Ice Ice Baby :eek:

[captainjman]

I took my car out today, weather report said "10 percent chance of light rain". Car had some dirt, so I figured I would take a drive and if it rained it would give me a chance to wipe off the dirt behind the wheels that got caked on...

I walked out the door of my friends house and what do I see? Snow??? WTF!

These flakes were HUGE, I mean the size of silver dollars! I had to get my car home ASAP, before the snow gets too deep or the salt trucks start dispersing their corrosive cargo. So off I went, knowing full well that my summer tires I just installed (advan 08's) would not be snow friendly. I will just drive slowly and not accelerate in the turns! No big deal.

So I back out of the driveway, put the car in 1st and... well, you guessed it, that damn yellow light starts blinking! This trip was not easy, but without that damn traction control I don't think I could have made it home at all.

Car never saw snow before, and will never see snow again... but thought the pictures were kinda cool so I am sharing some Iphone pics.

I was AMAZED that in a straight line, at a constant speed that the tail end could start to slide out and control being an issue! I knew I had to take it easy, but at 25 miles an hour in a straight line?

Im glad I got to experience it though

Jason

 

[Midnight_Raven]

I could imagine it would be very loose especially since you were running summer tires on it. My old MR2 all season tires still had issue with grip when it snowed. MR + summer tires + snow = bad idea.

 

[s14_tat]

The crazy thing is that logically a MR in the snow would be not be that bad since people usually throw sand bags in the trunk of RWD vehicles for traction. We already got the weight back there from the engine. I got caught in the snow once in my car and it wasn't too bad, I also have the Falken RT615 (extreme summer tires) on as well

 

[Mac Attack]

I used to drive mine up in CT snow all the time with big-block summer Dunlop SP8000's.

The NSX actually does very well in the snow with all that weight hanging over the drive wheels. The narrow front tires even help it steer through snow compared to other performance cars these days.

The problem is the newer extreme performance tires released the past few years. They've blurred the gap to the race-only R-compounds, BUT they explicitly state that the silica compounds become very hard and slippery near freezing temperatures and to not use them in those conditions. :wink:

Dave

 

[tbromley]

Man, glad you made it home without any damaging drama. Wow - when it starts snowing it gets bad quick up there. It's 71 here today - a little sun - some puffy clouds - good golf/driving day. A little rain tomorrow and 60s over the weekend.....and that's what I love about the south. Of course I was cussing 3 weeks ago when it snowed - hopefully for the last time. It's really getting to be spring quickly here - some trees are blooming already - crazy man. Be safe dude!

 

[Brylek]

Did it hurt?

 

[gsrboy]

LOL nice catch

 

[LJZ]

Jason, when I bought my /94 in Phoenix in November 2009 my buddy Mike and I drove it back to MI on OEM Bridgestone RE010s. Somewhere in New Mexico in the middle of the night (2:30 a.m. or so) we ran into a snowstorm -- yikes. We were able to make it to a motel and stayed until the roads cleared in the a.m. This was a truly scary experience and "loose" is an understatement as to the rear end antics that we experienced. Although when we left Phoenix it appeared that the RE010s had about 50% depth they essentially melted away during our hwy drive (probably a combination of age and aggressive rear alignment setting) necessitating a stop outside of St. Louis to buy a couple of Fuzions so we could make it back home. Having experienced the "dancing rear end" not only in the snow but in the rain during our trip back to MI I have every intention of making sure that I have plenty of tread on the rears at all times!

Best,
Jeff

 

[synth19]

Word. Those tires are very slippy once you get under 40 degrees. Luckily you OK and the car didn't melt.

 

[d.n]

Hah pretty funny (the did it hurt).. that looks like a good parking lot to have some fun in :biggrin:

 

[captainjman]

Car didn't melt - LOL

Those tires are VERY slippery with snow.

I never intended on ever having the X in snow, like I said, it was unexpected snowfall last night. I was actually lucky, about 25 minutes after I got in the garage at home we had significant hail (pea sized up to quarter sized hail)

It could have been a really bad night, I would assume that the thin, iightweigt aluminum would not hold up well against quarter sized hail!

Jason

 

[Mac Attack]

Those tires are VERY slippery with snow.
Jason

Correction - Those tires are VERY slippery at or below freezing temperatures.

Any kind of moisture just makes it worse. Be careful up there in Chicago!

Dave

 

[dablackgoku1234]

I got caught in some slushy snow when I first got the car a few years back. I have to say, that almost new summer tires dont do jack in snow. And this wasnt a lot of snow, it was maybe half a cm and it was melting. But anyways, just be very very careful. I remember sliding all over the place and not being able to get traction in first gear.

 

[captainjman]

Did it hurt?

Good catch!

Actually, the only way for me to get in and out of the car is to turn sideways and then get up with my cane (until my knee and back heal). I didn't slip.

You should be a detective though! I didn't seven see that in my shot till you mentioned it!

Jason

 

[Midnight_Raven]

The crazy thing is that logically a MR in the snow would be not be that bad since people usually throw sand bags in the trunk of RWD vehicles for traction. We already got the weight back there from the engine. I got caught in the snow once in my car and it wasn't too bad, I also have the Falken RT615 (extreme summer tires) on as well

No in theory the MR layout car is the worst drivetrain layout to drive in snow. The reason being is due to the lower polar moment of inertia in that layout. Since most of the mass is concentrated in the middle of the car the MR layout car can't resist torsion as well as a FR car with sandbags in it's trunk. Reason being is that most of the mass of the vehicle in an FR layout car w/sandbags is away from the center so they have a higher resistence to torsion.

Only advantage to it is that you have more friction in the rear tire but that's only in the direction of motion. You are more susceptible to the torque like forces when driving into uneven snow with a MR car.

 

[latzke]

Jason, when I bought my /94 in Phoenix in November 2009 my buddy Mike and I drove it back to MI on OEM Bridgestone RE010s. Somewhere in New Mexico in the middle of the night (2:30 a.m. or so) we ran into a snowstorm -- yikes. We were able to make it to a motel and stayed until the roads cleared in the a.m. This was a truly scary experience and "loose" is an understatement as to the rear end antics that we experienced. Although when we left Phoenix it appeared that the RE010s had about 50% depth they essentially melted away during our hwy drive (probably a combination of age and aggressive rear alignment setting) necessitating a stop outside of St. Louis to buy a couple of Fuzions so we could make it back home. Having experienced the "dancing rear end" not only in the snow but in the rain during our trip back to MI I have every intention of making sure that I have plenty of tread on the rears at all times!

Best,
Jeff

I used to have a dancing rear end in the wet (car wiggling as you go over undulations on a straight wet road) and rear tire wear like you described (new rears every oil change). Thinking it was from the 1991 rear toe specs (6mm of total toe in) I went in to have it aligned to 1993+ specs (4mm total rear toe in). The initial reading before adjustment was 12mm. I would recommend having your alignment checked. I now get much-more reasonable (for an NSX) life out of my tires and the car is very good in the wet. I've since done a full track day in the rain and was amazed. The difference before/after is night and day.

 

[CL65 Captain]

It could have been a really bad night, I would assume that the thin, iightweigt aluminum would not hold up well against quarter sized hail!

Jason

You would be really surprised. I got caught it a god awful hail storm on the way back from the track. It was so bad that everyone in front of me on highway 70 in IN came to a complete stop so I couldn't get to an underpass or off ramp and gas station. After wards, I inspected the body carefully and there wasn't one ding. :smile:

 

[enkrypt3d]

I used to have a dancing rear end in the wet (car wiggling as you go over undulations on a straight wet road) and rear tire wear like you described (new rears every oil change). Thinking it was from the 1991 rear toe specs (6mm of total toe in) I went in to have it aligned to 1993+ specs (4mm total rear toe in). The initial reading before adjustment was 12mm. I would recommend having your alignment checked. I now get much-more reasonable (for an NSX) life out of my tires and the car is very good in the wet. I've since done a full track day in the rain and was amazed. The difference before/after is night and day.

so did you put the toe back to dead zero? I have that issue when the tires are almost ready to be changed.....

 

[Vega$ NSX]

ALLRIGHT, STOP!!!

Collaborate and listen....


:tongue:

 

[latzke]

so did you put the toe back to dead zero? I have that issue when the tires are almost ready to be changed.....

No. Per my post that you quote, it is set to the middle of the 1993 spec: 4mm total toe in. I figure dead zero would compromise the handling...and I get great tread life with the current settings so I don't see much that could be gained from that compromise.