Snow drive

[Fly'n Brian]

So, today I went for a drive in the snow to meet up with a friend. Holy smokes, the other drivers around where I live, IDIOTS! I could not believe the number of people running around on bald a** summer tires wondering why they had no traction. Oh, it gets better; The other geniuses on the road that actually, had the right equipment on their cars had no idea how to drive in this weather. They would just stab at the throttle like it was an on/off switch and spin their tires like crazy. My personal Favorite though is the dumb mother truckers in their lifted 4x4 pavement princess trucks slipping and sliding around on their mud terrain tires. It's like yeah, I bet that big a** truck with huge tires does you alot of good when you have no chains on your back tires or any wieght in the bed of the truck. Now, some of you I bet are picturing like an EPIC 1ft+ dumping of snow. Not even close. Lets try like 1 inch of fresh snow. Just one inch and it brings these crack babys to their knee's. Ok, I am off my soap box now.

[pepper06]

I LOVE my all wheel drive. But sometimes I have to really remind myself that just because I have all wheel drive doesn't mean I'm invincible.

A few nights ago I was heading to my girlfriend's house and the snow was coming down. When it snows over here in Germany we never really get that much accumulation...we more or less get a couple inches over the course of 3 days or so. However, this particular night, it was building up fast, and I quickly found myself driving through about 2 inches of wet, icy snow. Very dangerous. To get to her house I've gotta drive up a long and steep hill, crest the top, then go part-way down the other side on a downgrade which isn't as steep as the upgrade, but much longer. I went up the hill no problem. I might've been a little harder on the gas than I should have been, but I really didn't wanna get stuck. When I went over the top and started heading down, I ran into BIG problems. To get into this neighborhood of hers I had to get into a middle-of-the-road turn lane and make a left turn. The main lanes going in both directions were relatively clear, but i noticed that the middle lane was pretty much covered. I guess I didn't slow down nearly enough as I should have, so when I pulled into that middle lane I immediately felt my car starting to go. I was full on the brakes, ABS screaming at me, hard downshifting from thrid to second to try and slow myself down, but I got nothing. The WRX was almost completely sideways when I glided past the road I was originally aiming for, popped the curb and jumped onto the sidewalk 6 inches away on both sides from a decent-sized tree and a light post. FML.

I came that close to hurting my baby. That sucked. Never again.

[DrumminAnimal73]

Bryan, I hear ya!

I'm in Medford, and as soon as any sort of slippery road conditions start happening, it seems as though a switch goes off in people's head to start driving stupid.

People driving way too fast, espescially in their 4x4's thinking that they are unstoppable in the snow, are basically just bigger battering rams.

[subydude8]

i here what your saying to i got rear ended in mine it wasnt bad but it sure bummed me out my bumper has like spider web marks all over it with some cracks other than that she is fine but i hate seeing my baby hurt.

i live in reno by the way haha.

[Pavia]

I LOVE my all wheel drive. But sometimes I have to really remind myself that just because I have all wheel drive doesn't mean I'm invincible.

A few nights ago I was heading to my girlfriend's house and the snow was coming down. When it snows over here in Germany we never really get that much accumulation...we more or less get a couple inches over the course of 3 days or so. However, this particular night, it was building up fast, and I quickly found myself driving through about 2 inches of wet, icy snow. Very dangerous. To get to her house I've gotta drive up a long and steep hill, crest the top, then go part-way down the other side on a downgrade which isn't as steep as the upgrade, but much longer. I went up the hill no problem. I might've been a little harder on the gas than I should have been, but I really didn't wanna get stuck. When I went over the top and started heading down, I ran into BIG problems. To get into this neighborhood of hers I had to get into a middle-of-the-road turn lane and make a left turn. The main lanes going in both directions were relatively clear, but i noticed that the middle lane was pretty much covered. I guess I didn't slow down nearly enough as I should have, so when I pulled into that middle lane I immediately felt my car starting to go. I was full on the brakes, ABS screaming at me, hard downshifting from thrid to second to try and slow myself down, but I got nothing. The WRX was almost completely sideways when I glided past the road I was originally aiming for, popped the curb and jumped onto the sidewalk 6 inches away on both sides from a decent-sized tree and a light post. FML.

I came that close to hurting my baby. That sucked. Never again.

Two questions...

One, how did you get a Subaru in Germany? Aren't they very rare?

Two, do you have problems driving in those small town/village roads?

I've only driven in Italy, but I'm sure Germany is fun too...

I kind of ask these questions because I never saw a single Subaru in Italy and I couldn't imagine driving my lowered WRX there in the cities.

[PurpleMongoose]

People driving way too fast, espescially in their 4x4's thinking that they are unstoppable in the snow...

That's just the problem. They are unstoppable. And unturnable.

Just because you have the traction to go doesn't mean you can do anything else.

There's a parking lot a few miles from me that's no longer plowed, as the center is pretty much deserted. I've been going there the past few snows, just to see what the WRX will handle.

Without taking the TC off, it's handled everything rather admirably.

[mexicanzero]

a 98ish explorer passed me on the highway the other day, i was doing 90km/h and he passed me going close to double my speed...

then about a kilometer further down i saw some nice dark tire marks leading from the fast lane all the way to the ditch on the far right where the explorer that had passed me lay on its roof with all doors open...

sucks to be him/her but they deserved it

-Alex

[2w0r0x9]

I LOVE my all wheel drive. But sometimes I have to really remind myself that just because I have all wheel drive doesn't mean I'm invincible.

A few nights ago I was heading to my girlfriend's house and the snow was coming down. When it snows over here in Germany we never really get that much accumulation...we more or less get a couple inches over the course of 3 days or so. However, this particular night, it was building up fast, and I quickly found myself driving through about 2 inches of wet, icy snow. Very dangerous. To get to her house I've gotta drive up a long and steep hill, crest the top, then go part-way down the other side on a downgrade which isn't as steep as the upgrade, but much longer. I went up the hill no problem. I might've been a little harder on the gas than I should have been, but I really didn't wanna get stuck. When I went over the top and started heading down, I ran into BIG problems. To get into this neighborhood of hers I had to get into a middle-of-the-road turn lane and make a left turn. The main lanes going in both directions were relatively clear, but i noticed that the middle lane was pretty much covered. I guess I didn't slow down nearly enough as I should have, so when I pulled into that middle lane I immediately felt my car starting to go. I was full on the brakes, ABS screaming at me, hard downshifting from thrid to second to try and slow myself down, but I got nothing. The WRX was almost completely sideways when I glided past the road I was originally aiming for, popped the curb and jumped onto the sidewalk 6 inches away on both sides from a decent-sized tree and a light post. FML.

I came that close to hurting my baby. That sucked. Never again.

its not good to slam the brakes when sliding on snow or ice..you got to pump the brakes and sometimes it helps to accelerate to straighten her out..

[Sinister]

honestly... over all, Colorado drivers are pretty damned good in the snow

[pepper06]

its not good to slam the brakes when sliding on snow or ice..you got to pump the brakes and sometimes it helps to accelerate to straighten her out..

since then (we got a good 7/8 more inches) I've had MUCH more luck slowing down if I just use the engine brake and downshift differently.

a 98ish explorer passed me on the highway the other day, i was doing 90km/h and he passed me going close to double my speed...

then about a kilometer further down i saw some nice dark tire marks leading from the fast lane all the way to the ditch on the far right where the explorer that had passed me lay on its roof with all doors open...

sucks to be him/her but they deserved it

I'm actually more floored by the rear wheel drive cars in the snow than the 4WD's. All these germans have their BMWs and Mercs and even a few porsches that I've seen out in heavy heavy snow, and they just fly right by me. I don't understand it--they've got snow tires (all Germans do). But I can't believe they'd make such a big difference in the handling of a RWD car in the snow. These people are just so bold!

Two questions...

One, how did you get a Subaru in Germany? Aren't they very rare?

Two, do you have problems driving in those small town/village roads?

I've only driven in Italy, but I'm sure Germany is fun too...

I kind of ask these questions because I never saw a single Subaru in Italy and I couldn't imagine driving my lowered WRX there in the cities.

1. I'm not a German, I'm an American stationed overseas. We get to bring our American cars with us, free of charge. Yes, WRXs/STis are extremely rare here. I haven't seen a single one since I've been here. I have a German Subaru dealer I go to, but they don't sell any turbo models--everything is about the diesel here.

2. I actually have no problems at all driving here. It might even be better/easier than America. Countries like Italy are insane to drive in, and I would never take my car there. Most streets in Germany are sized just fine for cars of all sizes. The only difference is that things move a bit faster here...but to level it out everything's much more organized, I think. Driving in Italy really does suck though--it's the probably the most chaotic driving experience I've ever had in my life. Glad it wasn't with my sooby...

[Fly'n Brian]

It would be nice if as a part of general driver education it included how to drive in the snow. It is just something depending on where you live that you might have to deal with sometime.