Hej,

I just saw this post and now I am a little afraid I missed something. Last year we were over in Torsby over christmas and silvester. Everything went fine except for one very Icy spot on E6 near Malmö.

This year we drive up to Piteå, so a "little" further north, and to be honest I am a little afraid of that drive. We will be driving 3 days, germany to Lund, Lund to Gävle, Gävle to Piteå. So It should all be E6 and E4.

My checklist looks like this:

  • Cooling Fluid can go down to -45˚C
  • Window cleaning fluid has to be done
  • New Winter tires are on since last month
  • Snow chains
  • Oil according to my mechanic should be fine
  • Headlamps

Is there anything I forgot, anything to make my trip more save?

Thank you for your comments in advance.

ETA:

Wow 80 comments I am blown away Thank you so very much even though I cannot answer everyone I will read it all.

by Findas88

47 comments

  1. The car seem proper equipped but make sure you have enough clothes to stay warm in the event the car breaks down in -20C. Does your car have engine heater?  Bring the cable

  2. Snow chains seems a bit overkill but better to have and not need I guess.

  3. What kind of winter tires? Central european  winter tires vs nordic winter tires are very diffrent.

  4. As long as you have the proper winter-grade washer fluid and coolant, plus winter tires and warm clothes, you’ll be fine. The highways are generally good and straight the whole way, especially the E4. Adjust your speed to the road conditions—you’ll get comfortable with it after a while.

    If there’s a lot of snow, ruts can form in the road, similar to the tracks you follow when cross-country skiing. That can be really annoying and a bit scary when you try to overtake another vehicle, so avoid doing that. Better to arrive late in this life than early in the next.

  5. Keep warm clothes and a spare tyre in the car and you’ll be fine. Use proper winter tyres with spikes as well. Snow chains is absolutely overkill, no need to bring those. Your map is of the E4, it’s usually not even slippery because of all the traffic, conditions will be fine for the most part but you might run into some heavy snow or so which just means it will be slower and annoying to drive in.

    Late December can be really cold some years but you’re just as likely to get 0°C as you are to get -30. January to February are usually colder than december anyways.

  6. Good luck with that. I’d always ensure you are stocked with blankets, warm drink flasks.

  7. Do you have studded winter tyres? Going this far north with just friction tyres is a little risky.

  8. Have you taken any lesson in how to drive in slippery weather? In Sweden it is kalled ”halkkörning” and I can not recomend it enough, it is a great experience. Look it up.

  10. The last two years I’ve driven up from Stockholm to slightly longer north than Piteå (in one day). We’ve done it with an electric car with Stockholm winter tires (no dubbar (the metally pegs)) and wouldn’t recommend it but we were fine and didn’t get any problems.

    The E4 in general is not that slippery around that time so should be fine. But drive carefully and watch the weather forecast to see where you have to be extra careful!

    For safety, bring so you have food and blankets/warm clothes easily accessible in case you stand still for a long time, and a shovel wouldn’t be bad to have in case it snows A LOT.

    But given I drive and have drove that stretch more than once a year the past 5 years it is really not that bad, especially the more north you get as it’s usually colder than 0°C.

    And as someone who grew up there, if you have winter tires with the metal pegs (sv: dubbar) you don’t need the chain. I’ve only really heard them used for like tractors. Normal winter tires and driving carefully (below speed limit with margin often).

    In case of snow storm, make sure to either leave earlier or take one more stop on the way up. If something has happened or there’s a snow storm it will take significantly longer with up to many hours in a traffic jam.

    Good luck and stay safe!

  11. My mum always made sure we had winter sleeping bags with use when we drove north as kids, as she said better to have them and survive getting stuck some where than not. Guess what? We got stuck twice in a queue when it was minus 20 outside. Those winter sleeping bags kept us warm.

    She is in her 80:ties and still packs a sleeping back and thermos with hot coffee if she driving over 1 hour and she had to us it twice due to being stuck in traffic.

    And yes my parents live up north.

    Dont forget a shovel!

  12. If you are going on any back roads or similar, make sure to have equipment for a night in a dead car in many degrees below.
    Just takes a dead battery to be a sitting duck.

  13. Im a swede living in the north. I have never used snow chains in my whole life. 4wd and Nokian studded tyres takes you anywhere in the winter. And 4wd is more nice to have than must have.

  14. A shovel, brush and ice scraper will be needed when you at at your destination. If you are visiting someone who already have a shovel that would be fine (we have shovels woth a short handle that fits fine in the car).
    When you park over night you need to scrape the windows in the morning and brush of snow from the roof and hood. The shovel is needed in case they plough the street at night and create a wall of snow outside the car.
    I would bring an emergency blanket on case of breakdown.

  16. Be sure that you truly have winter tires, not ”all year round” tires. Studded tires would be preferred though.
    The legal requirement however is that the tire is marked with an icon depicting ”a snowflake inside a mountain with three peaks”

  17. Nordic winter tires or euro winter tires? There is a reason we have nordic tires up here in the north.

  18. Op, I grew up north of Piteå. Unless you regularly go on badly cleared forest roads, you won’t need the chains. I would advise studded tires, though. You will be going on the E4 most of the way, and it’s plowed and treated. Just make sure to keep warm clothes, water and something to eat in case you get stuck. A powerbank for the phone too.

    Also, don’t expect to drive the entire way in one day. With breaks, that’s almost a full day driving, and it will be dark most of the time.

    Don’t rush at and take chances overtaking. Lots of 2+1 roads and some of the overtaking lanes are really short. Don’t expect all of them to be 1km or longer.

    Also, watch the news and remain open to waiting an extra day if there’s bad weather. We stayed an extra day in a hotel a few years ago instead of arriving at new years eve… Not fun. But better than not arriving at all.

  19. You’ll do fine. These are large roads with plenty of other people and at least close-ish to road assistance. I wouldn’t pack for a doomsday scenario.

    If you’d do the same trip across Norway it’s another thing. There I always pack snow chains, sleeping bag, shovel and food/drink.

  20. Hi!
    I live in Norrbotten and I would absolutely recommend you to go with studded tires. I don’t think you’re allowed to use show chains on bare asphalt, and the highways up here are slippery without the right gear

  21. Do not trust the replies!

    Your route is along the biggest and best maintained roads in northern Sweden. There are gas stations, cities and stops for taking a rest and getting supplies all along the way. I’ve heard there even is radio reception and cell phone coverage, lol. Snow chains, thermos, spare food for days and a fully equipped snowmobile is not required!

    Equip your recently serviced car with a good pair of winter tires (made for ice and snow), bring warm clothes in the trunk and you’ll be good to go. Pack your snow chains by all means if you have them, but they don’t need to be at the top of the pile, ready to use. I’ve honestly never heard of anyone who even had to use them unless they were far away from common roads.

    Studded tires are not required. Sure, they perform better in some instances and are often preferred. But hundreds of thousands of people drive on snow and ice with friction winter tires and it works great. Especially along the highways. Just know your tires, drive carefully and don’t take and stupid risks like overtaking on a road with ice spots.

    What may get you is not the cold but the darkness. Days are quite a bit shorter in Piteå than in Torsby and you’ll be effectively driving at night for most of the day. But it’s not as bad as some people say since the snow also brings some brightness.

    Respect snowfall – if it snows lower your speed. It really impacts how far you can see. And it can be dangerously if it piles up on the highway.

    If snowfall is very heavy, it may be wise to not go on a marathon drive that particular day but accept that your stuck until the snow has been cleared away. In those rare cases, warnings and advisories are very clearly communicated by weather services such as SMHI as yellow/orange/red warnings.

    Bring a scraper and a brush (or buy at a gas station) to remove ice and snow from the car before leaving. Clean the roof really well or snow may fall down on your windshield and block your vision.

    In summary: welcome to Sweden, you’ll be fine!!!

  24. I allways have a towing rope in my cars. In 14 years i have helped a dozen other people and only have had it used on me once. That cable has paid for it self more than enough.

    They don’t cost much and are worth its weight in gold when you need it.

  25. Starter pack if the car battery dies. Make sure you have roadside assistance insurance that covers assistance in Sweden, else it could get very expensive. Also check your normal insurance.

    Powerbank for your phone to call for rescue/assistance, or a starter pack with USB charger.

    Emergency blankets in the car. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy but enough to huddle up inside a frozen car. Having good winter clothes inside the cabin is a good idea.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about food but a few granola bars and sugary fluids is always a good idea. Yes, snow is water but you may not want to open the door and try to warm several kilos of snow for a few liters of water, it sucks. 

    You can expect to be rescued within 24 hours on a major road, usually way less but we’re preparing for the worst. Forest roads to a cabin can be worse.

  26. I live in Piteå. If you want any suggestions on what to do around here send me a PM and I can give you a few pointers.

  27. You’ll be fine. Just keep in mind that continental winter tires are very different from Nordic friction tires, the former are for driving slowly on rare days when it’s below zero, the latter are for driving at highway speeds on ice. I guess you won’t be able to use studded tires since your trip goes through Germany, but Nordic friction will be fine, that’s what the majority of Swedes now use (including all taxis).

    Conti VikingContact 8 are the constant test winner nowadays so it’s a safe bet.

  28. When it comes to warm clothes, layers and wool is your friend.

    The road you’ll mainly be on will be well cared for and unless you are in a massive snow storm or an accident, everything will be fine. But prepare as if you’ll be stuck on the highway for 2 days. Always stop to get fuel when the tank is nearing half full, have food you can eat, clothes to keep warm, showel, and a powerbank or two so you always have the ability to use your phone to call for help.

  31. Check your battery, the capacity decrease in cold weather and thats when you need it the most. Especially if you have a diesel driven car. Also if you have a diesel, plan to fill your tank at least 80% somewhere around Sundsvall since from there and further north they’ve fuel-mix adapted for colder climate.

  32. Make sure that you have a First Aid kit in the car, as well as a snow showel. It would also be a good idea to create an emergency kit, in case you get stuck somewhere, consisting of blankets, [candles](https://www.bauhaus.se/varmeljus-inicio-8-timmar-50-pack) and matches (helps keep the car warm incase you run out of fuel), energy bars and something to drink, preferably also a thermos with something warm to drink. And make sure that you have warm clothing accessible and that you don’t wear it until you need to (sweating in winter is a good way to get hypothermia).

    A powerbank can also be a good choice, to make sure that you can always call for help if you get stuck somewhere.

  33. Reflex bands.

    Not for your car, but for your clothes when you step out of it, since it will be dark most of the time.

    Also greatly appreciated if you wear other colors than black 🙂

  34. You seem well prepared OP – you are going to see some absolutely beautiful nature if you like wintery landscapes! You’re not exactly going to see any sun, of course.

  35. I mean, we go by the E4 every year during winter to Luleå.

    The E4 is cake walk in the winter, no need to worry there. However, other people have a tendancy to be idiots. We always have blankets, tealights, powerbank and lighter in the car.

    If you end up in a traffic jam for hours, you kinda wanna stay warm.

  36. People are correct in recommending emergency supplies but calm down a little, it’s northern Sweden. Not Alaska.

    Bring enough to stay warm through the night in the VERY RARE case you get stuck for that long, keep a shovel in your car and extra fuel if you can run your heater off the motor. It’s good to stay prepared, it’s absolutely demented to follow some of the advice in this thread because you won’t fit it all in a car and there’s no reason to prepare for 3 weeks in the wilderness if you’re traveling to Luleå. You’ll be fine.

  37. That far north people mostly use studded tires, it can be were slippery on ice without studds.

  38. Fill a spraybottle with the wiperfluid and spray the ice on the windows before you scrape it. Lifehack from the north 👍🏼👍🏼

  39. I had no idea new year is called silvester in Germany

  40. My best advice is to plan for fun games, good podcasts and curated playlists for the drive between Gävle and Piteå.
    I drove that stretch a couple of years ago and it’s is by far the most excruciatingly boring drive I have ever driven.
    It is 1+2-road with tons of trucks aaaaaall the way.

  41. If you are just going on E4 you don’t need snow chains. Warm clothes are good if you get stuck due to an accident or something but if it’s just normal winter weather you don’t need to worry. You are not driving in Antarctica.

  42. I drive to Luleå, Umeå and Kiruna in February 2021 in my Ford Fiesta 2004 xD. It was -35c one day, everything went well I didn’t even think about anything! But it’s good to be prepared, you’ll be fine. All I would do is have some firewood in the car in case it breaks down and need warmth

  44. Missing the beautiful northern mountains of Jämtland and Härjedalen.

    I’m a bit biased

  45. You’re going on the highway, there will be traffic constantly, cellphone signal etc. The only difference from the rest of the trip will be the temperature when you step out of the car. 🙂

  46. Most important thing is to match the driving speed to the weather. Even though the sign says 110, it doesen’t mean that you should drive at that speed. Adapt your driving to the current weather conditions. Also if there is “snow smoke” use your rear fog light so that you can be seen.

    Good luck and Enjoy the drive!

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