Snow tire testing time?
 

After some shoveling...

Yay for snow. It's so pretty outside. Dean's right we should go out and test our tires. I've not had a chance to drive in the snow with them yet. Then maybe we should go sledding. :D

Mine did great this morning. W300s + AWD rule! I drove about 5 miles to work this morning, no problem. I was doing around 30-35 with no sliding and no ABS kicking in. A lot of people were having trouble moving after coming to a stop, but I had no trouble. Best $400 I've spent (wheels + tires)

http://www.kueperview.com/images/snow1.jpg


http://www.kueperview.com/images/snow2.jpg


http://www.kueperview.com/images/snow3.jpg

my garage is suppose to be fixed for good today.

This is awesome...hahaha. Glad I don't have to travel over the pass today...what a mess that'll be.

OK, 2 1/2 hours later, this is the first time in over 10 years in Reno I think I needed a snow blower... There have been times I have een lazy and let it build up more than it should and regretted it, but this is the first time an overnight fall kicked my ass.

I don't want to here it from the Tahoe/Truckee guys, I assume you are equipped.

I think I moved over 10 inches total this morning whicjh if yu know my driveway is quite a bit of snow...

The stuff falling now is pretty wet, and I was soaked to the skin through my jacket, etc.

After I get warmed up, it is off to the post office...

That should be fun...

Probably a good day to shop if you want since most will stay home...

Damn, I went out to take some more pictures, and there is almost another 1/2 an inch, and it doesn't look like I did anything... Sort of...

You can see from the pile on top of the Stealth just how much fell in the sheltered portion near my garage...

I am also including a picture of "The Tool" which is the tailgate portion of an old plastic pickup truck bedliner drywall screwed to some 2x4s... when it is shallow enough, it lets you clear about 4 feet per pass. in this stufff, I had to take much smaller bites...

Hahaha! I like the tool ...nice idea.. (I thought for sure the tool would be a picture of someone in the club :lol: )... ANyway...I just measured the snow out front, it's at about 6.5 inches right now...(Northwest Reno up in da hills)

Deede stopped by, she was out testing her M3's, they work... I just finished putting my M2's on about 20 minutes ago...They Work...

More

Deede Drifting around my street.. :lol:

I just went outside ... I-80 West is at a standstill

yah this is whoop ass little snow fall we got here.

Good thing I'm headed east... sometime after midnight.

OK, things I learned in the snow today.

1. Front undercarriage cover + > 6" snow = floating front wheels, AKA no turny well.

2. Big straight exhaust hanging down in > 6" snow = resistance + acts like a keel, AKA no turny well.

3. Wicked fast road course/autocross suspension < optimal in uneven snow/icy conditions

4. Hankook W300s work great when actually in contact with snow.

5. Sumitomo HTR+s work great in deep snow. (A4, same size as WRX, 225/45-17)

6. A4 + Sport suspension + HTR+s > WRX + 12.2/11.6K springs + W300s > All SUVs in 6"+ of snow.

The funniest part was blowing past a SUV spinning tires and sliding backwards while trying to go up a hill in my neighborhood. If he hadn't sstarted to make progress, I had a tow strap in the car, and was going to offer him a pull. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Also, the W300s have great ice grip. Watching other cars and SUVs slip sidways, or not be able to start from a dead stop on ice was quite amusing while I had could easily brake, launch, an turn on it.

so the A4 works pretty well uh.

alright then.

We've been having a pretty rough weather day here too. Check this out!

Look at that real estate sign on the other side of the street!!!!

http://www.mattandjosey.com/hosted/valley1.jpg

My bbq cover might fly off!!!!

http://www.mattandjosey.com/hosted/valley2.jpg

:p

OMG Matt how do you cope with that?!?! :lol:

It was rough out here at the beach the last couple of days... it got down to maybe 65*F with the wind chill, and there were actually a few puffy clouds in the sky! :lol:

The A4 has always done well in the snow, but the WRX was also great last year before I did all the upgrades.

I guess my point is that as people get coilovers, sway bars, and autocross or track alignments, they may not realize they are reducing the winter functionality of their cars. And all that torque from reflashes, etc. is actually bad in the wet/snow as well

It is probably a good reminder that as people put on their snow tires for the winter, they adjust their suspensions for winter as well. Soften your coilovers to the softest you can without getting bouncy, and if your sway bars are adjustable, soften them as well. Going back to a stock alignment would be wouldn't hurt either. And when in the wet/snow, go back to the stock map if you can, and/or short shifting so you stay out of the boost.

OH man!

I went outside to look at the street in front of my house and it's a skating rink.

I went ahead and did some real nice slides starting from my tractionable driveway and leaping into the softly lit amber tinted road where I continued effortlessy across to meet my exspectations of winter fun to their fullest!

cold can be fun.

Yay! Tyson does perotes. Sounds fun and dangerous.

Not bad for a storm that was predicted to leave light accumulations. We got about 18" of light dry powder. I'll try and post some shots tomorrow!

snow in the valley at least by my house was basically falling buckets of water, rivers of melt filled the curb ways along the street around 2 o'clock ish now it's all ice like I mentioned.

well arnold is my middle name. :wink:

perotes = pirouettes?, pilates?, peyote? lol

I knew I should have looked into spelling that word. Or maybe I meant pirates. :)

pirates,, ah man owned.


matey

Bah! Ninjas beat pirates!

I went to Alpine Meadows with the family today. It was great, but very cold. It never got over 20. They had tons of snow though. 30" at the top.
Unfortunately we forgot to download the digital camera before we left, so no pics. Roads up here were crazy today. Sheets of ice! Skiing conditions were near perfect.

Now it's veg time.

Good to hear I will be up next weekend skiing at alpine!! I just put the ski racks and my new SECCS stickers on the car today!

Where's the pictures?

That picture rules.. yarrhh. :lol:

I guess I'll chime in:

SVX + Winter Sport M3's > Dean's Audi > Dean's WRX > *.SUV :P

That little Red Sled is a snow CHAMP! Toss the auto tranny into Manual mode 1st or 2nd gear, and it will romp through any weather! The only thing it can't do is keep other people from mucking out around me... I saw 7 vehicles off the road unintentionally between Applegate and Reno... *all* of them were SUVs. :lol: One big SUV + SUV + truck wipeout on 80 East just after Boomtown... that added 30 minutes to the drive (that was 7h30m total, Bay to Reno! :shock:).

I fear no ice.

I saw a snow donkey last night, and I killed that mother fucker.

I know...I was in the backseat...you don;t give a damn about the snowdonkeys...very impressive..

I sense a new sig coming on. :lol:

On a related note, I hope my anti-Snow Donkey devices are functioning properly... if my tires think there's ice near me, they slide like crazy. I'm honestly surprised I'm not at the bottom of Scenic Hill still.

That hill is the great equalizer...Snow Donkey's or not :lol:

Where is it?

While working on my car, I used my brothers to run up to the store a few times. As Matt knows, the streets around my house have been almost pure ice. We had 12 cars piled up about a block down the street from me.

Anyway, the 4Runner was actually amazing in the snow with 4 wheel drive. I was definatly going very slow and anytime the tires would start to slip, some type of traction control would kick in (loud buzzer noise and light turns on when this happens also).

I guess SUV's do have their purpose as long as you don't put a idiot behind the wheel.

I'm sure it is, except it is a bit heavy, so have to keep that in mind. I don't recall, how is the ground clearance on it? That was one of the primary reason I think the A4 was doing so much better than my Rex on my neighborhood test track with about 6-10" of snow, more clearance.

Exactly...they do work good...4 runners are bad ass in the snow.

Pirelli Winter Sports 240's + Perrin Rear Sway (set to stiff :twisted: ) + Tein's (middle softness) + TBE + Me > snow, ice, idiot drives, emergancy lanes :twisted:


I Love WINTER DRIVING hate that I have to share with idiots

:lol: I don't know why, but of all the new posts I've seen so far (since signing off Wed) this line cracked me up!

I can't believe it, you guys got heck-a-snow while I was gone. It snowed all day on Friday & Sat. in Wisconsin, and the accumulation where I was, was -- 4"!! lol!

Ground clearance isn't that high... but it's plenty considering all the suspension travel. It's certainly got more clearance than the WRX.

As far as the weight... 3500lbs can't be much different than the Audi. The weight actually helps with traction, but does make it harder to slow down on ice. However, the 225 snowtires still get quite a bit of bite on the ice, plus the ABS on the SVX seems to work better than the WRX's which is so finicky on ice/loose surfaces, so I'm having a lot less of a hard time driving this winter than in years past w/ the WRX.

On the other hand: you really can't beat the sheer joy of romping an STi in full lock DCCD on ice and snow. :lol:

Your welcome! Now if I could only get the ice out, I've got to drive to Truckee today.

wow! The snow over there is INSANE!!!