it wouldn't be safe or comfortable in an F1 car!), but any road car that was built in the last 20 years and has been decently maintained will have no problems.
Just don't let Ronaldo drive!

 

True enough, but if you're not used to driving in UK and snow it might still be better not to try it in a Ferrari first? Let us not forget that driving the Ferrari is only half the problem... the road is full of other vehicles, over which you no control.


ANYHOW: Had the whole set this morning:
1) black ice
2) rain on top of black ice, very amusing! (That made the Jag dashboard light up as I stuck it into a four wheel drift)
3) sleet then...
4) snow.

The Matrix signs showed the M74 CLOSED so I took to the B7076 (ie: the former A74) that runs right alongside. The picture is when we stopped for 10mins while some HGV turned back. (I suspect the HGV were sneaking back to the access gate onto the M74, which the Police had left open... as the Motorway was actually clear).

But to make my point about other vehicles: (you can't see him in the picture) in the gap front of the Transit and behind the HGV tipper was a Vauxhall Corsa. When we got going again, he was driving so slowly that the HGV's at the front of the line just ran away from us. It still looking like the Vauxhall was having trouble, snaking around, speeding up, slowing down... Give us strength.


The upshot of this fun was that my 2hr 20m run to Glasgow took 3hr 45m. So Yimn, what you really need for winter driving is... a large selection of CDs!!!


David
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