Honda Civic Racing, Street Encounters and Competition RacingHonda Civic Racing happens on the street and on the track. There are different setups needed if you are using your Honda Civic for drifting, drag racing, or track racing. Share your stories of Honda Civic racing here.
I love the snow being from louisiana, but I don't do anything stupid in snowy weather cuz I always fuk up in LA in rainy weather.. so snow is like 10x's worst.. that is just me.. but I have tried drifting in a parkinglot during snow, which was alot of fun.. but read the drifting threat before you try it...
Other than that, its just best to practice careful safe driving durring bad weather. And buy good winter tires. I use Michelin Arctic Alpines for my Civic and they hook up great on packed snow and ice.
All I can add to that now is just be prepaired to be stuck. Sometimes theres nothing you can do to prevent a bad situation. Keep emergency blankets or a heater in the trunk. And dress warmly. Make sure you have a charged cell phone.
i must say, b4 this car i had a subaru legacy, since this civic is light its not too bad in the snow, doesnt compare to all wheel drive, but to other cars w/o all wheel drive its pretty good, and i think a big thing i had trouble with was the change from four wheel disc brakes to two discs in the front, so i had some extra unnecessary sliding, and dont make the mistake i made by trying to beat a light in a blizzard, the light poles show no mercy!
Ive only ever goofed around with one 4x4 in the snow and it was a Ford Escape so it doesnt count. I would love to drift a Subaru. The Escape has a primitive drivetrain. First it understeers from front wheel spin, then it oversteers when the rear wheels kick in with a slight thud. No wonder why I always see SUV's in the ditch. They arent exactly fluid in power transfer.
i hate snow. I have this fairly steep hill going up to my house, and I spent most of today trying to get my 2500 lb car with BALD stock tires to my house...eh. I had to park it like a mile away from my house yesterday when I was comin home from work....it tore me apart. When I went back my baby was all covered in snow and ice *sniff**sniff*. Im definitely ordering some Bridgestone Blizzaks soon.
I have Michelin Arctic Alpines. They very good for cold wet/dry pavement and packed snow and ice, but they are like an all season tire in loose or deep snow. Let me know how the Bridgestones work out for you. I might try thoes when these ones wear out.
Warm water coin-op preassure washer stations are great for removing deposits under the car. I already had to do that twice to fix imballanced wheels due to ice this season. The civic seems to build it up more than other cars Ive had for some reason. Especially in the wheel wells and the back bumper.
When your wheels are spinning in snowy conditions, you also want to match your wheel spin with the revolutions of your engine. In addition, clean snow has the best traction. Dont travel in the tracks of other cars because that snow is compressed and is more slippery. Virgin snow has more grab to it and you can stear <marginly> better
someone mentioned earlier about downshifting. yes, it helps, but on the other end, if you dont release the clutch slowly, and have the engine speed/gear/wheel speeds matched properly, youre going to lock up the front tires causing you to go straight.
also, 4 wheel drive, no matter how sophisiticated of a system, is NOT by any means invincible. my point? 4 wheel drive is really only good for acceleration and getting you out of small problems(i.e. dithes) so long as the snow isnt deep enough to pack up under the car, thus lifting the car up a bit and removing weight from the wheels. what i mean is, you always have 4 wheels braking, and giving traction for turning, so 4 wheel drive isnt gonna help there. people with SUV's seem to think they are un stoppable, well, people that think like that, often end up on the side of the road.
also, ive learned a tecnique that may be helpful.
there is a road near my house that can be trecherous on snowy days. the road is a little windy, and has several hills which vary in grade and height. what ive learned is when going up hills try to stay in as high of a gear as possible. this reduces torque and increases traction. i combine this with sufficient speed and i was able to crest this hill without much trouble. while climbing this hill, the rpms dropped to near stalling range, quickly, i decided that i HAD to downshift. if you must do this, you must downshift as quickly and smoothly as possible so as to loose as little momentum as possible.
now, this same hill, then heads down hill at a steeper grade than the uphill portion with a sharp, right hand turn that begins heading up another moderatly steep hill halfway through the turn. i was thinking about this while climbing the hill and decided that at the top, i would loose as much speed as possible and shift to a low gear, i chose 2nd. by doing this, i could keep the speed down, while being able to apply less braking pressure by using engine braking.
once i entered the turn, and felt that i could safely apply throttle, i shifted to 3rd, and started accelerating up the hill.
Originally posted by EternalVTEC
also, 4 wheel drive, no matter how sophisiticated of a system, is NOT by any means invincible. my point? 4 wheel drive is really only good for acceleration and getting you out of small problems(i.e. dithes) so long as the snow isnt deep enough to pack up under the car, thus lifting the car up a bit and removing weight from the wheels. what i mean is, you always have 4 wheels braking, and giving traction for turning, so 4 wheel drive isnt gonna help there. people with SUV's seem to think they are un stoppable, well, people that think like that, often end up on the side of the road.
hehe.. in the rally races.. everyone hauls in their AWD car.. and it seems like it has "some" impact when driving in the snow.. like.. its much more easier to drive then a car that is FWD or RWD..
true, but as i was saying, it doesnt help you stop better, youre always stopping with 4 tires(beside having 4 wheel DRIVE, isnt what you want to STOP{if that makes sense}). and when you turn, you always have 4 tires gripping when you turn
Well, this is an old story, but i've never told it and since we're talking about the snow and all...back in Feb, i was coming home and the wind was blowing like a bitch, so the snow was blowing over the road and i could barely see what i was doing...anyways, yah i was driving like a moron - going way too fast (about 70) on the country roads ...anyways, i get about 100 yards from my house and just PLOW into this huge snowdrift (wasn't tall-about up to the bumper-but was stretched across the whole road and about 20 yards long)
anyways, i kept my cool and rode it out....lost basically all control of the car...the road has a ditch on either side that's decently deep...but thankfully filled with snow. However, telephone poles line the right side of the road...so naturally, the car starts to drift right...I countered, and now the car is sliding right while pointing left (at this point i am sliding down the road completely sideways doing about 60ish) i countered again and suddenly the car is pointing right while sliding left...it continues to slide this way until i lost all control and end up sliding backwards (had the brakes pressed all the way in) - so by now i'm probably still going about 55-60 headed for the edge of the road....i hit the ditch and it spun me a little bit so i'm not quite facing directly backwards....and that basically stops me
it was pretty cool though, because it was dark and when i hit the ditch all this snow just goes WOOOSH up onto the hood and covered the windshield, just like in the movies....right afterwards, i started pounding on the steering wheel and screaming stuff like "YEAH", KICK ASS!! b/c the whole thing was just like in the movies and plus i didn't lose my cool the whole time
anyways, i got out of the car and walked about 100 yards to my house and busted out my cherokee and pulled the car through a field, just before my parents got home (+)
no damage to the car, but a helluva night...and a cool story to boot
