Winter driving techniques

[WRC_fan]

It will be my first time driving in the snow this year, and I'm looking for a few pointers to keep from totaling my car. My brother's first winter was hectic in his Camry (he hit a curb twice, bent 2 rims) and I don't want to end up like him. All tips appreciated.

Thanks.

[peddie]

The most obvious ones are
a) get winter tires. all-seasons are alright, but winter tires decrease stopping distance by a very significant amount. oh, and dont drive your winter tires on asphalt.

b)slow down. stopping distance is proportionnal to the square of your speed.

c)practice skidding in an empty parking lot. if you do happen to skid, dont look where the car is going look where you want to go.

[skierd]

Dont drive like an asshat and you should be fine. When snow's on the pavement, just take your time, giving yourself extra time to turn, stop, and start. When the pavement is just wet (but its cold enough for ice), drive slower than normal and keep an eye out for ice.

And you can drive on pavement with winter tires, so long as they arent studded. I had no issues with my Blizzaks.

[Edited by skierd on Dec 5, 2004 5:42 PM]

[MechaniX_034]

Be smooth with the brake and throttle, do not use too much of either. As coef. friction drops your tyres will break traction much more easily, so steer and transition smoothly.

[qwiksmooth]

Everything said above and... watch out for other folks, especially those with the huge 4x4 pickups that think they are snow gods and will blow by you doing 60 as you're chugging along doing 30. If you commute to work a ways, leave extra early when there is snow and ice, mostly because everyone will try to drive like the roads are normal (especially if its the first snow in the area). But in general, just be careful and all will be well.

[pucci]

good advice from all.

be careful going into turns. you want to have your momentum down before you initiate the turn or you will end up understeering and plowing straight ahead.

as someone mentioned, learn how to skid. go to a large open lot and play with the e-brake. its fun. and if you can learn to countersteer & control your drift, you will have gained a potentially life saving skill.

make sure you have good wipers & maybe use some glass treatment.

most of all just take your time & watch out for the other idiots.

[peddie]

any pointers regarding shifting? i feel it's best to keep the car in the lower rpm range, especially when it's slippery and with heavy snow, but i might just be pullin that out of my ass.

[Tugger5000]

Originally posted by peddie
[body]
any pointers regarding shifting? i feel it's best to keep the car in the lower rpm range, especially when it's slippery and with heavy snow, but i might just be pullin that out of my ass.
[/body]

You might... depends on the context... utilizing engine braking (by downshifting) with a manual transmission in a front wheel drive car could induce a spin. You want to keep the rpms low, but when you let up on the clutch, your engine speed should already be matched to your wheel speed.
http://www.hyundaiperformance.com/forums/topic.php?t=16387
Key point is to give yourself plenty of room, be mindful of road conditons and temperatures and take it easy.


[Edited by Tugger5000 on Dec 9, 2004 3:24 AM]

[WRC_fan]

Thank you very much for the tips, and the link. I have an automatic with no ABS, so if I'm afraid of lock up would it be a good idea to shift into low to get it slowed down? Or is that not such a good idea?

Thanks again.

[pimpmyhyundai]

You can do down shifting I know people who do it but I dont know if it is good for the tranny and another pointer if your in the middle of a hill now moving and your tires are spinning you will have to find another way to your destination or you can pull over and put your hazards on and flag somebody down to help you push the car up the hill as your applying throttle accents are light so it should be pretty easy.