A song of snow and ice: driving Land Rover in Iceland

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to a very cold place, officially the coldest place I had ever been to, for a cross-country test drive. (Land Rover had invited me to sample the all-new Discovery Sport in Iceland, a feature which you’ll read about in the future.)

Today, I’m writing about my experience driving in very cold weather, on a mix of surfaces (ice, snow, freezing water, some mud and, of course, tarmac) and its effect on the driver.

Some statistics: Iceland is slowly becoming a party capital of the world (You didn’t know that, did you?). Its people trace its roots to the Vikings; and the country utilizes almost 100-percent renewable energy thanks to the vast reserves of geothermal energy stored underneath Iceland’s volcanic surface.

There are many natural hot water springs which have a very soothing effect on the body. On a good payday holiday weekend, any one of our malls can challenge Iceland’s total population of roughly 340,000, of which there are about 2,000 Filipinos working there.

Iceland is also a very clean place. People drink from the taps straight, and the air is devoid of pollution. I actually felt really energetic despite the cold.

Even with a modest five to six  hours of sleep on the two nights I was in Iceland, these were all probably very deep sleep—which is what our bodies need to fully recover from the stress of everyday work.

Ironically Iceland, during summer, is covered in lush green and very little ice. Its nearby neighbor, Greenland, has far more ice and snow throughout the year, being closer to the Arctic Circle and North Pole.

But this is January in Iceland, and daylight is a measly six hours. Sunrise was close to 11 a.m. on our drive, with sunset at 4:15 p.m.

Incidentally, Iceland’s weather changes very fast, literally as fast as five minutes! You can have excellent visibility during daylight, but can quickly vanish as strong winds sweep up freshly laid snow, kicking up a snowstorm of sorts, as the snow is so pure and fine.

The sensation you experience looking out the windshield is like flying through clouds. It’s mesmerizing, but at the same time terrifying because the road ahead quickly vanishes from your view and you’re forced to stop (and yes you should turn on your hazard/emergency lights when this happens and you’re fully at a standstill on the road). Wait a few minutes though, and everything usually goes back to normal.

Driving the Discovery Sport through a variety of surfaces made me, a complete newbie in these conditions, very petrified;  I’d never driven on snow and ice, and according to my off-road expert colleague Beeboy Bargas, it’s a totally different skill, as opposed to traditional off-road driving in mud and sand, despite sharing some similarities.

But thanks to the Discovery Sport’s ultrahigh-tech Terrain Response Management software, plus the studded snow tires, I found confidence (and speed) after a handful of miles.

But I saw so many cars that don’t have all-wheel or four-wheel drive, or lacked a sophisticated computer-controlled driving aid, yet they were driving far faster than we did.

We saw a couple of vehicles with drivers inside of them stranded on the embankment of snow beside the road (perhaps the drivers cooked the car while entering a turn or ran through some black ice), but these Icelanders were, in a sense, far more skilled in driving in adverse conditions than I was, and I think I’m a decent driver myself.

It’s all down to exposure to a variety of driving conditions. It’s fair to say that the average Icelandic driver has far better skill and car control than the average Filipino driver for sure.

But aside from exposure to adverse driving conditions and learning how to cope with them, these Icelanders take driver training very seriously, which is something we lack dearly in the Philippines.

At home, if you can move the car from a parked position and know how to work a manual transmission and clutch, you’re considered a decently skilled driver.

Transitioning from tarmac to ice/snow then back to tarmac, I had a few scares: The Discovery Sport would twitch at highway speeds, or the car would under/oversteer entering a corner a few times.

And then there’s the general sensation of the car squirming while cruising, observing the posted speed limit. Even if I felt confident driving, it made me wonder how I’d fare in my own cars that had no traction/stability/vehicle dynamics control or terrain response management software. I’d most likely end up with a tank slapper at the very least, and totaling my car a very real possibility.

Driving in these somewhat treacherous conditions requires total focus and commitment. The cold slowly drains your energy, and it’s going to be a real pain in the neck to break down on the highway.

Even inside the car, I’m bundled up and the most I could take to brave the -2 to -4 degrees Celsius (sans the wind chill factor) was about five  minutes.

Beyond that, I felt I’d just collapse and die a slow, painless death, with the cold slowly stealing the warmth of my body.

If you have to step out of the car, there had better be shelter nearby, and you plan what you need to do outside of the comfort of the car. You don’t just mindlessly walk out.

Aside from the cold, slipping, sliding or just plain falling over is a risk you need to deal with even if you’re wearing appropriate winter clothing, which also limits your movements.

The moral here? Your car should always be in 100 percent in tip-top shape. Break down and you might freeze to death stranded far inland since most of Iceland’s population resides in the coastal areas.

Here in the Philippines, we get in and drive, not minding our environment or surroundings. Driving is an automatic, almost involuntary action, devoid of thinking, strategy, attention and self-awareness.

Tell-tale signs include straddling two lanes, making a turn from the middle lane because we lost track of where we’re going while using our mobile phones, or ignoring the blocked traffic ahead and crossing into the yellow box section of an intersection, creating more traffic in the process.

I admit I’m guilty of these things as well. Suddenly we realize why accidents are a very common occurrence in the country.

To reeducate a generation of drivers to be more self-aware, more focused, more careful and more committed to the task of driving (a very serious task indeed, as a vehicle can be a weapon in the hands of the uneducated, unskilled or absentminded), a romp through ice and snow would shock this generation of drivers into shaping up and taking a different attitude while driving.

Driving skill can be garnered through practice, just like any skill. But it’s the attitude towards driving, that it’s a serious activity which needs total focus, which needs to be inculcated into the hearts and minds of Filipino drivers.

And with the auto industry projecting over 300,000 cars sold this 2015, that also means more accidents.

Lastly, we need to keep our cars in tip-top shape. Sure, properly maintaining a car is expensive, but owning and driving a car isn’t just a right, but a responsibility: to keep it in safe, operable condition at all times, and to keep it from breaking down and creating more traffic and chaos.