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Hows Yer Handling In The Snow

camcq

By camcq
in Scottish Scoobies

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camcq

camcq

Posted
Posted (edited)

hi folks just wondering what folks think of their scoobies handling in the snow/ice

as i personaly think it utter 5h*t considering its 4x4. my breaks r useless abs kicks in and does nowt and wants to go sideways all the time very easily. although i enjoy the challenge its not pratical when roads are busy i honestly think my mk1 rs2000 handles better and its 30 yrs old with cossie upgrade on the breaks

Edited by camcq
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ally-b

ally-b

Posted
Posted

A lot is down to the tyres you have on when it is snowy.

Pukka M+S winter tyres make a hell of a difference compared to the 'fast-road/track' tyres most of us have on our scoobs.

The compound on proper winter tyres remains soft and pliable at temperatures where our normal tyres go hard and teflon-like.

I have a set of wheels and Michelin M/S tyres that I put on when the snow comes (currently in my shed - doh ! - guess what I'm doing on my day off tomorrow !)

Ice is a different matter .

If there is no traction available , even with the best 4x4 (LandRover etc) , you will have 'no wheel drive' unless you have metal studded tyres like the have to fit in Scandanavia in winter (by law !).

Al.

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andy

andy

Posted
Posted

Like any car, it depends how you drive it. I was lucky in that I learned to drive in rural Aberdeenshire back when we had REAL winters. That gives you confidence. Happily driven up the outside lane of the M9 in the Scoob when it's had several inches of snow and everybody else is stacked up in the inside lane and she's never even twitched. Also driven back roads to my folks in snow and ice without any problems. I only ever use Goodyear Eagles all year round and never had a problem so don't believe it's solely down to tyres, but is more about adapting your driving style to the conditions. Unfortunately because winters have got milder newer drivers don't get the chance to hone their skills in driving in snow and ice.

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camcq

camcq

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Like any car, it depends how you drive it. I was lucky in that I learned to drive in rural Aberdeenshire back when we had REAL winters. That gives you confidence. Happily driven up the outside lane of the M9 in the Scoob when it's had several inches of snow and everybody else is stacked up in the inside lane and she's never even twitched. Also driven back roads to my folks in snow and ice without any problems. I only ever use Goodyear Eagles all year round and never had a problem so don't believe it's solely down to tyres, but is more about adapting your driving style to the conditions. Unfortunately because winters have got milder newer drivers don't get the chance to hone their skills in driving in snow and ice.

i can drive it without any fun and confidently like you on the m9 (just have) but im asking as just a wee touch of power and shes wild i can accept that its really the breaks that concern me as they dont seem to respond how id like or expect

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the squiggle

the squiggle

Posted
Posted
A lot is down to the tyres you have on when it is snowy.

Pukka M+S winter tyres make a hell of a difference compared to the 'fast-road/track' tyres most of us have on our scoobs.

The compound on proper winter tyres remains soft and pliable at temperatures where our normal tyres go hard and teflon-like.

I have a set of wheels and Michelin M/S tyres that I put on when the snow comes (currently in my shed - doh ! - guess what I'm doing on my day off tomorrow !)

Ice is a different matter .

If there is no traction available , even with the best 4x4 (LandRover etc) , you will have 'no wheel drive' unless you have metal studded tyres like the have to fit in Scandanavia in winter (by law !).

Al.

Another thing they do in Scandinavia is teach them skid control at driving theory/lesson/test stage of thir driving career as opposed to the Blighty method of where the newly qualified driver learns how to skid the first time it happens, usually with hilarious results

Now that would help immensly as opposed to reversing around a corner whilst keeping perpindiculer to the kerb bahooky

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scouk

scouk

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Posted

Yeah how you drive is very important.. But just as important or maybe more so is the tyres.. They can made massive differences in snow/ice.. I.e. slippy slidy or havign grip! I've foudn the Impreza is awful for grip with the Bridgestones Re050's in snow, traction thanks to the AWD but very little grip for turning into corners.

My last car FWD and all weather tyres was briliant in the snow! it was almost liek driving ona wet road there was dubious amounts of grip.. only thing I can put it down to is the tyres..

BTW - thank gawd the scooby is off the road this week.. Got into work with a "borrowed" peugeot 207 and how on earth it got throught eh 2ft of snow down the track to my work is beyond me... Even passed the snow plough which was stuck on a hill on the way in!

If i was in the scooby it'd be more fun! but.. It woudl have buried itself in teh snow at only being a few inched off the ground with a splitter... :huh:

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scoobyit

scoobyit

Posted
Posted
Like any car, it depends how you drive it. I was lucky in that I learned to drive in rural Aberdeenshire back when we had REAL winters. That gives you confidence. Happily driven up the outside lane of the M9 in the Scoob when it's had several inches of snow and everybody else is stacked up in the inside lane and she's never even twitched. Also driven back roads to my folks in snow and ice without any problems. I only ever use Goodyear Eagles all year round and never had a problem so don't believe it's solely down to tyres, but is more about adapting your driving style to the conditions. Unfortunately because winters have got milder newer drivers don't get the chance to hone their skills in driving in snow and ice.

I agree - I grew up in the sticks and learned how to drive on the tricky stuff when the snow was way worse..... We live in Arbroath and travel to Aberdeen everyday, we normally take our A3 TDI, however we ahve been running the scoob and its been ace.... running PZero Neros, Breaks are good as well, it's all about stopping before you need to and putting the power down as smoothly as possible. Frankly I think its been the best car in snow I have had :huh:

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camcq

camcq

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aye goes sideways well lucky i aint got abs you got a rs2000? tidy i got a mk2 escort

yep family owned from day one and totaly rebuilt in 97

as for all others going on about experience i have loads of it even tho i only passed over a year ago due to being banned for 10 strech but wether i press lightly or hard on the breaks they just bubble back so much that iam heading to wiltshire to get up grades at the nephews garage and some major enhancments

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RS Grant

RS Grant

Posted
Posted
yep family owned from day one and totaly rebuilt in 97

as for all others going on about experience i have loads of it even tho i only passed over a year ago due to being banned for 10 strech but wether i press lightly or hard on the breaks they just bubble back so much that iam heading to wiltshire to get up grades at the nephews garage and some major enhancments

I have heard of people taking the ABS fuse out on classics... never tried it myself so cant say if its a worthwhile exercise or not, but I do know how poor Subaru ABS is in slippy conditions, seems to crap itself and cut in really early.

However, with the handling being a bit poo on fast road tyres in snow can mean there is plenty scope for a bit of fun and self-taught skid control. On private land of course......... :huh:

Cheers,

Grant

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hosstheboss

hosstheboss

Posted
Posted
yep family owned from day one and totaly rebuilt in 97

as for all others going on about experience i have loads of it even tho i only passed over a year ago due to being banned for 10 strech but wether i press lightly or hard on the breaks they just bubble back so much that iam heading to wiltshire to get up grades at the nephews garage and some major enhancments

Any chance of you posting a few pics of your RS2000? I used to have a Mk1 Mexico which i loved but had to sell (apprentice mechanic at the time so no £££)!

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Big 'D'

Big 'D'

Posted
Posted

Hi all

I have driven many cars in the snow being from the Highlands, but have never really had a chance to test out the scoobs before....... until this week, it is absolutely fantastic, you never have any problem setting off from junctions etc, if you want to have a play it is 100% predictable, and feels very sure footed and steady on the straight long runs, obviously stopping is an issue in snow/ice for any vehicle so I would put that down to the driver and mabe tyre choice, but to be honest I am running on 1/2 worn Yoko' Parada S2's and have had no issues at all.

Cheers Iain

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kookamunga

kookamunga

Posted
Posted

i had abs on my old wrx and yeah it makes for no fun i ended up pulling the fuse. have to say in run Yoko' Parada but they never have had a good name for driving in the wet farless snow and ice. try not using the brakes just try getting the car into a we slide before the corner to scrub some speed ;)

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jae

jae

Posted
Posted

had my car 2 years now and still to find out what it's like in the snow, feels like we are the only area not to have had any ;) but on the ice the ABS does kinda kick in early, I usually change down the gears for slowing anyway so no major hassles unless it's an emergency stop.

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Big 'D'

Big 'D'

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Posted
had my car 2 years now and still to find out what it's like in the snow, feels like we are the only area not to have had any ;) but on the ice the ABS does kinda kick in early, I usually change down the gears for slowing anyway so no major hassles unless it's an emergency stop.

When driving in the snow I try to drive as if I had no brakes, it is crazy how long your stopping distance is in the snow if you use your brakes as normal, you can acutally stop quicker using the gears like you say but for this to be effective you have to be driving to the conditions of the road in the first place then lightly use the brakes at the end of your stop. The abs only kicks in because wheel slip has been detected (a good indication that the surface that you are driving on is very slippy and that you would not stop any quicker if it worked any later), during normal driving in the dry summer months etc you will (should) very rarely ever feel the abs at work (if you felt it work during these conditions I would be concerned of its operation).

Cheers Iain

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scouk

scouk

Posted
Posted

I mentioned the ABS thing on another thread.. And although I fully understand taht the tyres most commonly used on impreza's are down right dangerous on snow. I do get the feeling that the ABS on the impreza is way to sensitive and kicks in early.. I've noticed it kick in on different surfaces much sooner than I'd expect. sure it may just be the case that the surfaces are slippier than I thought.. But I don't think so.. Particularly when it comes to snow. the ABS system can't seem to find any sort of grip at all and the majority of time just sits there flapping without applying any braking at all with only light pressure on the pedal! I'm almost certain that in these sort of conditions I could make better use of the brakes by using them manually as I believe I could apply a little more pressure to the brakes without locking a wheel, despite what the ABS thinks..

BTW - I do account for treacherous conditions and use engine braking as early as possible and only use the brakes if really necessary or just to hold the car at the end of the braking manoeuvre. But I have nil confidence in the Impreza brakes with ABS in snow to stop me.. I've mentioned before that the impreza is downright dangerous in snow and I stand by that... Hopefully I'll be able to get a new set of wheels and winter tyres to put on them before next year which should make things much safer... ;)

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Big 'D'

Big 'D'

Posted
Posted

Mabe a good selection of winter tyres would help the braking in the snow, it would be interesting to see how a scoob with ABS would fare compared to a scoob without ABS in the snow, there has always been the agrument that you can stop the car quicker than what the ABS can, I have seen first hand that this can be done by performing cadence braking even on an ABS equipped car for better braking results (but this was in wet + dry tests not snow). Granted the amount of pressure you have to apply to the brakes in the snow to get the ABS to sring to life is minimal but would you rather the ABS kicked in or lock up more than 1 wheel and lose control of the car? I have no faith in any brakes in the snow ABS or not but I do think a good set of snow tyres would make a huge difference.

Out of all the cars I have driven in the snow the Imprezas and the Forester I have had are by far the safest I have driven.

Cheers Iain

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