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In Need of Winter Driving Tips- Please Read...

I learned yesterday engine braking is not a good idea for RWD at all. :laugh:

I'm so used to doing it in the SVT that I don't even think twice before doing it in the Lexus. My backend was kicking out all over the place when I did it.
 
You have to be slow and careful when driving in the snow. Accelerate slower, brake carefully.

My suggestion for learning to drive in the snow is to find a parking lot or deserted road and practice starting and stopping. If you don't spin your wheels when starting off, then spin them on purpose. Same with stopping, get up to 15mph or so and lock the brakes up. Play around and see how it feels in a controlled test at 15mph instead of on the road with traffic at 35 or 45mph.

I found my Contour did fine in the snow, many mornings I went to work and saw pickups and SUVs in the ditch. However, if you get more than 4 or 5 inches of snow then ground clearance becomes a big problem.
 
all-season tires are ok and manageable. But if you've ever driven on snow tires you probably wont go back.

I first bought snow tires for my Accord, worked great. I then got a Civic and got snow tires for that as well. Have had these snow tires for about 4 years now, my Civic is pretty low and I do scrape and blow the snow a bit but this car handles great in the snow. No ABS and no power steering really allows me to feel the road. I haven't driven my SVT in the snow yet but when I'm done working on it and I start driving it the guy I bought it from had a set of SE rims (I believe) mounted with Bridgestone Blizzak's. So those will go on and we will see.

If you have the money and the space to store them, snow tires are an excellent investment for winter driving.

When I get out on the road I usually always test the road conditions by stopping kinda hard and that to see if it'll slide or what. Do this when no one is around obviously. This gives me enough of an idea of the conditions to continue my drive accordingly.

Leave for work/school/destination with extra time to allow for slower driving. When people rush is when things go wrong.

Stop sooner. No need to come up fast to that side street or traffic light. I usually coast up to a light if it's red. And be especially careful when pulling from a main road that plowed and salted onto a side street thats either not plowed or not salted or both. You can easily understeer and slide through the turn, and if a car is there waiting to turn on the main road you'll plow straight into them. I work just north of a 8 mile (SE MI people know it) and it's a busy and sometimes crazy road, I turn my signal on way in advance and brake earlier to turn onto the side street slow so I dont lose control. Happened once before from a car that almost rear ended me and I entered the turn to fast to avoid getting hit and luckily no car was there cause I slid through the turn.

When I get into side streets or other ares that haven't been plowed I'm either in 1st or 2nd and keep the revs low. You want the tires to grip not just sit there and spin. Go slow and keep the tires going (slowly) and you'll find it gets you through a lot. Coming to work today the end of our street isn't plowed, deeper than my car has clearance for and not many ruts to follow. The snow was probably a few inches up my front bumper and I just came in slow and in second. I wasn't going fast and I slowly pulled through the snow. Got to work and I had snow packed into my bumper grill.

My first car was an automatic and every car since then has been manual. And I prefer to drive a manual in the winter.
 
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It's been mentioned above, but accelerating from 2nd gear in snow or ice is a great tip for winter driving. It just makes it more difficult to spin the tires (especially when starting uphill).

Take it slow & always look as far ahead as possible. Check your mirrors every 3-5 seconds to see if anybody's going to rear end you.

Most of all, practice practice practice.
 
Jo4nny said:
Take it slow & always look as far ahead as possible. Check your mirrors every 3-5 seconds to see if anybody's going to rear end you.
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Yep the other drivers scare me more than the snow. SUVs that drive 55mph and people that ride your bumper really piss me off. Of course I've seen those SUVs in the ditch a few miles down the road after they passed me on a snow covered road.
 
Part of winter driving (and regular driving for that matter) is watching for other people. Some drivers in trucks and SUVs tend to think 4-wheel drive will make them stop quicker. Be alert when approaching an intersection for cars that can't stop in time because they're going too fast. If you see them coming, you'll have plenty of time to stop, and avoid an accident.

Just be extremely gentle with everything. Brake very early, accelerate very light, and don't do anything sudden. ABS is actually kind of nice to have in the snow, you'll slide further, but you can steer the car while standing on the brakes, w/o the back-end sliding out on you.
 
I think ABS is going to scare me on snow, my Mazdaspeed3 is my first vehicle with ABS. I'm used to my wheels locking up when I brake hard in the snow. It seems like the wheels still rolling after you brake hard would be like a nightmare when you try to stop but your brakes don't work!
 
One thing I'm careful of is if I'm the first car stopped at a red light.
I try to stop earlier than the painted line in the road to allow for idiots that may be turning onto my road from the intersection.
It gives them space in case they miscalculate and start sliding through the turn.
 
dbateman said:
I think ABS is going to scare me on snow, my Mazdaspeed3 is my first vehicle with ABS. I'm used to my wheels locking up when I brake hard in the snow. It seems like the wheels still rolling after you brake hard would be like a nightmare when you try to stop but your brakes don't work!
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It lets you still have control of the car in a "skid" like that. When you break and the tires lock up you can't "stear" the car....it will just slide forward. Antilocks prevent that from happening, so you have better control of the car...you can actually stear it for the most part. Granted you don't stop as soon, but for the most part that there isn't a huge difference.
 
AliasJerk said:
heel-toe/rev matching, IF you have the time to do it, as it is better for the clutch.
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Dude, in a thread from a newbie with a stick why would you mention heel/toe. :shrug: Do NOT start trying this if for the first time in the snow.
My only advice for winter driving is #1 use your head/drive smart 2# have good tires #3 start out in second.
-J
 
elraido said:
It lets you still have control of the car in a "skid" like that. When you break and the tires lock up you can't "stear" the car....it will just slide forward. Antilocks prevent that from happening, so you have better control of the car...you can actually stear it for the most part. Granted you don't stop as soon, but for the most part that there isn't a huge difference.
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If you're driving a FWD vehicle, just blip the throttle and the wheels will spin the direction your steering wheel is pointed. Typically this is better than trying to steer while braking.

I HATE ABS. It always causes me to slide further than I want, especially always in snow. It activated once again today on a 30mph road, putting me much closer to the car in front of me than I wanted. I'll take a "slide" any day over ABS.

I know how to pump the brakes and have successfully done so on dry pavement when the brakes would lock on my old Contour SE (itself a rare occurrence). Screw ABS.
 
AliasJerk said:
1) always keep the car in gear, no power to wheels = no tracton.
2) if your car starts to drift while keeping a continuous speed, downshift and if you dont regain traction lightly brake
3) keep the revs low, on a DOHC motor max horsepower happens when the secondaries open up so keeping the revs below even 2500 is definitely a plus
4) think further ahead, double or even tripple your stopping distance, and if road conditions are really bad, downshift while slowing down.

I am a master at driving in the snow, its my favorite thing to do during the winter, I have it down to a science.
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One and 2 go against EVERYTHING I learned at a performance winter driving school. For one, if you are in a slide with the fronts, it is GOOD to put the car in neutral, and the sooner the better. There is less resistance on the wheels, therefore they don't fight the snow/ice, they start rolling, giving you actual traction, and control of the car.

If the car is drifting (I assume you mean in a skid) downshifting is a bad idea for the same reason -- this is the same reason you don't brake during a fast turn -- you are loading the suspension and just begging the tires to break lose. One might be able to pull out of it, but I don't think I could. Again, neutral is the better policy.

Three and four, on the other hand, I agree with completely. The guys driving like idiots, and ignoring the conditions, are the ones that end up in the ditch...like I did.

Get snows -- if they save you once, they paid for themselves by making sure you didn't have to pay your insurance deductible.

If you normally follow by two car lengths, follow by more. Leave more space at stops (in case someone else didn't buy snows).

And take it easy -- getting somewhere an hour late is better than not getting there at all.

Lastly, in really bad weather, discretion is the better part of valour -- stay home.

More tips: http://www.carsp.ca/winter2.htm
 
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