Winter Driving

[dlockhart]

Post xmas, I got to drive a family members Jeep Compass up in NW Wisconsin. With 3-4" of tracked snow on the road, the snow traction mode worked pretty well with the OEM tires. The lane assist was annoying. It was hard to separate the wheel feed back between snow pulling the car and the lane assist inputs. It was quickly turned off, and we made our way down the road.
Ps. The milk tanker guys were hardly slowing at all.

[Jims5543]

I grew up in NY, I moved when I was 18, so I had 2-3 years of snow driving experience before I never saw it again as I have lived in Florida ever since that move.

My one brother moved to Kentucky. I drove up a several winters ago in my FJ Cruiser to see him over the Christmas holidays. While we were there it snowed overnight 4". My FJ has Bridgestone Revo's on it. I really did not need 4WD with it but put it on mostly due to my excitement to drive in snow again. I had to drive to our hotel at 11 at night with snow on the ground and it still falling.

It all came back to me (Just like Vail) slow and smooth, look way out ahead and anticipate everything all inputs should be done a gently as possible.

All that was out the window in the back parking lot of the hotel the next morning. I had not goofed off like that in the snow since I was in High School.

[oldE]

"If the car drags in the snow, you shouldn't be out in it."

Amen to that! When I had the 924S, I had Toyo winters on all four wheels. I remember one day heading home on a snow packed but plowed road leaving a big delivery truck behind. Then I decided to take a short cut to the main road. It hadn't been plowed and while parts were almost bare, there were small drifts with wheel tracks through them. The tray under the front of the car took a bit of a beating. And the truck was on my tail very quickly. Not the best decision I've ever made.

Best
Les

[unclebilly]

I don’t do much winter driving…

My kids are ski race kids so this means we drive to and from the mountain every Saturday and Sunday… it’s 168 kms each way. It takes 105-135 minutes each way depending on road conditions.

This past week we we have had the kids training Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in addition to our normal weekend training. On Tuesday night, I had to take a bull to a feedlot for conditioning and testing… the roads were especially crappy so it was 4.5 hours round trip for a drive that would normally be 2 hours towing the stock trailer… that day was 8.5 hours behind the wheel in brutal winter conditions.

It’s not much different than track day driving. You are at the limits of traction and you need to be mindful of the other idiots on the road and focus on smooth inputs to the wheel and brakes…

I credit our winter driving experience to how well we did racing at Daytona in a tropical storm. We understood how to break in a slippery corner (under 1-2” of water) whereas the southern boys consistently locked em up in a corner and slid into the tires…

[unclebilly]

Here are some pictures of this morning’s drive (from the passenger seat). The drive home was much the same but dark for 2/3 of it…



This guy was going pretty slow…



And after I passed him…



The blowing snow fills in the pores in the asphalt. Once full, the continued blowing snow polishes the ice like an NHL arena.

Nokian tires for the win!

[stevej37]

^^^ Yep..that looks like true winter driving. Polished ice and snow can be treacherous.

What's with the windshield cracks?

[pavulon]

Trucks + rocks + two lane roads = windshield with every oil change

[unclebilly]

Defrost + -40° temps spread cracks like crazy. It wasn’t that bad a couple weeks ago.

It’s a pretty expensive windshield in my wife’s Tribeca and you don’t replace them until the spring for the exact reasons cited by pavulon.

[stevej37]

52 years of driving here...never had cracks like that!
Trucks must be haulin!

We get chips.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by stevej37

52 years of driving here...never had cracks like that!
Trucks must be haulin!

We get chips.

Chips turn to cracks quickly with a 60°C or 108°F thermal gradient across a 1/4” of glass. Huge thermal stresses there. When the car is idling warming up, it’s more likely a 70°C or 125°F delta T across the glass.

[stevej37]

^^^ I see. Too bad you can't get a winter/northern windshield that is thicker or stronger. (if there is such a thing?)

[GH85Carrera]

I saw one article in today's online newspaper about some total idiot that lives in LA. He wanted to "see the snow" and drove up into the mountains on his summer tires, and no winter gear. The police came across him and pointed him back down the mountain and the cop said they were overwhelmed with helping residents.

[Jay Auskin]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

...
Also the lane assist, my brain says turn it off but the truck drives funky without it, feels real loose and light up front, I don't like the way it drives. My Tahoe drives exactly the same with lane assist on or off.

My thought is lane assist on may interfere in crap conditions, fight me.

Yep, it feels light without it on because the steering motor isn't fighting you anymore. Leave it off in bad weather as it uses cameras to try and find road markings. It might act funny until your car gets a good cleaning.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I saw one article in today's online newspaper about some total idiot that lives in LA. He wanted to "see the snow" and drove up into the mountains on his summer tires, and no winter gear. The police came across him and pointed him back down the mountain and the cop said they were overwhelmed with helping residents.

I remember one news story a cuppla years back, someone was driving from LA to Portland in the dead of winter. Snow shut down the pass around Medford, dude had to spend the night in his car wearing flip flops and shorts because that was all he brought.

Cars are too good, travel is too easy and people are stupid. I won't drive over a pass - even in late spring - without being prepared to spend the night in a snowbank. Just something I got in my head decades ago when I was a wee lad.

[speeder]

Those stories are nothing…every winter in Minnesota and Wisconsin, people get drunk and drop through holes in the ice on snowmobiles and wind up in the lake or river. Other people put on a light jacket to run to the liquor store or to get cigarettes and wind up in the ditch on an icy country road. They will start walking for help and then be found a couple of hundred yards away, frozen to death, face down in the snow.

Alcohol has a funny way of making people underestimate cold. Weather is dangerous, everywhere.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by speeder

Those stories are nothing…every winter in Minnesota and Wisconsin, people get drunk and drop through holes in the ice on snowmobiles and wind up in the lake or river. Other people put on a light jacket to run to the liquor store or to get cigarettes and wind up in the ditch on an icy country road. They will start walking for help and then be found a couple of hundred yards away, frozen to death, face down in the snow.

Alcohol has a funny way of making people underestimate cold. Weather is dangerous, everywhere.

And on top of that, people think that alcohol will warm you up, but it actually makes you cooler and more susceptible to cold.

[beepbeep]

Sweden here. I drive that way 4 months every year. Winter tires (preferably studded) and some sort of block heater is a must. And we get neon orange "poles" inserted on lane edges on 2-lane roads so you know where road surface ends (as you might not be able to see it in a white-out conditions.

That, and frequent road clearing makes driving a non-issue. And yeah, you need to pass "slippery road" training when obtaining drivers license.