Driving Downhill On Ice And Winter Tyres

[keywest]

I had a scary moment the other day when ascending an icy narrow country road and lost total traction. I then started to slide backwards!

I managed to slide to the side of the road and by going to and fro across the road turned the car around to go back down.

Thankfully it would hold in the hill in reverse so I descended by moving it quickly between reverse and neutral and eventually descended the 200m or so to more level ground and started breathing again.

While I got out of this self created psoition (I realise I shouldnt have gone up in the first place) it made me wonder what other experiences RX400 owners have had?

I daren't put it into drive because I would have descended far too quickly effectively in free wheel and even in th B mode it would have been too fast.

Has any body any alternative suggestions as there is no hill descent mode (liek land rovers etc) and you cant lock it in a low gear like the old RX300.

Finally does anyone know if you can get winter tyres fro the RX400? If so what make and typical costs?

[Radoslav Asparuhov]

May be you should use the "engine" break - put the gear shift on "B" in combination with regular break and decent tires?

[keywest]

I daren't use the B setting as that is effectively drive forward and from experience the engine braking is quite minimal and certainly doesnt prevent the car getting to a good speed.

The tyres have around 4mm of tread so were in good condition. They are the standard tyres.

[matt-c]

Finally does anyone know if you can get winter tyres fro the RX400? If so what make and typical costs?

Yes. You need to know your tyre size (for example, 235/40/18) and weight/speed rating (for example 93V or 91Y). Once you have these, you can find winter tyres from a variety of manufacturers (Avon, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama, Dunlop, Uniroyal, Bridgestone, among others)

[Duncan Roberts]

I daren't use the B setting as that is effectively drive forward and from experience the engine braking is quite minimal and certainly doesnt prevent the car getting to a good speed.

The tyres have around 4mm of tread so were in good condition. They are the standard tyres.

You should use the engine 'brake', 'B': The car will not drive forward if you take your foot from the accelerator. The skill is knowing when to gently supplement this with the foot brake.

[keywest]

Its snowing now so I will try it on the roads tomorrow morning. I will try and be brave!

[keywest]

I tried the B setting starting from standstill at the top of a slope. While there was resistance I was soon up to 20mph and getting faster