Our first snow....

[BillyGman]

I just want to know one thing........why is it that people think that wrong-wheel-drive cars can go anywhere in the snow w/out having snowtires? I just got home from late night grocery shopping while our first snow of the season is falling. It started out as rain and turned to snow, so it['s that really slippery type of stuff....

anyway, there's a big hill that's pretty long that I have to drive up to get to my house, and I just put the snowtires on all four corners today. The Marauder went up that hill no problem, but halfway up, there were three rice burner cars all stuck on the hill, and all stopped dead sitting sideways. There was also a fourth Jap car, and it was backing down the hill. I just stayed at a steady pace at about 30 mph weaving in between the three Japanese road blocks w/out even any traction issues at all, and with my Kooks headers at a low growl as that mighty S/Ced Marauder of mine plugged away right on past those three rice lovers stuck on the hill. I bet they were surprised to see a RWD (right-wheel-drive) car just breeze on by them. :banana2:

[Bigdogjim]

Funny thing? All we had was RWD for years:)

Then the bean counters told us FWD was way better:mad:

Marketing took off with it now people belive it? Dumb huh!

[BillyGman]

Marketing took off with it now people belive it? Dumb huh!Yep, you can say that again......sure, I know it can have it's advantages in the snow, but it's by no means mandatiry, or even neccessary, and even if you have it (FWD that is) it doesn't mean that there isn't a need for snow tires like there is with RWD. I really wish someone I knew had a cam=corder, and was stabding on the side of that hill that I just went up w/the three rice luvers standing there looking at there cars sitting sideways that wouldn't make it up that hill. What a video that would've made!! I probably could've sold it to a tire company for a commercial. :rofl:

[Bigdogjim]

and even if you have it (FWD that is) it doesn't mean that there isn't a need for snow tires like there is with RWD.

I still laugh every time a see a car with snows on the front:lol:

[BillyGman]

I still laugh every time a see a car with snows on the front:lol:
LOL...yeah, like I laugh every time I see a car at the track with slicks, or drag radials on the front. It's just plain backwards.

[TheDealer]

I've driven in the snow all my life with rwd. People just don't know how to drive. :beer:

[BillyGman]

I've driven in the snow all my life with rwd. People just don't know how to drive. :beer:
I ust admit Ray, that's exactly what I was thinking after I conquered that snow covered hill tonight, and I was headed for the next one, and this guy with another wrong-wheel-drive car who was driving along at about 30 MPH in front of me, slows way down to about 15 MPH just as he gets to the foot of that next hill!!! I thought to myself, "what's wrong w/these people?" "why are they out on the road at 11:00pm on a Sunday night when they knew that snow was coming, if they haven't any clue as to how to drive in it?".....anyway, so I just drove around the guy.

[MENINBLK]

Hey Billy,

We're getting some white stuff here also...
I've got to get up early tomorrow to evaluate the neighborhood,
and see if its worth getting out early, or waiting for the sun
to melt some of this stuff.

I hope we don't get too much, but in either case I'll get to see
just how well these Pirellis hold up to Tirerack's user reviews...

[BillyGman]

Hey Billy,

We're getting some white stuff here also...
I've got to get up early tomorrow to evaluate the neighborhood,
and see if its worth getting out early, or waiting for the sun
to melt some of this stuff.

I hope we don't get too much, but in either case I'll get to see
just how well these Pirellis hold up to Tirerack's user reviews...
Sorry, if this is old news, but are you a police officer? Just wondering. But anyway, let us know how those tires do. I heard that Connecticut and parts of L.I. are supposed to get more than the city will. But perhaps that's usually the case anyway.

[MENINBLK]

Sorry, if this is old news, but are you a police officer? Just wondering. But anyway, let us know how those tires do. I heard that Connecticut and parts of L.I. are supposed to get more than the city will. But perhaps that's usually the case anyway.

No, not a Police Officer. At least not in this lifetime.
I've got a job working for a Computer Hardware manufacturer, thats very flexible,
and requires a lot of driving around town.
I've got to take my son to school, and drop my wife at work if the roads are slippery in the morning.
My wife refuses to drive on bad roads...

I think she just enjoys getting chauffered in the Marauder... lol

[BillyGman]

I think she just enjoys getting chauffered in the Marauder... lol
Oh, well then, I can't say that I blame her. :D

[teamrope]

I don't know what makes me laugh more, wrong wheel drive, or the SUV/4X4 crowd.

Your story reminds me of when I took a 1 year break from the Army. I was installing cable, and my company rig was a 2 wheel drive Ranger. I lost count of how many 4X4s and wrong wheel drive cars I passed sitting in the ditch as I just chugged on past. :)

[BillyGman]

I don't know what makes me laugh more, wrong wheel drive, or the SUV/4X4 crowd.

Your story reminds me of when I took a 1 year break from the Army. I was installing cable, and my company rig was a 2 wheel drive Ranger. I lost count of how many 4X4s and wrong wheel drive cars I passed sitting in the ditch as I just chugged on past. :)
I honestly think that many FWD car drivers, and especially 4x4 truck drivers think that theri vehicles are invincible in the snow, and that they can drive on any road in any whether conditions w/out any regard to their rate of travel, nor their technique!!! They seem to have a false sense of security, and rely too much on thier alleged infallible vehicles rather than their driving skills. perhaps it's because some of them don't have any driving skills, nor actuallt know what that is. :rolleyes: But what gets me is that they get stuck ona hill because of their poor driving, and then they create a blockage for everyone behind them. Tonight I was able to continue on up that hill w/out slowing down all that much, because it was late at night, and there wasn't much traffic. but had it been in the afternoon, there woould've been a massive roadblock with traffic backed up for awhile.

[MENINBLK]

Another big part of this problem is the LACK of preventative maintenance
and active preparation,
when you KNOW that inclement winter weather is inevitable, whether it happens today or in a week.

What grips on a dry road doesn't necessarily work in a wet raod or an icy road.
And what is worn, needs to be replaced BEFORE the steel belts show through.
It doesn't matter if they have Traction Control, ABS, 4WD, AWD or anything else!
All it takes is some common sense and advance preparation.

Look here on this board.
Some of us have been talking Winter Tires for what 6 weeks ???
We know what's coming, its the same EVERY YEAR, but there are people that think they are the exception.
If you can't afford the ENTIRE RESPONSIBLITY of driving a vehicle and providing safety for yourself,
the occupants of your vehicle, and the other vehicles on the road you are sharing with them,
then you don't belong on the road !!!

[BillyGman]

Look here on this board.
Some of us have been talking Winter Tires for what 6 weeks ???
We know what's coming, its the same EVERY YEAR, but there are people that think they are the exception.
If you can't afford the ENTIRE RESPONSIBLITY of driving a vehicle and providing safety for yourself,
the occupants of your vehicle, and the other vehicles on the road you are sharing with them,
then you don't belong on the road !!!I hear ya.....some people just don't get it. :rolleyes: I also think that many people just don't realize how much of a difference snow tires make. And I mean real snow tires. Not those so called "all season" make believer tires. The rubber compounds on many snow tires that are made now are different than tires that atre made for year round driving. They're made with rubber that stays pliable in cold temperatures. Unlike standard tires that have rubber that hardens up considerably when the temps outside drop below 40 degrees. I've noticed this on dry pavement in 30 degree temperatures with the stock OEM tires on the Marauder. They just are terrible when you hit the go pedal even slightly around turns when you're starting off, let alone in the snow. And I've noticed that even before I supercharged the car.

[Bluerauder]

I've driven in the snow all my life with rwd. People just don't know how to drive. :beer:
Heck, many of them are using most of their active brain cells on sunny and dry days just to stay between the lines. Add rain or snow (or a cell phone) and their hard drive is max out and on the verge of crashtime. :rofl:

[TripleTransAm]

I've had great results in my Marauder with these winter tires... they've been so good so far that I really have to keep reminding myself that it is winter and that all it takes is a little distraction and one can make a bad decision. :up:

However, this morning I have to say that the whole setup pretty much reached it's limit. When I stepped outside the house this morning at 7:30 am, the thermometer was reading -28 C (that's under -18 F, beat that you lousy Torontonians! ;) ).

This was too much for my 4300+ lb beast. Traction was okay but about as good as I'd get with my past Civics on all-season tires. Last winter was my first winter with dedicated winter tires on my 1998 Civic and I was unbeatable in temperatures like this.

As I've said before, many FWD cars are useless in the snow unless they are decked to the hilt with the best snow tires out there. And then there are others that are unbeatable, like manual-transmission Civics. I think it's a matter of weight distribution and balance... probably one of the reasons why I can usually blow by struggling SUVs with my two-tons-o-fun MM in deep snow without breaking a sweat. :up:

FWIW, the Pontiac Sunfart rental I have today (my MM is in the shop for the day-long 50000 km maintenance, and power window switch pod replacement) behaved just as well (if not *slightly* better) as my Marauder did this morning, on the same exact roads (I'm working from home today) and at the same temps. On crappy all-seasons.

BTW: I just checked the weather online... currently -26 C (-15 F) with a windchill of -40 C (that's -40 F...). And it's going to actually remain at this temperature all day and upcoming night. :eek:

[Bigdogjim]

I don't know what makes me laugh more, wrong wheel drive, or the SUV/4X4 crowd.

It would be the SUV-4X4 group...They think their sh** don't stink :bs:

Maybe we should start a poll?

[Bigdogjim]

Add rain or snow (or a cell phone) and their hard drive is max out and on the verge of crashtime. :rofl:

If I see a cell phone in the ear I'll head for the ditch:bigcry:

[BillyGman]

Wow Steve, 17 degrees below zero, uh? That kind of weather is in a whole different league!!!

[TripleTransAm]

Wow Steve, 17 degrees below zero, uh? That kind of weather is in a whole different league!!!

What's worse is the damned windchill factor... for a while I saw it climb to -36 C but now it's back down to -40 C. This doesn't affect cars or inanimate objects (like my ex-girlfriend from University) but does play a role in how quickly things cool off. I suppose that might not help any slight warming of the tire rubber that would have occurred at the contact patch if the windchill was not present.

To put it into perspective, we'll be hitting +1 C (about 34 F) on Thursday and they're calling for rain. That's life up here... -15 C for a while, then all of sudden up to around the freezing mark, then back down for a bit, etc...

It's not the worst winter weather I recall. The ultimate winter chill I've experienced was in the winter of 1993-1994, where I recall overnight windchill factors of -50 C (-58 F!). And this lasted for 2 months. Daytime "highs" were pretty much identical to today's performance, but again... for 2 months! It was my first winter as an F-body owner, and having wisely stored the car (the car actually stored itself, but that's another story), I was putting around in a home-made 1984 FrankenCivic 5-speed 4 door with 4 different brands of all-season tires on it, and one of them (right front) completely bald. Never got stuck except for one bad move in winter 1996-1997 when I got that SOB tire stuck in an icy rut outside my now-wife's appartment when dropping her off - they hadn't done a good job with snow removal and it subsequently iced over. :mad: So instead of buying new tires, I just bought a 1992 Integra GS instead. :beatnik:

It's no secret I like FWD from certain manufacturers when it comes to mundane econo/winter driving, but only from *certain* manufacturers. A coworker with a brand new Mazda 3 says she is a bit unimpressed with the same winter tires I ended up buying for my Civic last winter, even though they made my car stick like glue. *shrug* So I guess there are different levels of winter performance, as I managed 3 good years on my new all-seasons on my '98 Civic before feeling I should upgrade... nonetheless, after my first 4-true-winter-tires winter in 2003-2004, I'm a firm believer in taking the precaution because it really did make a huge difference.

I sometimes miss the winter handling of that car with those winter tires, but at least I'm enjoying this winter in a cool (no pun intended) car... first time since my Integra days in the late 90s, but with oodles of extra power! :up:

[Dr Caleb]

Sounds like we got the same weather today TTA. -19, windchill to -42.

The wind picked up yesterday amost exactally at noon. It was -2 until then, and one person who was para-skiing was killed by the first gusts. Highway signs held up by 4X4 studs were snapped. Gusts to 120km/h. 20cm of snow overnight. The roads plain suck.

And wouldn't you know it, some numpty was tailgaiting me down the highway from home to the city limits :mad:

But you can't beat studded grips on a RWD car!

[2003DOHC]

4 inches or so in Green Bay today. Most snow in december since 2000. :(

[CBT]

So Billy, thats technically 3 kills in one run, huh?:D

[BillyGman]

So Billy, thats technically 3 kills in one run, huh?:D
LOL....yeah, and all uphill too!!!