Ice driving in Sweden

11 February 2008

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I had to face my worse fears last week although I did not mention this to the kind people at Volvo who invited me on a three-day trip ice driving.

Now we all know Volvo are the pioneers of car safety, and they have a testing ground in Kiruna, a small place just outside Swedish Lapland. Here they have been winter testing Volvo cars since the early sixties, putting them under the most gruelling of conditions between December to April when temperatures plunge 40 degrees C below zero; where the cars have to face the most challenging conditions known to drivers, that of snow and ice.

No, it is not Father Christmas and his merry elves moonlighting during the rest of the year, but a team of dedicated Volvo employers,

This trip was truly tremendous and very much an educational wake up. There are many things in life we take for granted and starting our car each morning is one of them. Do we think twice about it? No, we simply turn on the ignition and the car bursts into life, each day every day. When it doesn’t, its as if our little world has collapsed and after a frantic call to emergency services, we vent out our anger blaming the car fair and square.

But have we ever stopped to think about why or how our car starts 99% first time? No, we just assume and expect it will. Well here at Kiruna, Volvo cars are tested over 200,000 km of test tracks and country roads, equalivant to five laps around the world and the mission is as clear as ice. Find and report any and all defects before the customers do.

So next time you switch on your engine, think of these drivers, the artic conditions, and the sheer ingenious engineering that goes into producing every Volvo car, and say a little prayer of Deo Gracias.

We started off in the sumptuous S70 and one of the main objectives was to see how this car coped with the snow and ice. Now driving in snow has to be one of the most feared things to the UK motorist mainly because we see the snow so rarely, that when it does arrives in a flurry, the whole country grinds to a standstill, But not here up in Sweden. It took a while to adjust your eyes to the bright whiteness as the snow blends into the sky and ‘caution’ is a word firmly implanted on your brain. As I gingerly made slow progress, I leant the car was going to stay on track as long as I looked further in advance than normal and braked slower as well.

Sweden does not stop for snow; it is prepared as I soon discovered when yet another giant snowplough thundered towards me at the speed of light. By now I knew what to expect as I slowed down knowing I would be engulfed by another ton of snow as it sped by. But I was beginning to gain rapid confidence and started to really enjoy the drive and marvel at the attributes of the amazing technology under this cars bonnet.

That was until we were given the ultimate challenge to drive the cars round a series of circuits that really did not appear to be too taxing. A few cones to weave in and out of and to be totally honest with you, I really did not feel that concerned. Then I realised we were driving over a frozen lake so the track was sheer ice and then what spilled me over the edge was that we had to drive once with the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control on, then another lap with it off.

If anyone is under the impression that ABS or Dynamic Stability with Traction Control will prevent you from skidding, please think again. This is a fallacy that I can categorically prove to you for I have no shame any more!

I will say just one thing DSTC will not stop you from skidding. If you, like me, left braking too late, then was forced to brake too hard too quickly, the car will skid regardless of DSTC. Proof of the pudding was the beautiful imprint of the front of my lovely S70 implanted in a bank of snow.