Wicklow = the Alabama of Ireland,
We just hate all foreigners.
I love it!!!!!

And by foreigners they mean anybody not living in the hills…

they can Fix It Again Tomorrow

Fix It Again TONY !!!

Brilliant, so funny cause its true

Brilliant love it

Thin tyres in snow / icy conditions are better than wide tyres as they distribute the weight of the car over a smaller surface area thereby increasing traction. Just look at the tyres rally cars use in such conditions, ridiculously thin!

Not being a science troll or anything :-\

If your making the comparison of a car to a real 4×4 with suitabe tyres I would agree.

Well said John

Im sure the learner driver in the Punto thought they’d be fine because their narrow tyres would distribute the weight over a smaller surface %-)

Just pointing out at little sensibility for driving in those conditions. 4×4′s perfect, otherwise use thin tyres and avoid rear wheel drive.

Doesn’t take away from the fact that some numpty no lifers went up and did something like this, that’s just beyond moronic.

The advantage of thin/narrow gauge tyres begins to diminish drastically when they’re attached to a punto ….

I’d rather be in a punto in the snow than some dumb overpowered BMW with its rear wheels spinning pointlessly.

When the lads from top gear drove to the north pole the people training them recommended they use wide tyres and let some of the air out to increase the surface area of the tyre in contact with the ice

That was for the heavy snow Paul to prevent them from sinking they were trying to gain the most surface area possible, similar to driving in the desert/sand.

John Boy, in sand and ice they let the air out of tyres when stuck to increase the surface area of the tyre in contact with the ground, I think you’ve been listening to to much bar stool scientists

So the driver, having thought of this before they set off decided to leave the range rover at home and bring the punto ?

Where is the Sally Gap? Is it a special place of worship? Is it like ,say, but, Guranabraher in de real capital?
Get national , Journal.

I tyre of this thread. They had snow business going up there in that weather.

It’s a cross roads on top of the Wicklow mountains, cross roads with Roundwood, tallaght, glendalough and Blessington

Lets be clear about this, I’m talking about normal tyres, yes winter tyres are specifically designed for winter conditions but we don’t get the weather for that, we get sporadic snow so don’t have to use them all winter or at all (like they would in Canada, for example)!

Now in terms of my bar stool science, Ed, how about trying a little experiment based on the basic principle of pressure. Try running a thin sharp knife through butter, first with the knife on its wide edge, then on its sharp edge, which was easy? One interesting consequence of reducing a surface area but keeping the force (i.e. car weight) the same is that the pressure increases (pressure = force / area or p=F/A). Wide tyres float on snow and the treads don’t have a chance to dig in to reach the road surface, where the traction is, whereas narrow tyres dig in and have a better chance of reaching the road surface where the grip is (again p=F/A). It helps to study your physics and also have family who work in the motor industry, you learn an awful lot growing up! Bar stool science……..pull the other one sport!!!

John boy you are correct about narrow tyres in snow or mud on tarmac but ice needs a little more detail as in studs. If you want to know how to put on the correct tyre for such conditions the wrc is the guage you measure with. Narrow tyres for snow to cut down through the snow plus studs for ice. If you get stuck in your car letting air down in your tyres helps you get traction but cornering goes out the window & the car gets very difficult to drive. however if you carry salt as in table salt in the car & put it on the road in front of the the ice & give it 10 mins you will get started & keep the car in a high gear & keep the torque down you can travel pretty easily. However if you dont like driving in these conditions best advice is stay at home for the couple of days we get this weather as you may not be the problem but someone else.

Bit of an urban legend letting the air out of tyres. As the side walls meet the ground the centre of the tyre curves inwards and you end up with the same footprint. Sand is a different story.

Or more precisely when there not thin studded rally ones

Winters are for use below 7 degrees c and wet conditions not just for snow and ice conditions

@john boy,

Howya man, you might be surprised to hear that puntos are very capable in ice and snow. A 100k BM or Merc on the other hand….

Gwan the lil Puntos!
Adebaaaaaaaaaayo

Winter tyres are not specifically for snow or ice. If you travel to Scandinavia they do not use winter tyres for snow or ice only low temperatures light snow on tarmac or wet or slush conditions. They are a compromise like wet tyres & are not suitable for severe snow or ice.

Punto’s are actually great in the snow! I used to have one. My new car didn’t handle nearly as well with the recent snow.

No it’s a Punto.

Naks..

What carolla?

That was a joke there

Haha nice one ;) That took me a sec

Promise to never do that again!
Worst attempt ever.

Sorry to say but the problems with cars been damaged is because of the close proximity to tallaght.

Guards have jeeps but would one in every few hundred be a jeep and most if them are off road now not replaced. Would hardly expect the one garda jeep in that part of ireland to sit and babysit cars left by silly drivers.

Incidentally those saying 4x4s work brilliantly up there. Yes in light snow. When its bad take a drive up during a taw You will see some range rovers upside down :)

Best advice is just not go there at all. Its the one stop in ireland that we should all know when it snows its snows heavy.

At least the people of Tallaght can spell and know when to use capital letters!

Why did these people ignore the warnings not to go there ?

The Gardai have lots of 4×4′s

@ Kay

to get to the other side – …. Okay I’ll get me coat!!

Yeah it’s the guards job to stand as a security guard beside every unattended car in the country now.

…and ya don’t need a fecking 4×4 either. I drove a honda civic estate over Donner Pass (from Reno to Sacramento) in blowing snow that was falling at two inches an hour. 3,000 meters up. Almost white-out conditions. A two-wheel drive hatchback. Chains, boys. That’s the way we roll.

lol true but ive seen lads from poland thinking ireland does not get bad snow and ended up being trapped up there. Its not so much the snow its the solid ice under it. Cant even stand on it. Chains will do no good seen it first hand. its gets bad that only thing will work up there is a tracked vehicle :)

Perhaps the guardai could’nt be contacted due to not using their mobile phones, stations closed down, and clapped out cars

thats a fair comment on Irish ethics .

Maura, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation. Sad if it’s so commonplace that it’s expected.

The real crime is theft vandalism by some horrible people.

Those cars will all have to be recovered and at great expense repaired.

Lawless, that sounds like an admission,