Im from FL but this summer, I moved to Burlington Vermont for a new job and commute 35 miles each way. Also, park on the street. I went to school in Upstate NY and lived in Chicago but never used my car. I was surfing youtube and this guy recommened to use Rain X on on the windows which helps keep ice off. I thought it was a great idea and will try it. Any other good ideas, tricks, tips to keep in mind? BTW, i just purchased a set of Michelin X-Ice 2. I drive a sentra BTW.
parking on the street will cause a problem when the snow plows come by. you'll come out to you car, and a 3 foot wall of snow around it. it sucks.
leave a good distance in between you and the person in front of you. also, i constantly check my rear view mirror, and if a guy is a bit close to me, i'll brake more in advance. alot of people use all season tires, and i dont want them sliding into me.
allow for more travel time when there is snow on the ground. whenever we get snow here, every drives around doing 20km/h.
a few essentials in your trunk is a good measure too. i carry my snow brush (works as a temporary shovel too), and those snow tracks things that you put under the car's wheels to get traction.
as for rain-x or whatever, i've never used it. but then again, i've never had a problem scraping ice and snow off my car.
Modified by dentinger at 9:54 PM 11-6-2009
Quote, originally posted by Lithium Lotus »
Some store bought gum has alcohol in it.
Quote, originally posted by GiacGtiAgain »
and 4,376 pieces of dentyne ice later you're freakin blasted
A small shovel, snow brush with an ice scraper, traction aids, booster cables and something to help you stay warm in case of an accident in the trunk is all you need. Keep the snow brush next to the driver's seat though. And don't forget to fill your washer fluid with something else than water... don't ask how I know...
Drive really really really fast. Faster than usual. Don't let that snow show you up, when you get to a large embankment ram that ****. Don't let it win.
Quote, originally posted by Lepsis3942 »
Nothing says class like have a sticker that encourages the placing of a finger in the anus of a female.
I drive an old Volvo named Walter, and I think its possessed.
Drive really really really fast. Faster than usual. Don't let that snow show you up, when you get to a large embankment ram that ****. Don't let it win.
You forgot the most important part: Never brake before a turn and always, I mean always use the handbrake while turning.
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I like VWs because I tink they are prety kool cars eh kill aleins and doesnt afraid of anything.
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Never mind the 20 speakers, the ****er's got interstellar hyperdrive and it's doing a burnout on the everloving space time continuum! TWIN TURBO WHAT BITCHES
find a big parking lot the first snow and just mess around until the cops kick you out.
Quote, originally posted by Sledge »
There's an entry for VW Vortex on WP. It's in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'.
With the 4 snow tires, you got the #1 advantage you can have. They provide a HUGE amount of control vs. all-seasons when turning, braking, and pulling away from a stop or up a hill.
Lived up here my whole life, never used Rain-X. Doubt it makes much difference with snow and ice. Get short, stout ice scraper as well as a big snow brush. I keep a couple of good blankets, and extra hats and gloves in the back.
Full strength generic blue washer fluid works great, don't be suckered by the "fancy" pink and orange "snow melt" types that cost twice as much. No real difference.
As for the drive, eave a LOT of room between you and the next car. Relax and take your time.
And most important of all, clear ALL the snow off your car before you hit the road.
throw a cheap craigslist car cover over the car and you won't have to be scraping ice, dealing with trying to defrost the windows out of winter hell or clearing for visibility. In addition, you won't have to deal with frozen locks on doors and handles
and I mean a car cover, not this
craigslist cover should do nicely
Quote, originally posted by Mister Jalopy »
Some consider diesel to be a big, black smoky mess. As to the smoke. Hell yes it smokes. Big clouds of smoke. That fits clearly into my favorite category of problems - the Department of Somebody Else's Problem. If I drove the car from the rear bumper, it would be my problem.
Diesel smoke... the perfect solution to aggressive tailgaters
throw a cheap craigslist car cover over the car and you won't have to be scraping ice, dealing with trying to defrost the windows out of winter hell or clearing for visibility. In addition, you won't have to deal with frozen locks on doors and handles
thats good and all, but i think i'd take my chances at scraping the car off in the morning over putting a half frozen solid car cover on in the dark at night...
plus, i start my car before i start scraping. its already halfway warmed up by the time im done!
Quote, originally posted by Lithium Lotus »
Some store bought gum has alcohol in it.
Quote, originally posted by GiacGtiAgain »
and 4,376 pieces of dentyne ice later you're freakin blasted
thats good and all, but i think i'd take my chances at scraping the car off in the morning over putting a half frozen solid car cover on in the dark at night...
plus, i start my car before i start scraping. its already halfway warmed up by the time im done!
lol... you have to get into the car (frozen locks) first before you can start it
good luck. the car cover wouldn't be that solid. but have fun
Quote, originally posted by Mister Jalopy »
Some consider diesel to be a big, black smoky mess. As to the smoke. Hell yes it smokes. Big clouds of smoke. That fits clearly into my favorite category of problems - the Department of Somebody Else's Problem. If I drove the car from the rear bumper, it would be my problem.
Diesel smoke... the perfect solution to aggressive tailgaters
As for the drive, eave a LOT of room between you and the next car. Relax and take your time.
To add to this, try to avoid bunching up with others. Should be doing this regardless of the weather, but with snow accumulation it becomes much more important.
Good wiper blades are important. I much prefer one-piece designs like the Bosch Icon over more traditional blades like these, whose mechanisms can be gummed up with ice.
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Quote, originally posted by PJA »
You know, since you always seem to see ridiculous likenesses in every new vehicle, it makes me wonder how you've made it through life thus far without mistaking a jug of bleach for your latte.
As for the drive, eave a LOT of room between you and the next car.
Driving a FWD with snows, after a bit of practice you should be golden. I used to sail past SUV 4x4's and AWD cars in the ditch out in Colorado all the time in my Scirocco. However, if it's freezing/moist, even if there's no snow, ability to go =/= ability to stop.
Some of the most fun driving I've done is in thick, silent snow. Which also goes well with : )
Since you have a front wheel drive car... when going down a hill that is really slippery... don't let off the throttle in gear, especially mid corner... your chances of over-steer go up drastically.
Brake early, anticipate what will happen, leave room. Just drive smoothly and gently - you will notice you can drive with a lot of speed in most winter conditions if you are smooth - but it takes a lot of practice... speaking of which goto an empty parking lot and practice maneuvers like braking, emergency avoidance, and over-steer correction etc.
Get a good ice scraper. Remember it takes a while for the transmission fluid to get up to temp - even if you idle your engine for 5-10 mins the rest of the car won't be ready yet.
Don't use Rain-X it fogs up/hazes in cold temperatures... just buy a scrapper like everyone else - it's the only thing that works - or we'd all use something else.
Keep your windshield wipers up if you hear them calling for an ice-storm - you don't want the rubber to stick to the windshield and then pulling the wiper apart when you try to use them. I just leave mine up when I park outside in the winter, and every night - just in case.
Clean off the roof/hood/lights of the car from snow
Do you have a block heater? If yes, you should get an extention cord with two inlets so you can also plug in an interior heater as well. I used to have one on my winter beater and it was great! I had the car plugged into a timer to turn on 2 or 3 hours before I woke up so the block's oils would get warm and the interior would slowly get warm and melt the exterior snow off the windows!
If you don't have a block heater or interior heater, wake up earlier to start the car, and ALWAYS scrape off the ice or brush off the snow on EVERY window. Blind spots can get you into trouble... it might be effing cold, but you'll regret it if you don't. You'll also need to wake up earlier because commuting will be slower.
I live on a non busy road, but what I do is soon as I get onto the road I try to lose traction just to learn how slippery it is, this way I can make an assessment on how careful I need to drive.
You always need to be careful, sometimes people with AWD or winter tires think they are Mr. Tough Guy and actually are more common to be seen in the ditch because of over confidence.
"From the heavy rumble of a stormy night, through the trumpeting of mighty elephants, to the roar of a raging lion, the SuperVeloce performs the grand opera for 12 cylinders, 48 valves, and 8000 revs!"
Don't let the car idle for more than one or two minutes in the cold. It'll warm up much faster with good oil pressure if you start driving it right away. I know it's great to get in a warm car when it's -15c but your car won't like you in the long run.
if you know its going to snow, go outside and pull your wiper arms up off the windshield. this will help the blades last longer (they wont tear) and you can scrape ice off easier as well
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Not sure if this was mentioned: engine brake as much as possible as it's easier and safer to slow down that way compared to hitting the brakes for a more abrupt stop that is more likely to result in sliding.
This has been said already but it bears repeating:
Clean the snow off the top of your car before you go driving. If you don't, you'll end up creating problems for people driving behind you, and the less patient among them will try to get past you.
As for the warming up, on very cold mornings I have no problem letting the car warm up for 15 minutes. Generally, I hop in, start it up, then jump out and do all the brushing and scraping. usually by the time that is sone the car is warm and defrosted. I deal with frozen locks maybe once a year after a particularly wet ice storm, it's really not a big deal.
The idea that letting your car idle for more then 2 minutes to warm up will cause it to spontaneously implode at 101k miles is a new thing that I don't personally subscribe to (my opinion). I don't know who in the last couple of years did the "Don't let your car idle to warm up!" story but the Internet has grabbed it as gospel, ignoring what we northerners have been doing in practice for 50+ years.
Bear in mind also, that it's Burlington, not the Arctic Circle. It's a bustling, populated small city with good street clearing and a LOT of people getting around. Even after the worst storms, the roads will be clear by 8 am in most cases.
This will be my first winter with a daily driver AWD. I've been running the past decade plus with 4 snows and a front wheel drive and have had many mornings when it's just me and the plows out on the roads and I have been fine.
I'm sure all of this has been covered, but here are the things I do different in the winter:
1) SNOW TIRES! I believe I saw somewhere that you already got those though 2) Quality telescoping snow brush 3) Ice scraper (my snow brush has a nice one attached) 4) Always keep windshield washer full and have extra in the car with you. I ran out once driving from MA to NH to go skiing, it was very dangerous/scary 5) Small shovel you can take apart 6) Hat and gloves (I always wear both of these in the winter, but if you don't, leave some in the car for when you have to clean off your car/shovel yourself out)
One time, back when i was 14 or somethin, my friend spit on me, but I let it go. He spit on me again, so I grabbed a shovel and hit him in the face... that was the only time ive ever physically hurt someone in a fight-situation.
I used to live in Central MA. I just kept a snow scraper in the car, lifted the wipers off the windscreen at night and always kept an extra bottle of washer fluid in the car. Always.
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Quote, originally posted by Clint Eastwood »
I don't know if I can tell you exactly when the ***** generation started.....
Do you have a block heater? If yes, you should get an extention cord with two inlets so you can also plug in an interior heater as well. I used to have one on my winter beater and it was great! I had the car plugged into a timer to turn on 2 or 3 hours before I woke up so the block's oils would get warm and the interior would slowly get warm and melt the exterior snow off the windows!
If you don't have a block heater or interior heater, wake up earlier to start the car, and ALWAYS scrape off the ice or brush off the snow on EVERY window. Blind spots can get you into trouble... it might be effing cold, but you'll regret it if you don't. You'll also need to wake up earlier because commuting will be slower.
I live on a non busy road, but what I do is soon as I get onto the road I try to lose traction just to learn how slippery it is, this way I can make an assessment on how careful I need to drive.
You always need to be careful, sometimes people with AWD or winter tires think they are Mr. Tough Guy and actually are more common to be seen in the ditch because of over confidence.
what modern car nowadays come with block heaters??
Quote, originally posted by Jetty! »
A Mazda3 is frequented by females but the owners here have a bukake party every time someone here buys one.
Great ideas here and I'll keep them in mind. Im just really dreading having to fight the cold and ice on the car. I remember in the cold, my car takes forever to warm up, seriosuly. BTW, did you know my little sentra only takes 3 qts of oil?
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