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Snow Schmoe. was Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!



Ah yes... What the snowplow driver drives to work.  The beetle is hard to
beat in the snow - with those 15X5 or 15X560 tires and all that weight
hanging out the rear - the front could ride up on the snow and the back
end would keep on pushing.  Our FWD's unfortunately like to "climb" on the
snow too much.  Once they get into drifts up over the bumper for any
length of time you're pretty well sunk - I've been there and done that
with my 80 Rabbit (got an A for effort from my Dad for getting stuck in
the lane though) and my 92 Golf - did a pretty good job on that one - hung
up in the last 75 yards of a 200 yard drift.  Would have made it too if I
hadn't stopped for the stop sign and lost all my momentum... :(

Drew

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, Julie Macfarlane wrote:

> My best in the snow was a '69 bug. I drove past many 4 wheelers in snow 
> banks   :) Gotta love it.
> My old '81 Rocc was great. Even if it slid in a corner, it was easy to get 
> traction and back in line. I drove it for 10 winters with out a problem.
> I did practice a bit in parking lots though. Now a days all I have to say is 
> "Look, a parking lot with snow" and reach for the handbrake and my daughter 
> starts to scream...
> I am not sure which is more fun, the screaming child or the handbrake turn   
> :)
> 
> 
> 
> Julie Macfarlane
> Menlo Park Research & Development
> Internet Application Developer
> Amsterdam NY
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >From: drew <drew@dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca>
> >To: Mike Eldred <meldred@vermontmedia.com>
> >CC: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> >Subject: Re: Snow Schmoe. was Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!
> >Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 14:51:59 -0500 (EST)
> >
> >
> >For the two winters that I had occasion to drive my Scirocco I found it to
> >be second only to my 83 Jetta for sure-footedness in snow, slush and ice.
> >I even have a shot of the car being buried in snow (24" snowfall, then
> >heavily drifted) and then I drove it out without doing anything more than
> >cleaning the windows off. Talk about a snowplow.
> >
> >My 83 Jetta rocked in the snow though - 165/85 snow tires gave it extra
> >ground clearance, plus I had raised the back end about 1.5" which helped
> >keep the car from getting hung up in deep snow.  The 1.6D had enough
> >torque to pull through deep snow at low rpms so wheel slip was seldom a
> >problem.  My two previous A1 Jettas (both GLis) also performed veru well
> >in the snow.
> >
> >By comparison my 87 Jetta feels wont to slip and slide far easier than any
> >A1 I've driven, even with the same tires.
> >
> >I commute through a notorious snowbelt, and for me the worst thing about
> >winter is the lack of visibilty.  Whiteout conditions in snowsqualls are
> >pretty common for us, and it's like having a sheet on your windshield.  It
> >doesn't matter how well the car handles when you can't see where to point
> >it.
> >
> >Drew
> >
> >On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, Mike Eldred wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > I'm with Ron, snow sucks.  It just means more back-breaking work to me.  
> >(Why do I live in Vermont?)
> > > But Sciroccos, at least in my limited experience, seem to have pretty 
> >independent reactions to snow.
> > > The first year I had my '86, I put new studded snowtires on it, thinking 
> >that would be good enough to get me back and forth to work.  It was only 
> >two or three miles, after all.  Well, I was wrong.  With even the slightest 
> >amount of snow on the road, that thing was ready to start sliding sideways 
> >out of control.  That year I adjusted my driving habits and times, and 
> >managed to get through the winter without crashing.
> > > The next year, I added a beater '82 Scirocco to the growing stable of 
> >VWs.  My wife thought I was an idiot.  My position was that it didn't 
> >matter if it slid off the road -it was a beater.  And I'd have some spare 
> >parts for the '86 if it did meet with disaster.
> > > Well, as usual, I was wrong again.  Even with the same tires and rims as 
> >I used on the '86 the year before, the '82 was like snow-cat.  I don't even 
> >feel the need to slow down in the snow -the '82 is as stable in the snow as 
> >any 4-wheel drive I've ever owned.  I find myself passing people driving 
> >SUVs (damn flat-landers!) who, judging from their snail-like pace and 
> >frantic braking, seem to feel like they're about to shoot off the road at 
> >any second.
> > > Why are the two cars so different?  Beats me.  I think I've heard it 
> >said on this list before, though:  They were all different, right off the 
> >dealer's lot.  Apparently they still are, twenty years later.
> > >
> > > -Mike Eldred
> > > Wilmington, VT
> > > '86 SummerRocco
> > > '82 WinterRocco
> >
> >Drew MacPherson - '84 Wolfsburg Edition Scirocco TurboDiesel
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
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> 
> 
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Drew MacPherson - '84 Wolfsburg Edition Scirocco TurboDiesel