Going very steeply downhill on snow and or ice, would you use HDC or would you just put it in low 1st gear?
A couple of years back, I was driving a RR Sport (just been unfaithful to the FF once, back to a proper RR now! ) on Conti summer tyres in Switzerland. Going uphill no problem at all but going back downhill I was sliding everywhere and unable to keep the car on the road which was sheet ice). I first tried HDC and you could feel each wheel braking separately trying desperately to keep the car on the road without being of much help! I finally crashed (softly) into a field with no damage, couldn't reverse so continued and rejoined the icy road downhill and put the car into 1st low gear without HDC and crawled very slowly downhill, doing this I managed to keep it on the road.
Quite a scary moment, my uncle was driving a two-wheel drive Peugeot on winter tyres and had no trouble at all going downhill so I put it down to the tyres.
I'm going back to Switzerland this winter and will definitely put winters on (I ordered Michelin Alpin Latitudes) but back to my question would you use HDC or would you just put it in 1st low gear without HDC?
Not sure HDC is of much help in this case as it brakes the wheels and we all know we have to avoid braking as much as possible so I think low gear is a better option. Any thoughts?

Personally, I'd go with HDC every time in the situation you describe.

Having been on such a slope thinking "I shouldn't be here", the HDC worked it's magic.
That being said, I probably shouldn't have been there in the first place !

You can't get away from the Laws of Physics - the FF is a big heavy vehicle with (dare I say it ?) limitations - the technology is not infallible.

I trust the engineers who saw fit to build HDC into the car - it worked brilliantly when I needed it to.

Are you confident in driving the car in those circumstances ? - perhaps some additional training may help ? Or maybe just read up on HDC thoroughly from the manual ?

HDC is a leap of faith when it's doing it's thing - requiring you to only steer, and, perhaps crucially, allowing you to steer - being in low range only might deprive you of this . . . .

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Only tried this once and in a Sport. The decent was totally out of control with wheels locking up. The same car won't come up a minor slope even in snow/mud settings. Put it down to the wide "road" tyres but put me off ever trying it again. 2.7 tonnes heading down a snow covered hill totally out of control was an adventure too far and required underwear change after meeting a Fiesta coming up the hill.  TDV8 Vogue SE 2009.
TDV8 Sport. Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!
Other toys in the cupboard.......

Thanks for your thoughts. My idea is that you should keep the wheels spinning and avoid braking. When I used HDC in high gear, it worked constantly on the brakes whereas low gear in 1st was fine but very slow, at least it got me down the hill. The problem was mostly inappropriate tyres for the conditions.
Do Land Rover Experience do Ice and snow training? Would love to do this if available.
P.S.: I love your two door classic on the picture.

If the tires have no grip there is no chance to overcome physics.

The difference between 1st gear low and hdc is, that with hdd any wheel can be controlled separately through the computer. So it tries to keep the straight line, that the car does not get sideways. If there is some traction it slows down the car to the selected speed.

With 1st gear low you only let turn all wheels slow in sync .... no special separated action to one of the wheels. It does not prevent you from going sideways, which is very dangerous.

From my experience it is better to use hdc to reduce the risk of going sideways and to break even if only one wheel has some grip. If there is not enough traction you will be much faster but in a straight line.

With engine break only you have the risk of going sideways and fast ..

Hope that makes sense to someone ...

Stuempf Using your brain is useful. Sometimes.

Danke Sehr! Very informative. Do you know if HDC can be used in low gear?

Moral of story is decent tyres. My workhorse L200 has open tread off road tyres and has gone everywhere it was asked in four wheel drive. It did once slide backwards down a steep Icey slope even though wheels were stil going forwards. Use of a snow bank stopped the problem but in fairness, you couldn't even stand on the road.  TDV8 Vogue SE 2009.
TDV8 Sport. Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!
Other toys in the cupboard.......

HDC that what its for!

Not had the opportunity to test out the HDC on ice in my FF, but a couple of years ago, I used HDC on a discovery TD5going down a steep icy slope and it was amazing. Felt perfectly safe and in control. I did have ATR tyres on as well 56 TDV8 Vogue SE
9 Freelanders, 2x 2002 TD4ES, 2001 TD4, 2002 1.8GS, 2000 XEDI, 2x 2000 1.8ES, 2004 1.8 & 2000 1.8 GS (rolled)
91 Lotus Carlton (sold)
90 Lotus Elan (BRG)

HDC will maintain the speed you set up to a certain maximum. If I was going down a very steep hill, I think I'd have everything on to get the most out of it. So, HTC, LOW in 1st gear, and TR in snow mode. I would also stop, dead, at the top of the hill, then start heading down without using the accelerator. The car should then be primed to descend as slowly as possible. There are limits, of course.

I was with a friend in his 300TDI D110 CSW heading down a steep, icy hill with snow on the ice. Basically, there was no control. However, the track was so bad you couldn't stand without falling. He went with the DIFF LOCK, and 1st LOW (which is damn low in a manual Defender) and we hoped for the best.

Tried both ways and as said you cant get over the laws of physics It has scared the C**p out of me a couple of times here in Buxton.
However to add my 10p.
I used to use HDC and found it's too fast and it can cause vehicle to slide off line. I now use low first or second as that feels more secure and the braking effect is even across the wheels, a diesel will give more engine braking which will help.
I think tyres make a difference, however I was with a chap in a lifted disco with aggressive tyres last year and he was struggling more than me riding on kuhmo all season tyres.
As said previously up hill fine but steep slopes down use lots of caution because if it slides you wount stop it!
Good tyre test find somewhere quiet on the snow or ice get up to about 20 mph and brake you will then see how little grip there is and thats on the flat. Compacted snow worse!

Sad to say used to have a Hyundai Tucson which I thought was better in the snow
sorry off to wash mouth out! Mine was a blue one!

Last edited by Andy3681 on 13th Nov 2013 11:44am. Edited 1 time in total

In the past I used low range in 1st or 2nd, HDC on and then use the cruise control buttons to reduce the HDC target speed. Terrain response in the snow setting to dull the accelerator and just let the vehicle creep down the slope without any feet on the pedals. Did this on a really steep slope which was covered in sheet ice and had no issues even with a summer biased tyre on. As mentioned in a previous post, stop at the top of the descent and then proceed in a controlled manner. Winter tyres will make a big difference to overall levels of grip, but the systems in the car should make it manageable with all season tyres as well.

Thank you all for your very informative replies. Great to have a feedback of your own experiences!
I think a combination of HDC, low gear and proper winter tyres will certainly help, will keep you posted!

@ CSK
They dont do specific snow and ice training at the experience but the instructor I had gave some good advice and also took me on the most slippery bits as a substitute. Mine was a blue one!

Quote:

however I was with a chap in a lifted disco with agressive tyres last year and he was struggling more than me riding on kuhmo all season tyres