First thing I realized how useless not having an LSD is. I can't even slide/drift around on snow covered pavement. I was so excited coming from my FWD car and having to use the e-brake to slide and then looks like I'll be needing an LSD. Which N/A models came with LSD's so I could swap one into my car, this is depressing, aha. inb4 search Was it the GXL and GTUs?

I'm still on my shitty all-seasons that the car came with. They have no traction in the wet, so I'm not excited for snow. Luckily I'm going to check out a set of Blizzaks tomorrow and if those are too used I'll be buying new winters and studding them.

Anyone else driving their 7's in the winter? I believe it's her first time seeing snow and I've been trying to sell it to get a Miata, but looks like it's too late now, aha.

Rant over.

Oh, and left my girlfriend a present for the morning


Oh and there was lots of hail, so much that I couldn't hear the radio, the exhaust or have a conversation with my girlfriend. I hope my paints okay .

 

GXL's had a viscous, not sure about the GTU's. I think they had opens. VLSD's are hit and miss, but should lock up enough for snow drifting

 

I drove an fc, open dif, all season tires that were far from new all winter, 300 miles every weekend. Never got stuck, never had a problem. It teaches you how to drive real fast.

I drove an s14 all of last winter with an lsd, and it seemed to push more through the corners. The front end would break loose before the rears with the lsd, where as the FC with the open dif lost traction in the rear first nearly every time. Of course that is not much of a comparison considering its two different cars, but the same principle applies.

Lsd will give you loads more traction, but it will push more in corners w/ low traction.

 

That's what I've heard. LSD > Open for winter control. I've lived in a very snow-heavy town for my whole life and am getting good at driving in the winter. I'll be doing my usual 20kph over while others are driving slow and taking up two lanes and all over the place. Even today, I'm passing other drivers when I have a RWD sportscar and they're driving econoboxes with winters. I guess some people are just terrified of winter driving.

I want the rear to stay planted unless I give it the beans, then I want it to come loose.

 

Don't see how you drove with an open diff plus all seasons. We just got about two inches of snow in the past two hours and I was sliding everywhere even in lower gears.

Unfortunately all my windows like to fog up so I couldn't see a damn thing and the heater didn't help until I got home, then the front window finally cleared up.

 

No, GXL's had friction plate type limited slip. I believe GTUs had viscous which is better because it doesn't wear out as quickly.

 

I'm honestly not picky. I heard most prefer the clutch type, but forget why. I don't drift on pavement, only in the wet and winter because I value saving my tires.

 

correct me if im wrong but i believe the viscous loses its ability to lock up the hotter it gets but it doesnt wear out as opposed to a clutch type which would only lose the ability to lock up upon too much wear

 

That's what I recall hearing about them too.

 

how about a locker? I have a LS1/T56 with a ford 8.8 (3.73 gears) and been wondering how snow will treat me. I know it will suck but I plan on DD this car all winter this year. Im sure the offset wheels wont help but the rest is in the air as far as I know

 

holy **** its snowing in sault ste marie already? its not even Halloween yet! gta is pretty cold but no snow yet.

 

dont quote me on this cuz im not 100% sure but i think its pretty close to a welded diff

 

yeah pretty much. i was just wondering how the snow will treat me, lol. i have trouble making sharp turns as it is now cant imagine wet or ice. with the locker it will lose grip then less than a second later both wheels are "locked" and spin together. its the locked part that sucks in turns

 

if your good at drifting you might be ok

 

S4 GXL and GTU has clutch LSD
S5 GTUs had the viscous

from my own experience. the clutch type are pretty good in the snow.....when they actually work. You have to remember that many of these lsd units arent rebuilt and have more than 100k miles on them. My GXL I had was great in the snow because of traction from the LSD, even with summer tires LOL, but after some track and drift events, next winter season the LSD was so worn out that it was basically an open diff.

I like that with the viscous LSD you wont have to worry about worn part (almost). In the snow, it will always work. The only problem is that it will stop working when the fluid gets hot, but in the winter time that wont be a problem since traction is less.

but nothing beats having a good set of winter tires.
I like to buy narrow high aspect ratio winter tires for clearance. Summer tires are 225/45/17 for me, but I switch to 195/65/15 for winter tires.

having lsd in the snow will make you spinout and oversteer if you arent careful, but its so fun

 

Yeah, I'm on stock size all seasons since they came with the car and were basically brand new. They're 205/60/15, but for the winter I'm going with a 185/65/15 or 195/65/15. I'm not worried about getting stuck since I live on a main road and I work and go to school on main roads as well.

I watched an AWD Pontiac Aztec get stuck in ~1 foot of snow (we got this overnight) and my Civic had no problem with winter tires. Both of us were leaving the bar at the same time, it was hilarious.


This was within a few hours. It then continued snowing from that time (2:00am) until morning. It was brutal. This was back in March 2012.

And yes, we got about 2 inches of snow in the morning, then for the rest of the day it was raining and hailing, so it all melted. It then snowed again this morning but now it's raining again. It's been raining/snowing for the past 3 days without any breaks. Back in Sudbury(my hometown, I'm in the Sault for college) they also got snow a few times already.

 

Are there such things as spring, summer, and autumn in Canada?

 

Summer = July-August
Fall = September - October
Winter = November - March/April
Spring = April/May - June

That's basically our Northern Ontario schedule, aha.

 

Be ready for the rear to spin out when enginebraking/downshifting

 

What the hell is alll that white ****?

 

i believe its cocaine im pretty sure theyre in colombia

 

I can't wait for snow!

 

I grew up driving RWD in the snow, it is a different skill than just driving. It's easier if you learned that way.

LSD definitely helps. AWD helps even more. You learn patience.

I did end up running around in the snow alot in old RWD Volvos. If you think ahead it is not bad. It's a lot harder with an auto transmission.

 

I've driven through terrible winters in my 97 Civic with an auto trans and have driven my moms RWD Chrysler 300 a lot during the winter with winter tires and loved turning off the traction control and drifting around corners. I have never gotten stuck unless friends and I would go on the lakes and I'd slide on ice into a 2 foot tall snowbank or on really snowy days in mall/grocery store parking lots with a foot of fresh snow. It's always a good time, aha.

 

mine is too low to drive in the snow.