10AEHooked

I've yet to get stuck since last winter, you guys dunno what you're missing lol

Although if had a subie i'd likely garage this but it's my sole DD so.....

Sparetire

Nope. I drive a RWD S10. I put 240Lbs of sand in the back in the winter or at any point where I might be in a low traction situation. Without it, even feathering the clutch in 2nd gear will all-seasons, the truck will simply not get moving effectively up-hill.

Anyone driving a SUV or truck fast on public roads in the snow is a moron, and at sensible speeds the sand will not have any massive effect on handling because you should not be going fast enough to have much in the way of inertia pulling you wide in a turn. It wil however do quite a bit to get the back wheels doing some deceleration, which can ( in my case has) save lives.

Trust me, I am last person in the free world who has never owned a FWD or an automatic, and my most recent commute was up windy mountain roads at 6000-8000 feet elevation. I do this RWD pickup in crap conditions thing a LOT. I have never had a vehicle to vehicle accident on a public road. No real trick to it, just get some weight on the rear wheels and do everything at half speed. Sadly most people simply cannot handle this and hence we have tons of idiots in ditches because they dont understand that AWD only accelerates you faster in the snow, it does not stop you any faster. I seriously had to have that conversation with a chick once. She honestly beleived that AWD would help her slow down in the snow.

A couple 60 lb bags in the back of a Miata will do a good deal to help in the snow provided you are not trying to take corners fast. Helps with starting on uphill grades more than anything else.

10AEHooked

I agree it makes sense in a truck but not in a Miata, if it aint broke don't fix it, i handles great in the snow and has all the traction you need.....

curly

iTrader: (25)

Get out! Really?

It does if you have a 5spd and leave it in gear, engine inertia keeps the tires from locking up. This is assuming you don't have ABS. Used this method in my shitty '88 chevy, low range 3rd or 2nd gear down a hill and it's near impossible to lock up the wheels, it either doesn't have ABS or it doesn't work, not sure which.

I miss DD'ing my miata in the snow. My new Lancer does great and can be fun, but only when I have plenty of room in case my e-brake shenanigans go wrong.

SKMetalworks

iTrader: (7)

Last year the audi was the drift king. So much fun. Espicially one night where there was literally a blizzard outside and 6" of the fresh stuff on the ground. Absolutely a blast.

AutoFreak57

iTrader: (3)

I've only driven my miata in the snow once and that was only like and inch in michigan. We are getting our first snow tomorrow (3-5"). Maybe I will get my camera and mount out and make a video. Depends on how lazy I feel and how good the snow is. I have found that the throttle almost works better at turning the car than the steering wheel

Cococarbine3

iTrader: (1)

Where are you in Chicago? It's supposed to mad snow tonight, and I'm well prepared for a doughnut break.

Full_Tilt_Boogie

iTrader: (1)

I can understand why more weight would help when trying to get up a hill, because thats traction while accelerating in a straight line.
But I dont see why normal handling principles would apply to traction while corning, which is that more weight adds inertia and would therefor cause the car to loose traction through the corner.
Do Rally cars put sandbags in their trunks when running on the snow? I doubt it...

Bryce

iTrader: (24)

Why the music???


I like snow. I want snow. We could get a little during our sub-freezing weekend.

Most likely there will just be a lot of ice. If that's the case, and I have the Miata back together, I will go out on a football field-sized parking lot and see what happens.

Sparetire

Downshifting will be more effective sure. But your asolute ability to stop is the same. In a RWD in the snow, a nice hard downshift is also a great way to break the rear loose. Same reason for heal-and-toeing when downshifting into a corner. But as with most lame vehicles, the vast, vast majority of the AWD SUVs are autos anyway.

Sparetire

It will likely be a liability if you are taking corners fast. But if you are taking corners fast on public roads in the snow with traffic around you are a moron anyway. For sane driving, the extra weight helps the rears do some breaking and also helps with uphill starts. For racing its probably a very bad idea.

10AEHooked

I'm out by Ohare

I hit up the allstate theater parking lot on my way to work, HUGE LOT completely untouched, it was nice!

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

I ran into some snow in southern California on my way out here. Completely unprepared, too. RS2s are not good in snow, FYI.

AutoFreak57

iTrader: (3)

My rear end was sliding going down a hill today just with engine braking. Didn't even jump off the gas

inferno94

iTrader: (2)

I drive a pickup as my dd, it gets snows and weight over the axle. One thing to understand about pickups is the 70/30 weight distribution, adding weight fixes this. Too much and steering suffers (even at low speed).

In my truck ('07 b3000 5sp xcab DS) I can go up fairly steep hills with 2 feet of snow covering ice on them with the above set up going 10-15kph in 1st. This is my inlaws street when they and their neighbours couldn't get out driving various fwd vehicles.

The big deal about weight for me is getting moving from a stop the rest is how you handle the vehicle, doesn't hurt for braking either.

On a side note the wife's '02 protege with graspics on it is a great winter vehicle. It's superior to the truck in winter driving except awd or rwd would be better and ground clearance (it's stock ride height).