Slippery weather means that drivers of 4×4 vehicles can justify their machine’s power sapping complexity which conveys their potentially stupendous ability to plough through snowdrifts. My own car, the rear wheel drive BMW 1 series is about the least suited to driving in snow yet it had no trouble dealing with the snow encountered this January. I was intrigued to read a road test of a rear-wheel drive BMW fitted with snow tyres. Apparently the experienced road tester thought that the snow tyres gave the BMW better traction in the snow than a 4WD on tarmac tyres. I did not have snow tyres fitted this year but if I had, I would love to have had a photo of my little car towing a Range Rover on tarmac tyres up an icy slope.