Oh dear...my poor little Copen....out there in the cold and dark.....! How's your weather right now?
Yes, mine looked a bit like that when I went out to drive her into Cambridge at 10.30 last night... My son was at his company Christmas do, and we'd offered to give him a lift. When we'd dropped him off there was no snow anywhere! The roads were dreadful. Cambridge City Council had obviously been caught on the hop and no roads had been gritted at all, so it was like driving on a skating rink. The little Yellow Peril coped really well, though - started first time, there was a bit of sideways driving and a bit of wheel spinning, and i felt the ABS cut in once on my way down a steep hill behind a lorry (aagh!), but all things considered I was really pleased with her. Nice and warm in that little cabin, too!
We've only had a sprinkling up here in Staffordshire. Agree about the cabin, Pikachu, the heater/air con is really efficient in that small little space!!
Yes, it's lovely, isn't it?! i think you're due for some snow over the next couple of days, aren't you? Enjoy it!
Snow? What snow? I haven't seen a flake around Cardiff! How do you think the Copen handles the bad weather compared to other cars? Rex.
This was my first experience of really bad weather in the Copen, and I was pleasantly surprised. It seemed to handle quite well, and I never felt unsafe at all. I got stuck in some very deep snow a couple of times today, but a bit of gentle rocking backwards and forwards soon got me going again! I also must agree with Becky and Pikachu - it was quite cosy in the cabin.
Pretty well, really. The nice fat tyres gave me good traction on the snow and ice, and the gearing meant I could drive slowly in a nice high gear - I was pulling away in fifth and doing 20-25 in third and fourth. which is about as fast as I wanted to go. Also, as I mentioned, the cabin warmed up quickly and stayed warm - I did have to toggle between two settings to keep my windscreen clear, but the visibility was very good. And the ABS dutifully cut in when I needed it, which was reassuring. The main problem I had was with the car being so little and light; trying to pull away on a slight slope required a very, very light touch on the accelerator/clutch balance, otherwise she just sat on top of the snow with her tyres spinning. It also meant that I had to correct oversteer and understeer extremely gently, otherwise she just twitched in the other direction. But being so light also meant that when I got temporarily stranded in some deeper snow where we parked, it was possible for my son to free her just by pushing her, without having to enlist any other help. All in all, I'd say she coped with the conditions just as well as most other cars, and better than some of them!
Ah, now I know what a white Copen look like Still not seen any snow in Cardiff. We drove a little north to Merthyr Tydfil today, even on 'Dowlais Top' there were only a few flakes (In my view, one of the coldest places in South Wales!). So I still can't say if my ABS is working or not! (Of course, this could be a good thing) Rex.
Snow fun as always in the Copen. Traction on ice sucks, traction in snow sucks, but who cares sideways is fun Only problem I had was work carpark where it was 10 inches deep and I snow plowed it and got stuck...............6 people picked her and moved her 10 feet
And there, ladies and gentlemen, you have one of the major advantages of owning a Copen! I can't imagine doing that with a Range Rover, somehow...
All I can say is thank goodness the four storemen and big guys! Oh and don't try and lift via the wings, they won't take it. No damage done, but I think there would have been had I not already known from prior experience (trying to get a trolly jack under the car) that they are not strong points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, I know this...when my son was doing a bit of Waxoiling I had to lift the Yellow Peril up on its suspension so he could get his jack underneath, and I started lifting the wing over the wheel. Not good.
Here in London, what looks like a light sprinkling on all the gas guzzlers is a veritable snowdrift on a Copen! The day after this photo was taken a whole lot more snow was dumped and he was engulfed. Took a lot of scraping and warm water to chip little Nim out of his icy cocoon, while everyone else's cars were clear. I think maybe he's developed some sort of personal weather system. Started first time though, even while still a carcicle! Driving down through the Narnian landscape of Kent yesterday, I have to say a Copen's little cockpit was the cosiest place in the world to be.
So, out of interest where is the best place to lift a Copen?? I also found out a trolley jack won't go low enough to slide under the sills. Rex.
Under the sills. Was hard due to slippy snow, but worked fine once we all gloved up! Other option was going to be the forklift but I feared for my exhaust etc Wheel arches are ok for a small lift, maybe an inch or so, but then creaking starts!
here in Kent a lot of snow fell thurs evening 17th Dec, i drove home when it was snowing that night as I had been to my brothers it wasn't too bad until I got to a hill I have to drive down to get to my village! That really was not fun! I woke up fri unable to go to work due to the road with 'that Hill' being closed, I was quite pleased about that and got a free day off work as many others were unable to go to work. It sounds so bad, but they hadn't gritted the roads at all so it really was terrible to drive in, then after the weekend (I started the car on the sunday - all was well) it wouldn't start monday morning. Battery dead as a dodo, had to get the bus that last week, now have a new battery all ok
