Winter Driving

I'm sure God's looking out for you, but it certainly isn't because of the knick knacks you carry in the car.

You should try driving around Chicago... it's brutal. The first sign of snow and all the morons come out to play. It's like bumpers cars out here on the morning expressways. Good luck and keep safe.

If you can stay in because it snows, then you are lucky. We have Blizzacks on our car this winter and it helps, but even with them, the car is so damn light, you just need to slow down. I have Yokahoma Ice Guards on my other car and it drives better, but it has 800lbs on the Corolla. The Corolla doesn't corner or stop as well because of the weight.

The car did make a trip from Illinois to Indiana during that last snow storm, so, the car did stay on the road. It wouldn't take much for it to get stuck tho with power going to one wheel.

I've driven my 2000 Corolla in alot of snow and the biggest secret to driving it, just like any other car is take your time, and go slow....... give lots of room with the car in front. Also, I've yet to get the 'rolla stuck, and I've actually went through places that bigger heavier cars where hung up.

Now, my '90 tbird is a 4000lb rear wheel drive performance machine, and it scares the crap out of me when there is even a thought of snow around.... so it stays parked during the winter.

Frit

Biggest thing to remember is to ease OFF the brakes ... your Corolla wont steer if you are jaming on the brakes and the front tires are locked up. Probably, you have ABS, which will help to correct the problem, but in extreme slippery situations, you wont regain steering ability until you remove your foot from the brake.

Also, remember that as with all front wheel drive vehicles, steer in the direction you want to go and SLIGHTLY apply some gas, the front wheels will drag the rest of the car in that direction.

And one more thing, contrary to popular addage(sp?) I like to drive in a higher gear in slippery conditions rather than a lower gear. This prevents too much torque from breaking the tires loose ... once they are loose, you are done. Try up-shifting a little sooner than you normally would and downshifting a bit later. And use the brakes to slow the vehicle (dont put it into a skid though, and remember to let up on the brakes if you loose your steering) -- downshifting to brake only uses the front tires, the pedel brake will use all four tires. (This last paragraph only applies to standard transmissions ... if you have an auto ... well, i dunno :-\

-IJF

tire pressure = standard - 2

I havn't owned a automatic car since 94-95. My older sister and her friends got me hooked on manual cars before I was old enough to drive. However, my first car was sadly a auto It was handed down to me and who turns down a free POS car?

Anyway, one winter I was driving up a hill that was kind of narrow and it had a pretty good angle to it for water run off. When I was almost up the hill, the car desided to downshift on me and the tires started to spin and because of the angle for water run off, I started to go off the road. I was able to lift off the gas and get the car back on the road at the last minuet, but I have absolutly HATED automatic cars ever since then.

So, if you do have a auto, manual stick it in the gear you want if you are in a situation where the car should downshift on you. You might just spin yourself off the road.

I really belive that a manual is safer because you can control the power with the clutch, choosing the gear, and of corse the gas pedal. It is also easier to put the car in nutral to coast across icy bridges.

I like my automatic...I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to learn stick...my brother's got a Golf and it's a stick...

I just hate when driving on ice...these are times when I wish our city would let us use something extra... like cleats for cars...

The Accord I have now is my first car with ABS... my previous COrolla didn't have it. I notice that although ABS keeps the car straight when braking, in the snow my stopping distances are not dramatically better, and if I over cook a turn, it will still understeer just the same as before. It wasn't really a suprise to me, but it makes you realize that it's easy to get a false sense of security.

I'm not really convinced that a ABS system works well enough for snow and ice. On just wet roads, you are suppost to mash the brake, keep it held down while the system is suppost to stop you faster and keep your car from spinning out. You are suppost to keep braking even if you need to turn.

On snow and ice, I don't think the system has enough friction from the tires for the system to work right. I have a older ABS system on my 92 Mitsubishi, but on snow and ice, I can stop faster using light braking, then using too much brake and having the ABS system kick in.

Maybe it's just because I have a older car, but if the tires can't get enough grip, then how can the ABS system work? Rain soaked roads are one thing, but snow and ice is totally different. I think using light braking on snow and ice and giving yourself plenty of time to stop is your best bet. The ABS should still be able to keep your car from spinning out because your tires will not lock up completely, but it just seems like the ABS isn't nearly as quick turning the brakes on and off for you nealy fast enough on snow and ice covered roads.

Those of you without garages and those of you who do your own oil changes -

what do you do in the winter? there's snow all over and the temps are freezing, any ideas for changing oil by myself.

Hi, have you tried changing your tires? I found that the OEM tires provided by Toyota were really bad (Goodyear Integrity for me).

I bought Goodyear Assurance TripleTred not long after buying my car, and these tires have saved my life more than once (I'm a fairly aggressive driver). The difference in handling is well worth the $400.

The first thing I would recommend doing is to change your tires!!! This can't be emphasized enough. I changed my tires over to a full set of decent all-seasons (BF Goodrich traction TA's) about a month ago, and boy am I glad I did! The car handles completely different in the snow, and now I do not have to drive with white knuckles or get worried when it comes time to turn or stop in the snow. Believe me, your car will not handle so badly without the OEM tires! Ditch them ASAP! You can be the best driver in the world, but without respectable tires, you're still going to end up in a ditch when the snow hits...

Hi, have you tried changing your tires? I found that the OEM tires provided by Toyota were really bad (Goodyear Integrity for me).

I bought Goodyear Assurance TripleTred not long after buying my car, and these tires have saved my life more than once (I'm a fairly aggressive driver). The difference in handling is well worth the $400.

I got new tires 6 months ago! BF Goodrich, after getting advice from Tire Rack and the people on this forum. I'm not getting new tires, those tires cost me $78/tire...so it's pretty much the same as the Goodyear...

I'm sure God's looking out for you, but it certainly isn't because of the knick knacks you carry in the car.

 

You should try driving around Chicago... it's brutal. The first sign of snow and all the morons come out to play. It's like bumpers cars out here on the morning expressways. Good luck and keep safe.

Zefram,

It ain't only brutal there. Here in Toronto, it's a major 'demolition derby' as well once the snow flies and the slush builds up. Those members here on Corolland, who also live in Toronto will agree. Count on the number of accidents to increase exponentially in snowy weather!

Those of you without garages and those of you who do your own oil changes -

what do you do in the winter? there's snow all over and the temps are freezing, any ideas for changing oil by myself.

I change oils every 6 months in my cars: march and september. May not work for you if you do lots of miles.

There is no substitute for good driving skills. I learned that when I traveled with my wife in our AWD subaru. She hit an ice patch on a curve and instinctively lifted the gas pedal. Instantly, the car fishtailed 180 degree and we landed in a deep snow shoulder at 55 mph. The good news was that we were not hurt and the AWD allowed for the car to go back on the road, unlike many dosens of cars we saw abandoned on the shoulders that night.

Your wife needs to watch WRC AWD cars can do amazing things. While I never try and acually start a drift, my AWD car has gotten me out of so much trouble. As long as you drive as safly as you can, you shouldn't ever really start to spin, but if you do, AWD can help pull you out of the problem. If you use the gas, your car moves as one without the front or the rear spinning out. You pretty much point and steer. You might want to practice a little in a empty parking lot the next times it snows. I had a friend who went from FWD to AWD and he always over corrected. He did 180 degree turns instead of 90 degree turns I've been modding my car for some time now and I have to be carefull to not spin the tires when the roads are wet, even with AWD, when the turbo hits, the tires can spin. I got a lot of baby drifts going around corners and it's just so much fun. You can feel the rear kick in, and I turn in to it like normal, but only about 1/10th of a turn. You don't turn in to it nearly as much as a 2WD car. The front wheels pull the front of the car around. AWD is becoming really popluar and that's a good thing, but they really do drive differenty then 2WD cars and most owners don't truly take advantage of what the cars can do. We have already had some nastry snow this year and with the way the Corolla performed, I thought about trading it in for a Impreza RS. The new ones have a 2.5l and more power, and I think the price acually dropped a little cause we looked at one, but last year had a 2.0 and I thought the AWD kind of bogged that engine down a little. I havn't been in a new one, but I hear they are nice and torqy. Anyway, I LOVE AWD cars, and that is the one thing I am really missing with the Corolla. That is my only complaint. Maybe Toyota will bring back all trac since AWD cars are becomming popular.

Same here.

Both my son and I scrapped the Integritys at 12K on our 2003 Corollas.

The Michelins have been a complete turnaround from the skittish Integritys.

I finally replaced my Integrities yesterday, with Bridgestone Turanza LS-Ts. I feel like an idiot for keeping those awful things on my car for almost four years. As I mentioned on another thread, I went from the stock 185/65/15s to 195/60/15s. Same overall diameter so the speedo's the same, but the wider tire combined with a slightly lower-sitting car has done wonders for both looks and performance. My first thought driving away from the tire shop was "I finally feel safe."

Unquestionably - first thing to do on buying a Corolla is to dump the Integrity and get a "real" tire. For me it was Yokohama Avids.

PS> There's AWD and there's AWD. Try going up a minor hill covered in show with an Audi TT AWD...you'll end up going backwards even if you follow all the rules, as some guy in a Corolla passes by going the correct direction!

The owner probably left the stock tires on and they are going to be more of a performance tire. I'm sure the stock TT tires are useless in the snow. AWD is only a advantage with the right tires.

Now AWD with snow tires is just awsome. I know that first hand and I once got taken by surprize with a small snow storm I didn't know about and I was about 1.5 hours from home and I was wearing Z rated summer only tires. Needless to say, I barly made it home. The same car with snow tires is the safest thing I've ever driven in winter.

Why do you think you see so many SUVs off the side of the road in the winter time? They assume that 4x4 = staying on the road, but 95% or more of the SUVs sold come with 100% street tires. A Jeep off road package would come with better tires. If they installed the right mud and dirt tire, some of them have great snow traction too. They have more road noise tho and SUV owners want a luxury rugged thing and they can't really have it all. Also, they tend to speed, but aside from that, they don't have the right tires, even tho they have 4x4. Tires that come for the factory from many car makers suck. I don't know why they don't put better tires on. I can only guess that they are dirt cheap. We had a Jeep 4x4 rental when our Corolla got hit earlier in the year and I took it on a dirt road that had been plowed for a expanding street. It was all muddy because it had just rained and while I didn't get stuck, I was slidding all over the place and fishtailing and I could tell the tires were having a lot of trouble getting grip. Factory tires just suck. Now for performace cars, they tend to come with good performace tires, but for just about everything else, they seem to always leave the factory with useless tires. The Corolla isn't the only one.