How to be a good winter driver - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

feelgood · 12-03-2003, 08:52 PM

This should be in the motor forum but since some of us doesn't visit that forum simply because its for those car freak who's lookin to supermod their honda.

A winter storm just arrived in Calgary and smacked the shit outta everybody and everybody driving all like they never saw winter before. So, here's some tips in how you can survive winter while driving without smashin your car and save a few thousands.

1. Take your time: It aint gonna do anybody any fukin good if you're speeding on a poor condition highway and you slide and you get into an accident. All this happens in the middle of rush hour. Congrad-u-fuckin-lations, you just pissed off 50,000 people who are trying to get home and now is gonna be a few hours late because you decided that speeding is a good idea on a icy road.

2. Give yourself some room. Just because its icy doesn't mean your car has a pair of hockey skates and it's gonna be able to stop right there as soon you hit your brakes. You hit your brakes hard, its gonna slide and eventually, you'll be talking to other drivers and exchanging insurance information and all.

A. When you see that a car up ahead is slowing down or stopping, be sure to give yourself alot of room.
B. Treat the brake as if it was your girlfriend/boyfriend.

3. Have a cellphone or a method of communicating with services such as AAA, fire dept, amulbance or police. You wouldn't want to be on a road where your car breaks down and you're stuck in the middle of the city in -30 weather and have no way of getting home other than sticking your thumb out.

4. If you didn't bring a cellphone and you're driving in the country. It's always best to have some warm clothes available. If you wind up in a ditch or your car break down and there's no help for 30 km around and the weather is -30, you're in shit. You can use a pair of boot, gloves, hat, winter jacket and snow pant. That can get you through the night. A kid living in my area died because he didn't have any winter clothing and he was walking home from a party in -20 weather. That's pretty horrid isn't it?

5. Get your car checked. That means taking it in for regular checkups and retuning. It just might prevent your car from breaking down or stalling.

6. Get your tires checked. Too many people go years of driving their car and never checking its tires. I'm not talking about whether its flat or not. I'm talking about traction. After a certain amount of time, tire can wear out to the point that its smooth. Even in a rain storm, it can slide fairly easy.

7. Help others. If you find somebody's car in a ditch or on the side of the road and he's waving you down. You should stop and check to see if he's alright. It ain't cool to leave someone alone on the side of the road in the middle of the night in -20 weather in the middle of nowhere. He could easily died of freezing. He could be one of those roadside killers...who knows...he might even be me

Just tips for those of you who never seen winter before...I do realize the irony of me being 20 and having only 4 years of driving experience compared to the rest of people in this forum...can't hurt to give tips out can it?

i8one2 · 12-03-2003, 09:22 PM

What I have also done with all my cars, is practice to understanding there limits in bad weather. When it rains, What does the car do if I slam on the brakes, how does it steer etc... I do the same thing when the weather turns old, I go to a big lot and test it there too.. I also check the roads and see what they are like.
Understanding what I'm capable of as well as my car has kept my out of harms way more than a few times

krwlz · 12-03-2003, 09:25 PM

All good advice man. Ive racked up some expirience in the winter driving arena through trial and error...

splck · 12-03-2003, 09:45 PM

When I was young, my friends and I would go to an empty parking lot and test the limits of driving in snow. It was a lot of fun and we learned tons about handling our cars in the snow.

I always watch what's going on two or three cars ahead of me and react to them rather than the car right in front of me.

rogue49 · 12-03-2003, 09:53 PM

heh...it always funny as hell watching all the idiots in their SUV spin off the road.
Why...because they think since they have a SUV, they can do anything...and speed away.

hmm...haven't they heard anything about physics
and the laws of inertia?
Objects of greater mass are harder to stop or turn.

Phaenx · 12-03-2003, 10:56 PM

Hit the brakes easy like it was your girlfriend? Haha, may want to look at that sentence.

aurigus · 12-04-2003, 05:45 AM

Whenever its bad weather I'll test the limits on a site street (with no parked cars of course) - cause it really does help you find out what exactly you can do. Plus side streets usually have worse conditions than the main ones to it prepares you even better. My wife thinks I'm crazy when I slam on the brakes while we're leaving the appartment complex

My other major rule is allow plenty of lead time because you can't slam on your brakes like you usually do.

feelgood · 12-04-2003, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phaenx
Hit the brakes easy like it was your girlfriend? Haha, may want to look at that sentence.

What's wrong with it?

rmarshall · 12-04-2003, 10:50 AM

I would never hit my girlfriend, but I might want to use the brakes.

Perhaps you could've used another word instead of "hit"?

BentNotTwisted · 12-04-2003, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phaenx
Hit the brakes easy like it was your girlfriend? Haha, may want to look at that sentence.

I think he meant hit like 'I'd hit that'. Or maybe not.

My two cents. I take secondary streets whenever possible. Everyone piles on the thoroughfares and they get all backed up. If, heaven forbid, you go into a slide, look at where you want the car to go. You will naturally steer wherever you are looking. It's tough to do, but if you look at that looming lamp post you will smack right into it.
Good luck out there.

Phaenx · 12-04-2003, 12:19 PM

Hit as in punch. Seems kind of funny to me, don't hit her!

feelgood · 12-04-2003, 04:43 PM

You guys know what I meant...

eribrav · 12-04-2003, 05:10 PM

I live in a very hilly, snowy area of upstate NY. Driving a Subaru makes all the difference in the world driving in the snow. They are a sort of niche car, but nothing else comes close in the snow.

REDL|NE · 12-04-2003, 07:44 PM

All very good advice, the most important is to just lower your speed and everything should be ok

MSD · 12-04-2003, 07:54 PM

Just a thought on last winter: Even though a Subaru can be a big help in bad weather, you are not a rally driver.

Also, snow tires are made of a completely different compound than regular tires. They are meant to work well in cold weather and grip as much as possible when the road freezes over. Switch them back as soon as the snowy season is over.

krwlz · 12-04-2003, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by splck
When I was young, my friends and I would go to an empty parking lot and test the limits of driving in snow. It was a lot of fun and we learned tons about handling our cars in the snow.

I always watch what's going on two or three cars ahead of me and react to them rather than the car right in front of me.

I wish I had a lot to do that in. I was thinking that would help tremendously.

Quote:

Originally posted by eribrav
I live in a very hilly, snowy area of upstate NY. Driving a Subaru makes all the difference in the world driving in the snow. They are a sort of niche car, but nothing else comes close in the snow.

Where ya at man? I live in the same kinda place... in upstate.

ironchef82 · 12-04-2003, 08:49 PM

I once had to drive through a major winter storm on an interstate coming back from visiting my girlfriend. What normally is a 6.5 hour trip turned into 10 or so.

Really, the number one tip, the most important is simply to take it easy and drive SLOW. I didn't have any special snow tires or anything like that. Just a lot of common sense and a heck of a lot of patience.

Destrox · 12-04-2003, 09:34 PM

Quote:

B. Work the brakes nice and easy as if it was your boyfriend/girlfriend.

With todays vehicles, you DO NOT want to do this.
ABS does this for you, and you can make things worse if you try to do its job.

Brakes auto stutter if needed.

"Brake Pumping" is a thing of the past, that causes more problems then anything for people who still do it.

feelgood · 12-04-2003, 10:05 PM

Um dude, when I said work the brake nice and easy, I didn't mean slam on it as hard as possible. If you slam on it, the ABS kicks in and you're still gonna slide but with ABS, it'll be shorter slides. ABS only kicks in when your vehicle is sliding. (I'm no auto-mechanic expert) You do it nice and easy, then you won't need to slide at all. And some older vehciles still don't have ABS.

I didn't say anything about "Brake Pumping" did I?

Destrox · 12-04-2003, 10:13 PM

Work it like its your Girlfriend?

To me that translates into motion of in an out, aka pumping.. ah..

lets just say were both wrong, mkay?

The way i interpreted the crpytic msg was correct, the way you ment it was still kinda correct.

feelgood · 12-04-2003, 10:23 PM

Ok, somebody reworded my message. It originally said hit it like as if it was your gf/bf. Now it says work it like its your bf/gf. Let me get his clear up now. I'm not using this comparsion in terms of sexual preferences for those of you who have a dirty mind. Apparently, some people who posted in this thread does. I mean work it nice, nice and easy. Treat it as if it was your girlfriend/boyfriend. That's what it should have said.

viejo gringo · 12-05-2003, 07:38 PM

OR---you could just move to deep south Texas and forget all of that white stuff....we do have black snow right now because they are burning off the sugar cane fields...

but then again, they are opening the shelters in Brownsville tonight because it is going to get down to 40...yea, there are a lot of them living in the colonias that don't have any thing on the windows...

sailor · 12-05-2003, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by splck
When I was young, my friends and I would go to an empty parking lot and test the limits of driving in snow. It was a lot of fun and we learned tons about handling our cars in the snow.

I always watch what's going on two or three cars ahead of me and react to them rather than the car right in front of me.

Thats a damn good idea. If only it snowed around here (NC) more than three times a year...

World's King · 12-05-2003, 08:02 PM

The best advice for winter driving is...

Stay home and have sex.

splck · 12-05-2003, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sailor420
Thats a damn good idea. If only it snowed around here (NC) more than three times a year...

I guess you'll get three days of practice, it's better than nothing.

Frozen lakes are fun to drive on too. Get your car up to speed, pull the E-brake and enjoy the ride...it's even better late at night... with your headlights off...and your girlfriend screaming at you.

NoCure · 12-05-2003, 09:01 PM

So I should hit my girlfriend while using my brakes???

mvassek · 12-07-2003, 07:15 PM

The best advice is "JUST SLOW DOWN" then hit your girlfriend, slowly though you don't want to lose control and hit someone elses girlfriend instead, it is slick out there ya know

etla · 12-30-2003, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Original King
The best advice for winter driving is...

Stay home and have sex.

Most places in Canada that's a lot of sex

Though are first snow in three weeks here in Calgary barely dropped enough to make a foot print.

GakFace · 12-30-2003, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by i8one2
What I have also done with all my cars, is practice to understanding there limits in bad weather. When it rains, What does the car do if I slam on the brakes, how does it steer etc... I do the same thing when the weather turns old, I go to a big lot and test it there too.. I also check the roads and see what they are like.
Understanding what I'm capable of as well as my car has kept my out of harms way more than a few times

This is EXCELLENT knowledge. I do it every time with my truck. Did it with my other cars too. Saved me from many wrecks by knowing how it would react.. and then.. by turning the wheel which would fix it.. again because I knew how it would react. Whenever its Icy outside and I'm not on a heavily populated road.. like in my addition for example... I'll hit the brakes hard... then fix it and slow down... Hit the gas hard, speed up, slam the brakes but turn the wheel first... then fix it and slow down. By knowing how my truck moves, and then testing before each drive how it moves... every time I've needed the knowledge, I've fixed the problem like it was second nature. I dont' waste time thinking about what to do, or panicing about hitting anyone, I simply do it... then smile. One of my recent Journal Entries is about just that. The "Mr. Freeze" one. The ABS in my sister's car went out on the Turn into my Addition and I had a U-Turn sized Turn to complete.. I was caught completely off guard as I expected the ABS to pull me through. My truck doesn't have ABS, so when they went out in my sister's car.. I just fixed it.. without a problem.

KNOW your car. KNOW how it reacts. KNOW what the road is like beneath your tires.

If you KNOW these things, you can drive safely.

hannys · 12-30-2003, 02:41 PM

Use winter tires. They help to keep the car on the street

12-03-2003, 08:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
feelgood Free Mars! Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time	How to be a good winter driver This should be in the motor forum but since some of us doesn't visit that forum simply because its for those car freak who's lookin to supermod their honda. A winter storm just arrived in Calgary and smacked the shit outta everybody and everybody driving all like they never saw winter before. So, here's some tips in how you can survive winter while driving without smashin your car and save a few thousands. 1. Take your time: It aint gonna do anybody any fukin good if you're speeding on a poor condition highway and you slide and you get into an accident. All this happens in the middle of rush hour. Congrad-u-fuckin-lations, you just pissed off 50,000 people who are trying to get home and now is gonna be a few hours late because you decided that speeding is a good idea on a icy road. 2. Give yourself some room. Just because its icy doesn't mean your car has a pair of hockey skates and it's gonna be able to stop right there as soon you hit your brakes. You hit your brakes hard, its gonna slide and eventually, you'll be talking to other drivers and exchanging insurance information and all. A. When you see that a car up ahead is slowing down or stopping, be sure to give yourself alot of room. B. Treat the brake as if it was your girlfriend/boyfriend. 3. Have a cellphone or a method of communicating with services such as AAA, fire dept, amulbance or police. You wouldn't want to be on a road where your car breaks down and you're stuck in the middle of the city in -30 weather and have no way of getting home other than sticking your thumb out. 4. If you didn't bring a cellphone and you're driving in the country. It's always best to have some warm clothes available. If you wind up in a ditch or your car break down and there's no help for 30 km around and the weather is -30, you're in shit. You can use a pair of boot, gloves, hat, winter jacket and snow pant. That can get you through the night. A kid living in my area died because he didn't have any winter clothing and he was walking home from a party in -20 weather. That's pretty horrid isn't it? 5. Get your car checked. That means taking it in for regular checkups and retuning. It just might prevent your car from breaking down or stalling. 6. Get your tires checked. Too many people go years of driving their car and never checking its tires. I'm not talking about whether its flat or not. I'm talking about traction. After a certain amount of time, tire can wear out to the point that its smooth. Even in a rain storm, it can slide fairly easy. 7. Help others. If you find somebody's car in a ditch or on the side of the road and he's waving you down. You should stop and check to see if he's alright. It ain't cool to leave someone alone on the side of the road in the middle of the night in -20 weather in the middle of nowhere. He could easily died of freezing. He could be one of those roadside killers...who knows...he might even be me Just tips for those of you who never seen winter before...I do realize the irony of me being 20 and having only 4 years of driving experience compared to the rest of people in this forum...can't hurt to give tips out can it? __________________ Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war Last edited by feelgood; 12-04-2003 at 10:23 PM..

12-03-2003, 09:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
i8one2 COMPLETED and A TRAINER Location: BEAN_TOWN	What I have also done with all my cars, is practice to understanding there limits in bad weather. When it rains, What does the car do if I slam on the brakes, how does it steer etc... I do the same thing when the weather turns old, I go to a big lot and test it there too.. I also check the roads and see what they are like. Understanding what I'm capable of as well as my car has kept my out of harms way more than a few times __________________ LEATHER, LATEX and LACE "SSC" "Nothing That Gives Pleasure is Bad" Quality is for those who know what they want and are at peace with what they have. "S/M is about emotion; the erotic tension between my impulse toward something and my resistance against it."-- Virginia Barker

12-03-2003, 09:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
splck it's jam Location: Lowerainland BC	When I was young, my friends and I would go to an empty parking lot and test the limits of driving in snow. It was a lot of fun and we learned tons about handling our cars in the snow. I always watch what's going on two or three cars ahead of me and react to them rather than the car right in front of me. __________________ nice line eh?

12-03-2003, 10:56 PM	#6 (permalink)
Phaenx The Northern Ward Location: Columbus, Ohio	Hit the brakes easy like it was your girlfriend? Haha, may want to look at that sentence. __________________ "I went shopping last night at like 1am. The place was empty and this old woman just making polite conversation said to me, 'where is everyone??' I replied, 'In bed, same place you and I should be!' Took me ten minutes to figure out why she gave me a dirty look." --Some guy

12-04-2003, 12:19 PM	#11 (permalink)
Phaenx The Northern Ward Location: Columbus, Ohio	Hit as in punch. Seems kind of funny to me, don't hit her! __________________ "I went shopping last night at like 1am. The place was empty and this old woman just making polite conversation said to me, 'where is everyone??' I replied, 'In bed, same place you and I should be!' Took me ten minutes to figure out why she gave me a dirty look." --Some guy

12-03-2003, 09:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
krwlz Fledgling Dead Head Location: Clarkson U.	All good advice man. Ive racked up some expirience in the winter driving arena through trial and error...

12-03-2003, 09:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
rogue49 Loser	heh...it always funny as hell watching all the idiots in their SUV spin off the road. Why...because they think since they have a SUV, they can do anything...and speed away. hmm...haven't they heard anything about physics and the laws of inertia? Objects of greater mass are harder to stop or turn.

12-04-2003, 05:45 AM	#7 (permalink)
aurigus Insane	Whenever its bad weather I'll test the limits on a site street (with no parked cars of course) - cause it really does help you find out what exactly you can do. Plus side streets usually have worse conditions than the main ones to it prepares you even better. My wife thinks I'm crazy when I slam on the brakes while we're leaving the appartment complex My other major rule is allow plenty of lead time because you can't slam on your brakes like you usually do.

12-04-2003, 10:50 AM	#9 (permalink)
rmarshall Addict Location: Kingston,Ontario	I would never hit my girlfriend, but I might want to use the brakes. Perhaps you could've used another word instead of "hit"?

12-04-2003, 04:43 PM	#12 (permalink)
feelgood Free Mars! Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time	You guys know what I meant... __________________ Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war

12-04-2003, 05:10 PM	#13 (permalink)
eribrav Junkie Location: upstate NY	I live in a very hilly, snowy area of upstate NY. Driving a Subaru makes all the difference in the world driving in the snow. They are a sort of niche car, but nothing else comes close in the snow.

12-04-2003, 07:44 PM	#14 (permalink)
REDL\|NE Crazy	All very good advice, the most important is to just lower your speed and everything should be ok __________________ "You learn more and more about less and less, until you know everything about nothing."

12-04-2003, 07:54 PM	#15 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	Just a thought on last winter: Even though a Subaru can be a big help in bad weather, you are not a rally driver. Also, snow tires are made of a completely different compound than regular tires. They are meant to work well in cold weather and grip as much as possible when the road freezes over. Switch them back as soon as the snowy season is over.

12-04-2003, 08:49 PM	#17 (permalink)
ironchef82 Banned Location: Tucson	I once had to drive through a major winter storm on an interstate coming back from visiting my girlfriend. What normally is a 6.5 hour trip turned into 10 or so. Really, the number one tip, the most important is simply to take it easy and drive SLOW. I didn't have any special snow tires or anything like that. Just a lot of common sense and a heck of a lot of patience.

12-04-2003, 10:05 PM	#19 (permalink)
feelgood Free Mars! Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time	Um dude, when I said work the brake nice and easy, I didn't mean slam on it as hard as possible. If you slam on it, the ABS kicks in and you're still gonna slide but with ABS, it'll be shorter slides. ABS only kicks in when your vehicle is sliding. (I'm no auto-mechanic expert) You do it nice and easy, then you won't need to slide at all. And some older vehciles still don't have ABS. I didn't say anything about "Brake Pumping" did I? __________________ Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war

12-04-2003, 10:13 PM	#20 (permalink)
Destrox Metal and Rock 4 Life Location: Phoenix	Work it like its your Girlfriend? To me that translates into motion of in an out, aka pumping.. ah.. lets just say were both wrong, mkay? The way i interpreted the crpytic msg was correct, the way you ment it was still kinda correct.

12-04-2003, 10:23 PM	#21 (permalink)
feelgood Free Mars! Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time	Ok, somebody reworded my message. It originally said hit it like as if it was your gf/bf. Now it says work it like its your bf/gf. Let me get his clear up now. I'm not using this comparsion in terms of sexual preferences for those of you who have a dirty mind. Apparently, some people who posted in this thread does. I mean work it nice, nice and easy. Treat it as if it was your girlfriend/boyfriend. That's what it should have said. __________________ Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war Last edited by feelgood; 12-04-2003 at 10:25 PM..

12-05-2003, 07:38 PM	#22 (permalink)
viejo gringo Registered User Location: Deep South Texas	OR---you could just move to deep south Texas and forget all of that white stuff....we do have black snow right now because they are burning off the sugar cane fields... but then again, they are opening the shelters in Brownsville tonight because it is going to get down to 40...yea, there are a lot of them living in the colonias that don't have any thing on the windows...

12-05-2003, 08:02 PM	#24 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	The best advice for winter driving is... Stay home and have sex. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

12-05-2003, 09:01 PM	#26 (permalink)
NoCure Crazy Location: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio	So I should hit my girlfriend while using my brakes??? __________________ ...So I punched her in the cunt

12-07-2003, 07:15 PM	#27 (permalink)
mvassek Crazy Location: East Tennessee	The best advice is "JUST SLOW DOWN" then hit your girlfriend, slowly though you don't want to lose control and hit someone elses girlfriend instead, it is slick out there ya know __________________ Been There, Couldn't do that, No Money, Maybe next time. I did get the T-shirt, but I've put on some weight so it don't fit. It made a nice grease rag!

12-30-2003, 02:41 PM	#30 (permalink)
hannys Upright Location: Prague, CZ	Use winter tires. They help to keep the car on the street