Snow in Portland

[Thirty-Nine]

Wow -- snow in Portland.

The roads around us are terrible. Since I'm lowered, I can't use chains, and I don't have studded tires, either (although I'm thinking about picking up a set of used 14" studded tires). I shoveled my driveway (with a garden shovel, rake, and broom, since I don't own a snow shovel since moving from Wisconsin) and thought I'd take a spin around the block. I basically got stuck at the base of my driveway since the entire road is snow-covered ice. Some dude gave me a push, and I decided not to take a spin around the block, and rather pulled back into the carport.

When it comes time to replace Mercedes' Civic (Mercedes is my wife), I think we might get something awd or 4wd, or at least something we can chain up.

Be safe out there Portlanders!

[thebarber]

lol, awd + all seasons still equals no traction

just get some better winter tires...

how often is it snowy/icy in portland?

[Thirty-Nine]

It's only bad a few times a year. I was just browsing craigslist for studded snow tires. However, there isn't a whole lot available that'll fit a Yaris. I've got my stock wheels in storage (in the crawlspace), and I could always put studded tires on those steel wheels. We'll see. At this point, I'm kind of marooned here at home; can't leave--no traction.

[Spades]

yeah, im pissed. i had been saving up a few hundred for a new stereo in my car cause my old pioneer deck is starting to go out...i have some 15" snow tires w/ studs from my last car, but no 15" rims.

i called a local tire shop and they have some, the sucky part is it will be 250 bux to get the wheels and have the other snow tires mounted. there goes my new stereo.

i suppose i should be gratefull i at least had the snow tires hanging around. at any rate, it still blows. I have to do something though, 17" low profile Kuhmo's aren't the most effective in this weather. its like ice skating in teflon coated wool socks.

[Thirty-Nine]

Are you in Portland?

[Spades]

bout 45 minutes south of it. we only got about 2 inches of snow, the problem is the tempature and moisture. it turned to slush at about 2pm yesterday, then new snow fell on top and it all froze by 6pm or so.

the sun melted some of the ice combined with traffic on the main roads, but everywhere else is slick as heck. its only supposed to get to 25 degrees here today.

the shop i work at closed early cause we have no bussiness really...just as well, i had crap i needed to get done today.

[Thirty-Nine]

Yeah; the roads here are a sheet of ice (at least the side streets; I haven't ventured out onto the main roads yet). I keep checkin' for studded tires on craigslist, and man there's a lot out there, but nothing that will fit the Yaris yet.

[Spades]

good luck getting some at this point, alot of people are snagging up traction devices like they were gold. I took my car in early and there were 3 hours worth of people ahead of me and their phone was ringing off the hook.

either way i am set up...trying to stay out of the way of jackasses with 4wd...the ones that think because their SUV accellerates well in snow that it will stop equally well on ice...i went to the grocery store and some redneck in a mid 90s f250 with mud tires on it started to loose controll in the parking lot and came about a food from clipping my parked car.

[Thirty-Nine]

Well, I ended up purchasing a set of used studded tires from craigslist last night. They, however, went on our Civic. I took it out for a test drive this morning, and was very impressed at how my $160 dollar investment for four studded tires, four steel wheels, and hubcaps worked!

[Astroman]

I've been doing really well getting around on everything nature thew at us. I just have the stock goodyears sipped and putting the car in L (auto) I was doing better than a jeep on a really bad hill. Delivered pizza all day sunday and never got stuck :thumbup:

[Doug007]

Bailout mentioned Spikes-Spiders last year and I bought a set, as I go nearly every weekend to Truckee, CA, which can have some wicked winters. Easy on and off as well as effective traction. They are pricey but an investment in safety is something to consider (i.e. not hunkered down on the side of a busy highway putting chains on).

My sedan is lowered but these do fit, although be careful with the install or they can rub against the wheel well or front bumper. They have a website or can be ordered/installed by Les Schwab delerships.

http://www.spikes-spiders.com/

[Thirty-Nine]

The other ones that my buddy just showed me was SCC's Super Z6 low-clearance chains.

http://www.scc-chain.com/Traction%20Pages/Trac_SZ6.html

So, now we have one vehicle with studs. If I needed to get somewhere and my wife needed to go to, I might take her rear studded tires and put them on my fronts, so at least we'd have two cars with front studs. I'm still running my Falkens, though. I have my stock Bridgestones in the crawlspace, too. Not sure how much better they'd be than my Falken 912s, though.

[thebarber]

be careful running just a pair of winters....its actually really dangerous

think about turning a corner when the rears have NO traction....good times.

[Spades]

yeah, i took my wifes car with just front studs on a trip from dundee to beaverton last time we had snow and ice. between the idiots and stoplights, it was a "fun" ride...aveo w/ auto trans, no abs, no traction control, and poor rear tires...not to mention i had only driven the car a couple times.

that lovely sliding sensation from the ass end at every stop and corner...it was like a pregnant hippo on ice.

yeah, stick with 4 studs...you will be happy later.

[bzinn 1]

god I hate NW snow.......snow 2-4 inches......melt......freeze.....then it stays cold for days and we get to drive on sheets of ice with people who should not be driving......it is gonna snow again tonight........I am not even gonna get up for work........I will call in about 8am and tell them I am still in my car going no where fast......LOL.

My boss is cool though......his rule is if it looks bad enough out that you may wreck your car......call in and stay home safe and drink cocoa and play with your kids.

[Thirty-Nine]

yeah, stick with 4 studs...you will be happy later.

Yeah; I'll probably just stick with one snow-worthy car instead of two half-snow-worthy vehicles.

[thebarber]

aveo w/ auto trans, no abs, no traction control

sounds familiar

that hold button kicks butt on snow/ice though...

[DefStarYaris]

I'm heading to Oregon for a week next month, and hearing about all those accidents in Portland because of the snow (although I bet it had more to do with people not knowing how to drive properly) kinda scared me.

Anyway, I'll be around Newport and then in Portland, and I'm betting it is less snowy near the coastline. I'm a very cautious driver even in dry California, but if any of you from up in that area have any words of advice for snow driving I'd greatly appreciate it.

[thebarber]

I'm heading to Oregon for a week next month, and hearing about all those accidents in Portland because of the snow (although I bet it had more to do with people not knowing how to drive properly) kinda scared me.

Anyway, I'll be around Newport and then in Portland, and I'm betting it is less snowy near the coastline. I'm a very cautious driver even in dry California, but if any of you from up in that area have any words of advice for snow driving I'd greatly appreciate it.

on OEM all seasons?

[DefStarYaris]

Sadly yes.

[thebarber]

then just take it easy on snow and ice...

bascially, if you drive like youre driving on ice all the time, youll be safe...

granted, i was out at dinner time doing ebrakes slides in the couple inches of snow we had today....so what do i know (after 9pm out here, btw, lol)

[DefStarYaris]

Yeah, I've driven in some mildly icy roads before, but never in actual snow. I've got some tire cables handy and my plan was if I hit snow, to just drive like my grandma, nice and slow.

One more thing, I was kinda debating taking either I-5 up or highway 101. Is one quicker or safer than the other or is there much of a difference? Sorry I'm asking so much, haha, I just don't want this trip to be my last.

[thebarber]

Yeah, I've driven in some mildly icy roads before, but never in actual snow. I've got some tire cables handy and my plan was if I hit snow, to just drive like my grandma, nice and slow.

One more thing, I was kinda debating taking either I-5 up or highway 101. Is one quicker or safer than the other or is there much of a difference? Sorry I'm asking so much, haha, I just don't want this trip to be my last.

lol, i have no idea on the route....i live on the other side of the continent....

[DefStarYaris]

Oh haha. Didn't notice that. :laugh:

[thebarber]

Oh haha. Didn't notice that. :laugh:

no worries

[Thirty-Nine]

The I-5 is MUCH quicker than the 101. The 101 is beautiful, but very curvy. You'll also have to cut over he mountains, which can very treacherous, especially on all-season tires w/o chains.

You will have to drive over a pass down there, I believe, and it can be tricky.

[DefStarYaris]

Oh wow. I don't mind hills and windy roads (I kinda have fun driving them actually), but that doesn't sound fun with ice and snow, haha. I-5 it will be.

Thanks guys.

[Spades]

yeah, i second the I-5 idea...least this time of year. keep in mind though there are still some pretty steep hills on I-5 once you get into oregon if i remember right...take it slow. i went down to california a couple months ago to pick up a datsun 510 project car, was raining really bad on the way back, we had to take it easy cause the hills going down were pretty steep with some good corners.

i would think that pass would be a bit rough in ice and snow, so just be careful!

oh, and on the subject of staying in...not the roads to worry about...its the jackasses in sloppy chains running 50mph in a 40mph...dont wanna be near those idiots when the chains fly apart.

[Thirty-Nine]

Just got back from the airport. I can't believe people are still running chains on the interstate.

[bzinn 1]

The bad part of the NW is not the snow......anyone can drive in snow......our problem is the ice......if you stop you cannot start....if you turn too fast you do not turn......if you brake you keep going........ice sucks.

Took me 2.5 hours tonight to get my wife from work and back home...9 mile trip......I was exhausted.....but the little guy did awsome....even on my bald summer tires....gears are great in this car.

[Spades]

well, i drove from my work in newberg to mcminville tonight, and ended up having to take the back way instead of hwy 99 to get back again...there was a pile up on 99 outside lafyette so the cop said, he took one look at my yaris and turned me around saying he didnt want me to slip up that hill...instead he told me to go around on backroads and i would have better luck there...mac to carlton on those nice roads. it was a solid sheet of ice till i got to hwy240...

the cop turned me around from one hill and made me go over a dozen or more worse hills...the kicker was, they had a snow plow and gravel truck pulling up as he made me turn around. a$$hole.

on the plus side, yaris +manual trans + hancook snow tires w/ studs + 100lbs of stereo junk in the trunk = great traction on ice!

[Thirty-Nine]

I have to drive from SW Portland to Tualatin for a meeting at 10:00; I'm thinking it should be okay, though.

Looks like a whopper of a storm Saturday and Sunday, too. The news said up to 6-10 inches on Saturday then ice Sunday.

[Spades]

yeah, i been hearing that all day too. where i am at we are gonna get 4-6 inches...everywhere else in the valley here should get up to 10.

doesnt bother me, i have all my christmas shopping done, stockpiled on groceries, all errands run. i dont have to go anywhere till monday.

besides, if i have to go somewhere, i found out last night that the car doesn ok in 3 to 4 inches of snow without chains as long as i take it easy.

[talnlnky]

Eugene had fun the past week too. Basically all school districts in Lane County were closed mon,tues, and friday. Its interesting, because the snow/ice isn't THAT bad... The city just doesn't have the services built into their budget so when there is snow, so getting 1" of snow here is like if you were to get 6" in a city that did have plows & de-icer trucks.

can't really blame the city tho... prolly saves them $50,000 a year in labor & material costs, and is only a concern a few days a year.

[Spades]

yeah, our city schools were closed the whole week, and now they are on winter break,lol.

[Thirty-Nine]

Be safe guys. Looks like the freezing rain is starting to move in.

[Spades]

heh, was already out in it, lol. everyone around here seems too scared to go out in it, so, its not really packed down...so there is just a crust over the several inches of snow we got.

either way, seems like most of the idiots are inside for the night. earlier today almost got crunched a few times by people running stop signs and stop lights. i guess the white snow makes people colorblind to red signs and lights, and my white car blends in to the backround.

[bzinn 1]

everyone drive safely to work in the morning......I went out to day and after a mile gave up and got a haircut and drove back home.....streets here are solid ice pack with 3 inches of snow then more ice then more snow.....poor car was so bottomed out in it I was afraid I would end up high centered.

[Spades]

i am not going in to work today, there is 12 inches in some spots...its either stay home or high center the car. if I have to go anywhere it will be in a friends truck or i will be walking,lol...my bumper is not meant to be a snow plow.

[Jeff E.]

lol, awd + all seasons still equals no traction

just get some better winter tires...

how often is it snowy/icy in portland?

Yeah, right. I have called all over the country and NOBODY has ANY snow tires of ANY kind for this yaris! They are 185/60R15. Thinking about trading for a jeep if I can't get snow tires.

[Spades]

well, we only get snow like once (if that often) a year. ice, well, thats ussually a few times a year.

as far as snow tires, if you are looking in the northwest, good luck with that, cause this snow scare made people buy most of the local supply out a week ago.

you might try looking for a differant size, as in, a wider or taller tire....that might not be a common size for snow tires it sounds like...i have 15's on my yaris right now, not sure the size, pretty tall suckers though. i dont really care, my speedo is off normally anyway, cause i have a very wide and tall 17" tire on there normally.

[Jeff E.]

well, we only get snow like once (if that often) a year. ice, well, thats ussually a few times a year.

as far as snow tires, if you are looking in the northwest, good luck with that, cause this snow scare made people buy most of the local supply out a week ago.

you might try looking for a differant size, as in, a wider or taller tire....that might not be a common size for snow tires it sounds like...i have 15's on my yaris right now, not sure the size, pretty tall suckers though. i dont really care, my speedo is off normally anyway, cause i have a very wide and tall 17" tire on there normally.

They told me that the intelli transmission would have to be recalibrated by the dealer if I changed tire size and thus it would not be good for the vehicle. What say thee? :)

[Spades]

well, i am not finding the information i want to know on the internet, and i did not go into work today as our shop was closed, so my access to our online auto manuals is unavailable right now.

basically, the transmission shifts off of RPM's, and the transmission is most likely using a wheel speed sensor if they are concerned about tire size. they use such devices for ABS systems but sometimes also to help with traction control. by going with a larger or smaller tire it would change the gear ratios and therefore would screw up the readings. most ABS and traction control systems dont care, because their only function is to detect wheel lock up or spin and back off the brakes, but if they are for whatever reason tieing the traction control and your sensor readings into the transmissions computer, changing wheel and tire sizes could potentially screw up your shift patterns or possibly screw with traction control if you have it.

to what extent if any, I wouldn't know unless I could find some info on what your transmission is doing with the wheel speed indicater readings. so, i would see if the dealer you are talking to could explain to you what the transmission would do if you were to put a differant wheel or tire size on the car.


at any rate, you could run roughly the same height of tire but wider. I havent worked at a tire shop yet, so i dont know what would be a appropriate size, but, the first number stands for the tire width...second number is a percentage of height to width. this is if i am remembering right, im not a tire guy.

so, basically you have a 185mm wide tire and a 111mm tall tire (185/60r15). sooo...a 200/55r15 would be 110mm tall...something tells me 1mm wont screw with your transmission...i mean, you can loose alot more height than that by running your tires 5 pounds low on air, and there is no way any car manufacturer would make a transmission that could be permanently damaged from losing 2 pounds of air in your tire...

[talnlnky]

GF took something like 6 hrs to get to Portland from Eugene last night. I called her at 1:30am and she was in Aurora going 7mph. Originally I was supposed to drive her today, but she hitched a ride with a friend who was picking someone up.

This means I get to drive to Portland Saturday and bring her back. No Les Schwab stores in the Springfield/Eugene area have chains for the 185/60/15 tire. I checked the forecast and it looks like the stuff might melt off a bit, I'm hoping so, cause I think I may end up doing this with year old Stock tires... WOOWOOWOO!

I'll check the other tire stores, and even might try walmart (ugghhh) for chains on friday if the roads are still looking like they will be horrible on sat.

[Astroman]

I got back last night from my vacation in california and the roads are pretty good now. Took I-5 and then 205 to get home. Did see a dumbass accord driver from california in southern oregon pass by me going way too fast, found him 5 minutes later on the side of the road because he hit the gravel on the roads, bounced off the concrete retaining wall and landed in a snow ditch totalling his car.

[Desperauto]

I dont think many of us will complain about the rain now. It is nice to see the pavement again, although my little baby has been sitting in the garage the hole time. Been driving the company truck. Just couldnt see all that gravel and mud hitting my baby.

[Thirty-Nine]

Yeah; I haven't driven my car since the 19th!

[Wallyg]

I had around 2ft of snow at my house. I had Schwabies put a set of studded snow tires on my car a couple of weeks ago. I had no trouble getting around. I was able to play taxi for my kids and friends since I was on vacation. It's kinda cool to be able to zip around and help others when they can’t get out. My friends were amazed how well the little car handled in the snow and ice.

[eric81]

I have a job as a Line Of Site Verification person for DirecTV. I was EVERYWHERE from Port Angeles, to Port Townsend, to Tacoma, to Olympia, to Pyuallup, to Centralia, to Tumwater, to Yelm, and lots of other places between and around those areas. I was in a rear wheel drive Chevy Express van, and it has some seriously long lasting high mileage tires. I hadno grip at all. I saw places with only 4 inches, and I saw places with over 2 feet. EVERYONE seemed to get into an accident here. I watched an Expedition come flying over a hill, lose control, and slam it's back end (while going sideways) into an 08 Scion xA. I was in my neighbors 4 wheel drive F150 at the time, and was about to pull the xA off of a small curb it managed to get stuck on. Lots of damage, but no injuries. They exchanged info then the people in the Expedition seemed very eager to leave the scene. 911 said to go ahead and leave since the cops couldn't be there for like, 3 hours or so. I did take my lowered 08 Yaris LB out though, and had a BLAST! It's a manual, but I am from Wisconsin, so I am VERY used to the snow. It was like having my own drift circut. I ebraked every corner, and was doing about 15 to 25 everywhere. Even subarus and 4x4's were only doing about 10 to 15 that day. I have stock tires still, but I was having so much fun I didn't care. I did manage to get my van stuck about 6 times so far. Had to dig 3 times to get it out. 2 of those times were on hills, and the other 4 were places where people just never drove, so I had to make my own driving path. The van did NOT like that. But, here I am, JAN 1st 2009, and I am still fine, no accidents yet, and not even a close call on my end. Insurance companies are even making radio announcements for people to call the national offices to make their accident claims, because the local offices are so slammed, or people just can't make it to the local offices to work, or to put their claim in. Yeah, I love snow, but no one else here in WA seems to know how to drive in it.

[Desperauto]

Ah,, just remember you don't have to shovel rain..although it was kinda fun watching all the crazy people.

[blktiger60]

Since December 23rd six feet of snow has fallen in Spokane and the surrounding area - Ya you read right SIX feet.

Believe me, when snow packs down it is, in fact, ice. So ya, lots of snow AND ice. So much snow that a large local retail store had its roof cave in.

I took a couple pics of my back yard - that's my car sticking out of my garage.

Is it spring yet?!?

[nemelek]

Damm. Hope you got a snow blower. Teenagers are worthless these days.

[bzinn 1]

I know the Yaris is a small compact car buy the driveway is gonna need to be a little wider judging from that picture.......lol

[blktiger60]

I know the Yaris is a small compact car buy the driveway is gonna need to be a little wider judging from that picture.......lol

Silly man. :laugh:
That's the path from my back door. The alley I drive on to get to my garage faces directly out from the rear of my car.

And no. No blower - that's all hand shoveled. I know - I'm a beast!