DRIVERS are just realising that their cars could include a little-known dashboard button that’s perfect for winter driving.
Expert mechanic Scotty Kilmer revealed that models from a number of major brands boast a handy feature that could help keep you on the road during the deep freeze.
YouTube/Scotty KilmerScotty Kilmer alerted drivers to a handy button that can be found in hundreds of thousands of cars[/caption]
With Britain experiencing temperatures as low as -13C, it’s more important than ever to use all the tools at your disposal to stay safe in the snow.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, Scotty urged hundreds of thousands of drivers to keep an eye out for the hidden switch.
He said: “Let’s say you’ve got a Volvo, and a lot of cars have it now, they have a snow button.
“If it’s really snowing, push the snow button.
“People don’t even know what it does, it starts your car off in second gear instead of first gear, so it won’t have as much torque.
“A lot of companies like Toyota, Honda they have a similar one, it’ll say snow or ice or whatever.”
Scotty explained that it works by making use of the difference in ratios between first and second gear.
A gear ratio is simply the amount the gear multiplies the torque created by the engine before it reaches the wheels.
For example, a base model Toyota Yaris has a ratio of 3.545 in first gear, meaning that in first your wheels received just over three and a half times more torque than your engine initially produces.
Torque is a measure of the ability of the engine to move a particular load- it’s what you experience when you feel like you are being pushed back into your seat while accelerating.
This is different to the engine’s power, which dictates how fast the car can go at the end of an acceleration.
Having too much torque in low-grip conditions like snow can actually be a hindrance as it puts too much rotational force through the wheels, causing them to spin too quickly and even put you into a skid.
However, when you shift from first to second, your gear ratio actually decreases, meaning less force is put through the wheels and it’s easier to find grip.
So by allowing your car to move off from a standing start in second, the snow button reduces the chance of a loss of control and a potentially dangerous crash.
Even so, there is a limit to how effective it can be, with Scotty issuing an urgent warning about the dangers of winter driving – urging motorists to “just stay home” if there’s ice on the roads.
It comes after one savvy TikToker revealed how to use a 6p Sainsbury’s item to de-ice your car door in seconds.