Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires Driving in snow?

Get a set of alternate rims in either steel or alloy. Not much sense in using the factory rims through winter in my opinion as they will get eaten up by the salt (if your area uses it). Plus, the money you save in changeover twice a year can go into your new wheels!


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Dave

99 SVT
Toreador Red
Tan Interior
high flow res
K&N setup as KKM
painted grills
painted calipers

stupid question, but I'm to lazy to look, will 15s fit over SVT brakes?

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2000 Contour SVT
Tropic Green #2114 of 2150
Closest thing to a mod is a K&N drop-in
http://hometown.aol.com/rara44/myhomepage/auto.html
"Oh, blood-red eyes and tentacles!
Throbbing, pulsing ventricles!
Mucus-oozing pores and frightful claws!

Worse in terms of outright scariness,
Are the suckers multifarious
That grab and force you in its mighty jaws!"
--Bill Watterson

Yup! Definately 14's will not though. I've got 15's on mine for winter.


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Dave

99 SVT
Toreador Red
Tan Interior
high flow res
K&N setup as KKM
painted grills
painted calipers

Rara, call Frank Belcher @ the Belle Tire in Mount Clemens Michigan. Tell him you talked to me and he will hook you up with some decent snow tires. I'm going with Kelly Navigator Golds

I bought a set of Blizzak WS-15 on ebay for $179 from a place called Tire Pro out of Idaho. The picture they show are actually WS-50, but they are really WS-15. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=tirepro1 (Sorry Luke)

[This message has been edited by robertE (edited November 07, 2000).]

Narrow tires,soft/low temp compound,mtx trans and know how to do handbrake turns,its a breeze(just watch out for the others who cant!) 11 winters in Mi & 7 in N Germany,love the stuff!!!

Terry,

What are handbrake turns? The only time i've done something using the handbrake was in a friend's bimmer teaching him how to do donuts

Please enlighten!

-Chris
2000 SE Sport (awaiting another massachusetts winter)

Terry!!!!!!!!!!! tell them to practice driving first!!

Hand brake turns are what i was talking about when i said to go to a parking lot after your comfortable and practice skid control.

here are the basics.

drive along at about 20mph to start. turn the wheel in one direction (i will assume left from now on..it's more natural for me) while at the same time (acctually about a millisecond after)pull the hand brake. The back end will spin around. If you leave the hand brake on you will skid to a stop, but not really in control.

So don't leave the handbrake on. Counter steer (turn right in this case) and release the handbrake. it really is hard to explain and you just need to do it, or better yet have someone show you. Depending on when you let off the handbrake, how much you counter steer, and how much you give it gas, what the car does will be affected.

you can get the car sideways and keep a nice broadside slide (like the maxima comersial)

you can spin it one way and then get it to pivot around to the totally opposite way(under control)

you can get the car to turn 90 degrees(to take a corner), but the back end is sliding and can go as much as 180 degrees.

all of the above are done the same way (yanking the handbrake mid turn) but what you do after gets the results (very dependant on timing).

Actually i should make it sound hard it isn't but practice because bouncing off curbs suck.

BTW handbrake donuts in a rwd bimmer??? i don't get it. If it's in snow just gun it with the wheels turned and it will spin.

oh i just thought.... the Top Gear Audi RS4
shows the basics of handbrake turns... kind of hard to see the handbrake but you will see what he does in the car.

Thanks,
That's what i thought you were referring to, just wanted to clear it up...

the BMW was a 323ix, the all wheeldrive version from the 80s.

Most 'older' British sports cars had a 'fly-off' handbrake,you had to push the button 'in' to get it to lock,just pull the lever will apply the rear brakes without any ratchet effect.Some 'rally' & trials drivers(me included) used to mod the handbrake on later cars to give this 'fly off' addition.With a front wheel drive you can 'twitch' the rear of the car round while still keeping the power 'on' the front wheels,as in the rally/race Mini-Coopers of the '60s & '70s,.