The winter months can make UK roads particularly perilous. Ice, snow, slush, frost, fog and driving rain all make conditions a little riskier during winter, with drivers needing to take extra precautions to keep themselves, their passengers and their vehicles safe. Even on crisp winter days, road conditions aren’t much better. Glare from the low sun can negatively impact visibility, making it one of the most dangerous winter driving hazards.
While driving a 4×4 or pickup puts you one step ahead of other drivers, with your 4WD system leaving you better prepared when driving through deep snow, across rugged terrains, and in wintry weather conditions. There are several upgrades you can make to help your vehicle handle winter roads. In this blog post, we share our top five upgrades for winter ice and snow.
1. Throttle controllers
Understanding traction is the key to navigating winter road conditions safely and confidently. You have to adapt your driving style accordingly. Here RCV reveals their tips for driving 4x4s in the snow:
“Starting and stopping your 4×4 on a snowy road requires more care than usual. Use gentle throttle when starting to avoid wheel spin. When stopping, begin braking earlier than usual, and brake gently to avoid skidding. When steering or making a turn on a snowy road, slower speeds and wider turns are advisable. Avoid sharp turns and sudden steering manoeuvres as these can lead to skidding.”
Traction is significantly reduced on snowy or icy roads, and it’ll affect the way your 4×4 handles, brakes and accelerates. The addition of a throttle controller will enable you to personalise your driving experience with road conditions in mind.
With a throttle controller, you can dull or dampen your throttle response to give you more control in low traction settings like slippery roads. Discover more reasons why an EVC Throttle Controller should be your next upgrade here.
2. Winch bumpers
Protect your vehicle from damage and house a recovery essential that could just come in handy if you become stranded due to snowy or icy conditions by upgrading to an ARB Sahara Winch Bumper.
This strong and hardwearing steel bumper offers exceptional front protection for a wide range of vehicle makes and models, including the Toyota Land Cruiser, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max.
3. Underbody protection
The underside of your vehicle needs protecting too. It is after all not enough to protect your front and rear.
Protect your 4×4’s underbody and the vital components that call it home with the right upgrade. N4 and ARB are just two brands that offer fantastic, vehicle specific, heavy-duty underbody protection, with their skid plates protecting vehicles across a range of terrains, including snow and ice.
4. Winches
The right winch can mean the difference between a speedy recovery and a long, long wait for rescue in the snow. Finding a winch you can rely on is just a few clicks away, with our bestselling winch kits and accessories offering all you need to enjoy great reliability, durability and performance.
5. Recovery kits
That carefully selected winch would be pretty useless without the recovery basics needed to operate it! From recovery gloves and tree trunk protectors to snatch straps, ropes and soft shackles, we have all you need to launch your very own self-rescue mission this winter in our recovery kit range.
