tips on getting out of the snow

[brzr]

Originally Posted by Monogram

Studded tires work great. Tire chains work great, and the new style cable chains are quick and easy to install. As stated earlier, carry a shovel. The snow type shovels are too flimsy, so carry a folding pack shovel or short handled steel shovel.

I've had friends use their floormats to get moving.

too bad it's illegal to use studded tires here

but the floormats idea is pretty great when you have nothing else to use

[brzr]

Originally Posted by Kfresh23

You should absolutely turn off the traction control when stuck. This happened to me last winter when I had parked on the street and a snow plow hade made a snow "lip" around my car. I also have winter tires on but needed to rock it back and forth (which is easy with a manual transmission) and then eventually get a push. It was also hard to "plow" through with the front end being so low as it just digs into the snow if it's piled up in front.
I also have put 4 70lb sand bags in the trunk for traction (weight), and as other's have said, kitty litter works just as well.
A little shovel might also be a good investment.
I personally think the BRZ/FRS are horrible winter cars....the traction control system is sub-par compared with other RWD vehicles I have owned, and the super light weight is just not suited to any winter conditions at all! I made my chioce and only have the one vehicle, but I will be saving up for a 4wd winter vehicle as it is just not woth the spin out/getting stuck headaches!
One question for (brzr).....why is your forum name and your license plate say brzr if you drive a Scion FRS???????

i'm loving the car in the snow, once it gets going heh

yes....the plates.......
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...95#post1009295

[brzr]

Originally Posted by Captain Stall

Two tips on cat litter: 1) make sure you don't get the clumping kind! 2) put it in some kind of container with a cover rather than leave it in the bag, else you risk a trunk full of loose litter!

no, the litter is not the clumping.......it's one of those wheat shells, flushable types, and worked well i guess

having a trunk full of litter would suck

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by brzr

carpet strips are a great idea
i was looking at some rubber strips yesterday and didn't feel like paying $40 for just one.......but i'm sure i can find some garbage carpet strips somewhere, and use those

my tires are hankook w409 i-pike, first time using that brand

Let us know how effective they are. Hankook ice bears got good reviews.

[that_guy]

The W409 is a great deep snow tire but struggles a little in the ice, which it seems is what you were having problems with. The snow around the car will just act as a wall to get over while your tires fight to grip anything they can.

For ice, you need something like the Blizzak WS70 or Conti ExtremeWinterContact. Both have more sipes to help grip the ice.

And like others have said, flip track off or go to sport mode to gain some control over the car in these conditions.

[Rayme]

Did you shovel that snow on the front? I'm amazed you were stuck, that is nothing. I've never been stuck in the snow in my car and I drove through some heavy crap.

So what I'm thinking here is:
You definitely want to turn off Traction Control in a few inches of snow, or you'll get nowhere...as you found out.

[brzr]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Let us know how effective they are. Hankook ice bears got good reviews.

in snow pretty good.....but as this is my first rwd i can't figure out how they compare to my old michelin ice i had on my golf......yet
they are quiet, which is nice
my husband has some pirelli winter tires that are noisy as hell......don't like that

[brzr]

Originally Posted by Rayme

Did you shovel that snow on the front? I'm amazed you were stuck, that is nothing. I've never been stuck in the snow in my car and I drove through some heavy crap.

So what I'm thinking here is:
You definitely want to turn off Traction Control in a few inches of snow, or you'll get nowhere...as you found out.

oh yeah.....all the snow was shoveled away before i tried moving the car. especially around the rear wheels...

once i moved the car i could see tires were sitting on two blocks of ice

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by brzr

oh yeah.....all the snow was shoveled away before i tried moving the car. especially around the rear wheels...

once i moved the car i could see tires were sitting on two blocks of ice

That's often the issue: when you park the warm tires actually create that ice. In really bad conditions those warm tires also create little cups which hold onto those tires.

You can help your grip by putting sand, salt or gravel on both sides of the rear tires and spin them a bit to get it worked under the tires.

[Kfresh23]

Originally Posted by brzr

i'm loving the car in the snow, once it gets going heh

yes....the plates.......
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...95#post1009295

The plate makes sense now.....apologies
I have had many different vehicles (both FWD and RWD) through many different winters and here are some of my favorite tires.
I have had 2 types of Brigestone Blizzaks (can't remember which model(s) exactly), and both were excellent. I also had a very in-expensive set of General tires as well and they were just as good, if not better than the Blizzaks!
I have also had Continental Winters and now the Michelin X-ice.....both leave me wishing I had one of the first two I mentioned. Just my opinion from my experience.
Have fun out there in the white stuff....going to be a long one.........

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Kfresh23

The plate makes sense now.....apologies
I have had many different vehicles (both FWD and RWD) through many different winters and here are some of my favorite tires.
I have had 2 types of Brigestone Blizzaks (can't remember which model(s) exactly), and both were excellent. I also had a very in-expensive set of General tires as well and they were just as good, if not better than the Blizzaks!
I have also had Continental Winters and now the Michelin X-ice.....both leave me wishing I had one of the first two I mentioned. Just my opinion from my experience.
Have fun out there in the white stuff....going to be a long one.........

In my experience the Continental ExtremeWinter Contact is the best snow tire you can buy, better than any Bridgestone. Check this out:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=167

Note that the Conti outperformed the Michelin in every meaningful performance test except ice. Bear in mind that the ice test is done on a hockey rink so unless you drive a Zamboni.....

[daiheadjai]

I've got Conti ExtremeWinter Contacts now.

Not bad - I just regret going down to 16s a little bit...

[that_guy]

For everyone turning tration off, I would suggest simply toggling into sport mode if this is your first RWD car. It'll save you in the event something goes array but will give you that little bit of extra human control over the car for the drive home in the afterwork mess.

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

I've got Conti ExtremeWinter Contacts now.

Not bad - I just regret going down to 16s a little bit...

How so? This is what I drive on and aside from the hideous look of 16" steel wheels, this is a much better combo than a 17" option would be. Tire flex in winter is king.

[Suberman]

Going down a size helps a little on ice but hurts a lot all of the rest of the time.

Not worth doing in my opinion but it is just opinion. Depends which is your priority.

A more important choice is studless rubber or performance winters.