No Winter Driving Problems

[Steve]

Originally Posted by krayzie

This is why Suberman can't drive for f*ing shitz!

Internet died so I had to goto the office.

I came out at 5pm to the parking lot and it's a fluffy snowstorm (thanks for the disinfo Environment Canada). All I had was new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires and absolutely no experience with RWD stick shift driving in the snow. Took off in 2nd gear and quickly into 3rd and then 4th all the way home from Markham to Scarborough @ 30ish km/h (car becomes unstable when it hits 40km/h). The ass kept swinging out to the right (VSC & VSC Sport made no diff.) and freaked everybody out so they all gave me plenty of room. Did stalled at Midland and Finch cuz the snow was too thick, so I looked like a loser going thru the intersection mad slow sideways lol! Made it home in one piece no sweat really. Hardest part was actually making up the driveway and into the garage with zero traction so did take me a min or two.

17" Michelin Pilot Alpin on another set of STI rims next year for sure.

Winter tires will make a huge difference. I have Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on. Commuted about the same time as you, about a half an hour in Markham during the snow. When I wasn't stuck behind someone slow, I was travelling over 60km/h completely stable. My car and everyone's seems to slide out to the right, but eventually you learn to control the throttle and clutch so that you don't slide out anymore when accelerating.

[thorlius]

Originally Posted by Steve

Winter tires will make a huge difference. I have Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on. Commuted about the same time as you, about a half an hour in Markham during the snow. When I wasn't stuck behind someone slow, I was travelling over 60km/h completely stable. My car and everyone's seems to slide out to the right, but eventually you learn to control the throttle and clutch so that you don't slide out anymore when accelerating.

Damn, and all along I just thought I had more tire wear on my rear-left tire.

[FLYFISHR]

Originally Posted by Steve

My car and everyone's seems to slide out to the right,

Do you think it might be the crown in the road that was the cause?

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by FLYFISHR

Do you think it might be the crown in the road that was the cause?

I think it's cuz the rear right wheel is the drive wheel.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaV381uaNc0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaV381uaNc0[/ame]

[STV3]

Originally Posted by FLYFISHR

Do you think it might be the crown in the road that was the cause?

This

[Taro]

Hmm. My car almost always slides to the left whenever theres slip.

[7thgear]

the consistent slide to the right is very annoying at times. Sometimes the car rotates as much as 15-20 degrees going in a straight line, pretty rediculous.

[PMPB]

Thank god Suberman isn't here to see this.

I used to drive around in rwd trucks with all seasons. The BRZ is FAR more planted. One time I put about 600lbs worth of curb stones in the back of my F150, and I still couldn't make it up a snowy hill to visit my friend. Scariest drive of my life.

For all of you putting weight in the back. Please realize that initial traction might be improved, but if you lose the rear end, it'll be way harder to recover.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by Kfresh23

A little side note about weight in the trunk.......I personally found that it has helped. last year, with no weight I had no problems, but this year, I experimented and found that extra weight helps put a little more grip on the back end when you really need it, like up a steep hill. Side note though: I had a jug of washer fluid in the trunk and it moved around and hit the "VALET" button. This then prevents the trunk from being opened with anything EXCEPT YOUR KEY! Do not think that your trunk button is broken, or that it is frozen shut...first pull out the key from your fob, and open the trunk with it. Then push the valet button located on the drivers side, inside your trunk. The position your washer fluid in a way this does not happen again!

Thank goodness for your post.
I put a vacuum cleaner in my trunk the other day.
When I came back to pull it out, I found my trunk wouldn't open with either the key fob, or the push-button release.

Was freaking out until I remembered this post - whipped out the key, and opened the trunk in no time.
Lo and behold: the button had been released by the vac.

[daiheadjai]

Going up a hill last night, was dismayed to see everybody slowing to a crawl and stopping on the hill.
I swear it isn't the weather or the roads - sometimes its just the terrible level of competence of Toronto drivers...

[alanhung85]

I added 2x 45 lbs dumbbells in the trunk. Definitely helped a lot with traction. There's no issues with grip if you add weight and a nice set of winter tires (I have the Michelin X-Ice) but clearance is definitely a concern. I almost flew into a ditch during a snow storm while I was merging from 407 eastbound down to 404 southbound. The snow lifted my car enough that I lost traction completely. Once I regained traction though I was able to come to a stop just before rolling off the ramp *phew*

[Taro]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

Going up a hill last night, was dismayed to see everybody slowing to a crawl and stopping on the hill.
I swear it isn't the weather or the roads - sometimes its just the terrible level of competence of Toronto drivers...

Right? If I started uploading dash cam video of bad drivers I see everyday, I'd need my own television network.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by alanhung85

I added 2x 45 lbs dumbbells in the trunk. Definitely helped a lot with traction. There's no issues with grip if you add weight and a nice set of winter tires (I have the Michelin X-Ice) but clearance is definitely a concern. I almost flew into a ditch during a snow storm while I was merging from 407 eastbound down to 404 southbound. The snow lifted my car enough that I lost traction completely. Once I regained traction though I was able to come to a stop just before rolling off the ramp *phew*

Be careful with dumbbells! I get the sense that if you're ever involved in a collision or a sudden deceleration, dumbbells could become a huge hazard since they're dense and have rounded/hexagonal edges that make them easily-moved/propelled.

I suspect a safer course would be to buy some bags of sand from homedepot, as these lie flat on your trunk, and can be opened up for traction sand. On the flip side, they take up more space.

[Aaron.H]

May have been mentioned before in previous posts but know couple people that use Salt Bags and Kitty Litter for weight in back.
I personally at the moment don't have any extra weight in back unless the carpet mats count haha