Winter Driving 2014

[Sliderman86]

Stored my baby last week so she won't know what snow looks like. I have a truck and jeep so I'll just beat those all winter. Best of luck to all who do drive this winter. Use your heads

[jarviz]

Originally Posted by Akari

Winter driving in RWD with snow tires is a blast! Due to all the chemicals/gravel/salt used around here I'll be keeping mine garaged during winter and will either just not drive or use one of our trucks.

Wide Pilot Super Sports + RWD = no go when it snows.

what do you mean it's a blast? I thought the whole point of winter tires is that it wouldn't be a 'blast'...

Does that just mean there's good traction like on regular pavement? My idea of a blast was summer tires in the snow in a parking lot.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by jarviz

what do you mean it's a blast? I thought the whole point of winter tires is that it wouldn't be a 'blast'...

Does that just mean there's good traction like on regular pavement? My idea of a blast was summer tires in the snow in a parking lot.

Winter tires have enough grip in the snow that it isn't terrifying to drive. Which means you can have fun and enjoy yourself instead of being constantly terrified. It's still very easy to spin the rears, but you've got enough grip to get around safely if you're gentle with the throttle and in the turns. It's fun because you can basically drift every turn if you feel like it.

[Akari]

Originally Posted by jarviz

what do you mean it's a blast? I thought the whole point of winter tires is that it wouldn't be a 'blast'...

Does that just mean there's good traction like on regular pavement? My idea of a blast was summer tires in the snow in a parking lot.

There's plenty of traction when you need it but it's still very easy to break traction when you want to. It's insanely easy/fun to drift at low speeds with a much lower risk if something were to go wrong.

[White&Nerdy]

Exactly - you need decent grip so that when you break it, you can regain it quickly and predictably when you want to. It's far more fun to do controlled drifts than to just slide around like an idiot.

[jetsevo4]

Just got my hankook winter i*cept evo (w310) set in the mail today from discount tire direct...not the most hardcore snow tires, but hoping they strike a good balance b/w winter weather and dry roads. Will update once I have them on the car

[kberkel]

This car is MUCH better than I thought it would be in snow. All depends on the tires.

Did a stupid test, and went full throttle at 20mph while yanking the steering back and forth. The computer works it all out.

Of course at 70mph, do not gas it around a curve, but still, this car is very predictable.

[shifter907]

Not quite winter tires, but these are my drift wheels for now, and I'll be buying some Blizzak's for them once I burn through these lol.
Keeping it festive with red and white.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by kberkel

This car is MUCH better than I thought it would be in snow. All depends on the tires.

Did a stupid test, and went full throttle at 20mph while yanking the steering back and forth. The computer works it all out.

Of course at 70mph, do not gas it around a curve, but still, this car is very predictable.

That's not at all a stupid test. I wish more people did that. First thing I do in an unfamiliar car is some emergency maneuvers on an empty road just to get an idea of what to expect from the vehicle in a real emergency. In snow, I do the same thing.

[calidus]

I kinda want to plasti dip my steelies...

[lionbacker54]

Originally Posted by oldlostcory

Question for you guys who drove last year in some deeper snow. Is there any concern of the bumper being pulled off or cracked from driving in deep stuff? I see pictures of other cars, wrxs and what not that have their front bumper packed with snow. How does our bumpers hold up?

this is actually why i don't drive the BRZ in the snow. i've had the front bumper on a volvo crack from ruts in the snow, and a buddy of mine cracked the front bumper of his wrx last winter doing the same thing. BRZ is lower than both

[ashtray]

No need for snow tires - 315/30/18 Toyo R888 Track tires do juuuust fine:

http://blog.caranddriver.com/buffalo...-until-it-did/

[ashtray]

Originally Posted by kberkel

This car is MUCH better than I thought it would be in snow. All depends on the tires.

Did a stupid test, and went full throttle at 20mph while yanking the steering back and forth. The computer works it all out.

Of course at 70mph, do not gas it around a curve, but still, this car is very predictable.

I did this once at about 25mph on snow packed roads in my WRX (stage2). My traction was excellent so I tried to test the limits - spun all 4 tires. The car just sorta shifted to the left a bit - no rotation. I got off the gas and the car continued on like nothing happened.

First snow of the season I would always find a parking lot or empty street and test the traction and reaction of the car/tires - slow speeds but aggressive gas/braking/turning. What I learned would usually come in handy during the next 3 months of snowy weather. Better to not be surprised and guessing what to do when you lose traction - best to know you'll lose traction before it actually happens and know the proper amount of correction so you don't spin on over correcting.

[GreenMonster]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

That's not at all a stupid test. I wish more people did that. First thing I do in an unfamiliar car is some emergency maneuvers on an empty road just to get an idea of what to expect from the vehicle in a real emergency. In snow, I do the same thing.

Yeah, I do the same thing with a new car. Do some figure eights and other foolery in a freshly snow covered parking lot, to get a feel for the car handles in the snow.