[quote=Lim;3280812]I was driving multiple Subaru AWD for the last 17 years exclusively.
GTA/Mississauga area.
BRZ/FRS can not compare to them in snow. My first snow last winter in RWD was an eyes opener how good AWD in snow compare to RWD.
And I use winter tires on all 4 wheels.
Multiple issue to look for especially if you switch from AWD:
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Originally Posted by Lim
1) Small incline with snow/ice and no go from stop in first gear. BRZ/FRS acceleration pedal is not linear. It gives accelerated input in the beginning. I wished we had snow mode with reduce acceleration input in the first 20%.
With boosted engine this will become only worse.
To overcome it:
a) Start in second gear (bit more wear on clutch)
b) Turn off traction control (left button, just for start)
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of course you're having issues not turning off traction!
i usually just slip the clutch in 1st more to get going.
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Originally Posted by Lim
2) Going through fresh snow stability. It happened only 2-3 times last year. About 10 cm of fresh snow. Max speed I was able to go straight is 30-40km/h. After that ass starting to go left and right and Traction control getting in a way and cutting power off. On AWD Subaru you would not even notice it.
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you're not on winter/all season tires are you. the oem tires summer ONLY tires. they turn to hard lumps of plastic in the snow.
What to do: GET ALL-SEASON or WINTER TIRES.
seriously. with all seasons, 3-4" of snow is no big deal, i can confidently carry 60km/h knowing i can stop safely. with snow tires in 3-4" of snow, i was leaving lights sideways just because i could. one time, to show my brother how controllable the car was, i was going 90km/h at an angle, allowing the car to follow the crown the lane...
from your description, it sounds exactly like the time i tried to use the oem tires in snow...
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Originally Posted by Lim
a) if you are brave turn traction off and use your steering to catch your ass. After 20 min of driving I had sweaty back and stiff neck. Maybe it is fun on empty streets, but not when you have cars, buses and curbs all around you.
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i almost always have traction control turned off(press-hold). it's never been a problem to hold the car where it needs to go.
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Originally Posted by Lim
3) How do you use handbrake to correct under-steer? In AWD/FWD I could engage handbrake and give a bit of gas to finish my turn and stop front from under-steer. Yes it overload AWD central diff but was working.
a) Maybe clutch-in when I pull handbrake just to nudge it? but it is not the same feeling.
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physics. so the reason that the handbrake trick worked with awd is because the wheels were being driven by the motor. the handbrake would slow them down, but because they were still being driven, they could not lock up as easily, giving you modulation between disengaged and fully locked.
so the awd vehicle was pulling forward with the front tires while you created friction on the rear tires. in this case, you want to create friction on the rear tires, but only have the vehicles forward momentum to overcome.
the first method is engine braking, or intentionally running the motor higher in revs, selecting a lower gear than you normally would at the relative speed.
you could also use the same handbrake trick while keeping the vehicle in gear(don't clutch in) to much the same effect that you used it in awd, it would just have much less dramatic effect due to the vehicle weight/momentum.