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Driving on ice

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Old 01-18-2011, 10:53 PM
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Default Driving on ice

I hit several patches of ice today on the way to work today and even with my feet off the pedals and holding the steering wheel straight, the car starts to weave. I've not noticed this in other cars. For info the car has VSA and a fast road set up by CG. Is this a quirk of the S or is it me?
Old 01-18-2011, 11:31 PM
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I've noticed this on mine aswell... I thought maybe something to do with the LSD?
Old 01-18-2011, 11:32 PM
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I'm pretty sure it's a feature of rear wheel drive cars in general.

I've noticed it happen to me in my S and my RWD drive van, but not in a FWD, AWD or 4WD car.
Old 01-18-2011, 11:39 PM
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It didn't do it in my BMW though but that's running an open diff...
Old 01-18-2011, 11:58 PM
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mine does it more with bad geo..
i didnt notice it when the geo was 100% fine.. although i was comparing it to the very obvious squirm with bad geo so perception felt like it was irradiated.
Old 01-19-2011, 12:10 AM
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If you've taken your feet off the pedals, you're still decelerating, so effectively braking through both rear wheels and not the front, which isn't good when you've got next to no grip. And no road is perfect, and will introduce small wobbles. If you're doing that and holding the wheel straight, you're probably making it worse.

The diff doesn't do anything if you're not on the power.
Old 01-19-2011, 12:14 AM
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Dip the clutch and keep steering input light, don't forget to gently wind off whatever lock you have had to apply etc etc.

The key is to get all 4 wheels turning at the speed you are going, not sure if this is officially supported but I seem to recall police advanced instructors recommending this.
Old 01-19-2011, 12:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Dembo,Jan 19 2011, 09:10 AM
If you've taken your feet off the pedals, you're still decelerating, so effectively braking through both rear wheels and not the front, which isn't good when you've got next to no grip. And no road is perfect, and will introduce small wobbles. If you're doing that and holding the wheel straight, you're probably making it worse.

The diff doesn't do anything if you're not on the power.
+ 1
Old 01-19-2011, 12:38 AM
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Not noticed it on mine since the geo has been done properly.
Old 01-19-2011, 12:45 AM
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Originally Posted by unclefester,Jan 19 2011, 09:14 AM
Dip the clutch and keep steering input light, don't forget to gently wind off whatever lock you have had to apply etc etc.

The key is to get all 4 wheels turning at the speed you are going, not sure if this is officially supported but I seem to recall police advanced instructors recommending this.
I agree.

I've also heard it phrased that you "should turn the steering so the wheels are rolling rather than skidding"
Or, depending on the extent of the skid.
'Get all 4 wheels pointing the same way and apply some power'

All seem to have the same core element that skidding wheels are bad and rolling wheels are good.


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