Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Snow driving...

Alright, there isnt really anything wrong with the car, its driving in the snow that is worrying me today... I lost control of my car 3 times today, durning all of last winter, I lost control ONCE, and all it was was a stright forward slide ALMOST into someone rear bumper, I was smart enough at the time to stear twords the curb before collision could occur. As I did the same today twice. Comeing home on US-10 (nobody else on the road). I completely loose control and my car slides 90 degrees to the left (basically the front and rear end of my car are taking up both lanes.) LUCKILY nobody else was on the road, so no damage occured. I get back into midland, coming off the exit im doing about 15 miles per hour, I push the clutch in, and LIGHTLY tap the brakes to slow down, and BOOM traction compltely gone, HAD there not been dirt and grass after the pavement, I would have gone straight into a direction marker, and into a ditch. NO damage again, didnt get stuck. Continue on my way home, traffic is now getting heavier, Light turns red, I push my brakes down (definately to hard for the weather) and this time I Durfed and hit the clutch to late, My engine stalled. I had no power anything, I manage to miss the truck in front of me by about a foot, and go over the curb (using 2 tires) into a small vacant parking lot. I get stuck for 10 minutes trying to back out back into traffic, I then pull back out into traffic, THEN when making a turn down my residental road, I take the car out of gear and apply the brakes, and DEAD slide again twords the curb, Stop about 4 feet from the curb, and continue down the street, no more problems after that. I also noticed that even on take off, I couldnt for the life of me not peel out, Lightest tap of the gas peal would have those tires spinning forever, I couldnt even get into my driveway without spinning the tires. its an extremely wet snow.

Here is my inquery. Over the summer I bought SVT E1 Cobra style rims from Zoomin3L for 300$ with BFG Comp T/A tires on them, The main reason I didnt go aftermarket was because I wanted these rims to be yearround, so I didnt want to have to deal with swapping them seasonally. my 14 inch steelies have hankook (dont know the exact number) tires on them. Do the BFG Comp t/a Tires just absolutely suck for snow driving?

And any input on methods I can use to keep traction up? Any shift methods or anything?

i would recomend putting your steelys back on, because they are thinner tires they would cut through the snow instead of going over it. Also most summer tires suck in the snow, although i'd look them up on tire rack and see what others think. but as for driving tips, all i have for snow is don't break while turning especially when entering the turn. also ride the clutch through the turn and downshift when you have straightend out.

Today will be my first time with the Contour in the snow...

I hope 225/50/16 falken 512s are ok in snow.

I lost control alot today!!!!!!!!!

My ABS got a workout, my Traction Control got a workout, and fishtailing and doughnuts was fun

Your nearby, this is icy-snow, of course you may loose control easier than snow that isnt all icy....

Contours are bad in snow. We had about 6 inches since noon today. I had to go to the store, every left turn you lost it. I almost hit the curb and several cars several times, every time you took off it would like slip, but once you get to like 20 then it is fine WTF is with that, Contours arent good at all for snow.

Make sure the tires on the back arn't as worn as the front too. If the back have less tread than the front, your back end will want to come out, why I have no idea. My Comp T/A's are ok in the snow, they only slide if I make them or do something stupid. Mine have about a little less than 1/2 tread left too. As for brake lock up, good luck with that.