Festival season can bring lots of traffic, and with it, temporary grass car parks which can be pretty hectic to drive through, especially in our often wet Irish weather. The following tips will help you navigate most of these car parks, whatever condition they may be in!
Drive steady: Don’t jerk the steering wheel or accelerator or the tyres won’t get traction. Take it easy while accelerating. Steady accelerating keeps tyres planted and will keep the wheels from spinning.
Don’t brake while turning: Instead take your foot off the accelerator and halfway through the turn, get your foot back on it smoothly, keeping the revs low.
Drive slow and steady through mud: Chances are; you’re going to have to drive through mud leaving the festival. The general rule is to drive as slow as possible, but as fast as necessa
In mud, pull away in second gear: This will help you gain more traction and make it easier to move away from a standstill without spinning the wheels.
Keep the wheels straight as you enter the mud and for as long as your momentum continues: If you start to get bogged down, now is the time to turn the wheels back and forth as the tyre’s thread edge helps to gain traction. But keep straight for as long as possible as turning slows momentum.
If you’re worried about deep mud, walk it first: Check how deep it is with a stick first before driving through.
Don’t follow other car’s tracks: These are the wettest, softest portion of the ground, and deep ruts will minimise steering ability making it nearly impossible to pull out of. They also have lower ground clearance, making it more likely to get stuck. Stick to the flattest areas.
Wear the right shoes: Don’t wear mucky wellies or shoes, they’ll make it much harder to drive! Leave clean shoes in the car over the course of the festival to only use while driving.
If you do get stuck, use cardboard under the front wheel for traction. As a last resort, use your car mats, but be aware, they could get destroyed!
Once you are moving, keep going: Especially on an incline. You can meet your passengers at the gate to the main road afterwards, rather than risk getting stuck all over again.