Surviving the snow

[WannaBFast]

i figured that since some of use have to deal with snow 6 months out of the year.. i figured some of you would like some pointers when dealing with some snow problem: car isnt getting traction off the line answer: if you are racing in snow.. you are dumb, but if you are having problems getting started, let go of the gas for an instant and then resume normal depression, this will function similar to traction control on cars so equipped, basically if the car detects the wheels are slipping, it slows down the wheels enuff to get a little traction to get started, once its rolling, its easy to increase speed, if one wanted to in this kind of condition problem: car turns slightly, but cant turn like on dry pavement answer: this is understeer, this is caused by lack of traction to the front of the car, the best way to solve this is entering at an even lower speed, but if you are still having problems at say 10mph, tug on the ebrake lightly, this will make the rear swing around, so to prepare for this, countersteer right as you are tugging, i suggest practicing this technique in a totally vacant lot before you try on the streets, this is extremely dangerous to other drivers, because they are not psychic and the laws of physics dont apply to you in this case , so i dont recommend using this when other cars are present most of the better ways are to avoid dealing with these dangerous road conditions are: 1. live where it doesnt snow 2. dont drive when others are out on the road 3. use common sense, if your are cautious enough you should be able to emerge unscathed, i am speaking about the drivers that are cautious, not the ones that think that they can drive as fast on dry pavement as on icy roads 4. if you absolutely insist on being one of the persons i spoke against in #3, please, use a beater, and insure it to the fullest extent to protect other drivers in cases of mishap 5. use the safe plowed routes or be familiar with the roads and the capabilities your car has on them hope this helps a few ppl

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[WannaBFast]

problem: braking has become very hard, i feel the abs pulsing, but not slowing down as fast

answer: locking up your wheels is the worst thing to do in the snow, it makes the car move in unpredictable ways, you see cars in the movies locking up their brakes and they have quite a bit of lateral movement, same is true with any car on snow. basically you want to downshift much earlier(if you have a manual), and apply brakes accordingly being careful not to lock up the brakes, for automatics, just brake earlier, the with slippery roads, it will take longer to brake than normal

[AR]

I like having a stick in all weather conditions. Chicago only gets about under like 3-4 months of solid snowing... but driving stick is great and cheap advantage to keep control of your car for all of the elements.

[WannaBFast]

Problem: im still "pumping" the gas, but im still not getting traction

answer: try starting in a higher gear, first gear is generally the most torquey of all of the other gears, this is shown by the speed at which first gear is run, and the fact that you can peel out in first, second gear gives a little better control because it wont transfer a lot of the torque to the wheels

[Boilermaker1]

problem: car turns slightly, but cant turn like on dry pavement

answer: this is understeer, this is caused by lack of traction to the front of the car, the best way to solve this is entering at an even lower speed, but if you are still having problems at say 10mph, tug on the ebrake lightly, this will make the rear swing around, so to prepare for this, countersteer right as you are tugging, i suggest practicing this technique in a totally vacant lot before you try on the streets, this is extremely dangerous to other drivers, because they are not psychic and the laws of physics dont apply to you in this case , so i dont recommend using this when other cars are present

It is also advisable to hit the gas some more while you're countersteering. This should help pull you out of the slide and get you pointed in the right direction. Also, you only need to pull it for a split second to get the rear to step out. If you keep it up until you've completed the turn, be prepared to drive in reverse to get where you're going.

[WannaBFast]

very true boiler, it also wont require a lot of force to get the rear to kick over

[abmerop18]

good adivise, i could have used this last friday if i had read it then. i spun my car into a 180 turning into my friends development. i was making a right turn going around 10mph and the car just spun. it was the first day of snow that stuck to the ground and the roads wern't plowed yet and it was still snowing pretty hard. any advise for something like this?

[WannaBFast]

^^ drive slow, when the streets arent plowed, its ok to go under the speed limit

[Connie]

I cant wait for it to snow......I am going to brake out my '91 mustang (rear wheel drive )

[abmerop18]

Originally posted by WannaBFast
^^ drive slow, when the streets arent plowed, its ok to go under the speed limit

the thing is i was going 20 in a 40 and i made the turn going around 10mph when the car spun. any advise?

[WannaBFast]

well if you brake going into the turn, you are gonna skid so the best advice is to calmly countersteer, if you jerk the wheel all the way to the other side, you will skid in teh other direction, but if you are skidding at 10mph, you probablly hit a patch of ice or something, and dont slam on the brakes, locking up your wheels is the worst thing to do in the snow

[AdamYYZ]

Living in Canada all my life, Ive mastered driving in the snow. The best advice I can give is to practice losing control in an empty. light parking lot with no poles or curbs or parked cars in your way. Its the best thing you can do for quick experience on how to regain control durring over/under steering.

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.

[WannaBFast]

i live in minnesota, im good in the snow, but i wouldnt say ive mastered it, its very unpredictable

[AdamYYZ]

Well... I got owned the other day. Some "master" I am. Working north of the city I take country roads to avoid the city streets which have proven to be dangerous. I was rear ended last September on a busy city street while commuting and it caused 4500 in damages and the car hasnt been the same since. On Thursday, at 5:30AM the snow and wind was quite heavy. I was driving down Countryside Drive in 2nd gear. I approached a towtruck pulling a car out of the ditch. He was parked on an angle so I just went in the left lane slowly in first gear to go around him. The slight slant of the road made me almost get stuck. I was steering to the right slightly and feathering the gas but I kept going straight and I was teedering on the edge of the pavement. I finaly got a tiny amount of grip and continued on down the centre of the road and shifted into second. A few hundred metres ahead was a straight piece of road coming to a slight hillcrest. There were fields on either side so snow was blasting across the road making it very slippery. At this time I was still driving in the exact centre to keep distance from the ugly ditch on either side. I then see headlights glowing in the air just after the hillcrest. So I gently steer to the right to move the car over a half a car-width. But when I straighten the wheel, the car is still going to the right. I take my feet of the pedals and gently work the wheel slightly to the left. No luck. I try varying the degrees of steering and feathering the gas, no luck. Because of the slope of the road and the heavy cross wind I cut a clean diagonal line into the ditch and snow ploughs over my hood. I am stuck. I sit there silent, angry at what happened. Feeling like it was one of thoes cheap arcade games that kills you unfairly to rob you of your 25c. I was in the ditch for 2 hours until I finaly could get back on my way. One thing that really bothered me is that my expensive Michelin Arctic Aplines counted for absolutely nothing. But the good news is that there was no damage to my car at all. I landed slowly and paralel to the ditch and the deep snow cushioned my fall.

So. Moral of the story? Dont call yourself a master of the elements. Mother nature will bitchslap your ass into the ditch.

[WannaBFast]

^^ well put, you can only deal with so much.. you can always practice practice, practice and practice some more in order to predict what certain moves you need to do to control your car