People Say The Citroen 2CV Is a Snow BEAST: Let's Find Out If That's True! 

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.

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!

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.

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!

Passed my driving test in a 2CV 30 years ago. Love them!

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!

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.

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,...

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"!

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 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.

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 .

That is, hands down, the coolest car in your fleet!

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 RU-vid channel will cover at some point. TFL has great creativity among other things. Much respect. “The hero nobody asked for (specifically) but everybody needs”.

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 remember one of my favorite James Bond scenes involved a 2CV in For Your Eyes Only, good times!

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.

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

This car and the old Renault R4 where the best cars in the snow and a lot of fun to throw around

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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...

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..

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.

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.

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

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 😅

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....

Winter thread tires make a world of difference in snow. This goes for any car really.

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.

At 2:25, Tommy tosses his gloves in the backseat. The “heated steering wheel” must be working. 😲

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 sound of the engine is impossible to miss. It sings in French. Awesome car.

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 ♥️

Great footage guys !!! Greetings from Slovakia 👌👍

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.

My buddy worked at a small private airport and they converted an old 2CV into a snow plow. 😄

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 ❤❤❤

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. 👍🏻

Brings back memories. R4 was just as good. I've had uninitiated passengers screaming in both types in snow.

It also was -14 last week here in Denver. It was intense outside. Can’t imagine how cold the mountains got

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...

Such quality content, long time lover of TFL content here

Snow tires are compulsory here In Finland in the winter. They make them for all cars, with or without studs.

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

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.

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.

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!

Nice video. That was a lot of fun in the snow with a 2CV

In the 1970 we were in Austria with a 2CV with a lot of snow. Only summer tires, No chains - No Problems!

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.

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.

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.

Such a cool little car!

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

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.

I had one of those, a Beachcomber. Brilliant! loved it!

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

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?

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

That car is awesome…one of my favorites that TFL has in the fleet

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

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.

Fun video! Maybe try a Morris Minor if you can find one? - very light - skinny tires (mine had radial) - front engine - rear drive It's sort of the a combination between the 2CV and the Beetle. Ground clearance is not so good as the 2CV though.

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.

That sound ... takes me home ... i had a accadiane .. same engine but more practicle car .. wish i would still have one

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 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.

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.

As a frenchman it's fun to see american fellas enjoying a french car while I'm here enjoying my Tahoe.

At one occasion I drove my mothers Saab 900. It did a complete 360 in a roundabout during winter. With no warning. I've owned two 2Cv-s, and I must say that there's no better winter car! It taps you on the shoulder and says "do you that curve over there? I might oversteer a little then. But just let go a little on the acceleratior, and we'll be!"

Almost any vehicle with a small skinny tire with decent tread would be awesome and especially one that is light.

3:28, yeah an UAZ Buchanka in the background👍👍

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.

Love. Love. Love the 2CV vids you are doing. Glad to see a new one! Thanks! Just gotta convince the wife it is the fun car buy we want. BTW Ditch the Jeep hat :-)

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.

I have to admit i was really impressed with your french accent!

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.

Fun video guys! Maybe it's time to bring David back to show off that garden tractor you bought, so you can demo the snow plow or blower attachments.

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.

Nice to see a 2cv on snow in US. Use the Michelin X, the original, much better in every weather conditions.

Best car for snow was my beetle - I loved it 💖

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.

Used to race these over ploughed fields on farm. They were brilliant little work horses.

I always learned that letting your car warm up idling in cold weather is not advisable as letting it work cautiously from the get go will warm up the engine and spread oil quicker.

Amazing, I just wrote an article about the electric version of the Citroën 2CV, and I mentioned that there are a few cars I love, and that is the 2CV, the UAZ-452 and the Volvo 240. Than, I just happend to watch this video and found all three of them! Such an coincidence.

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.)

I have heard of the zFrench using motor cycle tyres , for snow and mud racing