speddmn Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Just read a thread on snow understeer earlier and then it happened tonight on the way home from work, slid down a slight decline on what i suspect was near pure ice and smacked a sunfire right in the rear quarter panel. Just some paint missing, no leaks that I can see, airbags didn't go off... *sigh* Compared to my truck i was a little disappointed with how the leg handles snow, even before the wreck... the suspension forum's snow understeer thread said there was not much of anything that could be done, super interested... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhabodav Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 What tires are you running on? If its ice, I don't think it matters what car you are in. Only studded tires help vs ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 any car will understeer on sheet ice there will be absolutely no grip whatsoever. The only way to couteract it is to break static friction on the rear wheels by gassing it in which case you would have slid into the sunfire backwards. Physics always wins... Also don't drive your Subaru like you drive your truck if you had any inkling of traction just aim your wheel and hit the gas the awd will pull you in the direction the wheel is turned given you have traction. Its more of a point and shoot vehicle. Not a point and do nothing vehicle. Practice in a parking lot once I learned how to drive it it will run circles around my old 4 runner sr5 4wd. Literally... Meaning controlled dougnuts around it... Example... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbwkHhv1v4M]YouTube - Legacy GT drifting in snow[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 You can also scandinavian flick the car... for example... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdBgS32UrME]YouTube - Flaine and Impreza WRX[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfbtxsGtdxg]YouTube - 2008 Legacy GT 180 Snow Turn[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Just read a thread on snow understeer earlier and then it happened tonight on the way home from work, slid down a slight decline on what i suspect was near pure ice and smacked a sunfire right in the rear quarter panel. Just some paint missing, no leaks that I can see, airbags didn't go off... *sigh* Compared to my truck i was a little disappointed with how the leg handles snow, even before the wreck... the suspension forum's snow understeer thread said there was not much of anything that could be done, super interested... You have to get used to the behavior and learn how to tweak the car to do what you want. Using correct tires is always a good start. The rest is training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight705 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 damn those Scandinavians.... they took all the driving skills for the world..... hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNPaparazzi Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Not sure if it's because of the power distribution or not, but I noticed that my WRX handled ALOT better in the snow. I could point the car in any direction with ease... The Legacy handles pretty good but it takes a little more work to get it to do what you want. Would strut and sway bars give it more oversteer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canddmeyer Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Ice is the worst. A friend of mine hit ice last month in a turn with her AWD Rav4.....the vehicle went straight and rolled. She had Nokian WR SUV AWP tires and -0- traction when it happened. Even with antilock brakes it wouldn't stop or hook up and turn, she was just along for the ride once traction broke loose. Needless to say her replacement AWD Volvo has full blown Blizzak snows on it now, but I guess under the right circumstances it could happen again. Sorry to hear of your bad luck, but glad to hear damage was slight, although I'm sure the ego got bruised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throttlejockey Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Just read a thread on snow understeer earlier and then it happened tonight on the way home from work, slid down a slight decline on what i suspect was near pure ice and smacked a sunfire right in the rear quarter panel. Just some paint missing, no leaks that I can see, airbags didn't go off... *sigh* Compared to my truck i was a little disappointed with how the leg handles snow, even before the wreck... the suspension forum's snow understeer thread said there was not much of anything that could be done, super interested... RE92's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasone Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 RE92s do fine on snow and ice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speddmn Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 yeah, re92's... I've driven cars with BALD tires that understeered less than this though, i guess I need to go out to a lot and learn how to drive the thing like a drift king. i'm just sick over the damage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhabodav Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 yeah, re92's... I've driven cars with BALD tires that understeered less than this though, i guess I need to go out to a lot and learn how to drive the thing like a drift king. i'm just sick over the damage... Okay, if it was truly ice, you could not do much at all so do not beat yourself over the head. If it was snow....well you are running tires that are not meant to be driven in snow, especially if they are not new. If there was no ice, I am sorry but this is your fault. Last year I ran all seasons that are better than re92's through snow and I almost crashed. I barely squeezed between cars stopped on the highway because I could not stop on snow. I had a broken mirror which was 270 USD + install. That was my fault for sure because a guy on the forums saw me in that traffic on the side of the road and said he had no problem stopping because he was running winter tires. Don't blame the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkchu Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 yeah, re92's... I've driven cars with BALD tires that understeered less than this though, i guess I need to go out to a lot and learn how to drive the thing like a drift king. i'm just sick over the damage... i feel ya bud. last feb i hit a patch of ice accelerating from a stoplight (ice must have been right under the powdered snow), and my re92s pooped, gave up, and spun me around 180 deg off the road into a ditch, into the oncoming traffic lane. thank the lord there was no traffic just yet (630am/friday) so yeah, my ego was bruised too. ~10k of damage tho. aluminum is pricey! insurance rules. fixed up nicely. get rid of those re92s stat! im running conti extreme contacts, but may switch out for full snows very soon. im in the nyc area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throttlejockey Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Dunlop M3's FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gire Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Or you could just slow the F down and not understeer all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Remember it's only a car, Good thing nobody was hurt. Or you could just slow the F down and not understeer all over the place. most accidents are because of this. not tires. it's winter, slow down give more room and always leave yourself an out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gire Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Exactly. Everybody always blames the tires, another driver, or something else. Blame your speed and take responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speddmn Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 i was idling, coasting, maybe 10mph thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 http://kaiser.dreamhost.com/OT_stuff/re92%20poster.jpg Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gire Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 i was idling, coasting, maybe 10mph thanks. Uh huh... I always idle into uncontrollable understeer too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanboy Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 i was idling, coasting, maybe 10mph thanks. Whoa! Did your turbo spool? I heard that can happen at 12 mph... Seriously though, glad the wake-up happened with so little damage to cars, nevermind people. I didn't have trouble with three winters with the RE92s, but I knew they really sucked so I would drive slower than most in poor conditions. Certainly were fun when there was room; talk about easy donuts! -B http://www.standardshift.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 That's the problem. 5MT or 5EAT? AWD is only going to help you get around a corner if you are in gear and using the gas. i'd agree with that. and i was quoting Gire for his comment in general. most times that is the problem. if you were going slow, like 10mph like you said, i'd agree with sebb on that point. cause if there was ice under everything, 10mph or 30mph wouldn't make much of a difference. it's like the people that ride a watercraft for the first time, they always hit a dock or go where they did not intend too, you want to talk about understeer. you have to give it throttle to steer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Whoa! Did your turbo spool? I heard that can happen at 12 mph... off topic, but your turbo spool comment drug me into it. it started snowing about 7:30 this morning, and has not stopped yet... about 10" so far. :mad::mad: anyway... driving home tonight i had to drop off a movie. i pull out and since there was nobody in view for like 8 blocks, i decided to give it a little gas as i pulled out. 1st gear, sharp right hand turn onto a 2 lane one way. I thought i was in I mode... but was in S, so when i pull out meaning to toss the back end out a tad, the road is pure ice at this point.. RPM's go straight past 5k in no time... ass end is way out from where i planned it to be. so i ride the fishtail for a sec and reel it back in and continue home. all i could think about is a wrecked LGT picture with the caption "the Turbo kicked in yo!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speddmn Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 C&D A handling condition in which the slip angle of the front tires is greater than the slip angle of the rears. An understeering car is sometimes said to push, because it resists turning and tends to go straight. The car didn't turn, that's all I'm saying. ABS allows you to maintain control of the vehicle. Since four-wheel ABS prevents all wheels from skidding, it allows you to steer the vehicle and still maintain braking. Zero steerability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I have long said that while many people feel that the tires are passable for winter use, they provide NO margin for error insituations like the OP described nor do they help the driver recover from a slide. This is the 5th winter we've had the same discussion now The tyres maybe crap, but if you know they are crap, and still slide off the road, who's fault is that ?? Slow down when the road is slippy, it's as easy as that. Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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