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Snow/winter tires & driving (long, sorry)



Hey list,

Back in August I moved out of Seattle and in to an area in Eastern
Washington that reportedly gets snow ~5 months a year. It's getting colder
by the day (down to ~30 degrees at night) and it's becoming apparent that
it's going to start snowing pretty soon (in the coming weeks).

Previous to moving I'd lived in Seattle my whole life, so I've never had
to do much snow driving. When there was snow, I was hesitant to drive
my Scirocco in it because I didn't want to end up in a ditch or a
guardrail. That might sound stupid, but in Seattle, ice was always a
bigger factor than snow. When it snowed it was usually just enough to dust
the rooftops and not "stick". When it did stick, it would typically melt
by the afternoon and the roads would stay wet then freeze that night..
resulting in lots of accidents at night and the next morning. The ice
would remain frozen (and invisible) in the shade under bridges and
overpasses even with 40 degree air temperatures. It was very rare to have
any appreciable accumulation of non-slush snow.

The only snow driving I've done was up at the pass with my brother's
Rabbit (now sold) w/studded tires, and that was a blast! But we didn't
care about that car.. so it didn't matter if I slammed sideways in to a
snow bank. (too bad we didn't have the antlers bolted to the front of
the hood back then!)

Anyway, the situation is quite a bit different here. So far I have seen
it get very cold and very windy, and I have a feeling the snow will be
more powdery than what we had in Seattle, since the humidity here is so
low. On days that there is no cloud cover, the air really heats up by
noon or so.. but it can stay cold all day when it's overcast. I can
picture there being significant amounts of snow on the ground if it
remained overcast for several days.

So, I'm thinking about buying a set of snow tires and I would appreciate
some advice from those with experience (both using snow tires and driving
in the snow)

When I say "snow tires", what I really mean is someone else's used snow
tires on a set of stock rims. I'm a broke-ass college student so I can't
quite afford to run out and buy 4 new Blizzaks.

What's the deal with studs? They're still legal in WA for at least 1 more
year; my understanding is they help more with ice than with snow. But I'd
like to be safe on both, so I guess I'd want studded tires? Do they have
any disadvantages other than tearing up the pavement?

Thinner tires do better in snow, right? But of course have worse traction
when dry..

I've been drifting around some crushed-gravel roads (don't worry, I'm
being extra careful not to harm my 'baby') at high speeds trying to get a
feel for controlling the car with less than perfect traction. I'm still
fighting my impulsive overcorrection around tight corners. I'm having lots
of fun, though!

I'm sure one of you will chime in with an exact explanation of how FWD
cars react to loosing traction in various places and while performing
different maneuvers, but so far I've noticed that the back end likes to
swing out around hard corners, at least until I step on the gas a bit.
I've also noticed that I can steer in gravel much better if I keep moving
the steering wheel left-and-right constantly, rather than holding it
perfectly still.

Also, it seems a lot easier to get going if I start out in 2nd gear then
shift early to 3rd or 4th at 5-10 mph. The torque at the wheels drops to a
value low enough to keep them from just spinning and throwing gravel.

What I'd like to learn about most is how to stop in snow or ice; I can
picture scenarios in my head where somebody pulls out in front of me
without looking and I just go gliding in to their bumper. The obvious
preventative solution is to 'not go fast', but let's be realistic here! I
live on the highest hill in town..

I'm kinda afraid that since my braking (ferodo pads up front, brembo
rotors, properly bled and flushed w/castrol gtlma) and acceleration
capabilities (well-tuned cis-e 2.0l 16v with eurocam and 4k tranny) are
quite a bit above average, when my traction drops off-- the brakes will
just lock up (that can be dealt with to an extent by modulating them, I
know), and the wheels will just spin when I step on the gas or just try
to get going.

My daily commute is.. well, on foot. But every 2-3 days I need to go
somewhere (ie. buy groceries); typically no further than 16 miles round
trip. The only exception to that would be when I'd occasionally want to
make the 300 mile trip back to Seattle to see friends and relatives. To
do this I have to drive on a lot of long, flat, country roads then cross
a steep mountain pass. So the first 275 miles of that trip (the part
through eastern washington and the mountains) would probably have snow. It
takes 5 hours when you're averaging 70 mph, I can't imagine how long it
will take with that much snow. Ugh.

Okay, this is getting really long. I'll just stop here.

-Toby