svx and snow
 

I hope everybody here had a safe and happy xmas. Yesterday I took my pearl out in the snow for the first time and OMG . It was so much fun it drove better than my dodge diesel 4x4 I had. It blew me away. Sadly someone saw me in it and offered me 3 times what I payed for and I couldn't refuse . So after the new year ill be looking for a 4 door diesel truck so I can pull a trailer to get me another svx .

Re: svx and snow
 

:eek: :eek: Wow - just wow! :o

Re: svx and snow
 

If you spend a little extra you can get one that moves under it's own power. ;) Then you won't need to buy that diesel truck? :confused:

Re: svx and snow
 

I had my SVX out in the snow for the first time 2 days ago. Even on the summer-ish "high performance all-season" tires it was impressively grippy. Mind you, this is coming from a person who has had two previous Subies shod with full-on winter tires, including an STi; let's just say it takes a pretty good amount of grip to impress me! :lol:

Sadly, nobody offered me 3x what I paid for it. It's snowing again today, perhaps I'll go for another spin...

Re: svx and snow
 

I'm having a blast these days with daily snow and temps moving around 0 celcuis. I'm shod with used studless Hankooks which is fairly fun when wanting to have fun but, not so fun when just driving on the road wanting to be safe and sound at higher than average speed.

The car is very heavy but quite controllable in low speed drifts.

Re: svx and snow
 

i guess the real question is, how much did the OP buy his for

Re: svx and snow
 

I paid 650.00 for it just under a year ago . Other than oil changes and a fuel filter the only big money I put in to it was a valve cover gasket kit ( 135.00) . Sold it for 2100 clams . Not to shabby . It would be great to get another good runner but kids are getting big and I miss my truck . So I figure buy truck so I can go on road trip to pick up another . Sounds like a good plan to me .

Re: svx and snow
 

Yesterday day we got snow 3" .. I was coming home from work. This big a#% Jeep Grand Cherokee pull out of a highway exit ramp that has a speed hill . He sat there spinning his rear tires. Either the fool doesn't want to waste gas in 4 wheel drive, doesn't know how to put it in 4 wheel drive or them Jeeps are terrible in slick snow conditions. So I passed him.

Re: svx and snow
 

Great story msm, and I think your plan is very sensible. Getting an SVX is a great reason for a road trip.;)

The reason I stopped using my SVX for a dd was because there was not enough room in it, not enough doors and no space in the boot [trunk] for hauling big stuff. Now I have been using estates of one kind or another since then, currently using a JDM Forester Turbo.
[Note to self: self, update signature]
:rolleyes:

If any of you have seen the uTube video on traction where a Legacy is able to pull uphill on a set of slippy rollers? Well, the reason we can perform these traction tricks with the SVX [similar drivetrain to the Legacy] is because the automatic gearbox has full time all wheel control.

Even an Impreza with a six speed box and centre diff controls will not have the same control finesse at slow speed on gripless surfaces. This is because although the diffs in the "Preza are electronically altered front to rear the reality is that these diffs [on manual transmissions] are mechanical in nature on each axle and can not be infinitely variable for each individual wheel.

However the automatic gearbox has much more variable traction control per wheel.

Another good reason to be an SVX owner.

Joe :)

Re: svx and snow
 

Unfortunately, the FWD-only SVX's are rather poor in snow in my experience- this is my third winter with a '94 LS. I was kind of surprised, having owned a number of early '80s FWD Subaru GL's and finding them to be unstoppable.

Re: svx and snow
 

Not that surprising Dave.

As a FWD car the SVX is nose heavy, will understeer, has low ground clearance and very wide boots that sit up on snow rather than dig in.

As soon as the long nose starts to lift the front of the car the front driven axle loses traction, the wheels spin.

In an AWD car this will cause the back axle to get more weight and the transmission will divert power to the back, restoring momentum. And making it fun to handle if the snow is not too deep. :D

The AWD SVX is the one to have really. I think Subaru only made them FWD as a cost cutting exercise when the original AWD model failed to reach the sales targets they expected.

In more normal dry or wet conditions though I suspect the FWD cars compensate by being faster and lighter than the AWD model, which will have more weight to haul and more transmission power losses.

Joe

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So what you're saying is, when I swap in my STI 5-speed I'll lose my awesome snow traction? :(

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Yes.

You will still have great traction. It just won't be as "smart" as that offered by the automatic gearbox.

If you ever check out that video I mentioned you will note it is the automatic that Subaru uses for the demonstration.

Joe :)

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I agree with Joe on this. That is why the FWD was only produced two years and they dropped it at the end of production.

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I have to disagree.

Experientially: my STi is ridiculously good in snow, limited only by wide tires and low ground clearance, both of which can be addressed, and prodiguous torque, which makes it ssoooooo hard to resist getting stupid. :tard:

Objectively: Smart as it may be, the SVX's automatic still just controls the front/rear split. The STi has LSDs on both axles, and a lot more sensors and CPU cycles go into managing its center diff compared to the SVX. Yes it's performance oriented, but part of that orientation is rally based -- traction on loose surfaces.

I'm not saying the SVX is bad in snow, not by any means. But neither is it better than an STi. Based on my short experience in the SVX I'd say much of the difference I felt was due to the difference in power and tire width. The SVX feels more manageable, the STi more tossable. They both feel like they'd climb a snow-covered wall.