Bracechenko
Member Since: 29 Jun 2021
Location: Cardiff
Posts: 178
  
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| D3 to the rescue! This is what we love about these cars :) |
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Headed to West Wales on Friday for a holiday cottage break. 4 up in my car with luggage and my sister and nephew driving down in their Fiesta. We were aware of snow and ice potentially causing an issue before we set off so I ensured my sister had some sensible things inside the car in case of any issues.
Well, it turned into a bit of a nightmare for her bless her. Had a call from her whilst en route. She was lost, very little signal and her GPS was throwing a wobbler and jumping about all over the place. On top of this, in a fluster she pranged her bumper and my nephew was also a bit unwell and starting to freak out a bit in the car as it dawned that they're lost on a dark snowy lane in the middle of nowhere.
Thankfully she was only 10 minutes ahead so we met up and drove towards the cottage in convey. The roads were getting worse, far more rural country lanes, climbing altitude and snow/ice on the ground. Fine so far for my car but still concerning and obviously we've got the kids in the car so certainly not aiming to take silly risks.
Anyway, we turned a corner and started heading down a single track lane which was on a hill....could see my sister slipping and sliding behind and realised that this was now undriveable for her. She did the right thing as her car started sliding so she turned it into a ditch 180 degrees and the car was stopped. I got out and walked up to her car....she was obviously shaken up and we both realised that this was now a situation.
It was clear that her car needed to stay where it was. I managed to remove anything non-essential from my car (luggage etc) and made enough room to pop up one of the rear seats so the 6 of us loaded up into my car and we carried on. It didn't get any worse than that but was about another 7 miles of snowy undulating lanes.
I put the car into snow/gravel/grass mode and thankfully I've got a brand new set of Duratracs on which were only fitted 2 weeks ago. The car didn't miss a beat, was so capable and in that moment it felt like a hero car saving us from that hairy situation. We got to the cottage safely without incident and after some unwinding managed to have a proper laugh about it all that evening. Thankfully, the wind and rain washed away the snow overnight and we recovered her car the next day.
I'm sure many of us feel this way about our cars. Knowing that for the most part we don't need the capability but when it's called upon, it's great to know it's there and can really pull you out of a situation.
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 24th Jan 2024 10:51 am |
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maxbasscat
Member Since: 03 Jan 2016
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 1263
  
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 D3 2.7 Zermatt silver (not another one)
D3 4.4 V8 Zambezi silver
D3 4.4 V8 Adriatic Blue
D3 2.7 (gone) Tonga Green
D3 4.4 V8 LHD Tonga Green
FFRR TDV8
Defender 300
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| 26th Jan 2024 6:01 pm |
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mulgrewgrew
Member Since: 09 Dec 2023
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 27
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Had my first go on snow last week on a single lane road leading to a reservoir I often walk the dog at.
It's got a fair incline up to the parking area and was all compacted snow. Under foot it was barely walkable as it was so slippy. About 300 metres all like that.
The D3 just ate it up, no issues at all. I even tried giving it some revs to see if/how the wheels spin. They didn't.
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| 30th Jan 2024 10:27 pm |
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Bracechenko
Member Since: 29 Jun 2021
Location: Cardiff
Posts: 178
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It's a great feeling isn't it. I took mine to an off-road centre to test it on some deep mud, steep climbs, wading through water etc and to also get some useful training. The car was incredible and so impressive to what it can actually do given proper instruction.
At one point, I was completely stuck in some really deep and rutted mud. All wheels spinning, going nowhere. DSC off, low-range but 3rd gear and the guy told me to essentially give it the beans and he was sure the car would eventually work it out. I did what he said but thought no way....slowly but surely the car was doing it's thing with individual wheel braking and it was starting to lurch forward until I was out. I was absolutely sure the tractor was going to be needed lol
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| 31st Jan 2024 10:02 am |
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