peccy

bit snowed in at work, 1 or 2 cars stuck on the roads, thinking of attempted the drive home, should i use the DIFF LOCKED setting on my Type R centre diff to drag myself through it? or will i still spin?

Scooby Drew

Peccy

I just came home with mine set 2 or 3 notches forwards

Pavlo

locked or close to locked if on snow, but open it up some if you're on mostly tarmac.

Paul

johnfelstead

lock it fully unless you fancy doing some power slides. It helps both in traction and under braking. Dont worry if you hear the diffs banging away, they are suposed to.

RussBoy

Just drove mine back home in 'that blizzard' down some very dark country lanes with a good inch or two of snow - locked it on the middle setting (last orange one from the top) - didn't slide once and did a great job!

The variable diff was one of the reasons I bought the Type R over a standard Sti and after today's weather I'm already pleased I did!

Definately move the lock OFF when hitting dry tarmac though (or tight cornering like entering a driveway etc.)

johnfelstead

The advice, as in the main DCCD thread in drivetrain obviously is still relevent off Snow.

greasemonkey

...but buggers up the turn-in in tight corners.

You know this already John/Paul, but for Peccy... If you're driving round with the diff on (or close to) lock and the car starts to push wide round a corner, instead of whacking the kerb, gently pull on the handbrake lever just enough for the handbrake light to come on, and let it go as soon as the car steps back into line.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 1/28/2004 7:53:55 PM]

johnfelstead

that depends, you can pull on full steering lock, give the car a quick squirt of power and then back off, that drags the front round and rotates the rear at the same time. Driving techniques on snow vary dramatically to tarmac, you use the steering lock and power far more agresively to change direction, smooth doesnt work so well in these conditions.

Practice in a wide open area if you get the chance.

ex-webby

Guys

just to add a word of warning here. Please be VERY CAREFUL.

I personally would not recommend locking the diff up fully, you will greatly increase your chance of understeer. I would also add a HUGE word of caution if you are thinking of trying the "whack on full lock and give it some gas" technique and would certainly not recommend this technique to anyone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing and have a LOT of experience of limit handling.

My personal advice would be to do as Russ Boy did and set it around the middle, then just drive really carefully.

If you find a nice open space that you can have a practice on then, definitely give the locked diff a play, it's excellent, but make sure you have lots of run off.

All the best

Simon

johnfelstead

is there an echo in here. LOL

ex-webby

??

RRH

1st yellow gives about the best balance from experience (not wishing to contradict any of the more experienced DCCD users) and take it easy.

it ain't a night for heros, as some will no doubt find out.

johnfelstead

Sorry Simon, just a bit of humour.

greasemonkey

Indeed you can, provided you're on top of it enough to have some boost there.

If however you're just pootling along at no revs as most will be in this sort of weather, the throttle response isn't anywhere near up to that sort of aggressive technique.

Have to agree with Simon on this one, that's not the sort of approach I'd suggest anyone try on the road without loads of acclimatisation in a car park or similar.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 1/28/2004 11:34:01 PM]

SDB

Agreed. In addition, our uk road tyres are not designed to cope with snow, so the agressive techniques tend not to work.

In the situation greasemonkey describes (heading towards the kerb) it is hard to imagine how you could have anywhere near enough bite in the tyres to actually change direction fast enough. Easy enough to change the angle of the car, but unless you're on studs or similar, you'll just accelerate the car towards the kerb more.

Snow and Ice are so consistent, that agression is simply not necessary, and probably dangerous. The better solution is to be as smooth as you can, and highly respectful of the conditions.

All the best guys (first post with my SdB account in a LONG time )

Simon

DaveW

John,

I understand what you're saying, just don't have the skills (yet) to drive that way. Sounds fun though, cheers.

Dave.

richiewong

Stuck mine on about 2 notches and had no problems but then again I also have a set of 205/45/17 Snowprox on which makes a world of difference

johnfelstead

Of course, always remember to drive within your comfortable knowledge levels. If in doubt, slow down.

Falls off chair at Simon.

greasemonkey

Who the f**k is this Simon de Banke guy?

johnfelstead

Some Newbie who doesnt know **** about driving i recon.

DaveW

Just had a thought (dangerous I know but it beats working).

When I was at MIRA with Don Palmer on his 'Wetter the Better' day my viscous centre diff'd MY99 could be brought back from ridiculous angles by the application of full power and steering lock. Is it the same with the Type R diff setup or not?

Dave.

johnfelstead

it depends where you have the diff setting and the level of grip the surface has as to what settings allow that. You can adjust the balance and the way the front is capable of pulling the car straight under power.

So, Yes you can do it, but you have much more control over how you do it. On Snow for example you will most likely spin the car with an open diff using power to correct, with with the diff locked you will be able to pull the car out of a slide under power, how much lock you use depends on the surface.

You cant beat going for a play and working out what works in what conditions.

Nathan L

Would you just leave a DCCD-A in auto mode?

Nathan..

johnfelstead

Dont know Nathan, i havnt driven DCCD-A in the snow. A pal of mine is taking a USDM STi to the arctic soon, so when he gets back i'll ask him what he found works best.

Nathan L

LOL

I'll just leave it in Auto if we ever get any decent snow down here and see what happens.

Nathan..

peccy

cheers for the advice guys, think gonna give it a practice at bruntingthorpe or elvington

ended up leaving it in OPEN mode though for a bit of fun, bit like this...

peccydonut.mpg

DaveW

Thanks John,

Now just need to find a WIDE open space to play Well it is a 22b, wider than the average bear...

Dave.