My winter snow pics!!!
 

Took my car out for a drive during the 2-3 inches of snow we got in central VA and headed to a farming area to take some pics. Enjoy!

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24209.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24211.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24217.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24218.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24210.jpg

-Chike

Umm i have an AWD question....this may sound dumb so bear with me. Today were getting pounded with snow....roads are not plowed and i was driving to work and i noticed that whenever i turn the wheel the car tends to wanna slide out so i always have to straighten the wheel. When giving the car light throttle it seems to go perfect with no problem...but on my way back from work i had to go up our steep hill to get to my house. I threw it in 1 and started my climb....the car was sliding and wanting to go sideways....more power i gave more it wanted to slide out ( obviously)...but then i tried giving it light throttle and it went up fine. I'm pretty sude my AWD works because yesterday was taking corners real hard and fast and there was no understeer or anything...went around perfect like always. Also I took my moms FWD accord out the other day and the car was on a little incline and there was an ice patch so i gave it a little gas to go because the light turned green and the front tires spun like crazy but i know thats normal for FWD. i took my SVX to the same spot to test it and the SVX went up with no problem. So I think im worrying for nothing. I know AWD isnt supposed to make the car run perfect in the snow ( kinda hard to get that misconception out of my head though). I guess giving it light throttle in the snow is the best way to go ....manual mode is such an awesome thing to have. :) Sorry for the hijack chike....the pics look beautiful.

Re: My winter snow pics!!!
 

Its called "the country" Chike :p

Re: Re: My winter snow pics!!!
 

Good point! :p :)

A few more....

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24214.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24212.jpg

...and a view of the road ahead:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/24213.jpg

-Chike

Tom,

what you're describing is normal for any awd/4wd vehicle. However, the point at which the tires break loose will vary depending on how much traction your tires can give. Talking to svxfiles last night, he commented that my all-season Bridgestones had a very aggressive tread pattern and with ~70-80% tread still left, the deep grooves really 'bite' into the snow.

Now if I tried to go out in the white stuff with my max performance summer tires (on my RX-7 rims), I would be slipping and sliding all over the place.

What kind of tires are you using and how much tread is left?

-Chike

Thanks for the reply chike....im using my sumitomo all season tires and it has about 95 percent tread left. They look brand new....almost 10 k on them. Let me try and find a link to it on tire rack and you can see the tread pattern for yourself. Im not sure by what you mean when saying aggresive tread pattern ( teH n00b in me is coming out!!11!!!)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....num=25WR6HTRPL

I'm pretty sure those are them....you can look in my locker in the jersey shore meet pics....you can see the tread on my tires very clearly.

If you put it in 2nd and turn on manual mode, it will not downshift to 1st. This will reduce the torque applied to the wheels so that modulating slippage will be easier.

I have noticed that on especially slippery surfaces, the SVX's traction control systems do not work very well. The anti-lock brakes cannot control the pressure precisely enough and the transfer clutch has difficulty controlling the rear wheels. Newer Subarus don't seem to have this problem, but our older ones do. On most surfaces this is not a problem. Even on wet grass I can turn the wheel sharply and mash the brakes and still steer the car relatively well. On super-slippery ice, wet clay, or wet leaves on fresh asphalt, the ABS just can't cope. It will simply continue on straight. The AWD is no better.

On these surfaces I can brake more effectively than the ABS can. It requires an extremely light touch. In fact, it's challenging to press the pedal lightly enough to prevent the ABS from turning on. Once it does however, steering and braking are reduced if not completely gone. ....but again, only on the slipperiest of surfaces.

Manually operating the AWD transfer clutch greatly increases traction on very slippery hills. It also helps the ABS modulate and equalize braking forces between the front and rear wheels.


Two examples of the problems I've experienced both happened a couple weeks ago in the white stuff.

First was when climbing a hill. As the hill became steeper I felt the car start to loose speed and could hear the transfer clutch grabbing. (It's a slight shudder.) The louder the transfer clutch shudder, the more the car would slide sideways off the road. At it's worst, it required about 1/3 of a revolution on the steering to correct the sideways sliding motion, and no amount of throttle would cure the loss of speed. When I manually activated the transfer clutch, the shudder went away, the car stopped sliding sideways, and it stopped losing speed.

The second example is when I went to stop and turn into my driveway. I overshot the driveway by over 100 feet. Every time I applied the brakes, the anti-lock would turn on. When the anti-lock was functioning, the car would again slide sideways off the road. No amount of steering correction would prevent it. I put the car in neutral and coasted to a stop. I verrrry carefully turned around and drove back using almost no throttle whatsoever, and with the transmission in 2nd with manual mode on. On that short drive back, I played with the brakes and found that as soon as the ABS turned on, the car would slide. Only a feather-light touch would prevent it from activating and this was not enough braking to overcome the torque of an idling engine on a level surface. I again had to put the car into neutral to make it stop. It seems apparent to me that the traction control systems are simply not sensative enough for these conditions. (Which I guess is fine by me because playing in snow isn't much fun unless you're going at least a little fast.

I should mention that my tires are virtual slicks. I don't think there's any street-legal tire available with less tread. I've little doubt that pretty much everybody here has more traction in the snow than I do. :( ...but in the summer... :)

I guess that's the nature of first-generation traction control systems. It was pretty good in it's day. (Some Audi fan is gonna flame me for that comment.)


And yes, the pictures are nice - but then, there's an SVX in them so I guess they couldn't be anything else. Those look like some lonely roads. I sure wish I had more of those around me.

Uberoo you are right on the money when you say that when you mash the brakes and the ABS kicks in you slide. I noticed that today as well. If i lightly touch the brakes the car stops way more effectivley than if you press hard on them. I am so afraid to have an instance when i need to mash the brakes because im afraid of sliding into the person in front of me. Thats why when going down a hill i throw it in 1....go very slowly and lightly apply the brakes ( in the snow)

Tom,

Sumitomo HTR's are a decent all-season tire and several of my Evo friends use them in the winter. I guess the problem has more to do with the tremendous torque made from our engines like UberRoo mentioned - putting it in 2nd and engaging manual mode is definitely best on slippery surfaces. ;)

-Chike

Yeah, just now I was at one very steep hill with full of ice and coming down. My ABS just couldn't cope with....I braked better than the ABS...hehe...press the brake pedal lightly was a good option...my SVX just slided down thru the hill slowly to the bottom....(ABS wasn't activated) ... :D My V-rated all season tires are not in very, very good shape as well.

PS: pictures are nice - need more SVXes. :p

PSS: I wonder what is the difference on the new M-class's off-road ABS......would it work better on those situations? :D

Throwing it in 2 and hittin manual mode is definitley the way to go . Did that this morning on un plowed roads and it works great.

Chike,

Where are the rally slide pics? :-)

Mychailo,

No rally slide pics this time, as I'm still trying to get accustomed to driving my first awd car in the snow. :)

Svxfiles related to me an incident that happened to him earlier this week when he went into a 90ft slide while driving around a corner at 30mph (luckily he and his '92 LS-L made it out unscathed). But it brought home the reality that awd isn't immune to Mother nature and the laws of Physics...

-Chike

Ok wow i just got from doing some serious rallying with one of the STi guys on a deserted road near the cemetary here. He took a video of me sliding around a corner....he's trying to get it online so i can post it here. He has snow tires...ive got my all seasons but wow...AWD is awesome! Can't wait to get my rally career started ;) :D