OT: Weather (just weather)

[ubkev]

Drove 190 miles back to my house on Sunday. As soon as I hit Syracuse, 81-S was covered in snow. Everyone was doing less than 50. That was freaking annoying. Understandable, but annoying. I was plugging along between 55 and 65. My car is plenty heavy and with AWD, she handles the snow like a champ. Passing 18 wheelers is the big challenge. When they hit the slop in between the lanes and it sends 200 pounds of slush into your windshield, that's what separates the winter drivers from the rest.

 

Driving city streets that have 6+ inches of snow on them is the freaking best though! Not many things that are much more fun than that...in a car...not involving a woman...

[Jacque Richard]

Days like this I sometimes wish I was still in California. Oh well

[sodbuster]

It's 11° and snowing like a mofo. I haven't heard a plow go up my road all morning, so I'm not gonna bother traveling. I didn't have to work today, so I'm gonna put on my snuggie and watch some Netflix.

Edited December 15, 2016 by sodbuster

[Doohicksie]

55° swing in one day.................. damn. We haven't swung 21° in the last four weeks.

 

Yeah.  Just about everywhere they say something like, "If you don't like the weather in X, wait an hour, it will change."  About half of that temperature drop will occur between 5 and 8 PM on Saturday.  (I hope to get a bike ride in early.)

[MattPie]

Yeah.  Just about everywhere they say something like, "If you don't like the weather in X, wait an hour, it will change."  About half of that temperature drop will occur between 5 and 8 PM on Saturday.  (I hope to get a bike ride in early.)

 

Only Everywhere does is it go from X to Y in one day. Fill in as appropriate. :)

 

(It's around 20 this morning with 20-25 mph winds, here)

[Samson's Flow]

So glad I put 4 new snows and smaller rims on the subaru this morning, it made today's crap show of a drive "fun"

 

Wrx in the snow, traction control off + Healthcare unprofessional =good times

Glad to see I'm not that only one who turns off the traction control in the snow :thumbsup:

 

(but seriously it is way easier to drive in the snow when you know the electronics won't stop your wheels from spinning i.e. traction control. Randomly locking up the wheels makes it way harder to control your turns in the snow and causes accidents.)

[MattPie]

Glad to see I'm not that only one who turns off the traction control in the snow :thumbsup:

 

(but seriously it is way easier to drive in the snow when you know the electronics won't stop your wheels from spinning i.e. traction control. Randomly locking up the wheels makes it way harder to control your turns in the snow and causes accidents.)

 

I don't think traction control actually locks the wheels, at least not modern systems. I usually leave it on, although I barely notice it working either. That could be because I have a WRX with Sporty Winter Tires and a sense of how to drive. I'm not some FWD driver mashing on the gas figuring the car will go faster.

[Samson's Flow]

I don't think traction control actually locks the wheels, at least not modern systems. I usually leave it on, although I barely notice it working either. That could be because I have a WRX with Sporty Winter Tires and a sense of how to drive. I'm not some FWD driver mashing on the gas figuring the car will go faster.

It doesn't lock the wheels, correct, but it stops the power from reaching the wheels when it senses loss of traction. This prevents a competent driver from pulling through a turn or correcting a spin out. I know what I am doing g', I don't need fancy electronics telling me how to drive.

[darksabre]

I hate traction control. And ABS for that matter.

[Stoner]

A finger of lake effect snow finally penetrated the PA-NY border here. It was really coming down for a bit. And it's colder than Frosty's nutsack. About to go out for a long winter's walk.

[josie]

A finger of lake effect snow finally penetrated the PA-NY border here. It was really coming down for a bit. And it's colder than Frosty's nutsack. About to go out for a long winter's walk.

Giggity.

[Samson's Flow]

I hate traction control. And ABS for that matter.

Are we going to agree on everything today? :w00t:

[sodbuster]

I hate traction control. And ABS for that matter.

ABS sucks.

 

It's days like today that I miss my old XJ Cherokee.

Edited December 15, 2016 by sodbuster

[darksabre]

Are we going to agree on everything today? :w00t:

 

What's your opinion on "infotainment" centers? 

 

ABS sucks.

 

It's days like today that I miss my old XJ Cherokee.

It's such a pain. I'm from the school of "pump yo brakes" so I know how to slow down like a grown up. Nothing worse than ABS trying to kick in while I'm doing the lords work with the brake pedal. 

[Doohicksie]

Are we going to agree on everything today? :w00t:

 

No.  I need the traction control on my car.  It's a Fiat 500 and boy does that tiny thing get sketchy, even on wet roads.  I'm always surprised when the traction control kicks in because I don't think I'm doing anything that radical, but the car is so light and has such weird weight distribution that it really kind of needs special help :nana: to drive normally.

[Marions Piazza]

I don't think traction control actually locks the wheels, at least not modern systems. I usually leave it on, although I barely notice it working either. That could be because I have a WRX with Sporty Winter Tires and a sense of how to drive. I'm not some FWD driver mashing on the gas figuring the car will go faster.

I sold my WRX a year ago..weep weep...needed a bigger family friendly car, at least that's what my wife told me, sad panda

[darksabre]

No.  I need the traction control on my car.  It's a Fiat 500 and boy does that tiny thing get sketchy, even on wet roads.  I'm always surprised when the traction control kicks in because I don't think I'm doing anything that radical, but the car is so light and has such weird weight distribution that it really kind of needs special help :nana: to drive normally.

Sounds like it's a terrible car.  :lol:

[MattPie]

Y'all are crazy if you don't like ABS. It's way better at minimum stopping distance than any person (other than a pro in controlled conditions).

[Randall Flagg]

Gonna be a helluva ride home this evening.

[josie]

Yeah, Rochester must've forgotten it had plows or something. Kind of a mess out there, pretty disappointed. Did they just assume that since they put brining down last Thursday it was good to go? We didn't even get much snow...

 

 Pretty glad my evening commute tonight is at some really odd times that happily don't coincide with rush hour. 

[JJFIVEOH]

No.  I need the traction control on my car.  It's a Fiat 500 and boy does that tiny thing get sketchy, even on wet roads.  I'm always surprised when the traction control kicks in because I don't think I'm doing anything that radical, but the car is so light and has such weird weight distribution that it really kind of needs special help :nana: to drive normally.

 

It can sure make a U-turn like an amusement park bumper car though.

[darksabre]

Y'all are crazy if you don't like ABS. It's way better at minimum stopping distance than any person (other than a pro in controlled conditions).

ABS in my experience is really only useful on dry roads under hard braking. The goal of it is to stop you from roasting your tires. The rest of the time it's a hindrance and in my opinion instills false confidence in drivers (like 4WD does). 

The ABS on my Suburban was hilariously bad in snow. I pulled the fuse and never looked back. 

[MattPie]

ABS in my experience is really only useful on dry roads under hard braking. The goal of it is to stop you from roasting your tires. The rest of the time it's a hindrance and in my opinion instills false confidence in drivers (like 4WD does). 

The ABS on my Suburban was hilariously bad in snow. I pulled the fuse and never looked back. 

 

Year? The early stuff was OK, but not great. The newer stuff is a lot better. For instance, the computer doesn't just see the wheel locked up, it notices if one wheel is slowing down faster than the rest or if the wheels are slowing down faster than the car should be able to (i. e., it knows the car can't go from 60-0 in 1 second) and adjusts. I should look up some studies to see.

 

Now, there are situations where ABS doesn't make sense. Gravel is one, where apparently the vehicle will stop better with a locked up tire as it will plow a small hill in front of the tire which has more friction to push than a rolling wheel. I could see the same thing applying to snow, although I'm more skeptical as to how often that happens.

[darksabre]

Year? The early stuff was OK, but not great. The newer stuff is a lot better. For instance, the computer doesn't just see the wheel locked up, it notices if one wheel is slowing down faster than the rest or if the wheels are slowing down faster than the car should be able to (i. e., it knows the car can't go from 60-0 in 1 second) and adjusts. I should look up some studies to see.

 

Now, there are situations where ABS doesn't make sense. Gravel is one, where apparently the vehicle will stop better with a locked up tire as it will plow a small hill in front of the tire which has more friction to push than a rolling wheel. I could see the same thing applying to snow, although I'm more skeptical as to how often that happens.

It was a 99, but I find the ABS system on my 2015 Golf to be just as invasive. I like to feel what my car is doing through the pedal. As soon as that ABS kicks in you lose all pedal feel.

 

Nothing worse than some dope in a front wheel drive car with their foot planted to the floor sliding towards you because they didn't slow down enough for a turn. I think most winter accidents happen while turning and/or going too fast. Eliminate ABS and you learn really quick all of the driving things you're doing wrong. ABS makes people bad drivers.

[TrueBlueGED]

It was a 99, but I find the ABS system on my 2015 Golf to be just as invasive. I like to feel what my car is doing through the pedal. As soon as that ABS kicks in you lose all pedal feel.

 

Nothing worse than some dope in a front wheel drive car with their foot planted to the floor sliding towards you because they didn't slow down enough for a turn. I think most winter accidents happen while turning and/or going too fast. Eliminate ABS and you learn really quick all of the driving things you're doing wrong. ABS makes people bad drivers.

 

I don't think this is true at all. Though I don't know for sure, I'd bet there are winter driving studies about ABS has reduced weather-related crashes.

 

It's also my experience, anecdotally of course, that those who are most fervently against ABS and the like also grossly overestimate their driving skills :nana: