Some winter driving myths
 

Saw this on Jalopnik and had a chuckle. Thought I would share.

http://jalopnik.com/ten-absurd-winte...die-1678498167

Best line of the whole thing is the last!
"It's not the wand it is the magician"

lol to the people with AWD and summer tires who think they're indestructible in the snow because they have AWD.. :lol:

When I was a kid in Alabama, I lived on a hill. The hill went up, leveled off, then went up again. I lived in the leveled off part. At the bottom of the hill was a two lane highway. On the other side of that highway was a ten foot embankment that dropped off into a little corn field.

At the top of the hill was a house. It was bought by some people from Connecticut. We'll call them the Asshole family. Scott Asshole set the trees behind his house on fire once playing with something incendiary and nearly burned down the neighborhood, but that's a different story. Scott also somehow got shot through the leg while sitting in his bedroom and claimed it was a drive-by, but pretty much everyone (including the cops) figured he shot himself. Scott later became an actor, which means he's probably waiting tables somewhere today.

Anyway, this is not about Scott. It's about his dad, Mr. Asshole. Mr. Asshole had a big 4WD Blazer with big tires. He informed us that in the much better place from which he hailed, everyone had big 4WDs with big tires. You had to either have that or a Volvo to be able to get to work in the winter. (Mrs. Asshole drove the Volvo.)

Mr. Asshole also informed us that we Southerners were a bunch of redneck idiots because we closed everything down the one or two days every couple of years it snows. There was just no excuse for it. We were lazy and just didn't want to go to work or school.

Then it snowed. We got a good two inches, which you might not realize is Snowmageddon in Alabama.

Mr. Asshole had his chance to demonstrate the superiority of northern driving skill. All us kids were out on the hill with our sleds, because that opportunity only came around every couple of years. Mr. Asshole backed out of his driveway and blew his horn at us to signal his intention to show us all how stupid we were for not going to school.

We cleared the lane and watched as he rolled down the hill. Then he skidded down the hill. Then he slid across the flat part of the hill and down the next steep part. The attempt to turn onto the highway at the bottom didn't quite work. Instead, he just turned sideways and kept going, right across the highway, down the ten foot drop and right out into the corn field, which at that time was basically mud with two inches of snow on top of it. He tried to plow his way out of it, but the tread on his tires got caked up and just spun. He wasn't going anywhere.

Boy, he sure showed us.

In those days we didn't have cell phones, so he had to endure the march of shame back up the hill past all the grinning kids and parents of the neighborhood. We didn't see Mr. Asshole again during that storm, but Scott informed us all what idiots southern towtruck operators were, since none of them would come out in the snow and pull his dad's truck out of the field. And why the hell hadn't our street been plowed? We paid out taxes!

His truck stayed there for about three days, right next to the highway, a monument to the superior skill of northern drivers.

Scott's dad certainly seemed to tick quite a few boxes in what not to do. Not just fail, but, EPIC FAIL!

Sorry about the editing - work computer won't let me post profanity.

"It's not the wand it is the magician"

Lol

I was expecting a comment about number 8.

Oh and keep your wand to yourself :-).

Ya well "knowing" how to drive in the snow and "doing" it are two different matters entirely.
On the way from London to Windsor on the 401 ( a major highway) this morning and I counted 8 vehicles in the ditch. No black ice and only about 2 inches of snow which had all been cleared away probably almost as fast as it fell. I did thnk to myself "Really now, why?".
Now mind you, every one of them was an SUV or crossover so numbers 5 and 2 probably came into play as well.

And what I do with my wand is my business!

Here are people who allegedly know how to drive in the snow.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgvOHnujspg"]RAW: Video captures Hwy 41/45 pileup - YouTube[/ame]

@extrashakey very well written!

The SUVs are always good for a laugh or two during a storm. Last month this big bright yellow hummer had to stop and let us all pass (in the unplowed lane) on a mountain road near my house because he couldn't manage to drive more than 5mph. The sad part was the 10 of us who were behind him had no issues passing and on the remainder of the road, I wanted to point and laugh as I drove by.

^lol best video of the day. Once up on a time I thought I was really good at driving on snow with my Camry too... Lol

9.) You Don't Need To Scrape The Snow Off The Top Of Your Car

Guilty! Left my car at the airport a few years ago, came back to find at least 15" of snow covering the car. I cleared the window and set off down the motorway and all was good. First tail back I came to I braked and the world went white to the tone of jammed wipers trying to lift the slab of frozen snow off the window! I had to stick my head out the window to see and pull over!

That just means you didn't drive fast enough for it all to blow off before you stopped!

It was a Clio, give me a break! I was trying.

Had look up "Clio" but ya now I can see that you were pretty much doomed!

Guess you didnt have the V6 sport model huh

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...aultClioV6.jpg

If you're going to put a V6 in a car like that you might as well turbo charge it and make it an MG Metro.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvDFvLiIqQ"]MG Metro 6R4 - Pure Sound [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

lol! Thanks for the post! I live in Upstate NY where we get 250+ inches of snow each winter. Yes, it does get harsh at times, but you are richly rewarded with seeing 7 out of 10 vehicles in the ditch 4x4's and AWD's.


Sure you can get going good with them, but stopping is the same in all cars. Too many peeps get over confident in their SUV's, trucks and AWD's and like to park them in the ditch it seems. A RWD reminds you to exercise caution, prompts you when you step on the gas how fast control can be lost. In the hands of a good driver, it can be a advantageous lesson in how to control a car in a slid or a skid that is hard (if not impossible) to practice in an 4x4 or AWD.


I love my RWD! I love snow Donuts! I love never being in the ditch! I insist on my driving family members taking their car to the nearest empty parking lot in the winter and slid, spin, do donuts. Teaches you what the car is going to do, how its going to react.


Yes, I drive my FR-S all year round. No I don't run snow tires. Good all weather radials are more than enough (most days anyways).

Wouldn't have even got out of my driveway on all seasons this morning. With the snows even my lowered car is a tank in deep snow though.

I couldn't agree more that a RWD car, and as communicative as the FR-S is, will provide the feedback about the speed that one should be going in inclement weather.

As for the donuts, a good lesson in correction instead of over-correction.

I also tend to turn off all of the nannies to have a more predictable slide instead of them intervening when they shouldn't.

All year round for me as well (albeit with winter tires).

Guy that appears at 0:22 is winning at life. Luck or skill, i :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

Some skill and probably proper tires!
Don't know if after a curve or hill where they couldn't see what was going down but some of those people are flying right up to the "oh shit" moment.
In support of what has been said several times it looks like the SUV drivers had the worst time.
Also a big fan of all the morons standing around in the middle of it and even going into the oncoming lanes! "I just slid out of control and crashed so maybe this is a good spot to stand and stare at everybody else headed towards me"

Most SUVs are not really built for anything serious. A lot of them are really just glorified minivans.

I will defend my own Cherokee, though, because it is AMAZING in snow. The first time I drove it in snow, I was climbing hills right past other SUVs (including some Jeeps) that were stranded. I don't know why it's so sure-footed, but I've never driven another SUV quite like it.

I was going to post this very thing!

On my drive into Boulder CO, I typically see a number of cars off the road in a snowstorm, and usually about 90% of them are 4WD.

I honestly think that the drivers of 4WD cars think that Physics no longer applies to them.

Then I loved the time I was stuck behind a 4WD Jeep trying to get up an ice hill.
All he could do is sit & spin all 4 tires.
I just went around him and drove right up the hill with him watching me with his mouth wide open....
With my FWD toyota Solara with traction control and all-season tires....

My wife's Mitsu RVR is pretty good as well even though it sort of falls between crossover and suv. It will walk through just about anything you throw at it. I think it is just balanced well with power, weight, COG and wheelbase just hitting the mark right on.
When she had her Outlander I hated it in the snow as it would get stuck within driving 5 feet.

Winter driving myth #1 should be "You can't drive RWD in the winter!"
I seem to get that a lot.

I figured I would see #7, that's super common. There is a mistake on the list, though; #2 is true.

About two hours after I picked up my car I get a call from my wife. She hysterically sobbing and I can barely understand her. When I get her calmed down enough to talk she tells me that she posted my new car on Facebook and that so far she had about 20 people tell it that I was going to get killed as soon as it snowed because it was RWD. I pointed out to her that all the cars she drove for the first 25 years or so, and her mother drove and her grandmother drove were RWD and they all survived OK.

??????
http://nlcenters.org/wp-content/uplo.../Superman1.jpg

I get the "RWD drive can go in the snow" comments too.

As with the previous posters, my FRS (with A/S tires) is very competent in Winter weather. All of the feedback/interaction with the road that the FRS provides, which I never had in my MDX or CRV, is a huge advantage *if* you are willing to pay attention to it and respond to it. As of my second month of ownership now, I am really appreciating this more and more.

The "RWD cant drive in the snow" is most likely people that know rustang owners. I remember going around town pulling rustangs out of parking spots with my buddies magnum <--- RWD.

I too have a BRZ and a Cherokee, and my 90 Cherokee does some kind of magic in the snow. 6 inches? Pfft! Barely slides and gets up and goes like no other. Braking? Perfect - Big ol' Cooper AT\MAX snow tires stop on a dime even in deep snow. Now it is rusty, and ugly, and smells kind of like a lawnmower because of an oil leak, but damn if it isn't dependable at 310,000 miles!

Somehow I got the feeling that there was a match of curling going on that road.

Drive too fast, no safe distance, and brake too late and change lane quickly under low friction condition. Spinning, sliding and gliding all around.

lol

What kind of MD snow/winter weather? A/S tires, especially the stock EL400 ones, are complete shit I doubt better than stock primacy "prius" summer tires.

Yes, the car can move with snow tires in snow. But saying a car is drive-able in a dusting with all seasons does not match being able to drive a car in snow.

My mom thinks she's a WRC driver in the snow with her Q5. And I hope the not warming up your car myth dies ASAP.

Ask any WRX, Lancer or GT-R owner. They'll confirm this. So many people thinking this MUST mean it's true. :D

As a former owner of 3 Lancers and an AWD Eagle Talon I can state with out a doubt that they are wrong!
(Good, I was hoping you were joking but my sarcasm meter was on the fritz)

Ask me how I know you're right. :cry:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...psdaeae427.jpg