scouk Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) 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? From experience.. The ABS cuts in but doesn't help brakin in anyway.. All it seems to do is cause a fuss and NOT apply any braking at all. I think at the lower speeds that you shoudl be driving in snow I'd rather "feel" that the brakes were doing something than kickign back at me with no deceleration.. 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. 100% If my scoob was on teh road at the mo I'd go out and test it with the ABS fuse in and out just to see... ABS doesn't give you any more braking than manual braking (infact gives you less, in theory), but what it really excells in is giving you stability while braking... Turn and brake on a slippy condition with "manual Brakes and yoru almost guaranteed to lock up, where as ABS will do the best it can to keep the car moving in the direction you ask it.. On snow a small "controlled" skid by locking a coupel of wheels (or more) can give you added braking because there is increased friction between the tyres and the surface, whcih ABS does not allow... Note: at higher speeds, yeah I'd much rather have ABS enganged for stability, lock up at speed woudl be dangerous and very difficult to control Edited February 8, 2009 by ScoUK Link to comment
Big 'D' Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) From experience.. The ABS cuts in but doesn't help brakin in anyway.. All it seems to do is cause a fuss and NOT apply any braking at all. I think at the lower speeds that you shoudl be driving in snow I'd rather "feel" that the brakes were doing something than kickign back at me with no deceleration.. ABS is not in any way there to make you braking any better than what it would be without it (on a low friction surface ie snow/ice), it is designed to allow you to maintain some control of the positioning of the car whilst braking on a low friction surface. But you already know this by your following statement. If my scoob was on teh road at the mo I'd go out and test it with the ABS fuse in and out just to see... ABS doesn't give you any more braking than manual braking (infact gives you less, in theory), but what it really excells in is giving you stability while braking... Turn and brake on a slippy condition with "manual Brakes and yoru almost guaranteed to lock up, where as ABS will do the best it can to keep the car moving in the direction you ask it.. On snow a small "controlled" skid by locking a coupel of wheels (or more) can give you added braking because there is increased friction between the tyres and the surface, whcih ABS does not allow... The word skid means that friction between the wheels and the road has been lost not gained, a skid no matter how big or small is a loss of friction not a gain, the rolling resistance of your wheels against fresh snow for example is probably greater than the coefficient of friction between your wheels and the road whilst skidding, without ABS you do not get added braking you get added skidding, also skidding under braking on snow is by no means controlled as you have lost grip. Hence that is why ABS helps you have some control of the positioning of the car whilst under braking on a slippy surface. Regardless of having ABS or not, braking in snow and icy conditions should be a last resort because basically they do not work. Cheers Iain Edited February 8, 2009 by Big 'D' Link to comment
scouk Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 The word skid means that friction between the wheels and the road has been lost not gained, a skid no matter how big or small is a loss of friction not a gain, the rolling resistance of your wheels against fresh snow for example is probably greater than the coefficient of friction between your wheels and the road whilst skidding, without ABS you do not get added braking you get added skidding, also skidding under braking on snow is by no means controlled as you have lost grip. Hence that is why ABS helps you have some control of the positioning of the car whilst under braking on a slippy surface. Regardless of having ABS or not, braking in snow and icy conditions should be a last resort because basically they do not work. Yep.. Good technical explanation there! And yeah lifting off the acceleartor in showy conditions really slows the car down compared to normal weather.. Bottom line is, take it easy.... and as you rightly mentioned above, drive on the assumption the brakes don't work... Link to comment
st3ph3n Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Rather than on the assumption that the throttle is stuck wide open? Came home tonight and met that other danger on a snowy roads - local kids armed with snowballs. Managed to put them off by going down the main street sideways ish. I find the scoob quite predictable going forward in the snow. Link to comment
G.Mac Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Squiggle and I were out and about tonight and I can say the scoobs have no problem making their way through the snow sideways im sure some vids of some car park fun will be aired later. left right left right flick and round the corner Graeme Link to comment
the squiggle Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Squiggle and I were out and about tonight and I can say the scoobs have no problem making their way through the snow sideways im sure some vids of some car park fun will be aired later.left right left right flick and round the corner Graeme Twas grand in Ikea car park Due to previous experience in Snow and doing th Ari Vatenan thing i put the Commander onto water temp . Had fun till she hit 92c then stopped for a while, poor wee GTI-R Sunny owner proceeded to carry on giving it dokey and last we saw was the bonnet still up when we left First full scandi flick without the handbrake, a true moment of beauty and while on the phone to Wilky I bloody love the snow Link to comment
RA Dunk Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Twas grand in Ikea car parkDue to previous experience in Snow and doing th Ari Vatenan thing i put the Commander onto water temp . Had fun till she hit 92c then stopped for a while, poor wee GTI-R Sunny owner proceeded to carry on giving it dokey and last we saw was the bonnet still up when we left First full scandi flick without the handbrake, a true moment of beauty and while on the phone to Wilky I bloody love the snow i still havent got any bloody snow yet, an inch of ice on my door step but no snow Link to comment
the squiggle Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 i still havent got any bloody snow yet, an inch of ice on my door step but no snow Be all that salty sea air blowing in from the North Sea Link to comment
RA Dunk Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Be all that salty sea air blowing in from the North Sea probably is but it feel`s as though im missing out Link to comment
the squiggle Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 probably is but it feel`s as though im missing out Thats how i felt last week watching all the southerners slip slide about in 1 inch of slush The glee on my face when it started to lie today was there for all to see Link to comment
Rossco_ Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 It seems there is a lot of negativity towards how the scoobs AWD system copes with the snow, i have a type R so obvioulsy no ABS and i have the DCCD. The DCCD is a small work of genius, if the back starts feeling twitchy i just keep winding it forward till it tames the car, my drive was covered in about 4/5 inches on saturday, set the DCCD to lock and just drove up it as normal, quite an epic bit of kit for sure. Obviously stopping is still an issue but you just have to put a bit of thought into it and make sure you have the space to stop and be gentle as h3ll on the brakes, sudden movements are a massive no no Link to comment
G.Mac Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 yea DCCD is a superb piece of kit, on auto it just wants to understeer everywhere unless you give it welly. rolled it right back to open and the car is more or less RWD but roll it forward 3 notches and its just brilliant, ive started uploading some of my poor attempts with my cameraphone onto my photobucket so should get the squiggle posted up later. Ikea was superb with 3 drift tracks, but there was a few a*** clenching moments as the car got a wee bit too close to comfort to the trolly park, shame the truck drivers now use the big open part of the carpark as a sleeping spot boo hisss....lol. Graeme Link to comment
Big 'D' Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I think that for those who find the Impreza's handling in the snow not quite up to spec should go out an buy one of these purpose built tundra buggys. From my point of view the Impreza is by far one of the most capable cars in the snow ever, I love it Cheers Iain Link to comment
jamesm Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 From my point of view the Impreza is by far one of the most capable cars in the snow ever, I love it It is the most capable car I have driven in the snow. I find the handling excellent for general snow driving. The problem I find is the other eejits in the road. I don't commute in the Subaru but took it to work today as my runaround has a flat battery. Was heading down an untreated side street, down a hill with a T junction at the bottom. All going well until someone comes towards me round the corner, on my side of the road. Swerved, got the power down, perfect powerslide round him, round the corner, until I ran out of room and smacked the kerb. He drove off and with a snowcovered number plate, I didn't get his details. Hopefully nothing more serious than a scuffed alloy, which a trip to the powdercoaters and the exchange of 40 notes will sort out. Link to comment
Power Junkie Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 As Rossco has said, The Type R is great, I have had no problems at all, just keep winding the diff up until it feels ok, I got out of a car park up hill with a good 7" of snow cover, just locked the diff in 2nd gear and just had it above stalling, just pulled out over it easy. Link to comment
st3ph3n Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Always good to see some snow driving. My own scandi flick yesterday was hand brake assisted, but still most enjoyable. Great way to get into the driveway. Link to comment
jac Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Hooligans..... lol I wish i could have made it last night, just a wee bity to late for me. Good to see some scoobys out having fun. Link to comment
camcq Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 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 £££)! al get sum pics scanned and post them and let the auldies drool over a real car and after going doon to salisbury where the snow was thick i had a ball on the army camp i was staying at so put the car thru its paces and must admit i felt a bit more confident when i took oot the abs fuse mor control over the car i thought less likley to bubble back on me plus noticed i had a sticky caliper on the front near side so changed it and poped the fuse back in and well i still have the car also got my pipes all upgraded not sure wot too as the nephew done it and was oot ti the pub when i got in but keep meaning to ask so thanks to all for the info Link to comment
G.Mac Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) Ye its fun in the snow ps turn yer speakers up Graeme Edited February 28, 2009 by G.Mac Link to comment
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