Winter Driving Tips

[84bluebronco2]

It is generally a good idea to find a slippery parking lot and go goof off for a bit to learn how your vehicle handles in the snow. If a cop shows up, just explain yourself - but that won't work if you're simply doing donuts, lol.

That's my problem lol... Lets go practice... (6 donuts later)....

 

[Colin]

That's my problem lol... Lets go practice... (6 donuts later)....

only 6? wow you have self-control

 

[LearjetMinako]

I know how to feather the throttle too. When you are on ice, or slick grass, or mud or some such, all the feathers in the world won't get you moving. Low range second gear just might though.

Were you watching me in the Lowe's parking lot last winter year? Just watching me do an engine idling burn out.

 

[racsan]

i was once doing powerslides in a '82 mercury zepher (ford fairmont sport coupe, merc version) and i misjudged when i put it into a slide and put it into the side of a snowbank, drivers side wheels up on the bank, 2 ft of snow between the body of the car & the ground. reverse donuts on a fwd car are cool, then to bring yourself out of it, turn the wheel the opposite way while shifting to drive, floor it. way cool. with the ranger i just enjoy doing 4wd powerslides. the S-blazer though, wheelbase too short, gets scary real quick. the blazer does do a amazing hole shot in 4wd, my favorite thing to do in it is have it in 2wd, do a u-turn slide, let off the gas, push the 4x button, then nail the gas. cant do that kind of stuff without snow, not without tearing crap up anyways.

 

[gribly]

Wrong. Many Ford automatics, when you put them in 2nd, will start out in 2nd.
What you say IS true for GM and Chrysler automatics, AFAIK.

My '96 S-10 4.3 started in 2nd when you put it in 2nd. She'd still bake the tires off on dry pavement like that, though. Only thing good about that truck was how fast it was. 4.3 Vortec (180hp version), 2wd, reg cab, short bed, automatic, zq8 suspension package. At 2900lbs (according to a scale) it was pretty motivated with that little V6. After I did *some* work to it, it would melt the tires and crab sideways at 65 mph. Sold it to an elderly lady, she loved it.

 

[gribly]

i was once doing powerslides in a '82 mercury zepher (ford fairmont sport coupe, merc version) and i misjudged when i put it into a slide and put it into the side of a snowbank, drivers side wheels up on the bank, 2 ft of snow between the body of the car & the ground. reverse donuts on a fwd car are cool, then to bring yourself out of it, turn the wheel the opposite way while shifting to drive, floor it. way cool. with the ranger i just enjoy doing 4wd powerslides. the S-blazer though, wheelbase too short, gets scary real quick. the blazer does do a amazing hole shot in 4wd, my favorite thing to do in it is have it in 2wd, do a u-turn slide, let off the gas, push the 4x button, then nail the gas. cant do that kind of stuff without snow, not without tearing crap up anyways.

My escort would spin on it's own axis in drive with the e-brake yanked, wheel cranked over full lock, pedal to the floor. It even did that with a full carload of people. That car wasn't stock, either though. It was very healthy for a 1.9 automatic, couldn't even do a full throttle launch, tires would bake off. It's still the only fwd car I have ever seen that would do legit donuts in drive. I don't mean it would keep one rear tire planted and rotate on that, no, it actually spun around sliding the back tires (as long as the e-brake was yanked) and looked like how an AWD car does donuts. Was very, very fun. No, I never changed the cv's out, somehow they lasted.

 

[wrecking-crew]

So doing donuts in an intersection is not proper winter driving?

 

[gribly]

So doing donuts in an intersection is not proper winter driving?

Only if there is no traffic. Then it's mandatory, if you're not in a hurry.

This thread just reminded me of the time in college we all had to move our vehicles so they could plow the parking lot, and I had my Navajo with me. I did several 4wd donuts, the 2-door Explorers and Navajos do them very, very tight, I can do them within my own wheelbase actually - and then parked my truck. One of my friends with a toyota (was 4x4, but was broken and had only 2wd) tried to do the same thing, in the same spot, but instead he drifted really wide. He came within a FOOT of slamming into another friends newer camry backwards. Instead, luckily, he hit a snowbank. She was in the car, too, I thought it was going to be bad when I was watching it happen.

 

[Will]

That second gear advice really only works on automatics. You let the clutch up in second on ice and you find yourself going faster than you want to go, unless your plan is to drive around burnishing your clutch disk.

The best auto ever made, the TH400, starts in 2nd when you put it in second. It's the only auto I currently drive so I don't remember about the others. On an auto, starting in second might be an advantage because there's lots of things to slip and let you gradually build up speed without toasting anything. The fact, is, and having grown up in Iowa where there is considerable snow, starting in second is more of a cute theory than a practical advantage. The idea of having less torque to the wheels giving you less chance to slip a wheel is utter garbage. A tire on ice has 1/7th the traction of a tire on asphalt and 1/10 that of a tire on concrete. By starting in 2nd you are reducing torque by only 60%, not the required 700%--and you will be going faster, sooner, if you don't start spinning sooner because regardless of the surface, the tire wants to be spinning more quickly in a higher gear.

 

[gribly]

That second gear advice really only works on automatics. You let the clutch up in second on ice and you find yourself going faster than you want to go, unless your plan is to drive around burnishing your clutch disk.

The best auto ever made, the TH400, starts in 2nd when you put it in second. It's the only auto I currently drive so I don't remember about the others. On an auto, starting in second might be an advantage because there's lots of things to slip and let you gradually build up speed without toasting anything. The fact, is, and having grown up in Iowa where there is considerable snow, starting in second is more of a cute theory than a practical advantage. The idea of having less torque to the wheels giving you less chance to slip a wheel is utter garbage. A tire on ice has 1/7th the traction of a tire on asphalt and 1/10 that of a tire on concrete. By starting in 2nd you are reducing torque by only 60%, not the required 700%--and you will be going faster, sooner, if you don't start spinning sooner because regardless of the surface, the tire wants to be spinning more quickly in a higher gear.

Well, yeah. The only reason I ever started in 2nd was to get my wheel speed up quicker to get my tires to smoke faster when doing a burnout. That feature is great for that if you've got the torque to do it. I don't think anyone suggested to start in 2nd gear in a manual, though. If it's that slippery out that I spin the tires trying to move, I just idle around.

One thing though, locking in 4wd actually DOES help braking, quite a bit. See, your brakes are biased to the front, since weight transfers to the front under normal conditions. On slick surfaces, this is less pronounced, so you are far more likely to lock the front tires, and kinetic friction is lower than static friction, so you lose braking power and just slide straight without slowing down much. If you lock in 4wd, you then would have all four tires getting the exact same braking force, due to the front brakes transferring braking force to the rear through the 4wd. I have actually been in a bad situation in 2wd trying to brake when I couldn't, and I let up the brakes and shifted to 4wd and was able to stop quicker than just trying to keep braking in 2wd. This was in my Navajo, which does not have ABS. Modern ABS basically negates everything I just said. For example, Mini Coopers have an artificially high rear brake bias, and the computer is aware of this. They use a special type of ABS to brake the rear harder than a normal car, and it helps quicken turn-in under trail braking and left foot braking situations. This is all for high performance driving and racing, though. I think it's kinda neat, though. It also means that when you go to stop quick, the brakes work very, very well. A mini cooper can stop quicker than just about any car, given they are on the same tires.

 

[Will]

You have the truck in 4wd and just let up on the gas and you have a lot of braking. No question that driving in 4wd is safer if you don't have lockers.

My truck has been off the road for a few years, and in pieces now, so I drive a 2wd in the winter. I find that a little weight goes a long way toward making the truck stick instead of slide. My big truck has had mud terrains on it for the last couple of winters and with a Detroit No-Spin and that 2,500# loader in the bed, I go wherever I want to in the snow.

 

[gribly]

That truck is sitting awfully level for having THAT in the bed. I've never seen such a thing...


The 4wd comment wasn't directed at you, I just hate how everyone always says it only helps you get moving when I know for a fact it helps braking a lot, and I know that I can steer out of a slide better if I have all four tires doing the same thing without any of them locking up on me.

 

[bilzy7]

About practicing in a parking lot; make sure it's deserted. The last thing you need is to hit someone or something.
Last year traffic was bad on I-93, it was so slow and I had to Pisa so bad I pulled over to go in a water bottle... Cop pull up behind me to check and make sure I was ok. He caught me pissing in the bottle cause I couldn't stop. He got a good laugh, told me to walk into the woods next time it was funny.
There have been a couple times where in a turn I got over confident, only going 15 I plowed sideways in 4x4 into a snow bank thankfully.

 

[customfolders]

Driving safely on icy roads

1. Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
2. Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.
3. Turn on your lights to increase your visibility to other motorists.
4. Keep your lights and windshield clean.
5. Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
6. Don't use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.
7. Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.
8. Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.
9. Don't assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads.

 

[bilzy7]

I always see people gunning it past plow truck on I-93. On bridges for example, some guy though his chevy 1500 could do anything. He didn't let off the gas going over a bridge and of course nearly spun out going 45... Way too fast for a 30 zone with icy roads. I had np cause I wasn't an idiot and was going a safe speed and let go of gas before bridge so I'd just travel over it and not spin my tires. I do love having fun in the snow, but in a safe way... Sorta lol.

So when snow is bad and roads are icy I should turn off my OD? That's something I didn't know. I figured more gears less rpm would be better.