Athens, I am going to have to agree with you. Like you, I live in the Chicagoland area (Northern Chicago Burbs). Last winter, we were bombared with snow (more so than usual), and I remember one day in particular when I was shoveling the driveway, and there was a complete jackass in a 7 series driving down the road and sliding all over the place. Granted it was only one person, he was not going very fast and it was late at night on a residential street. The fact that he could not control his vehicle and continued driving like a complete moron down the street made me a bit nervious.

Also, two things I noticed today. 1) The Stock All Seasons really suck in the snow 2) People do not know how to drive in Chicago. You don't slam on the brakes, signal and make a left hand turn from the right lane (also I was not tailgating)

 

Ever heard of self teaching? if your so concerned about hitting sombody, get the hell off the roads, because ANYTHING can happen.

An empty parking lot, is not going to yield pedestrian traffic. Just drive around the next time you get snow and look around. They are completley empty.

You are creating MASSIVE 'what-ifs' in this thread. Massive ones. If you use common sense and your eyes, you wont need to worry about creaming some dude in an empty parking lot at night.

And even my mom, who has worked at allstate for 30 years, recommends learning how you'r car handles in an empty area where you cant do damage.


BTW are you guys getting a lot of snow? I was just watching the news tonight and noticed you guys were getting nailed by what hit us yesterday.

 

About 4 inches on the ground, but it has tapered off. The only thing is the snow is still blowing all over the place.

 

Thats about what we got as well.

Pretty nice way to start the season!

EDIT: and i really want snow tires as well. These dont work at all in the snow.....

 

Kimbo:

I think most drivers have the capability to be good drivers. Instead they either overestimate their driving abilities or the capabilities of their cars ( or trucks). Combined with all the distractions going on in the car they tend to rely on technological devices such as ABS and VDC to keep them going straight even in dangerous road conditions.

Chicago used to get a heck of a lot of snow more than 15 years ago yet people seemed to be safer drivers. Then they didn't have the "crutches" of AWD and advanced all season tires. And there were no cell phones.

MY G35 now rides on Goodyear Eagle ResponsEdges and they run fine as long as I am cautious.

Car and Driver, in 2006 tested dedicated summer performance tires (GS-D) to All Season M+S (RS-A) to dedicated winter tires (Ultra Grips). Test took place at Goodyear's winter proving grounds using RWD Cadillac CTSs. Sure the winter tires clobbered the summer performance GS-Ds. But winter tires' advantage over All Season M+S RS-As in braking from 50 mph on packed snow was barely 9%. An advantage of one and one-half car length. Still from 50 mph the CTS with the Ultra Grip winter tires needed 245 feet to stop. That's still 12 car lengths.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...ons_tech_stuff

Sure I get nervous driving in these conditions, but nervous in weather (like what we saw this afternoon) is a good thing. It keeps you alert and cautious.

 

I live my life one snow drift at a time.....for those 3.5 seconds or less.....I am Free.

Athens I understand where your coming from and you need to understand that when I perform these dangerous maneuvers it is at a very slow speed and when there is no one around. Yes I understand that I cannot control everything that happens...so does that mean I should not enjoy the little things in life? Like tossing my car sideways through a corner.

Last winter my fiance was cut off while driving in the snow and she over countered and spun her car into a ditch. She became extremely nervous while driving after that incident, so I took her to an empty parking lot after more snow and told her to drive while I at any time pulled up on the E-Brake to create an un-controlled condition. By then end of our session she was giggling like a school girl and this winter she is handling the snow like a champ. Now I am going to back to enjoying life and winter driving...

 

i thought we all mostly got g's so we can play that little bit while we are doing our daily driving...

 

Wannabe, I agree, self teaching is a great way to learn how your car will react to any unfavorable situation. Keep on keepin on.

Athens, I dunno who you are, but :
You sound like one of the *** holes that would've defended OJ. You tell yourself something so much you believe it. No cell phones? Really? Want me to scan the back of my Dad's StarTak? I GUARANTEE it was roughly 15 years ago. I can scan my neighbors bag phone too if you'd like, and I KNOW that was OVER 15 years ago.

Do you really think ABS would still be around if it DIDN'T help? No, so you can just drop that one right now.

And to your argument of All season vs winter tires not being a big difference, I don't care what the test results say, I care how the car handles. Maybe the tires were just junk they tested...

Give it a rest and go chase another ambulance...

 

Try switch your VDC off and on three times (or press the button 5 times). So it's off, on, off, on, off. I don't know if this will do anything, but I was frustrated with my slip always being activated for my RWD G one night and when I do this, I haven't seen the slip light even blip. It could all just be in my head, but hey, give it a shot!

 

^i'll give that a shot next time we get some snow.

VDC saved my *** today as well. I was merging onto the freeway and this tight corner came up, which was not plowed, covered in slush, and i started heading right for the curb. I hit the breaks, then gave it the gas. VDC caught the rest and righted me. 'Bought scared the **** out of me, but atleast now im prepaired for situations like that.

You just lvie and learn, and if you are concerned about hitting a pedestrian around every corner, then i think you need to just get off the road. Watch out, dont worry about it at every second. make sure nobody is around before you attempt to slide, and be done with it.

 

also, when lawyers rep people, they don't neccesarily believe the person is innocent, they're just paid to make juries think that. you sound ignorant by suggesting otherwise. the defense team of OJ simpson wasn't comprised of ***____, they were just smart.

BTW, i was selling the second gen star tac when that was out, and that was 99ish. not 15 years ago. and bag phones were primarily a rich peep thing and CERTAINLY a luxoury. no where near the number of people were using them, and coverage was horrible so people werent using them continously all the way home.

i think that vdc and traction control can be completly hazardous though, depending on the driver. when my car starts to lose control and i compensate, VDC or (traction control on other cars) continues to compensate, resulting in overcompensation, it's irratating at best and dangerous at worst. new drivers who are used to this or just plain unexperienced may not have this issue.

on the flip side, people who flame people on a thread endlessly when they CLEARLY wont change the thoughts or actions of the OPs are pretty foolish. i hate people who drive like asses, but i know i can't beat em... i realized that long ago. now i just try to have fun and i have to admit, i'd classify myself as having joined em.

 

That's exactly what I'm saying, he sounds like he's told himself this so much, that now he believes it, for the time being at least. I agree that for an experienced driver VDC can be irritating, but if that's the case, why haven't you disabled it? I would assume that you, like many of us, have had your **** saved by VDC at least once, I know I have; not fooling around, not speeding, just coming through the turn-about on the way to my apartment, hit a nice slick spot and the rear broke loose--would it have been perilous otherwise?--no, but I probably would've curbed a rim.

I swear my dad's Star Tac is older than 99. It HAS to be actually...he bought his F150 in 1997 new, and he had the phone at that time. I'll see if I can find it next time I visit my parents.

 

Lawyers are sworn by oath to uphold the U.S. and state Constitutions. We advocate the constitutional rights of all Americans to be afforded due process of law. If we have real reason to believe that a client, or a witness in a case we are prosecuting is likely to perjure themselves we are obligated to withdraw from further representation. Otherwise we can be held in contempt of court for subornation of perjury. But I can see you have some special insight as to what my profession involves given your unique familiarity with the case of California v. Simpson.

As a former criminal prosecutor for the largest county in Illinois, responsible for enforcing criminal statutes and protecting victims rights for 6 million people, and having practiced in the profession for many years, I take that oath very seriously. It's not like turning a light switch on and off.

When I am contributing to this (or any other forum) in an enlightened way, I don't simply forget about the law or civil obedience. To do so on my part would be disloyal to my oath. When another contributor's post promotes irresponsible or criminal behavior, which can have dire consequences for the public, they have to expect some pretty critical responses. They are being disrespectful to those who know the law, follow the law and spend each and every day advocating it. That is not flaming. That is called a proportionate response. If I didn't think these contributors knew better I wouldn't bother. But these are people who ought to know better.

BTW is it possible you sold (rather compped) me my Motorola Star Tac in 1999? I was with Verizon.

 

Women are 10 points and children are 15!
Give me a break here, it's snow, you're suppost to kick the tail out a bit when the conditions are right, Athens you sound like a hippie tree hugger. I work in iraq driving for a major govt dept and i have been sent to a driving school that pushes the envelope of a crown vic with the abs removed. In my humble opinion once you know the limits of your vehicle you are more prepared to operate within those parameters and better suited to deal with being out of them. Plus it's very *u*king fun! in the word of the brits Pi*s off ya ****!

 

Lawyers=leaches