The Winter Rant Thread (and support group)

[MazdaMatt]

My light comes on at 610-625km into the tank... this time it was only 520... hold me... its so cold...

[wagonman76]

Weve gotten at least 3 feet of snow so far and its not even winter yet. Nearby Gaylord they say has gotten 50 inches, a third of its normal yearly snowfall already. Clear roads, even highways, are a joke in these parts and every year they announce theyre going to cut back some more. Last year they decided to not plow on weekends and most of the area was stranded one whole weekend when we got a good storm. Thankfully it was an off-weekend for my daughter. I can keep improving when I go downstate, but around here Im always pushing snow and its tough to get even 25 mpg. When there is a clear road it is just a polished sheet of ice so I end up going through the snow anyway to stay on the road. Many stop signs are on hills and blind intersections, and if you do a legal complete stop you might not get going again very easily. Just watch for headlights and keep going if you can. Its been about zero degrees and high winds the last few days. Last weekend took another hit with freezing rain and I got stuck in the ex's folks driveway because the base gave out (they obviously dont plow very well), and when I got out I had no hope of making it up the hill so I had to take these back roads that were a skating rink and almost didnt it make it out. Ive got Winterforce tires too. Around here you dont get a snow day. Youve expected to make it through whatever mother nature dishes out.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by wagonman76

Just watch for headlights and keep going if you can.

This is affectionately referred to as a "stoptional maneuver" around here.

I used to do this out of my driveway when I lived in the MH park, b/c of the steep hill you had to start on.. I found it very wearing on my clutch, and didn't like it, so at night, or early in the morning, as I was coming to the intersection, I'd slow down to first gear speeds, and turn my headlights off for a brief instant, just long enough to see if there were any headlights near the intersection. If I saw no other lights, accelerate and go.

Obviously, this didn't work during the day, so during the day, you just slowed down and looked as you came up on the intersection slowly, you could see to the left, and there was 35FT at the intersection itself, b/c my driveway widened from the normal 24FT of a back road, to ~35FT at the top, so you had plenty of room to move around if necessary to get the best angle to see to the right and be able to pull out safely without stopping.

On many of the back roads around here, I often do this, when there is a plain sight through/around the intersection, and it's obvious that no one is around. (Field on either side.) Although I don't find it necessary to flash my lights anymore, since I never go to that park.

I've been stopped ONCE for using this maneuver. I responded to the officer with an explanation of exactly how much energy it takes to start a 3000lb car from a dead stop, vs accelerating from 5-10mph. He let me go with a "warning". He basically told me to keep doing it, but not to make it blatant.

[almightybmw]

My name's Craig and I love winter. Guess I'm past the denial phase. Snow makes me go faster, and spin the tires faster, regardless of direction. Sideways is a plus. Currently haven't filled up since the snow came, but I'm estimating 15-16mpg instead of 20mpg thanks to my over-exuberance of testing the tires' capabilities from key-on to key-off.

I love winter. Only time I can do burnouts without ruining my tires or transmission.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

Aerodynamics are of increased importance in the winter. On another thread, Aerohead gave very credible numbers showing a 5.8% increase in aero drag from 60F down to 30F, IIRC.

[jesse.rizzo]

NeilBlanchard,
I was going to raise that point. While I can't be bothered to crunch numbers, air density does figure into calculating drag, and air density does go up as temp goes down. So it stands to reason.

On the plus side, my car made itself a partial grille block...

[Clev]

We've had a bit over 2 feet of snow so far... both cars are completely buried, so I'm driving the Ranger. Interestingly enough, even though I drove a good 40 miles in snow, all in 4WD and some with chains, and the rest of the tank in heavy rain, I averaged 18.7 mpg. Previously, I averaged 15 mpg, and the absolute best tank was 16.5. I recently had the badly slipping transmission rebuilt, so maybe it was sapping all that extra energy. (It seemed to have more, ahem, pickup, after the rebuild as well.)

[bennelson]

You know it's snowy when.....

A yardstick isn't long enough to measure the snow, so you have to pull out a 4' drywall square.



It takes 3 hours to shovel the driveway.

You lose your wife in the snow.

Snowmobiles get stuck in your yard.

It takes 3 hours to shovel the driveway.

You bend your shovel handle.


All of these things actually happened today. Except the shovel. That's the ergonomic one.

[Christ]

excessive tire spinning can still ruin your transmission :P

[metroschultz]

Are not lost on me.
I grew up in the Poconos.
Learned to drive on a frozen lake.
The very first thing I did behind the wheel of a car was donuts.
WWWWWWHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!
Then my Granddad smacked me and told me to push the clutch back in and release it
S..L...O....W.....L......Y
I am where I am because I cannot live like that any more.
"You are a better man than I Gunga-Din"
So now that I have come inside from the blistering 47 degree day.
After changing the heater core on a friends pickup,
we would have done it last week but it didn't get cold enough for him to worry about, I will have a tall cold one myself.
If you want to come to the Beach, and get away from the cold,
I have a spare bedroom.
Schultz