131mirafiori forum

Anyone in the UK and Northern Europe at this present time who drives will appreciate just how unpredictable side roads can be in icy conditions.

Very difficult to negotiate narrow residential streets on black ice but at what point do you consider 'Abandon Ship' the sensible option?.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGZRIX4HKGE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGZRIX4HKGE)

Where did they end up?

With there bums on the icey street. ::) ::).
Took the Lada Niva out on the snow and icy today.It went up and down high streets in my local town where other 4x4s failed to go.I was very impressed with it's superior capeabilities.It is a nice feeling to know that Lada are very closely related to FIAT. ;DEugene

All our snow & ice is gone, there was a good thaw yesterday & its rained since very early today, still a bit cold though hope it dont freeze on the wet roads tonight!

Full four wheel drifts for me in the Pajero but Eugene they are not related we had this discussion before ;D ;D ;D

Ive been waiting 4 weeks now to get the 131 into her new garage 40 miles down the road
 and just cant risk it due to first the snow,most of that is gone now after the weekend but the black ice is awfull and now we have new road salt stocks the local council are covering the roads in salt,i really need to get it shifted as the curent garage owner is needing his space back.I just dont want to drown the underneath in salt for 40 plus miles and run the risk of some idiot driving into me,but as the remaining snow and ice has no word of leaving i might jst have to make the journey....... :-\ :-\

Yes Red,they are related very close ;D.The truth really hurts you :D.Dosen't it ;D :D ;).Eugene

i think you may take it on a trailer to its new garage well covered!

Yeath sid i think that will be the answer as i cant be a**ed waiting any longer for this weather to go away

Now Eugene are you on the mountain dew or something ;D ;D ;D but found a new sport where you go skiing on a pallet been towed by a jeep  :o :o :o but on a closed road  ::) ::)

Now 106 talk 2 Eugene he might give you a lone of his super lada that thing would go anywhare  ;) according 2 Eugene ::) ::) ::) ;D ;D

Joke about it all you want , but Niva will beat Pajero  under most conditions ..

The newer the Pajero the easier to beat !  Face it !

Niva is a real  workhorse , it is relatively light and has high clearance. It can be only compared to Suzuki Jimmy and "short" Land Rover Defender. Pajero is a nice and a very good car but under these conditions would rather trust Niva ..... >:( ;D :P

Miro  

To be fair to Eugne, Brensport  :) If i had to buy a Lada the only model i would consider would be the Niva
and it would not go a miss to pull the trailer

Here in East Tennessee USA we don't get allot of snow but this year has been an exception. We got almost a foot of snow even before Christmas. Here's some photos my wife took.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/Blizzard%20of%202009/

As you can tell there were allot of abandoned cars along side the interstate.

wtf???
why abandoned?
roads look cleared of snow or sprayed with salt.
around here nobody bothers putting on a winter tyres if there's under half a foot of snow

The snow happened on a Thursday afternoon just before people were getting off from work. By 5 pm we had about half a foot of snow.

Those photos were taken on Saturday. By Friday the main roads were in good shape. I guess people were waiting until the weekend to get help pushing their cars out of the snow.

Nobody around here even uses snow tires anymore. Back before the 1990s, when most American cars were still rear wheel drive, allot of people used snow tires.

What kills me is these people with rear wheel drive cars, worn tires (Mustang owners) who can barely make it on flat land in 6" of snow think they can make it up hills. Then block the people with cars that can make it up hills. Like Subarus.

Maybe I'm just paranoid about snow but I drive a Subaru and I bought my wife a well used 1996 Ford Explorer with AWD to drive when the roads are bad. I had no trouble making it home that night except for all the people blocking the roads.

At one time I got so tired of waiting on people trying to make it up hills I just started driving around them.
 

nuts.
i drive only RWD cars and snow tyres from november till march are a must. never had problems with hills. no need for AWD. btw, snow tyres are mandatory by law on all vehicles in EU from october till april.
if your wife is really that afraid of snow, get her a Lada Niva!!! there's much more of those in US and Canada than you might think. that thing can't be stopped by mud or snow les than 2ft deep and it gets at least twice MPG compared to explorer. only downside to Niva is that people over 300pounds might find it a bit of a tight squeeze

There aren't many Nivas in the US that I know of because Ladas were never sold in this country and getting a car registered that is not on the "list" is a problem. A friend of mine who lives up in Seattle who is originally from Russia somehow smuggled in a Niva from Canada. And there are a few in up state New York. Almost all near the Canadian border. I think some people just get the Canadian seller to drive the car across the border then the new American owner swaps the ID plates and emblems from a Fiat then registers the car as a Fiat. Of course this is not legal...

Val transplanted a 2 liter Bosch fuel injected engine from a Fiat Spider. It looked really nice. He ended up selling it on Ebay. He also imported some bits and pieces from a Lada Vaz to make his 124 sedan look like a real Lada.

This makes the 5th time I've tried replying to this post. I keep having problems trying to type within the window. So I'm typing this within an email then cut and pasting it on the message board just in case it tells me I need to log in. It's taking way too long to copy all of these photos then have to do it all over again.

So here are some direct links to my AWD vehicles.

This is my 1996 Ford Explorer XLT. It has all wheel drive and with semi off road tires will go anywhere. My 1994 Jeep Wrangler had four wheel drive and would spin out in slush. Oddly enough the Wrangler I had used the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine they had been making since the early 70s and averages about the same as the 5 liter V8 which was based on an even older engine design from 1962. The Wrangler got a consistent 15 US mpg or used 16 liters per 100 km. My V8 5 liter Explorer gets an average of 19.6 liters per 100 KM to 12.4 liters per 100 KM.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/Explorer/


And my Subaru Legacy Ute:


http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/Subaru/

jseabolt is right.
 I have worked in the USA a lot and he is right the US goverment are very strict on what they allow to import car wise and if they do import, the car manufacturer has to comply with their strict rules or it does not get imported Period.......

jseabolt.
We have the worst snow in the UK up here in Scotland EVERY winter we do not use snow chains in fact i dont know any shop that sells them and cant remember the last time i saw a set on a car.
We up here are just used to snow conditions and drive according to conditions.
 We expect snow in the winter and dont make a huge fuss on the BBC news when we get snow unlike some parts of the uk  ;D ;D. Who go on and on about it.
If you want a good 4wd just buy a Land Rover County or Defender or if you can afford a Range Rover as they will out perform any 4wd on the market even the Lada Niva Hilux etc

Sorry 106 and to correct you,the Lada Niva will leave the Range Rover trying to play catch up off road anytime ;D ;D.Eugene

106,

My County (apparently) was one of the worst hit by snow in southern England this Christmas, and I'll be honest, it's not the people who live here that go on and on about it, it's the media - especially the BBC ::)

I think what caught most of us out down here was the amount that fell in such a short period, and that the Highways and local Authorities were so completely unprepared for it >:( Even our main roads went 'ungritted'. ::)

Simon

I think what caught most of us out down here was the amount that fell in such a short period, and that the Highways and local Authorities were so completely unprepared for it >:( Even our main roads went 'ungritted'. ::)

Simon
[/quote]

Simon,
no salt on the roads for 131 owners is a good thing isn't it?  ;) :D

Lada Niva watch top gear ,land-rover to the rescue.

Eugene.
 Im sorry but the Land Rover (Defender )will leave the Niva for dust when it comes to off road.
You could be right about the Range Rover.
 I am 100%  positive that the Land Rover (Defender) LWB or SWB will out perorm the Niva in EVERY aspect off road and in snow and thats a cert there is no doubt.

Totally disagree with you,because i took my Niva up a snow covered road where a Defender,Pajero&a Jeep Cherokee failed.What a laugh i had at the so called Yupee vehicles.I will take anyone on with my Niva off road.
As regards to Clarkson and his side kick Morans,i would'nt give them a wheel barrow to drive ::).Eugene

Now now Eugene. ;D
I agree the Range Rover is a yupee wagon but the (Defender) cerainly is not 99% of them in Scotland and England are used either on farms or for off road use.
and they will leave the Niva standing and thats saying something as i know the Niva is good off road.

In New Zealand snow is not a problem.Sand on the beaches are and you will find  most 4x4s will cope,its the drivers who don't  know how to use  the vehicle .Ladas on the beaches here in real soft sand will leave most modern 4x4s for dead only if its used as it should be. TOO much power can cause you to get in the shit. Gary