Grkkboy

best way to stop your car is to pump the breaks right? my cars breaks lock up and the car keeps going sometimes its scary, also is it bad for the car if i do slides in the parking lots? im not pulling the ebrake or anything i just lose traction and i know your not suposed to do donuts or anything like that with a fwd, just curious

Mad Dog Tannen

I you have ABS then just hold it to the floor, if you don't then pump them as fast as you can. And slow down if you are loosing traction.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

^ that and i hear that the 8th gen is more neutral, so more likely to slide the rear than the 7th gen cars in stock form.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Check your tires. It's the #1 reason for poor traction. Get winter tires if you are very concerned about it.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

slow down. on snowy roads, the legal speed you should be driving is 1/2 the posted limit. so 35mph becomes 18mph. you will have no problems sliding anymore.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Here in Canada if people drove half the posted limit I'd go totally insane. You can still go pretty fast and be careful. Just start braking earlier.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

most ppl dont realize that either. over here they drive like theres no snow on the ground and are shocked when they press the brake and nothing happens. every year there are always hundreds of accidents on the news. just yesterday i saw a girl in a brand new lexus suv back into a pole in a snowy parking lot. prolly did about $2k in damage to the rear panel and bumper.

Prodresurgence

Look in getting studded snow tires, you'll be glued to the road.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

road destroyer

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

haha yeah people here have those alot and you can hear it a mile away. not sure why you need em when it barely snows more than 10 times all winter and usually the roads are only snowy for 1-2 days before it melts. i get by just fine with cheap all seasons. if you drive like an idiot, the tires wont matter.

lazlong

Quote of the day.

MindBomber

My snow tires make me invincible.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Biggest mistake you can make is using your brakes when you start sliding.. I see a lot of people panic and hit the brakes just to slide into something... It's all about knowing HOW to drive in crap weather, and not panicking.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

eh!
I kick the brakes when i start an understeer slide! (don't try this at home, i slightly tap the brakes with the left foot to slightly transfer the to the fronts) and change to slightly oversteer which is corrected with a quick countersteer (dont' try this at home either, i have a huge rear sway bar and camber adjustment kits to allow for that! And driver makes the most of the work anyway)

MindBomber

Also, your transmission has gears for a reason, if your coming to a stop in a slippery area or need to slow down fast to avoid an accident you can always gear down.

I don't need to do that though, my snow tires make me invincible.

Mad Dog Tannen

I would strongly advise to disregard this advice. Especially if you are not used to driving in the snow/ice. Speed is the No.1 reason people loose traction in the snow!

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Or just stay home.

lazlong

I live in Texas and it's so spread out we all do 80ish. The vast majority of the time it's dry. I absolutely hate going out in bad weather because of that 1 idiot who doesn't understand that you can't do 80 in the rain or snow. Shortly after I moved here this lady in a Lexus passed me in the snow doing mach 1 and hit a bridge. Scared me enough I won't go out in the snow unless absolutely necessary.

Mad Dog Tannen

When ever I go to Tahoe, I always see some dumb kid in a civic or other compact car flying up the icy hill like he's a rally racer passing me. Then ten minutes down the road I drive past them while they are slid into a ditch. I just laugh as I slowly cruise by them.

MindBomber

If I stayed inside whenever there was heavy rain or snow I wouldn't leave the house for months at a time lol

lazlong

We don't get snow here, we get ice storms. And then it's like 2-3 times a winter, at the most. I use the word winter loosely as winter is like 2 months long, maybe. On a side note, we can play golf year round. lol.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

It's not advice. I'm not saying drive like a madman. I guess it does sound kind of bad. Adjust to the road conditions. My problem is when its snowing, the road looks wet and people are going half the posted limit (with no real snow on the road). I drive a lot because I commute to work and it drives me crazy. Even with a light snow cover you should still be able to go near the posted limit. I guess adjust to the conditions and go as fast as you are comfortable. Here in Canada you seldom see people going as slow as gearbox suggested.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Keep in mind that different states and counties handle the snow differently.

My buddy from Michigan said chains were illegal in the snow- they just drove on it. I would prefer that instead of using chains here in the northwest... it gives you an advantage the first couple days of a big storm, but if the ice/snow doesnt melt soon enough, you end up with ruts down to the pavement from those cars with chains so low clearance cars cant drive. It gets to be a mess... I broke a foglight one year and would of swore I twisted my chassis how hard I was hitting the ruts in the snow while coming out of church and making a left onto the road on Christmas day.

My state doesnt salt the roads either- we use de-icer, which is some chemical mixture that gives you traction and is supposed to melt snow or ice, yet not destroy your car like salt does.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

I agree with mindbomber, sometimes people slow down too much in wet pavement, as if it was snow... same as rain applies when that condition is met.
another that drives me crazy is the tailgaters during snow...

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah if the road is just wet, you shouldnt be going slower than maybe 10 under. that 1/2 speed rule is for actual snow covered roads like deep snow. and yeah triz i thought for sure i was gonna be blowing all my shocks. it felt like i went off roading in the civic driving over all the bumps and grooves in the snow. and my bushings squeaking like crazy. nevada is the worst for snow removal, they just sprinkle a salt/gravel combo that makes a terrible mess and barely melts the snow any faster. cars get trashed, and even when the roads dry you have gravel and dirt all over the road which then turns into dust clouds when cars drive over it. people use chains alot even on wet pavement, esp the post office trucks. alot of ppl use studs and cables. and its really a very mild winter here compared to other states. and still with all that, there are lots of accidents.

Mad Dog Tannen

Ok I'll try to make this simple...

You only have so much traction during any driving that you do.

There are three things that use up that traction...
1. Turning
2. Accelerating
3. Decelerating (braking)

Do two of the above and you are likely to loose traction. So brake and accelerate before and after the corner!

Keep consistent light gas that maintains your speed throughout the corner.

If you need to decelerate while cornering then steer straight for a moment while applying the brakes (if you can). Or let off the throttle and engine brake for a slower deceleration (not as good in a front wheel drive car).

If you feel that you are loosing traction then counter steer and stay light on the gas so that your tires are going the same speed as the car. Then counter steer as necessary.

Front wheel drive cars have a distinct disadvantage with traction because the front wheels have the power and use 80% of the braking power. Which uses up a lot more of the available traction.

The above can be used for any driving conditions. Just go slower when driving on the snow or ice because there is less traction available.