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Rate yourself (and be honest) as a driver on snow and/or ice

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  • 89ute
    89ute Member Posts: 2,479
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    YellowSnow said:

    huskyhooligan said:

    Give me a fucking front wheel drive and a hand break and I'll show you some fun.

    Also Utah snow drivers might be the most overrated snow drivers on the planet. Mormons don't fucking play with the snow. That shit is plowed and salted before you can brew your morning sanka. Plus the stuff is so light and fluffy, and the dry desert air soaks up any moisture that could potentially turn to ice. And again I'd note, the amount of salt is almost excessive. There are beaches with less salt. The amount of Utah residents who actively have good experience on actual snow covered pavement has to be minimal. Also where most people live and work is flat. Some definite hills in SLC and on the eastern bench but even that mellows out.

    Also, Utah has some dirty ass snow. Only place where snow falling on a perfectly clean windshield gets dirty from snow. Best thing about the Cascade Concrete, those windows shine.

    To be clear there's a lot to like about Utah. @89ute milky smooth runners thighs. Cort Dennison's everyman can do linebacker play. Cookies. Ski Slopes (The K12). Choirs. Peter Puffer Cake Eating Rowers.

    Did I say a lot? I meant six. Six things.

    This take is mostly accurate. Utah salts the shit out of everything and you're car is fucked after 10 years give or take unless you're on it constantly at the car wash after each storm cycle.

    Case in point: I never needed snow tires living in Utah and I was driving up and down gnarly mountain road like Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon regularly in massive storms. No ice to deal with cause salt and the All Seasons do fine in packed snow.

    Meanwhile in White Wakanda, 2 inches of wet packed then freeze over night stuff causes my 4 Runner (which doesn't have snow tires) to slide all over the fucking place. It's ridiculous.

    Most days heading up to Mt Bachelor there's a car or two off the road and often times rolled over.
    Fuckin' salty pussy. Have had 3 Hondas +20 years no rust except for the 83 Honda which died in 2003, which was replace by my current "new" Honda. The 83 had a little rust in the wheel well. Would still be driving but some fuck stain rear ended me. Anyway, 96 and 03 Honda - no rust.

    Bad ass snow driver too. It's all about Honda.
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  • 89ute
    89ute Member Posts: 2,479
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    YellowSnow said:

    89ute said:

    YellowSnow said:

    huskyhooligan said:

    Give me a fucking front wheel drive and a hand break and I'll show you some fun.

    Also Utah snow drivers might be the most overrated snow drivers on the planet. Mormons don't fucking play with the snow. That shit is plowed and salted before you can brew your morning sanka. Plus the stuff is so light and fluffy, and the dry desert air soaks up any moisture that could potentially turn to ice. And again I'd note, the amount of salt is almost excessive. There are beaches with less salt. The amount of Utah residents who actively have good experience on actual snow covered pavement has to be minimal. Also where most people live and work is flat. Some definite hills in SLC and on the eastern bench but even that mellows out.

    Also, Utah has some dirty ass snow. Only place where snow falling on a perfectly clean windshield gets dirty from snow. Best thing about the Cascade Concrete, those windows shine.

    To be clear there's a lot to like about Utah. @89ute milky smooth runners thighs. Cort Dennison's everyman can do linebacker play. Cookies. Ski Slopes (The K12). Choirs. Peter Puffer Cake Eating Rowers.

    Did I say a lot? I meant six. Six things.

    This take is mostly accurate. Utah salts the shit out of everything and you're car is fucked after 10 years give or take unless you're on it constantly at the car wash after each storm cycle.

    Case in point: I never needed snow tires living in Utah and I was driving up and down gnarly mountain road like Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon regularly in massive storms. No ice to deal with cause salt and the All Seasons do fine in packed snow.

    Meanwhile in White Wakanda, 2 inches of wet packed then freeze over night stuff causes my 4 Runner (which doesn't have snow tires) to slide all over the fucking place. It's ridiculous.

    Most days heading up to Mt Bachelor there's a car or two off the road and often times rolled over.
    Fuckin' salty pussy. Have had 3 Hondas +20 years no rust except for the 83 Honda which died in 2003, which was replace by my current "new" Honda. The 83 had a little rust in the wheel well. Would still be driving but some fuck stain rear ended me. Anyway, 96 and 03 Honda - no rust.

    Bad ass snow driver too. It's all about Honda.
    Honda's and Toyotas hold up better in the salt that Fords and Chevrolets.

    But I guarantee you if you look under the underbelly of a 20 year old Honda in SLC vs a 20 year old PDX Honda it's going to look dramatically different. There will be way more corrosion on the former.

    I love salted roads and am not complaining at all. The snow driving in Oregon is way more sketchy. I'm a fucking expert Yoot.
    I'll take a little underbelly rust over some PDX Honda infused with the sent of hippy wanna be patchouli oil bullshit.

    But me thinks Bend is aight. Hope to check it out someday when I invite myself to Casa Yella for a little stay as I pass through.
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  • TurdBomber
    TurdBomber Member Posts: 20,035 Standard Supporter
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    Santiam and Blewitt in blizzards and ice, dozens of times over 30 years without incident. Some of the worst shit I've seen was on Snoqualmie Pass, where every dipshit with an AWD thinks they're driving a snow cat, only to learn the hard way a few miles ahead, high-centered or buried in a snowbank.

    It only takes one shitty driver to stop an entire freeway and there's a surplus of them traveling I-90.
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  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,216 Founders Club
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    TurdBomber said:

    Santiam and Blewitt in blizzards and ice, dozens of times over 30 years without incident. Some of the worst shit I've seen was on Snoqualmie Pass, where every dipshit with an AWD thinks they're driving a snow cat, only to learn the hard way a few miles ahead, high-centered or buried in a snowbank.

    It only takes one shitty driver to stop an entire freeway and there's a surplus of them traveling I-90.

    I've often wondered what the best all around snow vehicle is. Our newish Sequoia is heavy AF which make going down steeper icey hills a bit tricky, although the snow tires make a big difference in negating this issue. But man the clearance is nice to have along with a locking differential if you get into the deep and think stuff.

    We took the family on Xmas eve (via snow cat) down to Elk Lake Resort for dinner. Had to park up a Dutchman's Flat Snow Park (across from Mt Bachelor West Village) to meet the snow cat for the rest of the journey down the Cascade Lakes Hwy.

    The snow was deep and wet in the parkin spaces and first some dumb ass in a VW Tuareg manages to get himself high centered stuck, followed by @1to392831weretaken in his Minvan doing the same thing. Pure comedy. We could barrel though that shit no problem.
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  • 1to392831weretaken
    1to392831weretaken Member Posts: 7,696
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    YellowSnow said:

    ...followed by @1to392831weretaken in his Minvan doing the same thing. Pure comedy. We could barrel though that shit no problem.

    My badass minivan this tim of year is proudly sporting the steelies with Blizzaks. My brother had a Christmas party, and nobody was going to show because the roads were totally fucked. Said hero minivan made the rounds, saving the day and getting everyone there and home.

    Tires make all the difference. If I had the choice between AWD and dedicated winter tires, the latter is the obvious choice (both is best, I guess, but I've never owned an AWD vehicle, as you don't need one here). My car has the same steelies/Blizzak combo, and it's a hoot in the snow. There are no "now days" where I work, so I have at least a thousand miles of experience in the PNW heavy, wet shit, and Whatcom County owns like two plows. This has given me an irrational amount of confidence that bit me in the ass recently. I was driving home from work with my brother shotgun. It was the night where 8" of snow turned into a sheet of ice covered in slush after six hours of freezing rain. Everyone was showing up to work in the morning saying the roads were awful, and I just rolled my eyes and made the air-jerkoff motion and took off like usual. Highway 20 wasn't nearly as bad as people were saying, so I was bombing down, passing pussies left and right. Got to the freeway, and I didn't last a quarter mile. Hit a pile of slush over a sheet of ice, and the Blizzaks said, "Fuck you!" and gave up. Came around a full 90 degrees, dead stick, and the guardrail was coming at us insurance-write-off fast. Was steering out of it, but no response. Turned to my brother and said, "We're going to hit. Hard." No shit, three feet from the rail, the tires dug in and we straightened right out and carried on like nothing had happened. Took it a LOT easier the rest of the way. First winter conditions to ever kick my ass. That stuff was like driving through a foot of pudding. I thought of this thread even as we were spinning.

    As for Hondas and rust, get a newer one and you won't have to worry about how long the body lasts, as the engine will have blown up several times long before the road salt has done its job. Fuck Honda right in the ass.

    Lastly, what would be the best snow vehicle? No different than what would be the best vehicle for ANY conditions: the best ratio of grip:weight. WRC races winter rallies. They don't switch to trucks or SUVs when the snow starts falling. They stick to their lightweight cars and throw grippy ass tires on them:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K37p0vw9cU

    If the snow is so high you'd be plowing it in a lightweight car, it is what it is. Otherwise, you want the lightest possible vehicle that'll be over the snow, and you want to put dedicated winter tires on it. My personal favorite snow ride is this:



    No weight, grip for days, constant laugh. Just stupid fun...
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  • TurdBomber
    TurdBomber Member Posts: 20,035 Standard Supporter
    edited December 2022
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    @YellowSnow said:

    "The snow was deep and wet in the parkin spaces and first some dumb ass in a VW Tuareg manages to get himself high centered stuck, followed by @1to392831weretaken in his Minvan doing the same thing. Pure comedy. We could barrel though that shit no problem.

    And it's usually not the soccer mom behind the wheel. It's the soccer dad, thinking his AWD vehicle immunizes him from the outside weather.
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  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,216 Founders Club
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    1to392831weretaken said:

    YellowSnow said:

    ...followed by @1to392831weretaken in his Minvan doing the same thing. Pure comedy. We could barrel though that shit no problem.

    My badass minivan this tim of year is proudly sporting the steelies with Blizzaks. My brother had a Christmas party, and nobody was going to show because the roads were totally fucked. Said hero minivan made the rounds, saving the day and getting everyone there and home.

    Tires make all the difference. If I had the choice between AWD and dedicated winter tires, the latter is the obvious choice (both is best, I guess, but I've never owned an AWD vehicle, as you don't need one here). My car has the same steelies/Blizzak combo, and it's a hoot in the snow. There are no "now days" where I work, so I have at least a thousand miles of experience in the PNW heavy, wet shit, and Whatcom County owns like two plows. This has given me an irrational amount of confidence that bit me in the ass recently. I was driving home from work with my brother shotgun. It was the night where 8" of snow turned into a sheet of ice covered in slush after six hours of freezing rain. Everyone was showing up to work in the morning saying the roads were awful, and I just rolled my eyes and made the air-jerkoff motion and took off like usual. Highway 20 wasn't nearly as bad as people were saying, so I was bombing down, passing pussies left and right. Got to the freeway, and I didn't last a quarter mile. Hit a pile of slush over a sheet of ice, and the Blizzaks said, "Fuck you!" and gave up. Came around a full 90 degrees, dead stick, and the guardrail was coming at us insurance-write-off fast. Was steering out of it, but no response. Turned to my brother and said, "We're going to hit. Hard." No shit, three feet from the rail, the tires dug in and we straightened right out and carried on like nothing had happened. Took it a LOT easier the rest of the way. First winter conditions to ever kick my ass. That stuff was like driving through a foot of pudding. I thought of this thread even as we were spinning.

    As for Hondas and rust, get a newer one and you won't have to worry about how long the body lasts, as the engine will have blown up several times long before the road salt has done its job. Fuck Honda right in the ass.

    Lastly, what would be the best snow vehicle? No different than what would be the best vehicle for ANY conditions: the best ratio of grip:weight. WRC races winter rallies. They don't switch to trucks or SUVs when the snow starts falling. They stick to their lightweight cars and throw grippy ass tires on them:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K37p0vw9cU

    If the snow is so high you'd be plowing it in a lightweight car, it is what it is. Otherwise, you want the lightest possible vehicle that'll be over the snow, and you want to put dedicated winter tires on it. My personal favorite snow ride is this:



    No weight, grip for days, constant laugh. Just stupid fun...
    I would mostly agree. For driving around town here on icy roads or up to the ski hill I'd take a front wheel drive van with Blizzaks over my 4 Runner with Michelin all seasons all day long. We have Blizzaks on our Sequoia and they make a YUGE difference. But there's a few situation where you still need the clearance and locking differential that a off road capable SUV or truck house. I've driven a 3rd gen 4 runner with the real locking differential engages through like 2 feet of snow for 100 yards high up in the Wasatch Mts. @89ute ' s beloved Honda could never get through that level of REAL Utah snow.

    I'm sure a Subaru with Blizzaks would kick the shit out of our large SUVs in most situations. But still, those are lesbian cars and my wife says we can never own one.
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  • PurpleThrobber
    PurpleThrobber Member Posts: 48,025
    edited December 2022
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving
    1to392831weretaken said:

    YellowSnow said:

    ...followed by @1to392831weretaken in his Minvan doing the same thing. Pure comedy. We could barrel though that shit no problem.

    My badass minivan this tim of year is proudly sporting the steelies with Blizzaks. My brother had a Christmas party, and nobody was going to show because the roads were totally fucked. Said hero minivan made the rounds, saving the day and getting everyone there and home.

    Tires make all the difference. If I had the choice between AWD and dedicated winter tires, the latter is the obvious choice (both is best, I guess, but I've never owned an AWD vehicle, as you don't need one here). My car has the same steelies/Blizzak combo, and it's a hoot in the snow. There are no "now days" where I work, so I have at least a thousand miles of experience in the PNW heavy, wet shit, and Whatcom County owns like two plows. This has given me an irrational amount of confidence that bit me in the ass recently. I was driving home from work with my brother shotgun. It was the night where 8" of snow turned into a sheet of ice covered in slush after six hours of freezing rain. Everyone was showing up to work in the morning saying the roads were awful, and I just rolled my eyes and made the air-jerkoff motion and took off like usual. Highway 20 wasn't nearly as bad as people were saying, so I was bombing down, passing pussies left and right. Got to the freeway, and I didn't last a quarter mile. Hit a pile of slush over a sheet of ice, and the Blizzaks said, "Fuck you!" and gave up. Came around a full 90 degrees, dead stick, and the guardrail was coming at us insurance-write-off fast. Was steering out of it, but no response. Turned to my brother and said, "We're going to hit. Hard." No shit, three feet from the rail, the tires dug in and we straightened right out and carried on like nothing had happened. Took it a LOT easier the rest of the way. First winter conditions to ever kick my ass. That stuff was like driving through a foot of pudding. I thought of this thread even as we were spinning.

    As for Hondas and rust, get a newer one and you won't have to worry about how long the body lasts, as the engine will have blown up several times long before the road salt has done its job. Fuck Honda right in the ass.

    Lastly, what would be the best snow vehicle? No different than what would be the best vehicle for ANY conditions: the best ratio of grip:weight. WRC races winter rallies. They don't switch to trucks or SUVs when the snow starts falling. They stick to their lightweight cars and throw grippy ass tires on them:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K37p0vw9cU

    If the snow is so high you'd be plowing it in a lightweight car, it is what it is. Otherwise, you want the lightest possible vehicle that'll be over the snow, and you want to put dedicated winter tires on it. My personal favorite snow ride is this:



    No weight, grip for days, constant laugh. Just stupid fun...
    1000 miles experience.

    A real expert.
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  • greenblood
    greenblood Member Posts: 14,559
    Level II - Competent, but nothing speshial
    dannarc said:

    Now that I live in snow country, my driving has improved. When I get overconfident and complacent is usually when this happens


    What are you talking about? That’s called making a left with some swagger.
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  • greenblood
    greenblood Member Posts: 14,559
    edited January 2023
    Level II - Competent, but nothing speshial
    I typically find, doing the exact opposite of what you normally would want to do, is the right decision when dealing with ice. Less brake and more gas is always essential. 90% here probably know this but I’ll say it anyway. Hitting your brakes takes away your steering and traction, while hitting the gas on a slide can actually gain you traction to veer your truck back on track.
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  • CFetters_Nacho_Lover
    CFetters_Nacho_Lover Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 32,241 Founders Club
    Level II - Competent, but nothing speshial
    This is more a black ice (ISAFNRC) story than snow.

    Junior year of high school I picked my friend who didn’t have a car and we come to a T intersection with a 3 way stop and 3-4 cars at each stop sign. My turn to go and I start turning left and hit a patch of ice that put me into a spin. I think I did 1 and a half turns and ended up back end into a driveway barely missing the mail box on the curb. Luckily there were no cars in the driveway.
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  • booker14
    booker14 Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 184 Swaye's Wigwam
    Level II - Competent, but nothing speshial
    How I learned was on snow/ice you drive with the gearbox and the throttle - don't touch the brakes. Growing up in the 509 when front wheel drive came out we thought we'd never need snow tires again.
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  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,216 Founders Club
    edited February 7
    Level III Expert - I'm basically Mario Andretti of snow driving

    So my entire life, I've always owned truck or SUVs. I run Bridgestone Blizzaks on 2nd Gen Toyota Sequoia and that thing is a beast in snow, but it also weight 6400 lbs and when the roundabouts here are black ice the ass end still wants to go one way vs the direction one is steering. Finally decided to bite the bullet and a buy a 2nd set of Blizzaks for my wife's Audi mommy wagon. Ho-lee-chit, now we've got the best snow car in the history of the world. Those fancy AWD Eurotrash rides with super sticky rubber winter tires are unstoppable on snow and ice. @pawz get some of these for yer Bimmer.

    Untitled Image
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  • graveyardDEADdawg
    graveyardDEADdawg Member Posts: 1,274 Standard Supporter
    Level II - Competent, but nothing speshial

    Driving with my 1st wife in a week of snow with icy roads, her being from Destin, Fl and myself growing up in Seattle, I made a complete fool of myself as we approached a T intersection 🛑 in North Carolina 1978.

    I’m explaining to her the cautions/dangers of driving in snow/potential ice especially at night while giving her the basics and less than 30 seconds later sliding completely through the intersection into someone’s front yard. No traffic thankfully 😅

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  • Pitchfork51
    Pitchfork51 Member Posts: 27,662
    edited February 11
    comedy-00.gif

    I slid into the median driving to QT a half mile down the road barely above idle.

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