snow

[KSIbucky]

i've had a lot of scares with snow what should i do some people say keep it in a lower gear

[ChinoCharles]

Yes, keep it in a lower gear and toss a bag of quikcrete or two in your trunk. And invest in some snow tires, the car is only 2200 pounds... it will run away on you!

[KSIbucky]

thanx

[mutatio]

i don't know that u need to keep it in a lower gear per se, but just be willing to use the lower gears to decelerate and whatnot. (though, yes, having it in 4th instead of 5th will obviously slow your roll more quickly for instance. just don't do it to the point where your tranny suffers.) i've done it in sticks and automatics when i'm on a slick surface. my current car, a saturn w/ ABS would start to twitter when i didn't want it to, having braked in similar situations w/o it. i just learned to downshift lower and lower to allow the gears to slow the wheels without them starting to skid. this coming from someone who grew up in Minnesota (snow!) and went to grad school in Syracuse, NY (extreme snow and steep hills!).

[acrbill]

Yes, keep it in a lower gear and toss a bag of quikcrete or two in your trunk. And invest in some snow tires, the car is only 2200 pounds... it will run away on you!

Definitely don't add weight in the trunk. That will make braking more difficult and upset the handling of the car.

As long as the snow isn't higher than the lowest part of your front bumper you should be alright.

Tires play a huge roll in how you will do in the snow. Some people think that the tread of the tires grab into the snow and that gives you traction.

The truth is that the snow on snow is what gives you the traction. The snow that gets packed into the tread grips the snow on the ground.

[eflb55]

ya its been sleeting all day and everytime i try to push the acceleration from stop i end up doing 5000 rpm and going nowhere. i dont know much about tires but im guessing the stock ones arent great.

[johnnyfive]

Definitely don't add weight in the trunk. That will make braking more difficult and upset the handling of the car.

As long as the snow isn't higher than the lowest part of your front bumper you should be alright.

Tires play a huge roll in how you will do in the snow. Some people think that the tread of the tires grab into the snow and that gives you traction.

The truth is that the snow on snow is what gives you the traction. The snow that gets packed into the tread grips the snow on the ground.

got over a foot of snow today, and snow was definetly over my front lip, and besides all of the splashs of snow on my windshield, the car actually did fairly well.

just afraid that using the front lip as a snow plow isnt to good for it, and the real posibilty of it being trashed by the end of the season...but we will see how it goes.

and at a stock ride height, or without the front lip i belive that my ride would ahve been a walk in the park ;)

[spkrman]

so far its been pretty forgiving

Came back from racine through chicago yesterday, there were 3 accidents on the way... both of which involved SUV's that had just recently sped past me... they were driving like the road wasnt icy, next thing you know I pass them and they are spun out/hit something...both of which I got there before traffic built up/the police arrived... they were far enough ahead so I didnt see em, but not way ahead. Going off of that, I'm sure there were 100's of accidents...

[XSarge]

My car has done very well in the snow. Much better than I had expected. I've been driving for 29 years and the gear I choose depends on several factors such as snow depth, ambient temp., type of road and how heavy traffic is. I know, I'm wierd. But it's gotten me this far.:laugh:
I try to leave early enough so I don't have to drive too fast for conditions.

[ellenbetty]

I lived in Maryland when I owned my Horizon. Some swear by snow tires because they use softer rubber. I had a set of snow tires for my single tire FWD Horizon. I made the mistake of getting the optional larger size snow tires and tire chains. The larger size tires rubbed against the wheel well of my Horizon. The chains grabbed the plastic wheel well liner and tore one of the wheel well liners off. I was glad when those larger size snow tires wore out. The Horizon seemed to did as well with all season radial tires as snow tires.

Tires have a life span. Tires over time dry rot. Unless you drive a lot of miles each year, the tires become unsafe, before the tread wears out. So I did not get snow tire for my Escort Wagon. I never got stuck and never had a accident in snow driving single tire FWD vehicles. Of course given all the dummies who still drive RWD vehicles, I once had to stay a night in a motel, because the road in both direction were blocked by RWD vehicles.

The Yaris has duel tire FWD. Duel tire FWD gives better traction than single tire FWD. The key to learning how to drive in snow is to slow down and leave a lot of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. I have lived the last year and 1/2 in Stow, Ohio. Stow gets more snow than Maryland. Plus I have to drive to Cleveland to go to the VA hospital. I rarely down shift in snow because I slow down and avoid hills as much as possible.

[smofskra]

I drove around in northern Wisconsin until Febuary with the TRD 18s on and to be honest, they handle WAY better than the stock Bridgestone Potenza's.