A question for Impreza owners.

[Toltec]

With the recent snow making it very easy to spin up the wheels and see what happens, does yours power oversteer?

[rsstman]

mine oversteered me without hardly even touching the loud pedal the 1st time i took it out in this weather, but after getting used to it i can now control it, but yes if you plant it it will spin.

my fwd car on the other hand understeers if anything and need the handbrake to get the back end round (which is fun and much less expensive if i crash).

Edited by rsstman on Monday 21st December 14:25

[omgus]

A little, but not as much as the OH's MR2, and mine tend to be as likely to spin all 4 up as just the rears.

Still fun though.

[Animal]

Yes, it is easy if you try (and I have tried quite hard over the past few days!)

However my WRX has been fantastic in the snow - I've had no trouble at all. Always starts first time, never fails to get up a hill and I've got heated seats to boot!

Why - you thinking of buying one?

[Nicol@]

I drove it gently and nothing exciting happened.

Edited by Nicol@ on Monday 21st December 15:45

[Orangecurry]

Toltec said:

With the recent snow making it very easy to spin up the wheels and see what happens, does yours power oversteer?

Depends which way the front wheels are pointing, and the camber on the roads.

I was ice-driving yesterday and when moving quickly on country b-roads I was keeping everything as straight as I could with gentle four-wheel drifting.

But when moving slowly on urban side-roads covered with ice it's very easy to 'power' oversteer, yes.

Did any of that make sense?

[Toltec]

Orangecurry said:

Toltec said:

With the recent snow making it very easy to spin up the wheels and see what happens, does yours power oversteer?

Depends which way the front wheels are pointing, and the camber on the roads.

I was ice-driving yesterday and when moving quickly on country b-roads I was keeping everything as straight as I could with gentle four-wheel drifting.

But when moving slowly on urban side-roads covered with ice it's very easy to 'power' oversteer, yes.

Did any of that make sense?

Yes that makes sense, so may people bang on about them always understeering I was just wondering what other owners thought. The current weather just made me think of asking, keeping it neutral to oversteer most of the time has never seemed that difficult.

Animal, I have had a classic for the last seven years

[belliott69]

i've got to say i'm suprised to say how neutral they are in this weather, i was expecting them to be hard to drive because of the power but theres nothing. but if you have a bit of a play you can still control them easily, very happy with mine.

[Vario-Rob]

With Proxes on it has provided huge fun in the white stuff with arms fulls of power oversteer to order, now its on Michelin Pilot Alpin’s (very good winter boots) and the little bugger grips like the proverbial to a blanket.

Huge fun none the less and an epic little motor

[Toltec]

Pretty much as I hoped then, they understeer if the driver lets them. At least I am happy mine has not got something odd happening to the centre diff anyway.

[Syndrome]

I'm running REO70s, which make life a little bit more interesting than in the warm dry conditions, but with a bit of playing with the DCCD i'm still having less trouble getting around than most of the people in my street

[rsstman]

Vario-Rob said:

With Proxes on it has provided huge fun in the white stuff with arms fulls of power oversteer to order, now its on Michelin Pilot Alpin’s (very good winter boots) and the little bugger grips like the proverbial to a blanket.

Huge fun none the less and an epic little motor

how much did you pay for your winter tyres if you dont mind me asking and in what size and from where? not sure id bother with them but am very interested. thanks

[GravelBen]

Syndrome said:

I'm running REO70s, which make life a little bit more interesting than in the warm dry conditions, but with a bit of playing with the DCCD i'm still having less trouble getting around than most of the people in my street

Just lock the DCCD right up for snow and you'll be fine!

[Twilight1]

Toltec said:

With the recent snow making it very easy to spin up the wheels and see what happens, does yours power oversteer?

What a question...

Well, living in Finland and driving an Impreza makes me qualified to answer?

Well it depends. Basically a 50:50- drive ratio 4WD is not that lively with back end. Usually the slides are either wide or very narrow depending hugely on the attacking angle and speed. I consider two kind of speeds, fast is 40mph and up and slow under 40mph. But in normal snowy driving conditions the 50:50 4WD with Viscous coupling center differential (Classic WRX/STI, newage WRX and STI -2004, Mitsu Evos -VII and Celica GT4's) behave quite neutral manner and slides become pretty wide if really floored towards the exit of the corner. Instead you can use driving techniques like Scandinavian flick and help the car turn at better angle towards apex even before the corner. That helps to keep the slide a little narrower. There are multiple ways to do it but thats one. In slow speeds, you can get the tail out if really wanted, but its nothing like RWD cars.

If the car is equipped with variable or adjustable center differential (which allows to change the ratio between front and rear axles), the vehicle behavior is everything from understeering (50:50) into oversteering (35:65 for example). The effort to steer the car with steering wheel decreases when more power is transferred into the front axle.

So basically you need to know the car technically, know the laws of physics and you will be fine. You can get the tail out on 50:50 4WD but its harder to accomplish.

GravelBen said:

Just lock the DCCD right up for snow and you'll be fine!

Actually no. The LOCK- position makes the car turn quite badly and it is prone to heavy understeer. You really have to know what you are doing to get the most out of the LOCK position.

Sorry for boring you out.

Edited by Twilight1 on Wednesday 23 December 11:47

[Twilight1]

To make you faster than most of the people in the snow, i would consider buying better tires. But i think 400GBP for tires are little too much for few weeks of snow. First one is with studs and the otherone is studless tire.

Edited by Twilight1 on Wednesday 23 December 12:03

[Vario-Rob]

rsstman said:

Vario-Rob said:

With Proxes on it has provided huge fun in the white stuff with arms fulls of power oversteer to order, now its on Michelin Pilot Alpin’s (very good winter boots) and the little bugger grips like the proverbial to a blanket.

Huge fun none the less and an epic little motor

how much did you pay for your winter tyres if you dont mind me asking and in what size and from where? not sure id bother with them but am very interested. thanks

The Alpin’s were just shy of £800 (including VAT) for four, they are 215/45/17’s

A lot near to me in BSE got them over from France as they really don’t stock them here in the UK, A14 Tyres and they are very helpful and have been reasonable on some other difficult stuff such as Cups and indeed some rears for a DeTomaso

[JakeR]

I've just ordered some winter tyres for my Litchfield S GT (bit like an '08 UK wrx). They were £56 a corner, delivered. chuck them on to some 2nd hand wheels and I think that is a fair price to pay.

I have a 1000km drive looming, and thought it would be a good idea!

[Toltec]

Twilight1 said:

But in normal snowy driving conditions the 50:50 4WD with Viscous coupling center differential (Classic WRX/STI, newage WRX and STI -2004, Mitsu Evos -VII and Celica GT4's) behave quite neutral manner and slides become pretty wide if really floored towards the exit of the corner. Instead you can use driving techniques like Scandinavian flick and help the car turn at better angle towards apex even before the corner. That helps to keep the slide a little narrower. There are multiple ways to do it but thats one. In slow speeds, you can get the tail out if really wanted, but its nothing like RWD cars.

Thanks, good post. I was always under the impression that the standard Impreza had a 60:40 front to rear split. I have done the above on wet tarmac, not the flick though turn in O/S at 80mph is a hoot, the big slide I have also had while practising at Carlimits. The recent snow has given the occasional opportunity to play at very low speeds, holding a little power slide for five or six seconds etc., all very gentle and good fun. I have also being trying out how to get the car to understeer on the snow/ice, again with normal road tyres (RE050As) this can be done at low speeds, I found that it could be done by turning in too hard etc., however the car was pretty neutral most of the time and steadily increasing power would push the tail out unless you had already had the car understeering.

My original post was really to see what other owners experiences were as generally all you hear about is the way they understeer. Yes, they will understeer, but so will a rwd car if you drive it to do so.

Who cares what some people think of them, even after seven years driving it can still put a smile on my face.

[Syndrome]

Toltec said:

My original post was really to see what other owners experiences were as generally all you hear about is the way they understeer. Yes, they will understeer, but so will a rwd car if you drive it to do so.

Who cares what some people think of them, even after seven years driving it can still put a smile on my face.

You are correct. You have to adopt a more aggressive driving style ( particularly on a track) to prevent the much complained about 'understeer at apex' characteristic. You'll find that you'll be quicker round a track in a scoob if you actualy flick the car into the corners rather than the commonly accepted quick way round being smooth on turn in.

[Mr Gearchange]

My Leggy Spec B (which i assume has the same 4wd system) is very prone to oversteer in the snow with a small degree of provocation.

I've not had the car long and it was my first chance to drive it in the snow which was a great education and epic fun

I found that sphincter-loosening oversteer was very easy to provoke on entry to a corner with a small flick to unbalance the car - being agressive with the throttle certainly felt like much more drive was getting directed rearwards.

But if I was gentle with my inputs id be hard pressed to know there was any snow or ice on the roads to be honest.