you be carefull with that car rick after the recent bad luck youve had

 

I want to wrap it up in cotton wool Nick lol, its running like a dream now apart from the fact that my clutch slips a bit when i nail the throttle but plenty of life till i get an uprated one fitted, its all painted now i have had slight bad luck lol i went into a multi storey car park and the ramps that go up to the next level, scraped the bottom edge of my front bumper very slightly, very minimal but me being me, i know its there so im getting it blown in so i know its blemish free.

 

Until the new gen hatch came along the only traction control any scoob ever had was your right foot!!

Subaru 4WD is amongst the best in the business and provides all the traction you could ever want....you don't need TC on a scoob!!

 

I can't help wondering whether the EVO X with its "snow" mode would cope better than our scoobies? Now there's a fine bit of bait for someone out there!

 

Traction control on a RWD or FWD car i can understand, but when you've got both i don't see the point. To stuff a scoob even in the snow you're going to have to be doing somthing really bloody stupid or driving way beyond yours and your cars capability to stuff it.

And as for EVO's, their drivers and traction control, or whatever the officionados want to call it...you may as well put the car on remote control because it isn't you controlling it on the edge...it's the car making you look good!! Where's the fun or skill in that??

OK...running for cover........

 

Ah, now can't agee with you here, the thing with snow is that you can't see under it, and then you have different types of snow soft fresh stuff and the hard compact stuff, but be warned, you can easily stack a scoob in either types due to tyres and being over confident, you don't have to be going very quickly (5mph say) and you can happily slide off the road and into a wall/ditch/hedge if you lose grip.

If you want a better chance (but still driving carefully unlike the moron in his white vauxhall van tonight in -3 conditions on an untreated road who didn't know what braking distance was ) then winter tyres and/or snow chains, and not forgetting that shovel and warm clothing in the boot of your car (and fully charged mobile) just incase you get stranded

Tony

 

just go out and enjoy the snow. i make a point of taking the scoob out in this weather its good for improving skills and getting a good grip on the cars abilities. Although i must admit i love the 4wd sideways action, a bit hard to do in the dry coz the cars grip so bloody well.

 

Would you destroy winter tyres on straight forward tarmac ?

 

Winter tyres generally designed for 5 degrees or below,this is their optimum working temperature. (softish rubber)
They are very good on cold wet tarmac and are not destroyed by it.
They can stay on car till about 10 degrees they would probably wear faster as temperature rises.
Beyond 5 to 10 degrees the "summer tyre" is gripping better "or as well as"

Some people put a fresh set on at the beginning of winter (treads would be at their maximum which is when they obviously are at their best) and use them all year and as they wear out the next winter comes again and they replace them.
This would be for normal running around in a low power car in a coldish (Scottish) climate.

The biggest benefit I find is the ability to stop fast especially in snow when the summer tyre just skids.
It stops almost as normal when driving at a sensible speed on a "white" road.

 

To Aggs:

what brand and model of winter tyre are you driving on Aggs? Thinking of buying some as hate the Assimetrico's my RB5 is wearing in the wet! Great dry tyres just have no confidence in them in the wet.

Cheers,
CHRIS.

 

I took my quad out and it was a hoot, tail out action everywhere and really enjoyed blasting past a M3 just sitting there, his rear wheels spinning going no-where on the black ice. Got cold and wet and it still toook and hour or so to get the grin of my face

 

Any piccies? Of his face too

 

Mine are Toyo Winter tyres V rated and were reccommeded by Subaru dealer.

Michelin and Vredstein very highy rated but more expensive.
Vredstein might be hard to get hold of quickly.

 

I have had a nasty experiance, been bus driving all day on ice. Finished late and was just doing about 15 mph and my back end just span off to the left. I put left lock on to try an correct it but nothing. I went into the grass verge and have wrecked my bumper. At one point I had thought I had damaged my wheel or propshaft.

Couldn't get her onto road (only one wheel was stuck) so with a few people I managed it. I got her home and eveything feels fine.

When I span I just lifted foot of accelerator. Is this wrong should I ahve given a bit of power. I've always been told not to use brakes lol

 

Yer all a bunch of wooses.

Been out driving my GT3 with no traction control and massively wide shallow tread tyres.

Really surprised how good it is. All that weight over the rear wheels gives fabulous traction on packed snow!!

 

Dont your get neck ache going in reverse everywhere

 

FPMSL

Just got in after a leisurely drive home and met a neighbour with her Beamer complaining that she got stuck even with bags of cement in the boot. Had to smile as she moaned the traction control button didn't do anything, on or off. Had to explain that TC doe not increase traction, just cuts the power or brakes the spinning wheel to prevent muppets with no throttle control from spinning out in mildly damp conditions LOL

 

Beemers are rubbish in the snow as the traction control kills the torque so much the car won't move. I had this with my 3 series.

Weather tonight was bad! Drove one section of straight road in the Pork for about a mile with a steady 3-4ins of opposite lock to balance the rear end sliding down the camber of the road it was SO slippy!

 

My jag is the same...traction control on the move is great but when you happen to be stationary on ice and try to pull away even on a very slight incline you get nowhere fast!!

Thankfully it can be switched off completely allowing a decent amount of slip under torque and it's all good again.

Thank crunchie for my scoob!! I still haven't been stuck anywhere yet, no matter how steep or icy the incline and i've been through some reasonably deep snow other years without problem, and that's on summer tyres. I wouldn't want to be driving any other car this time of the year.

 

Well someone has the right setup for the snow

Rather good

 

Jees!!!!

 

FPMSL.....that was brilliant. Sounded pretty shweet too.

You've gotta love your scooby!!!

 

Now that's impressive, should use it in adverts for Scoobies.

 

i drive a gritter wagon for the local council and laden weight was touching 21 tonnes...try driving that untreated roads lol...never ceasees too amaze me how many people see you coming and still give you grief or try too dazzle you with main beams too swicth the salt off.best couple im saw so far this year was a ford ka overtook me on a dual carriageway about arf 1 in the morning .he pulled in sharp in front of me and they you could see him violenty turning the steering wheel and the car was all over the place...superb driving lol..and the toyota hilux driver who decided too powerslide out of jnction in front on me and lost it and was millimetres away from my frony bumper....he looked kinda white lol.

 

in cardiff today we dont have snow we have 1" think ice. it snowed alot last night but very light rain afterwards and this morning the drive to work was amazing. must say i am impressed but no i wasnt driving quick. and took my time but had alot of grip and felt comfortable in the car.

need to find empty car park on my way home .lol

 

The Impreza is good fun in the snow and ice but not indestructible.

it can't defy the laws of physics...braking distances in my impreza are huge due to the width of the tyres and the fact that they aren't winter tyres.

Hit black ice on a corner and you will be a in ditch....the 4WD may make it easier to get back out of the ditch but thats as far as the 4WD benefits go in this situation.

Get it on an icy hill though and it doesn't make much of a fuss getting up providing you are gentle with the controls. In fact due to the symmetrical AWD drive you can be quite rough with the throttle and it will still keep a relatively straight line whilst spinning all 4 wheels, just watch that one wheel doesn't suddenly get more traction than the other as then you could be into a spin especially if its a rear wheel and you have got a LSD on the rear.

Setting off from junctions or traffic lights is also a little easier but be careful especially when coming out of a junction as its still possible to get the back end out....this does add some fun to the occasion though if no one else is on the road

If you adjust your driving style to the conditions of the road and the limitations of the car then you shouldn't have any issues

Although find a large empty open space and then the fun can really begin

 

How do the AWD set ups in the Legacy Outback and Forester compare to the one in the Impreza?

 

i adapt my driving style for this weather. plus im not a fast driver either. only once in a blue moon will i ever open her up properly. saver the moments !

 

Exactly the same. They are all Symmetrical AWD systems and interchangeable if you're that way inclined. They all give outstanding traction in any weather and on just about any type of surface but unfortunately they don't walk on water. More's the pity

 

Don't know what all the fuss is about, mine does exactly what I want it to do in the bad weather