Is is just me or is the SVX very bad in > 5" of snow?

[Wiz]

I've now gotton stuck twice in the snow. This is my first winter in this car so I'm still getting used to how it is in the snow. But I've gotton stuck in a 7-12" area of snow and in a 5" deep area. The 5" one was especialy scary because there were trees and huge rocks very close by and I had to turn around. So I had to be very careful while reving the car up to get it to slide around (manual mode was no help). I had like < 10% traction. And at some points I could slightly smell burning rubber. Scared the hell out of me. The first time when I got stuck in the deeper snow was not as bad since I was in a mostly plowed parking lot and wanted to see what it could handle. I did not know how deep it was at first. I had to rock the car to get it out which I was not happy about. I really thought I'd like the winter with this car but now I'd rather have no snow. It does not handle deep snow as well as I thought it would and the salt and stuff from the roads makes the car look horrible. I'm going to have to get it washed once a week.

Now my question is. Could it be my tires? They were only $75 each. I needed new tires and just let my dealer put on what fit. The brand is Fulda Extremo. Or is it just how the SVX is. The snow aorund here is quite sticky. But in the end I learned my lesson. SVX in snow > 5" deep = NO. Oh, and can the loops on the front and back of the car be used for pulling it out of snow?
Thanks

[CigarJohnny]

I was trolling around in 6" of snow (officials say 8") with no problems whatsoever in mine. Bear in mind that the SVX is a very low slung car and there is a limit to how deep you can drive in before you start becoming a snow plow. If you are looking for a vehicle that can handle a foot of snow or more then you had best sell your SVX and get a 4x4 SUV or truck. There is a thing called law of physics working here you know.

I really think it is your tires. Not familiar with that model Falken but it sounds like a highperformance tire and not an all-season tire. Get youself a set of snows or true all-season tires and you will be singing a different tune about your SVX in the snow. A buddy of mine has a WRX and the stock tires sucked in the snow to the point where he could not drive it safely in 2" of it. First thing he did was trash the tires. Give it a shot yourself before you blame your SVX.

My svx goes like a tank in the snow. Even pretty deep stuff. I would say its your tires. Noone is ever happy when they buy cheap tires. Go get a set of tires that your SVX deserves.

Mike

[Darksied-X]

Come on Wiz, you live in Maine! Your supposed to used to this sort of stuff by now. Personally, I think the SVX is great in the snow. Mine has the STOCK Potenza's with 32K on them, and it goes almost as good as my wife's VDC with new Potenza something or others. So yeah, I agree it's your tires. My only complaint about the SVX is it's too stable in the snow. I like the rear to twitch a bit when you floor it in the snow, like the XT6 does.

I'm sure it is tires. I got stuck WITH CHAINS on my SVX. (OK, the snow was > hood deep)


My tires are awful in the snow. Very few cross bars on them. They are velco sticky on the dry and good in the wet, but a little bit of snow/ice... bah. Useless. Can't stop, can't turn with the sterring wheel (have to use the gas pedal). OK, the LSD helps with the turn and burn getting going but I choose to just park the SVX and take the 4runner when it snows.

My 4runner has 14 inches of clearance under the diff, fully locking diffs in both ends and 20 gears to choose from. (one for every occasion!)

I did run into a problem with winter traction last Sunday. (CO locals may understand where.
We were coming down gallespie gulch after going up nugget hill. We hit the ice up by the mine. The first truck did a 100 foot, 180+180 slide down the ice around the corner. He got 'er reined in about 6 inches from an aspen. We ended up winching backward DOWN the road! 5 sets = at least 500 feet of ice on the hill.
It took us 2 hours to move 4 trucks 500 feet!


We drove the next 500 foot ice patch. I did about 50 feet of the trip completely sideways in some kind of 2 wheel steering crab-walk deal. It was so slick, my favorite trail dog fell down and slid trying to walk on it! You know it's bad when the dog (with claws) can't walk on it. Sorry. No pics.

[LarryIII]

We had about 7.5 inches of snow this past weekend.
Friday it was 2" of wet snow followed by 5" of light fluffy snow on Saturday. The wet snow on the bottom compressed into sheet ice. I took my '92 SVX out in this, on virgin snow, to test my 4 new tires. The tires are Yoko AVS dB S2's. I drove around doing "stupid things" to break the tires loose and to see what I had to do to regain traction. These tires are new. They have about 1,000 miles on them. While it was easy to break them loose on the ice layer the car was controllable while skidding and it was very easy to regain traction. In fact, Monday night, I drove to Syracuse and came home yesterday evening.

I belive that your problem is twofold.
First, get a set of decent tires. You can't expect a $75 summer performance tire to do well in snow, especially in Maine.
Second, modify your 'dry/rainy pavement' driving techniques for snow and ice. Slow down, and use third and second gear. Be gentle when braking and let the engine slow you down in a lower gear.
Lastly, the SVX is a GT car that is designed for use in inclement weather, but it is not a Jeep or snowmobile. The transition from the normal 90F/10R torque split to 50F/50R should be seamless and unoticed with not jerks or clunks. If it isn't on your car, get it checked.
Good Luck.

[Wiz]

Well I know my rear end works. I just had it fixed. Big thread a while back about it. Cost me > $1000. The first owner of the car (I'm the forth) had a habit of not switching all the tires at the same time. I've seen both the front and back spin in the snow while a friend was giving it a shot at getting it out of the deeper snow.

Seeing as I don't have enough money for new tires I'm just going to have to avoid deep snow. Oh, and I love my SVX and would never replace it for any truck or SUV in the world. Unless it was a really expensive SUV/Truck and I could sell it so I could buy a few SVX's.

Oh, does anyone know about the little O loops in the front and back of the car? Can they be used for towing stuff or pulling the car out of snow? My car has 2 on back and 2 on the front. Someone I know said they were for when the car was being transported to the dealer and using them would bend the frame. Is that true?

Thanks. All the info so far has been quite helpful. I'll try and get new tires in the summer when I get more money along with a new headunit which I have wanted for a while.

[CigarJohnny]

Oh yeah... I forgot about the tow hook question. I would not go putting any sudden jerking on it but if I had to hook a chain or tow strap to my SVX it's the one place I would feel comfortable with. They are designed and located where they are so they can strap down the car when they ship it from Japan. They should be fine as long as you apply smooth tension to the tow strap.

[Wiz]

Originally posted by CigarJohnny
Oh yeah... I forgot about the tow hook question. I would not go putting any sudden jerking on it but if I had to hook a chain or tow strap to my SVX it's the one place I would feel comfortable with. They are designed and located where they are so they can strap down the car when they ship it from Japan. They should be fine as long as you apply smooth tension to the tow strap.

So if I want to pull something or pull my car I just need to be gentle about it. That seems logical. Thanks, I've been wondering about those. The car is rated to tow 2000lbs according to edmunds.com. Not that I'd do that. I was kind of just wondering how one would do that and it seemed that these would be the only thing to tow with that I could see.

[benebob]

Must be the driver, I've had mine through 1.5 feet of unplowed bliss while going up a mountain road . Just kidding, you're not from Deleware so you should do fine in the snow . My guess is it would be your tires. I have Yoko A540s on mine and they are acceptable in soft snow but suck on hardpack. No plan to change as I no longer drive it in the snow. I must say the SVX does drive very different than other Subie AWD systems I've driven in the white (Impreza L 1.8, Legacy GT, Outback and Legacy Turbo) Those seem to plow though anything where as the SVX likes to slide though turns but as soon as you punch it, it'll squat down in the rear and slip its way through anything. Only place I could really see getting stuck would be on soft ground.

[svx_commuter]

Originally posted by Wiz
.......................................Oh, does anyone know about the little O loops in the front and back of the car? Can they be used for towing stuff or pulling the car out of snow? My car has 2 on back and 2 on the front. Someone I know said they were for when the car was being transported to the dealer and using them would bend the frame. Is that true?...........................

Those hooks on the front and back of the SVX are also used to pull the SVX unto a flat bed, tie it down and lower it back off. I know because mine has been there a few times. The car instruction manual says the hook are not to be used for towing. Is pullin it onto a flat bed "towing"? Oh yes, the flat plates in the front with the holes tend to bend when the SVX gets pulled unto the flat bed. This makes it difficult to get the under cover off but no big problem straightening them back again.

[seasvx]

Originally posted by LarryIII
... the SVX is a GT car that is designed for use in inclement weather, but it is not a Jeep or snowmobile.

this is probably easy for me to say, since i don't live in a snow state, but i don't see awd in the svx as being the same as 4wd, nor do i see the purpose and application of awd on my svx to be the same as on my outback, even tho the systems are similar. it seems to me the purpose of awd in the outback design is all-weather traction on a variety of surfaces (wet, snow, loose gravel, sand, whatever). In contrast, it seems to me that awd in the svx is all about dry tarmac roadholding, steering control, cornering attitude and performance driving. i learned this in a big way this past summer driving the backroads around Mt St Helens, full song, with a Lotus Elan, a Jaguar XK8 and a Honda S2K:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...ight=judgement

up until that time, i had not driven the car in a way that even approached its limits and did not fully appreciate how well the awd system in the svx contributes the overall ability of the car. this 3500lb 230hp gt coupe (with a rather tame power-to-weight ratio of about 15-1, definitely not sports car territory) performs, imho, way better than it has any right to, due to the presence of its awd system. also, awd in the svx makes me a better driver, in being extremely forgiving. i get away with driver error that i never would if the same car was equipped with only fwd or rwd.

now if it only had porsche brakes, eh alan?

[Royal Tiger]

I agree the SVX isn't meant for really deep packed snow. Not only does it sit low, but with packed snow you can "high center", which is where the dense snow actually lifts the car up as you drive, causing less grip with the road. You can actually get the frame up enough to see a tire lost total traction. I have answered disabled car calls where a Toyota was totally high centered and all 4 were off the ground. In truly deep stuff you are better off with a Pathfinder or 4Runner. Stay away from the ford exploders.......<sorry kelli......>

the only SVX I know of that can go through hood deep snow:

Jacked up SVX

[Uncamitzi]

Originally posted by arondale
the only SVX I know of that can go through hood deep snow:

Jacked up SVX

That's just.... WRONG!!!