What to do in the snow?

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

What he said. Safety comes first before anything else, even hypermiling. This goes for any kind of road conditions, but especially inclement weather.

At least if your car is a front-wheel drive, you are better off than in a rear-wheel drive car. Snow and ice were really scary in my old Lincolns ('84 Town Car and '85 Continental), not so bad in the Eldorado, and almost fun in the Geo.

just depends on if you're equipped for it. with the snow tires I have, I'm outrunning and out cornering 4wd trucks and FWDs in my RWD car... IMO FWD blows in the snow.

No matter what, just be easy on the gas pedal. if you can't let up any more, you need better tires. even all seasons will be manageable in the snow. just not very good.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I have all season tires on my truck and they do fine in the snow. I was driving in 2 feet of unplowed snow a couple of months ago with no problems.

[dieselbenz]

Originally Posted by NotYourDay

What to do in the snow?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Qkx8407xU

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

just depends on if you're equipped for it. with the snow tires I have, I'm outrunning and out cornering 4wd trucks and FWDs in my RWD car... IMO FWD blows in the snow.

An RWD car is not a good comparison to an RWD pickup...the weight distribution is far better.

[Jay2TheRescue]

RWD trucks are fine if you put weight in the back. I used to shovel out the driveway into the back of my truck, when I didn't need the weight anymore, the snow melted.

[theholycow]

Snow is my preferred ballast too. If you need bed space you can shovel it out almost anywhere, and if not you just wait until it melts. When that's not enough, I add gallons of ice...I fill up gallon jugs from spring water and my wife's iced tea, and just put them back there. If I need the space I can cut them open, dump the ice, and just strap them to the top of the load through their handles.

[Jay2TheRescue]

If bed space was required while I had the back full of snow I would drop the tailgate, gun it in reverse, then slam on the brakes. Empty truck.

[NotYourDay]

I understand, but I mean... In ice, I personally think that a rear wheel drive is worse, because I had to pull a late model G35 out of the snow/ ice on sat.

And, Most of that was (kind of) purposly spinning the tires because I have about 175 HP to the front wheels and thats not enough to do jack squat on dry pavement. Ice is my playground

*EDIT*

And I mean, also... It was about an inch of snow ontop of about 1/4 inch of solid ice. Not a whole lot.

Now they are predicting more snow and ice for tonight and this weekend. Im debating going out and buying this pair of snow tires on rims that will mount right on my car. Found them on craigslist for 135 for the pair. Is that worth it if theyre on just factory steel rims?
I just dont know the price of snow tires and what condition they should be in ect. This is all news to me you know. Iv been a southerner my whole life and when we get snow, the whole town practically shuts down for a day and we buy the grocery stores completly out of EVERYTHING. Theres not a battery left in the city after the weatherman predicts snow.

ITS INSANE!!!

[Jay2TheRescue]

The advantage FWD has is that you have the weight of the engine & transmission on the drive wheels.

[FrugalFloyd]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

The advantage FWD has is that you have the weight of the engine & transmission on the drive wheels.

Other advantages are:

Your drive wheels pull you through the snow straight

RWD has to push the front wheels through the snow

RWD can easily spin out with too much power

Too much power on FWD loses traction, but typically without a spinout

All-in-all, FWD has it all over RWD in snow.