This is not a winter car! Fed up! May end up selling...

[drewbot]

Originally Posted by Taro

I've noticed that these last few days too. This morning I "forced" it to 6th by switching to the manual mode, holding the gas steady until about 60/3000 RPM, then releasing the gas. At that point the car seems to "remember" you can still go one gear higher and let you shift up. Not sure if that's repeatable. In fact, I suspect it has more to do with the car warming up, since the auto mode seems to shift at higher RPMs when cold. I have very little technical knowledge, so this is just anecdotal.

Yeah we were confused why. When in "M" mode there was no up arrow indicating I could go into 6th at all. This was at the very bottom of 6th (60 km/h) all the way up to 100 km/h.

[7thgear]

i finally got stuck!

but in the most bizare manner possible:

going home and doing the drift thing along the sidestreets, i overdo a corner and have the car bog down and end up perpendicular to the road... and what do you know, my rear wheels end up in an icy rut made from all the other cars going about in a straight line.

dead in the water as they say.. luckily there was a person nearby who gave me a gentle push and i was on my way.

onward and upward!

[that_guy]

Knock on wood, but never stuck, no sand bags, no shovel, no "extras". Just lowered with a set of Conti Extreme Winter Contacts to keep me in touch with the earth.

I've driven through some deep stuff with this car and never had an issue. What you need to realize is that when you have minimal traction (RWD or FWD) to propel you, you have to rely on momentum to do it's thing. If you approach the deep snow and stop, you WILL get stuck, regardless of how prepared you are. If you go into it with some speed and can maintain that, your more likely to survive the depth.

This is my second winter and I've driven it in more snow than this city gets in a year up in the snow belt of Ontario (Barrie and north). I love this car in this weather although I wish I didn't have to drive it in this crap for other reasons entirely...

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by Juurian

da fuq what were you expecting. at least you dont live in winnipeg.

Ahh another winnipegger. That makes like 3 I think lol

[Frost]

I've owned an IS300 as a DD in the past and I got stuck twice with it. I simply shrugged, shoveled and/or rocked my way and got myself out.

I wouldn't get rid of a car purely because of that since I live in Toronto and it usually doesn't snow THAT much compared to say, Calgary or out east.

If I lived in an area that did snow a lot, the FRS would be my second car. That's my plan here anyways... if I do get it (come on Monogram series!).

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Rossman

Part of being a good winter driver that doesn't get stuck, is having the good sense to know when a road is impassable and not go that way. I *could* get this car stuck in the same place you did, but I wouldn't have because I wouldn't have even tried it. I haven't been stuck in the FR-S yet.

I think this car is an excellent winter driver.

Tell me how you're supposed to know how the road ahead it supposed to look like?! ...wtf.

It looks like we have a psychic here... who is also Colin Mcrae.

[7thgear]

I hope to see all you fellow Fujiwaras and McRaes at an autocross this summer.

I'll be the white FRS with the dented quaterpanel, please come and say hello

[Frost]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

I hope to see all you fellow Fujiwaras and McRaes at an autocross this summer.

I'll be the white FRS with the dented quaterpanel, please come and say hello

I'll be at the PITL series at least - still debating whether I want to drive up to Barrie for that series.

If I don't pick up a second car, I'll be in the blue Vitz / Echo hatch you see in my sig! Not a Fujiwara or a McCrae though...

[Kazuya]

As guy who delivers for his restaurant occasionally in his 86 at jane and Wilson.

I will see you mouth breathing chumps at this years AUTO X.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

whatever subaru you trade it for better have a mechanical locking center diff, otherwise you're not really gonna get that much better performance aside from the heavier weight...

Even a center locking diff might not be enough. You really need sufficient ground clearance as well when dealing with 8"+ of snow.

In the past, I've gotten my STI (with center differential set to lock) stuck because of its lack of ground clearance. Basically perched on top of packed snow. A Nissan Pathfinder with its center differential set to Auto (i.e., not locked) was able to clear. That's what 8.5" of ground clearance will do.

Originally Posted by automatic

While we're on the topic of Diff's...is it bad to have extended periods of wheelspin? Smelled like burning yesterday after the drive home

Yes. The STI has an OEM temperature sensor for its rear torsen differential precisely for this reason. When mine was stuck in snow, I overheated it and the warning light came on. At that point, you should really change out the fluid on your rear differential (according to the manual). The heat breaks down the fluid.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Kazuya

As guy who delivers for his restaurant occasionally in his 86 at jane and Wilson.

I will see you mouth breathing chumps at this years AUTO X.

Which series?

[f0rge]

Mine is lowered 1.4inches and I've never gotten it stuck (eibach sportlines). It was close once when I parked in deep snow on the side of a street but I got it out without having to get out of the car.

I'm on the stock rims with Hankook I-pike W205 winter tires, 205/50-17 I think.

Traction control is a bad idea in deep snow, you're likely going under 50kph at that point so just tap the button and giver some gas.

Right now this is my only car, and many of you have already seen me at PITL

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by hmong337

Tell me how you're supposed to know how the road ahead it supposed to look like?! ...wtf.

It looks like we have a psychic here... who is also Colin Mcrae.

Hard to explain, you've either got it or you don't.

After 40 years of winter driving I'm pretty good at assessing whether the car I'm driving is likely to make it or get stuck just by looking at the snow surface.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

Yes. The STI has an OEM temperature sensor for its rear torsen differential precisely for this reason. When mine was stuck in snow, I overheated it and the warning light came on. At that point, you should really change out the fluid on your rear differential (according to the manual). The heat breaks down the fluid.

Are you sure that sensor is on the rear diff? A Torsen shouldn't generate any more heat than an open diff, less actually. A viscous coupling on the other hand always slips a bit and so could overheat. I thought the Subie awd used a center VC type diff. Could the temp sensor be on that?