Re: svx and snow
 

I drove a 1992 SVX auto for 17 years. Terrific in snow. At the same time I had a 1991 5 speed Turbo Sport Sedan. also great in snow. Biggest difference I saw, was if u got stuck it was harder to get it out. The clutch takes a beating. Going out on a limb here because I may get flamed again. The Auto and the Manual operate the AWD differently. The auto is more electronic and the manual is more Machanical . Reaction time is slower on the 5 speed. If u watch the Auto at work on a slippery surface u barely see a wheel do a full turn before another takes over. With the standard this is not the case. Shifting from on wheel to the other is a bit slower. This has been my observation. I have not had a lot of snow time with the SVX with the 5 speed. The little I have had is still quite impressive. You also loose the ability to take off in 2. You can take off in 2nd gear with the 5 speed, but the clutch will take the beating. Also some of the problem is the auto is changing gears all the time and with the 5 speed you are driving and can't shift gears as quickly.

Re: svx and snow
 

No offense but I can change gears just as fast as or faster than an auto in our old GL 5spd with 260k. And as far as auto awd vs manual awd i dont see how the auto would be faster to respond when it uses hydraulics and the manual uses a geared center diff.

Re: svx and snow
 

I knew there would be some tradeoffs when I went from an AWD SVX to a FWD... after I sold my last AWD SVX driver about 4 years ago I decided from a maintenance cost standpoint, I couldn't justify owning another one unless I could find a nice 2wd, which I did. I have since acquired another 2wd and an AWD for parts. Fortunately, I have a beater '97 Legacy GT wagon AWD that I drive in the snow most of the time. (At least I did until the clutch went out!)

Re: svx and snow
 

Am I the only one who has an issue with the anti-lock brakes twisting the car sideways on icy roads?

Re: svx and snow
 

Probably... All 3 of mine stop straight as a string on solid ice.

Keith:cool:

Re: svx and snow
 

FM, I agree with Keith on this one.

What may be happening is the icy roads are causing the anti-lock brakes to activate and you may be feeling the pedal pulsing as it works. So you think the anti-lock function is causing the car to pull sideways.

It is far more likely that you have one defective brake on your car and possibly the bad egg is one of your front brakes. It could be a number of brake faults. The most common would be a warped disc causing cadence braking. It could also be a bad caliper, one [or more] of your calipers could be holding the brakes on.

Either of the above will cause a wheel to lock up, particularly in slippy conditions. The anti-lock brakes are trying to cope with the fault, not causing the fault.

Jack the car up and get somebody to lightly apply the brakes to see if one of your wheels is grabbing unevenly under brakes.

[be careful if your car is AWD, you don't want it to roll off the jacks or over somebody.]

Joe