Snow - what is the problem??
Discussion
7db said:
I guess that heavy vehicles and buses are going to have more of a problem with this, and they've got the capability to block the road pretty much completely.
I think they are going to have less trouble than little light things. The 7 loses grip like nobody's business on snow. Buses tend to have much of their available grip still available to them.
Having seen someone spin a (fortunately empty) yellow school bus on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after a short snow shower, I'll reserve judgement on that. I decided to get off the 'Pike after the snow shower (a couple of inches came down in 30 minutes), started to slow down for the off-ramp and got rear-ended by the guy behind me (fortunately so gently there was no damage), who got rear-ended by the guy behind *him* and so on, until there are flying cars, spinning artics, people sliding across the central divider into the oncoming traffic and God knows what. We drove down the off-ramp and had the bus spin in front of us and block the road, then the "good 'ole boys" coming down the ramp in their 4x4s were turning round and setting off up the ramp *in* *the* *wrong* *direction*. And it snows there every year - not like here.
No wonder the USA's never produced any proper race drivers.
henrycrun said:
Some drivers have no idea how use the gears to slow down.
So how does one drive an auto in the snow without using the brakes ? Just wondered (when I get lazy I might buy one)
If you have 2wd, then using the gears to slow you down in very slippery conditions is not a good idea. If you have rwd it's a very very bad idea, but if you have any sense at all you'll realize that when the back end steps out every time you take your foot off the throttle.
I once owned an early Saab 99 that, in common with all Saabs at that time, came with a freewheel. The point of this was that when you lifted off the throttle it would coast, with no engine braking, the reason being to avoid losing grip at the front wheels on icy roads. Suddenly lifting off the accelerator is more than enough to break traction if you are too abrupt. Saab eventually dropped the freewheel because it was seen as too "eccentric" and put potential buyers who were used to other cars off. As usual with Saab before it became a part of GM, however, it was based on sound logic and experience, coming from the company that were the first to introduce seat belts as a standard fitting and whose cars had windscreen pillars built to a standard that made a roll cage (comparatively)unecessary. (Lousy gearbox, though!)
GreenV8S said:
..if you have any sense at all you'll realize that when the back end steps out every time you take your foot off the throttle.
Help me out 'ere Green me old cocker.
Are you saying (on RWD) that when the back end steps out, take your foot off the throttle
OR
the back end steps out when you take your foot off the throttle.
OR
the back end steps out when you take your foot off the throttle if using downchanging to slow down.
>> Edited by Big Fat F'er on Tuesday 27th December 22:01
Firstly, with modern high performance (summer) tyres, stopping at all is a challenge on snow, whether you have fwd, 4wd or rwd. Secondly, if you have ABS you will trigger it almost as soon as you touch the brakes and the chances are you'll have no option other than to steer as much as you can while letting the ABS do its thing. You will, however, need a HUGE amount of road to stop in. Finally, if you have the space and feel up to it, you're best bet is to deliberately allow the car to go a bit sideways, so that each wheel is leaving its own track in the snow. That way, you can build up a wedge of snow in front of each wheel and this will slow you more quickly than braking in a straight line with the ABS preventing lock up. Early Quattros actually allowed you to disable the ABS for driving in snow because locked wheels can slow the car more quickly, albeit with no steering control.
As a last resort, use the verge or kerb to slow against, rather than anything more solid!
As a last resort, use the verge or kerb to slow against, rather than anything more solid!
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