People Say The Citroen 2CV Is a Snow BEAST: Let's Find Out If That's True!
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- Опубліковано 9 січ 2025
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How does the Citroen 2CV perform in the snow? Let's Find Out!
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I am French and my father had a 2cv 6, with studded tires in winter. When it was freezing and snowing he overtook everyone and drove like crazy on the small roads, for him as a liberal nurse the 2cv will remain one of his favorite cars.
What's a liberal nurse?
@@alexgreen4831 It's a nurse but instead of being emloyed by the stated and working in hospitals, the nurse works for her(or him)self. These nurses go home to home to give people the care they need usually after heavy surgery for exemple.
@@sylvaincastano hmm. I would've expected a liberal nurse to be one that stays in a home, only complaining instead of working lol
@@bldontmatter5319 No they don't complain lol these people are rather hard working. The liberal nurses don't have fixed work hours but they earn more than the ones that are in the public hospitals. So the ones that are busy and working in city environment can have very fancy cars like an Evoque, Mini Countryman or that kind of premium city car.
@@bldontmatter5319 liberal is not a pilolitical expression like in the US, but means private business in france
Many years ago when I was a kid living in the north of the UK, one of our teachers, had fitted dirt bike tires to hid 2CV for the snowy weather. Worked great, would see him zipping about in it all winter long.
Damn! That's a great idea. The wheels are 15" and you can still buy dirt bike tires that would go on with an inner tube!
I ve never geard of that .. thats cool !!!
North of UK? You mean Scotland or England as misleading if england, Scotland gets worse weather
You can't do a handbrake turn in a 2CV because the handbrake's on the front wheels. I have winter tyres on my 1987 2CV in the UK and it's unstoppable!
Lift-off oversteer achievable, though if you fly through a corner. It's hard to catch as it bounces so much! 😁
What make are the winter tyres? I wouldn't have thought anyone made them in that size.
Michelin among others
I think almost all older FWD Citroens have the handbrake on the front wheels right.
Came here to say that, and . . . yeah
Anything folk knew about conventional cars? None of that applies
As you noticed you often have wheelspin on one wheel. Little tricky is to keep a bit of brake applied to make a sort of limited slip diff. On a 2CV you cam use the handbrake for that. It will get you unstuck easier. Great video!
Is the handbrake to the front wheels? don't think so.
@@wonkylommiter6364 As many French cars (and some Italian) the handbrake is indeed to the front wheels. It was easier that way with the brakes right next to the differential and the handbrake inside/under the dashboard.
@@wonkylommiter6364 Yes sure ! J'ai grandi là dedans : mon père était un fan de Citroën : Traction avant, 2cv, DS, BX Sport et pour le travail 2cv camionnette et Acadiane !
@@marcelromijn2227 Ah, OK. Thanks, I didn't know about the handbrake working on the front wheels.
I swear nobody knows this! I’m glad you do
You are very gentle on this 2cv ! You hardly imagine what we did to them in the 70'... And never broke ! It is a great pleasure to see and hear one of them, 40 years later, she seems (and sound) new !
What a cool little car!
French technology update: 1970s...
Had a Renault R5....similar concept: skinny tires, underpowered, FWD. Went like a charm in the snow on regular
itty-bitty Michelins, plus a real good heater!
I lived in eastern Pennsylvania, where would often got a lot of pretty serious winter weather, and that little darling never got stuck, even on unplowed roads.
Thanks for sharing your charming little ride!
R4 before it was better, IMO.
It is also a desert beast. This was the only vehicle that could be driven out of soft sand with a couple of metal track pieces. A couple of Swiss guys had one in the Sahara and helped me get my 500cc motor bike across. If they ever see this. Thank you for your help.
The 4WD Sahara version of the 2CV can go places no other wheeled car can.
In the sixties my father drove a 2CV. We lived on top of a hill here in Belgium. The road was quite steep 13%. In the winter - with snow - it was first up to my father to drive the 2CV up and down the mountain a few times to make a track. Only then did the neighbours dare to descend the snowy slope with their rear-wheel drive Mercedes, Ford Taunus, Opel Record or Volkswagen Beetle,...
Didn't know there were any hills in Belgium. Isn't Belgium flat like a waffle ??
@@trespire Do not compare Belgium with the flat Netherlands
@@trespire waffles have ups and downs, they are not crepes ;)
Passed my driving test in a 2CV 30 years ago. Love them!
30 years ago back when car buyers (now in their 50s-80s) were much more snobbish and brand orientated.
Yknow, the market demographic that's still buying new cars today! 😂😂💀
I had one from 1983 - 1986. In Austria where there was still loads of snow back then in the winter. No winter-tyres. Just put snow chains on if it became too deep. On the roads no problem. Can confirm the "snow beast"!
What a car … I once drove my 2CV up a narrow mountain stream in Kerry … owned six of these beauties which all tended to die of rust, sadly … super video guys
Great video! I am a 2CV owner in Ontario Canada. I have always wanted to try my car in the snow, but up here, once it snows, the authorities chuck huge amounts of salt. So your tests have satisfied my curiosity. BTW, skinny tires are what you want in snow. Even on my daily drivers, I try to go down one size (width) for snow tires. Back in the day, there were snow tires options for 2CVs, even up to 20 years ago. I would love to see how your car would have done on Michelins, as they were the tire designed for the car. Please keep up the 2CV content, I'll watch every one.
Check out footage of the Rally of Sweden!
It is in the snow and the one achieving the highest speeds but the tyres they use are about half the width of those they use on dry tarmac which increases ground pressure per square inch making for much better traction.
About snow tyres - I had snow tyres (125mm) on my 2CV in the winter, and enjoyed it - happened to lose the cops one day they wanted to stop me.
I live in Toronto and would love to see 2CVs on the streets! Good for you, it's a fun car to drive! Cheers!
Back in the day, we had had a 2CV in the family and a pair of studded tyres for winter driving, as we lived in the French Alps and this was standard winter procedure. 2Cvs are basically unstoppable in the snow in this set-up, and even better on a full set of studded tyres.
I thoroughly enjoy the oddball tests you guys run. It’s so refreshing to get out of the main stream of new vehicles that we’ve come to expect every UA-cam channel will cover at some point. TFL has great creativity among other things. Much respect. “The hero nobody asked for (specifically) but everybody needs”.
I watched those cars being driven on pavements and through flowerbeds in Paris in the mid 1970s , also saw them being driven through waterlogged farmers fields without being stuck , earlier ones had deck chairs for seats , that was a pretty cool feature in the day , decide to have a picnic , no problem , just pull over , pull out the picnic basket , the folding table and take the chairs out of the car , literally .
Are you sure about the seats.? Mine had two steel bars, transverse in the car. One at just below shoulder height the other behind the knees. The seat was deck chair like canvas sown with a large hem and threaded over the tubes…..
@@vespadavidson2315 yes it was design for that
Hi I am French and I used to drive a 2CV-6 when I was a student. It is quite amazing to discover US guys testing a Citröen 2CV! I can confirm that snow is not an issue whe driving this car. The concern is that the heating system does not provide heat enough when external temperature is too low ! Have fun with your 2CV
That is, hands down, the coolest car in your fleet!
You are supposed to turn the engine over a few cranks with the handle in cold weather before starting it. We had two Dyanes (same car) in the sixties and we never ever had any starting problems, or any other problems in fact. One of the truly great cars.
Indeed crank it and gwt some oil dispersed first .. like a boat engine
Thank you for tell us the temperature is Celsius as well. It makes it easier for you Canadian views to know the temp when you talk about the temperature
And the rest of the world 🤣
The original Michelin tires (zig zag pattern) were said to be all season (but were not really) so there was snow tires. My mum had a 1970 (or so) Dyane 6 and she had snow tires, even spikes which were pretty common here in Austria during the 1970ies.
A tip for starting them in cold damp weather is disconect one spark plug and all the power goes to one, once one cylinder is fired up for a minute reconect the other. I think both plugs spark at the same time.
Another advantage of the thin tires is that keeping a spare pair of snow tires (just for the front wheels) would take up a small amount of storage space.
You might even be able to fit two in the boot/trunk.
Never had a deux chevaux but in th early 80s i had a GS and in 3 or 4 inches of snow, it was amazing. It never, ever got stuck in snow and would roll past cars and vans on the flat or any incline. I loved it.
I concur. The GS was awesome in the snow. I had one in the 80s as well.
Hydropneumatic suspension, chassis weight distribution and suspension geometry.
All highly advanced on the GS / GSA even by modern standards. And that flat 4 is a riot.
My Father had a GS and Gsa brilliant cars in snow and I had a Mk2 face-lift C5 and it to was a brilliant car to drive in snow I drove from Portsmouth to Oxford on the A34 in 2ft of snow in 2022 and it was brilliant. Not another car on the road that night not even a truck for miles, it was surreal having the A34 to myself. It just gripped the road at about 30 mph.
I drove my 1979 2CV6 as my everyday car for many years in the mountainous part of northern Sweden, even without studded tyres for one winter season - actually with my 125 x 15" Michelin summer tyres. I could climb short local hillside roads where Mercs and the likes got stuck with their studded winter tyres. The secret was to keep the revs up and steadily ease of the throttle if it started spinning, absolutely avoiding spinning more than a fraction of what's necessary to keep you going. The chassis was absolutely perfect in winter and you could perform perfect four wheel slides whenever you wanted if you got used to it, much like my company car, the lovely Citroën CX, which was the perfect car in icy and snowy conditions, even down below 40° Celsius. Excellent in climbing and breaking. Those were the days...
This car and the old Renault R4 where the best cars in the snow and a lot of fun to throw around
Got one too back then,we used to go riding up the groomed slope at night,no chain,no winter tire,it just went up like crazy.
I had the other French peoples car in the past, the Renault 4.
Being a bit heavier and having a bit wider (135 instead of 125) tyres as the 2CV, it still was very good in snow.
I could make very steady turns where more modern, larger cars on wider tyres where sliding left and right at the same speed.
Greetings from Finland, i always enjoy watching snow driving content from places that don't get snow as regularly as we do. Today we had -15 Celcius where I live, and my 1991 Caprice Classic did need a couple of tries to start, but with our studded winter tires (actual metal studs) it still handles the snow very well.
I can’t believe there are Chevy Caprices in Finland. Most American car ever. I’d imagine a lot of Volvos
@@njs461 The Nordic countries have a great big American car following, everything from the 50's up to modern stuff, but yes an almost depressing amount of Volvos too. My dad just bought himself a 93 Grand Cherokee, and he also has a 91 Bronco II, and he has had over 30 different American cars in his life, where as this Caprice is only my 2nd, 1st one being the oh so notorious early 90's Pontiac Grand Prix with the 3.1 V6.
I live Sweden and there are lots of American cars, especially classic ones. My father always had Corvettes, and I own a 1972 Corvette coupe. Sweden is actually a great country for driving (although Stockholm is awful) because of all the open spaces and well maintained roads. My Corvette stays garaged in winter, of course. Most Swedes keep their nice cars garaged in winter.
My mother owned a 1983 Citroen 2CV for 30 years, and she drove it all year. It never got stuck in snow with snow tires, and the ground clearance was a big help. It was a very cheap car to maintain and repair. When it did rust it was easy to fix.
I've got a '92 Caprice wagon with the trailer towing package (4-bolt main 350ci, self-levelling rear suspension, LSD), and a '02 Volvo V70XC wagon. I think I've got the best of the wagon options!
I'm pretty sure TFL gets the same amount of snow in Colorado as you, I know we do here in New Hampshire. I just don't think it makes for good content creation to head out there with studded tires. It's more fun if they try and fail. The same goes for their off road content. It's quite boring to see the latest Rubicon Jeep tackle their obstacle course, but when they head out there in a crossover or suv and things start breaking, that's when it gets exciting for us viewers!
I'm not supprised, back in the 1990's I was driving in the UK with about 2 inches of snow in my 80's era rear drive Triumph. The road was not too bad if you kept to the tracks. Clearly I was going slow and careful but too slow for a 2CV which just over took and disappeared into the distance.
Were you driving a TR7 ?
I remember one of my favorite James Bond scenes involved a 2CV in For Your Eyes Only, good times!
The Bond film 2cvs had Gsa 1300 engines in them.
I had a few 2 cv and loved them. However, the only accident I had in my life was in a 2 cv on the snow. I thought this thing was invincible and the ride ended up in a spin. Nothing was left of the car..
Had several 2CV in my family back in the days ! Fun car. When weather was nice, as kids we were rolling the roof (its a rubber membrane), and standing up at the rear to take the wind in the face ^^. I remember climbing mountain trails in the snow in winter (Mt Ventoux, South of France) where 4x4 were getting stuck....
This is the kind of little quirky car that you want your close friend to own so you could borrow it for a day of fun.
Cool little video - especially impressive how much ground clearance this little thing has (which was the reason it did so well in deeper snow!). Also, enjoyed Roman yelling out dad commands: Don't don't stop! Don't hit the truck 😅
I am a Frenchman who has lived in the US for more than forty years. I had in my youth (in the 70s) four (4) 2CVs, 1953, 1963, 1964 and 1968. I can attest that the 2CV is definitely an off-roader if needed and particularly good on snow and ice. I have driven mine in difficult conditions with no problems. An incredible car. Yes, you could mount snow tires on the 2CV. You could also mount studded tired on it.
First of all, great video!
Second, in this kind of conditions you really should test a Citroën 2CV Sahara, a 4x4 version with 2 engines... One downside is that that one is a 'bit' rare, only 694 were ever built :P
And extremely expensive by now, 100 k euro minimum, an exemplary was sold at 173 k euro last year.
@@Jeff-ub4lr.......but you can still find them 'in the wild' in Marroco!
In the early 70's my little (17 roaring hp) '62 2-CV passed a ridiculous number of trucks for miles down Toronto's 401 in winter snows, to and from school, always made sure my passengers were enough to lift her out of any problems and the wee beast even rescued some of the unfortunates, still on old Michelin all-weathers, put chains on and go near anywhere. ^sigh
As a vintage car enthusiast from southern germany who loves quirky french cars it is funny to see the old german DIN style license plate on this iconic french peoples car 😂 lots of love to the TFL crew and y‘all out there around the globe ✌🏽
That was the most fun video to watch in a bit from you guys. Love the Classics content
what really works wonders in snow is a hydropneumatic Citroen (DS, GS, CX, SM...) You can pump up your ground clearance to sail over snow drifts that would normally require a truck.
The high setting is for servicing only and the midd setting for driving no faster than 30 mph or damage to the suspension system can occur on a hydraulic Citroen.
Remember the movie romancing the stone and Danny DeVito driving a 2vc down a hill and floating down a river trying to get away from the bad guys. I wonder how many Citroens they used up in that movie? A friend of mine had a 1971 DL and we went skiing to New Hampshire one time and it snowed all night. Where we were staying they didn't plow the dead end street at all so he just raised the hydraulic suspension on the car and pulled on out to the open road and it saved the day of skiing.
At 2:25, Tommy tosses his gloves in the backseat. The “heated steering wheel” must be working. 😲
Hi there, good fun, your video. I still drive my 2 CV and I had a beetle back then. Both are excellent in winter and living in Switzerland I know what I’m saying. The beetle is better on steep and icy roads, but in all other conditions the 2CV is clearly better, more manouevrable and safer. However, winter tyres make a huge difference and shifting to the next higher gear whenever possible is key. 👍🏻
40 years ago, I used to go up snowy hilly driveways in my 1980 Pontiac Phoenix (X-car) backwards. It worked like a charm. It was like turning it into a Volkswagen where you had to look behind you!
As a heated garage, or a garage at all, were quite uncommon at that time, the 2CV and the Beetle relied on air cooling just like the motorcycles did back then. No wonder sidecar rigs used to be quite common in Germany prior to the Beetle for instance. And even though the 2CV was so modest it didn't even feature a thermostatic control to its oil cooler, with fewer parts to fail it was quite a good car to handle some of the harshest weather conditions...
Winter thread tires make a world of difference in snow. This goes for any car really.
I know I'm 8 months late to the party, but I wanted to point out, that I really enjoyed this video. Great work. 🙂
Just one little thought. The reason, you coudn't do a handbreak turn at 7:42 is, that the the handbreak is located at the front wheels (You can see them locking up at that moment.) But you could have used that to your advantage during the uphill test at 4:40. If you're carefully applying the handbreak, it will work as a poor man's "locking differential" and might actually help you getting though.
I’ve lived in snowy climates all my life and I have found tall thin tires work best going though snow. Big fat tires just build up snow in front of the tires. I’ve had a few commuter cars and they always had a standard transmission and were front wheel drive. One time I was able to run around on a hill while everyone else was struck with many fender benders. I did this by backing up keeping the front end down hill as much as possible. I always ran real good winter tires with studs. I few extra dollars on tires is cheaper than going to the body shop.
Well said! Whatever vehicle is your daily winter driver should have four of the highest rated winter tires that you can afford. Tires do MATTER!
Brings back memories. R4 was just as good. I've had uninitiated passengers screaming in both types in snow.
Snow tires are compulsory here In Finland in the winter.
They make them for all cars, with or without studs.
Great footage guys !!!
Greetings from Slovakia 👌👍
Hello from Germany!
That's a beautiful 2CV you've got there!
Here we call the car a "duck" because it rocks when you drive it, just like a duck when it walks. :)
Your "duck" is probably originally from here, too. The licence plate FÜ stands for Fürth, a small town in Bavaria.
Many greetings from Eric
The Duck was called Duck because of a German motor journalist that called it ugly duckling when it came out.
@@fannekuchen Comes from a dutch journalist who called it "lelijke eentje" - ugly duckling.
Germans tried to name it "Montpi" by it import start in 1959, but later on they're liked the dutch name and called it "Duck". Citroen didn't like it at first and it took many years up to the early 80s when they accepted the cute nickname and used it by themself!
I forgot: my very first car was a red Mini Cooper with white Rallye stripes - very noisy and bumpy to ride 😂
Never had a Fiat 500, but I loved my 1991 Toyota Corolla which I had for 27 years and which never let me down - would have kept it but had to sell it because there was too much rust so it did not pass the TUEV - but I am sure it is still running somewhere ♥️
Hello from the U.K.
during the up’s I lived in Italy and I had Citroen C15D van which is based on the Citroen Visa hatchback. It to had incredibly skinny tyres, too and it was incredible in the snow. I never used socks or chains and got every where I needed to.
Stay safe and well guys.
Michelin makes a snow tire for the 2CV, but I think that they are only available in Europe. Possible to order and import? I don't know
this brings back memories, when we were young we tried to put a 2 CV on the side in the curve, almost impossible 😅. Love this car ❤❤❤
It would have done it easily in reverse because the front wheel base is shorter than the rear.
The sound of the engine is impossible to miss. It sings in French. Awesome car.
It also was -14 last week here in Denver. It was intense outside. Can’t imagine how cold the mountains got
The 2 CV can bring you almost anywhere with it's original Michelin 125x15 tires ,I tried M&S tires just once and got stuck on the same soft spot where I went through with the original tires, just because the winter tires dug it right in, you just need a little momentum to have the most fun and bring you slmost anywhere
Momentum is everything in the snow - there is no to minimal traction on this white stuff, so best way to avoid getting stuck is to use every bit of momentum until halt. Then backing up the way you were coming, only to gather some speed and forward momentum again.
Ok, so here in northern Minnesota -3F would be considered a mild mid-winter day and that amount of powder snow could be easily handled by my 10 year-old minivan, which starts at -30F without a problem. Saying that, however, I think the 2CV is the greatest automotive design of all time. It does the most with the least. In 1959, Jan Myrdal drove a 12 hp. 2CV from Sweden to India and going through Afghanistan on donkey tracks. It's great, and I hope the Citroen OLI concept car has as big an impact. The OLI, like the 2CV, uses parsimony and light weight as problem solving tools and achieves 6.4 miles per Kwh, far better than any EV on the road. Only the Mercedes EQXX gets one mile per Kwh better but does so with complexity and high cost.
The 2 C.V. is one the the very few car that anyone can take for cheap and go drive it around the whole freaking world without problem. If you want to discover the world with a car, you should take a 2 C.V. (Many people did it - like french publicist Jaques Seguela when he was young and broke)
I have had 2 Citroen 2CVs. They are fun cars. In 1968 bought on that was 15 years old (375cc motor), and 1972 bought a 2CV6.
my mom had one when i was 6 y.o. in grenoble (lots of snow in winter mornings) . It was freezing inside, starter ON,, always scarry and not confident at ignition. it was slow but did the job for the town. people at the mountain all prefer panda 4x4.
hill start in snow- keep a bit of the handbrake applied - works like a LSD. and also angle the front wheels periodically - it helps skinnies grab the surface - a bit like zig zagging up a steep hill... look at the old WW2 videos of Kubelwaggons driving through the Russian Mud and snow - they do this - its how you drive a 2WD car in mud or snow
That was my first car and yes, it is unstoppable, snow, mud, rain, it will go through all terrains
In winter in France with snow it was authorized to get nailed tyres or chains. So it was working well. You have a nice, and rare, Charleston model.
Key to good grip in snow is thin tires, like on the 2CV. Another frenchie with good grip in the winter was the Peugeot 104 with 125/13 tires.
And I would add the everlasting renault r4
He was right to try going uphill backwards.
With a front wheel drive vehicle, going up a steep hill in loose terrain actually works to your benefit because gravity is biasing the weight of the vehicle onto the rear tires. This means there's less weight on the front drive wheels and it becomes easier to lose traction. Once you lose traction, it's all over.
I've actually been in this situation before. Once upon a time I had a VW Rabbit and was trying to go up a very steep and long dirt hill. I got about 1/2 way up then the tires lost traction.
I went back to the bottom, turned the car around, and went backwards all the way up the hill.
Worked like a charm.
Narrow tires make an immense difference in deep snow.
One reason modern cars are pretty bad in such conditions compared to cars I remember from the 70/80's.
Not to mention the fuel efficiency and cost of replacement tires.
And ground clearance... its terrible these days. 3 inches or so less than a 70s (debut) car like the Volvo they got.
Also, modern summer tires got much less diagonal thread than most old tires.
Also the depth of the tyre wall/side profile. Modern cars have very low profile tyres so they are very stiff and don't deform like a tyre with a high profile. If they had lowered the tyre pressures the 2CV it would most likely have climbed those slopes with ease.
best trick to climb uphills was always to invite your passengers to stay on the front bumper. More weight on the front axes resolved any snow and ice issue. 2CVs were my first 3 cars and your video brings up a lot of nostalgy
Nice to see a 2cv on snow in US.
Use the Michelin X, the original, much better in every weather conditions.
The most important thing a learned when i had my 2CVs is keep the momentum don't accelerate don't shift gears just keep momentum and it brings you everywhere!
That sound ... takes me home ... i had a accadiane .. same engine but more practicle car .. wish i would still have one
French, I had 65789 2CV. my best car regarding to my cx citroen, xtrail nissan, etc etc. Good video! Kerp up guys !
When I owned my 2CV I sourced snow tires from a place in England. As I recall (fuzzy) up to 12 inches of snow was no problem, and of course, it was much safer driving in winter conditions in general. I’m in CT btw.
If you can't go up a hill driving forward, try reverse up the hill and see how it goes. That was a trick my dad used when he drove the van version of the 2cv round and about Lausanne in Switzerland. Apparently that worked.
I've owned two of these cars, first a 1978 2CV4 (with the small engine) and then a 1977 2CV6, and I've driven on snow without any problem.
Granted, I had a pair of snow grips thingy in the trunk - in case I would got stuck - but I never had to use them, even when I climbed to the Val Thorens ski ressort (3500 meters high) for a ski trip.
When the heating tubes and control wires have not been damaged by mechanics who did not know the car, the heating was actually extremely good (assuming you put the front protection panel as you did in the second half of the video) else the engine never manage to stay warm enough.
I remember once I was cruising on a snow covered national road at about 70-80 kmh/h, passing quite a few cars easily, and in the rear mirror I could see the BMW and Mercedes starting to fishtail behind me because they did not like the idea that a 2CV could drive faster than them, but as mentioned, the super narrow tires and the front wheel drive is impossible to beat with a powerful rear wheel drive car with large tires.
My dad loved 2CV's, and he had one all his life. That, or a Dyane, which is almost the same car. He used to drive to work in them.
In the 1970 we were in Austria with a 2CV with a lot of snow. Only summer tires, No chains - No Problems!
Im not being negative. I love the video and the car. My only comment here is that snow in a -19c has never been a problem for me. My real problem is when it goes above 2c during daytime, at nighttime temperatures fall negative again, and the next morning, it's all ice. Or when there's too much wet snow. Dry snow usually won't be a problem as long as the bottom of the car is higher than the snow you intend to drive on.
The Late Brake Show just dropped the CV2 TT Ice Race from a ski resort in France. From stock to "Rally". Studded snow tires and 90% drifting. There's a technique to the turns. Great fun under 20mph. That video brought me here. (Although I am a subscriber to both channels.)
Best car for snow was my beetle - I loved it 💖
My first car, 1992. Plum and Custard.
Try playing with the handbrake to check spin in the moving tyre to gain traction.
I used to off-road this lightly in snow in the highlands of Scotland going camping on the queen’s estate nears Glamis.😃
The Michelin has 2 treads and the firestones have 4.
Almost any vehicle with a small skinny tire with decent tread would be awesome and especially one that is light.
Usually in winter you have to block the air intake on the front somewhat. I saw people driving around with underpants strapped to the front to keep some heat in for the passengers.
Preserve us from from the New Worlders telling us what we already knew 40 years ago. Putting one in a drag race is pointless, you will arrive 2 minutes after everyone else, in normal conditions. In snow you can do the seemingly impossible. Ex 2CV and Dyane pilot, now 73 but still driving a Citroen!
Used to race these over ploughed fields on farm. They were brilliant little work horses.
I have to admit i was really impressed with your french accent!
My 1970 Mehari was originally purchased for kids to use at NAU in Flagstaff AZ. Which gets lots of snow. Dad purchased a pair of 135's studded snow tires for a VW & a pair of wheels from the dealer, Tempe Sales. Both girls made major money providing taxi service for students around town for work & school, especially in winter. Was sitting on it's side in side yard 21 years after Halloween prank on dad. Was tipped back on 4 wheels, tires aired up, pushed onto trailer. Upon dismount, 5 squirts oil into fuel pump discharge port, boat gas can w/ squeeze bulb to prime (no keys yet & locking gas cap) put on pump inlet, a hot wire from a battery to ignition followed by 6 revolutions of the crank! Viola c'est vivant! Motoring heaven. I put approx 22K miles on it as a daily driver & ÄCE club events. The 2CV is a fantastic vehicle which would go places & do things my Toyota 4x4 p/u could not, like cross a3" deep 45 degree v cut SRP irrigation ditch. Unfortunately I will have eternal sellers remorse being forced to sell it in dire circumstances to another ÄCE club member
Great to see what the 2CV can do in snow! There is a Michelin snow tyre available for the 2CV (very expensive though…) I’m sure the 2CV can go practically anywhere with them fitted. All that reversing is a bit ill advised in a 2CV - on some late cars the gearboxes are prone to jamming up when reversing vigorously. That said, I think you proved yours is okay!
I also think the 2CV would easily plow through the obstacles with a proper set of winters and an aftermarket limited slip dif.
@@Milnoc I think they need to send it down the tumbleweed obstacle course! Let's really test that smooth suspension on the log roll!
@@chrishuyler3580 Definitely! The car was designed for that! Let's hope they don't forget the basket of eggs!
I heard that the 2CV was designed so that one could actually dis-assemble it into chunks to be carried across a ravine, for example or on a small boat across a river, and then be assembled on the opposite side. The pieces would be small enough to carry across manually.
The 2cv was designed shortly after WW II for the needs of small farmers in France. It had to carry cans of milk, eggs, cheese, dry sausages, and artisinal delicacies to the local market for selling. Indeed disassembly and assembly was a piece of cake, I did it several times.
I had a French car with a manual choke (76 Peugeot) and even when the temperature in upstate NY was below zero, you could pull out that choke and start up fine...
As someone who studies french, your pronunciation is very good
back in the days we had studded tire for snow. When these studded tires were in too bad conditions to handle another winter, my father would take out the nails with pliers in order to use them for one last summer!
Such a cool little car!
The Michelin X originally fitted to the "cv has sipped. And there was the Michelin XM+S89 for the snow.
Both those tires are still available from Michelin Classic.
What an incredible car! The first model, prototype, was made just before World War II and mass production began in 1948 and ceased in 1990. It was the cheapest car. She’s an old lady, but it still works well these days. She has become a vintage car with an ever higher price. On the mud and the sand, she works well too. When I was a child I laught when I saw her with this particulary roaring and this old fashionned style. On board, I couldn’t stop messing around but I'm not the alone. Maybe that’s his funny style. There is a something of magic in this car. But now, I see her with nostalgia.
In winter on snowy road parts a person standing on the front bumper of a 2 CV adds a lot of traction! 😂
By the way, the Fürth number plate is near my hometown here in Bavaria: how did this little car get over into the US?
The construction criteria for the 2cv was: it has to be able to transport a bag of eggs over a rough field on the country side, without breaking them.
Such quality content, long time lover of TFL content here
I have heard of the zFrench using motor cycle tyres , for snow and mud racing
I had one of those, a Beachcomber. Brilliant! loved it!
Weight: low. Wheels: large but narrow. Drive: front. Suspension: independent. Off-road capability: excellent! BTW, have you already made a video about that UAZ?