Is it snow tire day?

[Dean]

Sorry to hear that. Downhill is the worst. Physics sucks.

You have to downshift so you can almost always have your foot on the throttle at least lightly. In ice/snow, you really should never be higher than second in most 5 speed gear boxes. 35MPHish max and often slower, much slower.

AWD only really helps when you are in the right gear and mostly when your foot is on the gas. If the tail starts to come out, you have to be in a position to be able to apply more throttle to pull/straighten you out, not less.

The only time you should ever use or need the brake is to come to a complete stop or to test the surface. Quite often when I am out in those conditions and it is safe, I will purposely do some left foot braking to get a feel for the surface conditions and my level of traction without giving up the control of my foot on/over the gas.

[knucklesplitter]

Was sitting at a stop sign and some teenage girl overshot her turn and hit my STI. I was looking at traffic trying to pull out so I never saw her coming. Luckily she wasn't going very fast. The driver's door is toast and the rear door will need some work too. Hopefully nothing else. The road was a sheet of ice you could barely stand on.

[van]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

Was sitting at a stop sign and some teenage girl overshot her turn and hit my STI. I was looking at traffic trying to pull out so I never saw her coming. Luckily she wasn't going very fast. The driver's door is toast and the rear door will need some work too. Hopefully nothing else. The road was a sheet of ice you could barely stand on.

Damn that sucks, sorry.
I didn't even bother with the non abs Impreza this morning, too risky. Forester w/ AS tires handled the ice like a champ, just had keep all the inputs smooth.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

Was sitting at a stop sign and some teenage girl overshot her turn and hit my STI. I was looking at traffic trying to pull out so I never saw her coming. Luckily she wasn't going very fast. The driver's door is toast and the rear door will need some work too. Hopefully nothing else. The road was a sheet of ice you could barely stand on.

Bummer. Driver door impacts have to be scary. I've only hit things head on and knew they were coming. Except for lightly backing into dirt mounds and tire walls in turns numbered 3.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Dean

Bummer. Driver door impacts have to be scary. I've only hit things head on and knew they were coming. Except for lightly backing into dirt mounds and tire walls in turns numbered 3.

Yeah, it was pretty loud, shocking, and I bumped my head on the window. Not hard, not serious, but it took a few dazed seconds before I realized it wasn't a bad accident.

Her dad owns a reputable body shop, so after I spoke with him I agreed to to let him fix it without going through insurance. I will get a few extra things done too. Same lifetime guarantee as going through Allstate.

[100_Percent_Juice]

Forgot to upload these from the last snow storm. Took about 4 hours on a sunday. My back was destroyed but it earned the worlds best dad award.



Witness the firepower of a fully operational snow fort!





better then Tylenol.

[ScottyS]

Originally Posted by van

Damn that sucks, sorry.
I didn't even bother with the non abs Impreza this morning, too risky. Forester w/ AS tires handled the ice like a champ, just had keep all the inputs smooth.

Hahaha, I've been leaving the LSi w/ABS and nice tires with my wife in case of emergency, instead driving the Impreza sans ABS with cheasy General tires that came with the wheels. It keeps me on my toes, but there is always more opportunity for fooling around. I like the lack of 1st-gen ABS anyway.

I was at Scheels when that snowstorm hit, and by the time I got out, the freeway was one big skating rink. Traffic was moving at about 20-25 from Sparks Blvd to Pyramid on 80W, which was OK. As I'm passing the Pyramid onramp in the #1 lane, some typical genius in a pickup with a camper shell takes my following distance and starts tailing the guy in front. I let them get a comfortable 50yds ahead and traffic speeds up to 30 as we go into the Rock onramp area.

Suddenly I see in the first mild spagetti bowl curve a car sideways across the #1 & #2 lanes. I see it before genius boy, even. At last his brake lights are on, and he's jinking his nose right and left, but with the tall concrete so close on the left he has nowhere to go. Plus, his exuberance has led him right into the water ice zone, and it is too late. I watch his overweight ass shudder as the poor Taurus in front pays the penalty for his lack of attention.

A couple taps on the brake tell me that I'm getting into water ice as well, so I bleed off the momentum as I approach, watching the rearview and praying that the Exped behind me is paying attention. As I pass, I see that the damage is minimum, and it is little more than a bumper-scrape. Probably. The best part is that these two will now stop, get out, and proceed to create a massive traffic hazard for who knows how many poor souls behind them. The spun-out car ahead gets its stuff together as I pass the fool, and everything is cool the rest of the way to UNR.

Congress might be passing out-of-control legislation these days, but if a bill ever comes up allowing roadside executions I might be down with that.

I drove through that Sierra/University Terrace intersection last night at about 7pm. For EB traffic, it looked like a guaranteed accident point since the hill was all water ice.

Sorry to hear the donkeys got Nick and Matt - hopefully the club suffers no more casualties this year!

[MPREZIV]

Congress might be passing out-of-control legislation these days, but if a bill ever comes up allowing roadside executions I might be down with that.

Winner!

[dknv]

Good Lord. I had to make a store run last night around 7:30, and going down the hill from my house, I saw at least 6 cars parked on the other side; guessing they couldn't get traction to come up the hill, but then, where did the drivers go?
On my downhill side, there were several skid marks through the ice, some squiggly, and one set that went at least 50' to the curb and over, where a bush apparently stopped it's downhill run. I was thanking my lucky stars for AWD with snow tires.

[sperry]

The ice last night was hands down the slipperiest roads I've ever driven on. The igt parking lot was so slick, going 2 mph was too fast to be able to stop on. Just thinking about touching the brake, and you were sliding 15 ft. Unbelieveable. But it did seem to clean up pretty quickly.

[ScottyS]

Originally Posted by sperry

The ice last night was hands down the slipperiest roads I've ever driven on. The igt parking lot was so slick, going 2 mph was too fast to be able to stop on. Just thinking about touching the brake, and you were sliding 15 ft. Unbelieveable. But it did seem to clean up pretty quickly.

Did I ever tell you about the time I (inadvertently) drifted my DHL van around the IGT shipping/receiving road, to avoid some cell-phone moron with his car parked on the curve, in the ice, in a truck lane? When the tail end of the van went by him, I was 100% positive that I had at least clipped his mirror with my rear doors.

When I got everything stopped, and went back to tell him that the next vehicle would probably weigh 20 times what I did, I found that somehow I had missed him completely and that for once my 3D vehicle awareness was wrong. THAT was the most slippery experience I probably ever had, I don't know what it is about that IGT surface, but it sure can be scary.

[WRX06TR]

Originally Posted by sperry

The ice last night was hands down the slipperiest roads I've ever driven on. The igt parking lot was so slick, going 2 mph was too fast to be able to stop on. Just thinking about touching the brake, and you were sliding 15 ft. Unbelieveable. But it did seem to clean up pretty quickly.

Well that makes me not feel like a total noob last night, thanks scott.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by WRX06TR

Well that makes me not feel like a total noob last night, thanks scott.

Hope you don't think I was picking on you. Very few if any people ever really learn to respect slippery conditions until they have bitten by them. My casualties have only been my pride and a car in a snow bank, twice.

[A1337STI]

Originally Posted by WRX06TR

Finally got me. I lost the tail in a downhill turn and couldn't save it before it I plowed through a snowbank and put a nice crack in my front bumper and lost half my undertray...I wasn't even messing around or driving fast but I definitely ran out of ice driving skill..

That blows, had a similar thing happen to me last winter, i went out to be a snow donkey, messed around for about 30 minutes, called it a night, was driving slowly and with no drifting, and as i came down in elevation it got very slushy. i felt the front end lift up in a corner, and my ability to steer vanished. thought i was going to graze a tree but the turn went off camber for the last 30 feet and i did a nice head on (off set) impact . $500 later (and $9500 for progressive) everything is all better.

ya downhill physics do Suck. As dean said in snow / ice i always try to check my braking (when the road is straight and no one is behind me)

and again, ya the AWD only helps you when you can point your car in a beneficial direction. when i nailed the tree last year i was unable to point the car anywhere but off road, into a tree, so i just kept riding the brakes intermittenly i'de get off the brakes and try to steer the car, then go back to riding the brakes with the steering straight. (in hindsight clicking up the E-brake a few notches might have kicked the rear end out allowing me to use the gas to save it) but no good.


Oh and not to be a one upper, but to be a one upper, I drove Brunswick canyon to Johnson lane last week. (dirt roads east of carson going through the pine nut mountains) Luckily at least 1 jeeper had made the drive, but i was going through 16"+ of snow in my sti. Actually started over heating briefly as i had completely packed the grill with snow (packed onto the AC condenser) turned the heater on and the car cooled right off. Almost got stuck a few times... AWD DCCD Set too 100% locked, 215/55/17 Studded Snow tires. oh yeah !! (i had a tow strap and shovel with me too btw)

I had visions of Rally Finland in my head when i set out, but most of the road the snow was so deep i had no line selection At all. anytime i dipped a tire out of the jeeps tracks i got Sucked in and lost a lot of momentum. for a while the snow wasn't very deep and i was hauling (40-80) and tried drifting but as soon as you stick a tire into the fresh snow the whole car got sucked over.. almost hit a tree (think a branch scratched my door) and went into grandma mode for a while (25 and chugging) Very Scenic and beautiful ... but not the drive i was hoping for

a few times when going over a crest i'de stop and get out, and noticed my plastic skid plate had been packing down / plowing snow leaving cool lil sled marks along the road.

Would a metal Skidplate bump me out of Stock? or can it be considered a dress up / comfort item ?

[A1337STI]

Oh i did break the under the fog light (air plap entry) spot on my front right .. not sure if i should glue it back together or hack saw it off... (likely to just smash it again) its not hanging any lower but its bent towards the rear of the car and the lil rubber strip is now hanging down, touching the ground... hehehe

I love my STI and i love Snow. together .. omfg!


Anyone want to try the 338 to hawthorne stretch of dirt tomorrow? I'll probably be leaving my house at about 9 am arriving at the dirt ~ 10:30-11 Its a 34 mile dirt road ... of dreams. it has sections that you could take of picture of, say its pikes peak and 9 out of 10 would believe you. One twisty down hill is very steep and icy (was Dec 5th anyways ... should be very bad now) But i made it in my FWD GC with 11 year old snow tires... there was one uphill i didn't think i would make but lil betsy did I had to keep choosing between steering or maintaining (or picking up ) speed.

could meet in carson like at 10 am if anyone is interested!

[WRX06TR]

Originally Posted by Dean

Hope you don't think I was picking on you. Very few if any people ever really learn to respect slippery conditions until they have bitten by them. My casualties have only been my pride and a car in a snow bank, twice.

No not at all, I just have been driving on icy roads all my life, usually with AWD all the time too. I had been driving around all day yesterday and then had dinner with my gf. On the way back to her place I was going slow and being careful and just got taken off guard by that turn. I should have been messing around because then I would have been prepared and not panicked but because it was so unexpected and sudden I definitely freaked and forgot to stay on the gas to pull out of the slide. Lesson learned.

[Dean]

The most helpless I ever felt in a car was on Hunter Lake down in the flat, dead stopped at a stop sign and the car just starts sliding sideways toward the curb due to the crown in the road and the weight of the car on the sheet ice. Fortunately it caught on the pavement to gutter transition and I didn't bang any wheels.

[ScottyS]

Originally Posted by WRX06TR

No not at all, I just have been driving on icy roads all my life, usually with AWD all the time too. I had been driving around all day yesterday and then had dinner with my gf. On the way back to her place I was going slow and being careful and just got taken off guard by that turn. I should have been messing around because then I would have been prepared and not panicked but because it was so unexpected and sudden I definitely freaked and forgot to stay on the gas to pull out of the slide. Lesson learned.

Sometimes there is no right answer on pure ice, and there was a lot of that going on......

[Kevin M]

The right answer is to turn around and go home after the first 50 feet proves there's lim->0 traction.

[Dean]

I saw a herd of Donkeys as I was just getting home. Should be interesting in the AM. I bet Cory will appreciate some more folded suspension Nissans.

[MPREZIV]

I've got an Altima with a bent RF inner tie rod on my lift right now...

[sperry]

Ugh. I'm so tired of snow on the road. I'm getting impatient and stupid driving around at 40 mph past all the slow people. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put the SVX into a curb before this winter is over.

Also, there was some lady that understeered into the center divider at the Rio Wranger/Veterans intersection this morning. There was a cop there helping her... but I don't know why. All she had to do was back up and drive away... it's not like her RAV4 or whatever was high-centered or broken. I'm sure the cops have a lot more important things to do on mornings like this than lend moral support to someone who can't find R on the shifter.

[cody]

I was amazed that my commute from Stead this morning was so smooth. I left at 8:25 and was at work by 8:45.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by cody

I was amazed that my commute from Stead this morning was so smooth. I left at 8:25 and was at work by 8:45.

most of your drive is freeway and the highways are always better than the local streets. They get more traffic and are much better maintained by people who know how. Reno and Sparks cities suck at snow removal.

[cody]

And it was later than peak rush hour, schools are out, and it was downhill. It's taken more than an hour several times when traveling home around 5:30pm during snow/icy conditions. One time it took me over 3 hours last Winter. That incline on 395 after McCarron can be a real bitch for people without the apropriate vehicle/setup.

Since we're supposed to get 6 inches + in Stead tonight and I have to drive Amanda to work (leaving earlier and driving out to Moana), I expect tomorrow won't be so pleasant of a commute.