Gotta Love Winter...

Nizmo

Nizmo

New member
...as it brings snow, salt, and mud!

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I know the general consensus around here is keeping your ride super clean, but I`m just mini ranting about winter in these parts. This is gonna be a fun one to clean!

In other news this was the first time I took it through any measurable snow and while impressed, I still think I need to look at trading up to a 4wd...
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Or maybe just some good winter tires?
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While that idea crossed my mind, it`s too low to the ground for anything deep. That and the torque steer is super bad even trying to lug the engine to control it. While it isn`t the most powerful thing out there, there`s a little bit too much torque for its own good.
 
Nizmo said:
...as it brings snow, salt, and mud!


I know the general consensus around here is keeping your ride super clean, but I`m just mini ranting about winter in these parts. This is gonna be a fun one to clean!

In other news this was the first time I took it through any measurable snow and while impressed, I still think I need to look at trading up to a 4wd...
Click to expand...


You mean the R? What`s stopping you?;)
 
Black GTI owner here as well, but mine is a MK6. Right now we`re coming off three days of snow and rain, so I can`t imagine how bad it`s going to look once everything dries out a bit. Probably won`t be pretty.

I couldn`t imagine ever trading mine in for someting AWD. Even with all season tires being used as my winters (yes, I know...I just need them to wear out before getting good winter tires), I find the car very stable and easy to control on snow and ice. With a good set of winter tires, I`d only have to worry about ground clearance, which typically isn`t an issue.
 
Low to the ground is somewhat of a problem but I had a Prius with winter tires on it and drove it through 14 inches of snow it wasn’t easy but it did work

My wrx I had that was lowered with springs drove through many deep snows and or ice with winters and it was ok too

I have an Accord sport now with winters but haven’t seen any deep snow just a few inches at a time so far

Anytime this time of year is always tempting to want an awd or 4wd with some ground clearance. I totally understand


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TheMeanGreen said:
You mean the R? What`s stopping you?;)
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I can give you $40,000 reasons... :blink:

They`ve said the R is not as enjoyable to drive anyways.

Desertnate said:
Black GTI owner here as well, but mine is a MK6. Right now we`re coming off three days of snow and rain, so I can`t imagine how bad it`s going to look once everything dries out a bit. Probably won`t be pretty.

I couldn`t imagine ever trading mine in for someting AWD. Even with all season tires being used as my winters (yes, I know...I just need them to wear out before getting good winter tires), I find the car very stable and easy to control on snow and ice. With a good set of winter tires, I`d only have to worry about ground clearance, which typically isn`t an issue.
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It did really surprise me, especially since the right side of the backroads were still covered, but it was super stable. My only nemesis until I got used to it was right turns I would just slide. Got to the point I would keep the clutch pressed in and all was well. One advantage to a manual I guess.

I`d really like to see what a set of snows would do, but if they don`t work out I`m out almost a grand between winter tires and wheels. The good thing about the MK7 platform is I don`t have to worry about tire pressure sensors as they base it off the ABS system, pretty neat if you ask me.

trashmanssd said:
Snow is another four letter word! It is pure evil and needs to be eradicated from my life.
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After a couple years (literally) I can transfer where I want to within the company I work for. They have a hub near Orlando that I`m seriously considering, I guess one summer I`ll have to make a roadtrip to check it out.

MattPersman said:
Low to the ground is somewhat of a problem but I had a Prius with winter tires on it and drove it through 14 inches of snow it wasn’t easy but it did work

My wrx I had that was lowered with springs drove through many deep snows and or ice with winters and it was ok too

I have an Accord sport now with winters but haven’t seen any deep snow just a few inches at a time so far

Anytime this time of year is always tempting to want an awd or 4wd with some ground clearance. I totally understand
Click to expand...

One of the main reasons for going to a 4wd truck is to consolidate the S10 and GTI to downsize my fleet. Between insurance and maintenance it can get expensive some months, especially when the GTI is considered a sports car on my insurance.
 
I`m loving this years winter sofar. Thank you el-nino effect. it`s been so mild, that this week is the only week I have some mild pre-treated salted road overspray on the panels. Lotsa gritty salt/sand/etc on it, but not the dried liquified crap. Oh boy, do I sound like a northeast Florida snowbird

Eeeks. Is this signs of getting old.
I used to miss the snow. I`m not missing it 1 bit

Cars are cleaner
Garage floor is cleaner
No shoveling
No snowblowing
No digging out the end of the driveway where we get the BERM OF A WALL
 
Off topic or on topic re: snow tires

I like how they behave in Snow.
On Warm days, I hate the gummi bears
On Rainy days, I hate driving on them.

My POV on dedicated snow in climates that are not snow heavy have slighty changed...maybe due to our climate weather patterns.
I definitely would have hated if I had snow tires on past Thanksgiving (my usual winter/summer tire swap). On the wifeys, it would be AS/Snows.

I definitely understand how snows will work for someone who get`s indefinite ~winter conditions~ throughout winter.
When are we going to accept this, but I think mild winters are the ~new norm~

--
Griots Surface Prep sitting on shelf MAD as no snow=no testing
 
mobiledynamics said:
Eeeks. Is this signs of getting old.
I used to miss the snow. I`m not missing it 1 bit
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I don`t miss it either, especially don`t miss driving in it. It was February when my husband and I left Oregon heading to Florida. We sold the snow tires before we left because we knew they`d have no value here. It got a little interesting going through the Siskiyou Pass with the Subaru station wagon pulling a U-Haul but we lived to tell the tale and I swore that was the last time I was ever going to have to drive in the snow. 18 years later and so far I`ve been able to make good on that promise. B)
 
Ive been down here in FL for 14 years now. I don’t think I remember how to drive in snow. I better not visit up north in the winter.
 
Yea. Hate to see my new truck dirty! But it is what it is here in PA. Just waiting for the weather to break enough to do a wash. But also looking forward to that spring detail to make it up to my standards!
 
MattPersman said:
Low to the ground is somewhat of a problem but I had a Prius with winter tires on it and drove it through 14 inches of snow it wasn’t easy but it did work

My wrx I had that was lowered with springs drove through many deep snows and or ice with winters and it was ok too
Click to expand...

How much abuse did the front facia take on those cars? This weekend, I had to make an airport run and the exit ramp from the interstate hadn`t been plowed, which left only two narrow tracks leadind down the ramp. Had I been in my car that "hump" between the ruts would have easily been higher than the front clip of my GTI and I`m sure the ice chunks and frozen snow would have done some damage.


Anytime this time of year is always tempting to want an awd or 4wd with some ground clearance. I totally understand
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I understand the tempation as well, but the best snow car I`ve ever driven was my old E46 BMW. The 50/50 weight balance and RWD actually made it really easy to control when the roads became slick. Not having the drive wheels trying to put down power at the same time makes a huge difference in how a car behaves.
 
Some of the best winter cars I`ve ever had were RWD without ABS (but always with LSD and good winter tires). BUT...there`s zero question that such setups give less control than 4WD (or a good AWD system) with ABS (and of course, with proper winter tires).

The ability to have the right power delivery/braking at each specific wheel simply can`t be beat; there are conditions (e.g., cornering or hard braking with right side tires on glare ice, left side ones on dry clean pavement) where nothing else can come close.

Even subtle diffs can be critical; Subaru`s AWD behaves very differently from Audi`s, and the modern Audis are very different from my `93 (and not in a good way).

It only takes one moment under the right conditions to change your life forever. If the dry-pavement compromises of winter tires bug you, consider that it`s better than being paralyzed or broke from a lawsuit.

Simply must be in complete control of your vehicle at all times, period, zero exceptions. Yeah, another topic where I`m zero tolerance now that I`ve wised up.
 
Absolutly agree regarding staying in control. I`m not proud of running summer tires in the winter. I simply wasn`t the gear head I am today and didn`t know better. Looking back I am pretty surprised at how well I could control the vehicle despite being heavily handicapped by compromised tires and at the same time horrified at the risk I was taking.

I owned a `93 Subaru Outback Wagon for a few years and didn`t find driving AWD in poor weather the mind-blowing experience I expected. Maybe I didn`t have a good set of tires, or maybe I expected too much. Who knows. I agree on the comment regarding the changes in Audi`s AWD system. I can understand why they use Haldex on the A/S/RS3 and the TT, but the new system they are starting to roll out on their vehicles with the longitudinal engines is disapointing to say the least.
 
Desertnate- I`ve posted before about how my wife and I did side-by-side comparisons of a Subaru and an Audi, exact same tires (size/inflation, everything) and the Audi simply drove away while the Subie transferred power from one wheel to another but never got going. That was about the same vintage as your Outback too.

Back when I started driving, my family were the only people we knew who always put four snowtires on every vehicle. Today it`s the same, "oh, I don`t need that because my SUV has a `snow` setting" ...yeah, good luck with that, stay away from me.

We`ve had too many *wonderful* vehicles utterly ruined by [individuals] who weren`t in control of theirs.."gee, that can`t be fixed and I don`t want anything else so how you gonna rectify the situation?" Well, they don`t rectify it. How dare anybody subject us to that?!? And those were just no-injury wrecks, which could`ve been a lot worse.

Again, I`m a reformed [jerk] when it comes to stuff like complete control; "there`s nothing worse than a reformed anything" and I qualify :o
 
As one of the resident LEOs here, I cannot agree with and emphasize enough everyone else`s comments about keeping control during foul - especially - winter weather. But really bugs me is when I handle a crash and the striking vehicle has tires that aren`t adequate enough for "ronk weather" (Thanks for the photos!) i.e. Sunny, dry, and 75, much less the usual mix of crap we get here in Southcentral PA in a given winter. Most of the folks had money to get new tires, but didn`t want to deal with the hassle or expense.

As for AWD, we got our first Ford Interceptor Utility (Explorer base) in 2012. The first winter we had it, with our normal "most seasons" tires, we were less than impressed with it. The next winter, our mechanic was able to get snow tires for them (apparently they`re a hot commodity for the Interceptors). It snowed like the dickens then, and the cars performed flawlessly with the AWD and the snow tires. Keep in mind that we are keeping control of the vehicle! :)

Nice timing for this conversation as we`re looking at a possible big storm this weekend. Look out Nizmo!

Gordon
 
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