Rant: Winter Driving

[MentalIlness]

I don't drive in the snow. I play in it

Of course, I live in the mountains.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Congratulations. You're a better driver in the snow than 99% of all Virginia drivers I've encountered. But, based on your comments, you sound like you suck at driving on snow/don't know what you're talking about. (but suck less than the rest of the idiots in VA.)
I'm in western NY. Snowbelt area. 1 foot of snow and school is still open. For my first 5 or 6 years of teaching, I commuted down an interstate highway. despite the passing lane sometimes not being plowed before I went to work, I can't recall ever having to slow down to less than 55 mph, except on 2 or 3 occasions when we had freezing rain & severe black ice problems. With a little experience (which you must not have), you feel when a tire loses traction & simply let off on the gas for a second. Or, you pump the gas peddle to help with acceleration.

For the last 5 years, I've had to drive down a winding country highway with a lot of bends in it. Occasionally I have to slow down to 45.

You think you know how to drive because you can go 30mph on a highway, probably with a death grip on the steering wheel? Please.

Lemme take a wild guess, you don't off the vehicles balance by loading it heavy at any one point on purpose and if you'd need to you'd know to drive slower? Proper tyres?

Well there you go, you got everything right that he doesn't.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

You seem to have reading comprehension issues so here I'll ignore the first part of your post (Since you obviously don't know what you are talking about) and link a relevant quote in right here in response to your second part.

I drive a 2010 Tacoma 4x4 and I didn't need 4x4, A-Trac, or my Rear Differential Locker. I didn't have any extra weight in the back and I made it back with virtually no slipping/fish tailing (Some courtesy of the wonder that is ABS and Limited Slip Differential). Why are there so many people who don't understand the principle of Winter Driving?

-Kevin

1. M+S tyres

2. never offset the balance unless you absolutely need to load that way, the engineers that made your POS Tacoma weren't retarded, they made is so that it would be stable, by putting more weight on the rear wheels you'll ensure that if you skid, you will NOT be able to steer it up by hitting the gas and countersteering nor by letting the gas go and countersteering, you will swerve all over the road and end up in the ditch, that is, if you didn't load it enough to make it understeer instead.

Don't think you're a great driver just because you are so careful that everyone arounds you get frustrated at your bad driving habits either, it's ok to feel the road off a few times and know how to drive proper if you got proper winter tyres on.

 

[cerebusPu]

this thread degenerated fast. it was originally about a guy who had an accident behind the OP, but now became a thread criticizing the OPs driving skills. You guys need to lay off on the OP.

it doesnt make sense for snow tires in northern VA. besides for last year we dont get much snow here.

i was on rt 28 going south yesterday evening, and the roads were fairly clear of snow, but there was no possible way to go higher than 45mph in the traffic. if the OP was going 30mph in northbound traffic i completely understand because the traffic on the northbound side was much worse than southbound.

Its not a question of whether he could go faster than 30mph in a little "dusting" of 3inches, its just not possible because of the traffic. there's cars in front, on the left, and the right going 30mph.

i'm not saying Im a good snow driver either. i managed to test every electronic safety feature of my 3 month old toyota suv last year during the snowmageddon. I made
it beep for traction control, electronic stability control, and could get ABS to activate for individual brakes. it helped me figure out the limits of traction because sometimes the car would beep before i felt it slip. i wonder how much worse it'd be without any of those features.

The electronic steering is a little weird, its like driving with a force feedback steering wheel.

 

[geno]

Neither is snow what LSD is for.

Correct in that it's not what it was designed for, but it certainly helps keep you from just spinning one wheel in the slush.

 

[IronWing]

Poor winter driving pays my bills!

 

[ViviTheMage]

I do love FWD noobs in 16+ inches of snow though.

 

[Tweak155]

Sounds like the driving around here.

 

[Anubis]

Even in states like Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Colorado??

Yep,

here in upstate NY people dont know how to drive in it either. every year when we get out first storm of more then a few inches the number of people i see off the road or in accidents tops dbl digits on my drive to work

 

[Triumph]

Rant about winter driving: Everyone thinks that no one else knows how to drive in the snow.

End result: Logic dictates that since everyone thinks this, no one can be correct. Therefore none of you know how to drive in the snow. Myself included. Stop complaining, you're not Colin McRae.