Winter Driving is Fun!

Discussion in 'General Subaru Discussion' started by 06WRXss, Jan 8, 2007.

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  1. 06WRXss
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    06WRXss New Member

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    I was reading the thread about running into curbs a minute ago and it reminded me about my close call.

    Last snow storm (the only one actually), I was out honing my winter driving abilities. I took a corner a bit too fast and started to slide towards the curb (the open flat kind mind you). I pressed my brakes untill the ABS kicked in and realized it wasn't going to stop so I shifted into 2nd and gave some gas and the AWD pulled me out and away from the roads edge.

    It got me to wondering how they take icy corners in a winter rally race. Does anyone know?
     
  2. Nuke
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    Nuke Well-Known Member

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    FaSt n FuRRRIoS Tokyo DRIFT!!! FTW!
     
  3. w_o_t_boy
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    w_o_t_boy Well-Known Member

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    Mostly they just rub up against the snowbanks on the sides of the road. They also run studded tires that look about 3" wide. I'm sure they're bigger than that but they kinda look like donut spares when they put them on the WRC cars.
     
  4. ShortytheFirefighter
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    ShortytheFirefighter Pokemans. I has none. Staff Member

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    They're extremely narrow to cut into the snow and down into the ice. The general rule of thumb with snow tires is that they're the opposite of summer tires. Narrower tires with taller sidewalls are the best way to go, as you have more rim protection and you get better traction than a wider tire that would float on the snow and not cut through.
     
  5. Colin
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    Colin Well-Known Member

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    Portion of this video, sorry if repost



    oh, and the coolest drift EVAR!!
     
  6. Publius
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    Publius New Member

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    It was new to me, and a wicked cool video!
     
  7. 06WRXss
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    06WRXss New Member

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    That's a pretty cool video. I'm go to have to watch it again with volume when I get off of work. Thanks
     
  8. Back Road Runner
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    Back Road Runner Well-Known Member

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    Ice is tricky. Metal studs are your best form of grip, something to cut/bite into the surface. There are synthetic forms used by some tire manufacturers, like Green Diamond's tires using carbide pieces molded into the tires. They apparently do quite well. Bridgestone also has their Tube Multicell bite particles they tout in their Blizzak tires like their Revo. Again, the results are quite good.

    Without biting surfaces, you're essentially hydroplaning. To minimize this, you use the same ideas as a wet tire: smaller contact area and higher pressure. A soft silica compound maintains a soft, pliable compound that can conform and grip to what little texture is available. With past tires I've used, I've noticed compound plays a big role in how sticky a tire feels on ice. I've always had a liking towards Michellin as even their standard all-season tires felt grippy on icy surfaces. They always had a feeling like they wanted to keep biting. Some tires I've used just feel really slippery on ice with no desire to bite.

    Snow is very different. You could think of snow a lot more like gravel. You have an ability to grab, dig, and cut into the surface. Narrower is still better as you still want to cut into the surface. Tread pattern also becomes a lot more important as you need to interact with the snow and dig into and hold. Agressive and deep tread blocks and lots of siping can generate a lot of grip.

    The kind of stuff you see on WRC is tough to duplicate without dedicated tires designed for those kinds of surfaces.
     
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