Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 20:04:47 -0800
Reply-To: "SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Organization: Cosmic Reminders
Subject: Re: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
In-Reply-To: <BLU177-W100EB985EEF8DCAFFBEBD5E0950@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
brrrrr ..
sounds like you need 'em.
I bet they don't sell studded tires for Vanagons in Hawaii .
what happens here in Southern Oregon is some people mount studs in the
fall..
and there may only be 5 days of snow the whole winter.
All that rattling around on pavement ...
it's rough on the roads too.
Same when I lived in Minot ND long ago ..in town snow gets packed down
by cars ..
freezes and hardens..and stays for months .
On 2/4/2014 5:54 PM, James wrote:
> Scott, as you also replied about getting the latest, most modern rubber in winter tires - so too with studded tires.
>
> The latest studded tires have pretty much the same grip in soft snow and 90% or better of the same grip on dry pavement, but also dig into ice and packed snow in a way that studless tires can't match. Check out videos from Nokian's proving grounds, or talk to some Finns or Swedes - or Canadians who run studded Nokians in the winter. The studded Nokias (previous name) I had 30 years ago were not as good on pavement - but in Nova Scotia, driving on dry pavement in winter was a rare luxury. Hard-packed snow and ice was much more common!
>
> James
> Ottawa
>
>> Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2014 21:50:02 -0800
>> From: scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM
>> Subject: Re: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>
>> Depends on what you're driving on.
>> Studs don't help in soft snow.
>> The stopping distnaces on pavement have to be much higher than a good
>> pavement tire has.
>> packed snow
>> and ice ..sure studs help some.
>>
>> for people that have not tried really good Studless Winter tires ..
>> you really should.
>> When I bought Bridgestone Blizzacks a few years a back ..
>> after 5 decades of 2WD winter driving ...
>> I'll never run anything but those now ...with chains for the really bad
>> situations to put on if needed.
>>
>> Also ...RWD vanagons are very traction-challenged.
>> A good 2 to 300 lbs in the rear compartment over the engine sure doesn't
>> hurt.
>>
>> On 2/3/2014 5:46 PM, James wrote:
>>> I love studs. I had them on front-drive (Rabbit) and rear-drive ('76 Toyota Corolla) cars in Nova Scotia for a decade. But they're illegal here in Ontario.
>>>
>>> James
>>>
>>>> Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2014 01:13:29 -0600
>>>> From: ki4tlf@GMAIL.COM
>>>> Subject: Re: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
>>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>>
>>>> Tires and driving style are the majority of it. If it would work and I
>>>> could get away with it, I'd run the studs like the Ice Racers do.
>>>>
>>>> GregM
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>>>> JRodgers
>>>> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 12:44 AM
>>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>> Subject: Re: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
>>>>
>>>> Saw this in Alaska every fall at first snowfalls. All the Chechakos
>>>> (newcommers)with their fancy 4WD rigs had to learn the hard way.,
>>>>
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>> On 2/2/2014 10:31 PM, James wrote:
>>>>> To add one more note to this, was out and about in yesterday's snowstorm
>>>> in our front-wheel-drive Toyota Matrix, equipped with Michelin X-Ice 3 tires
>>>> all around. It was greasy and slippery, being just below freezing with 5
>>>> cm/two inches of fresh snow and more coming down. Going along one
>>>> principal, six-lane street at about 40 km/h (25 mph), saw a 4WD Kia Sportage
>>>> spinning and sliding all over the place on a moderate grade. When we both
>>>> stopped - he out of an inability to go forward, me so I wouldn't have him
>>>> slide into me - noted that he had old, cheap all-season tires. He wasn't in
>>>> a mood to take advice, so I carryied on upgrade with my two wheels pulling,
>>>> leaving behind his 4WD to slide gently backwards down the slope...
>>>>> James in snowy Ottawa.
>>>>>
>>>>>> Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:02:16 -0500
>>>>>> From: jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: Syncros. Positractions, Peloquins, and One Wheel Drives
>>>>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Syncros and limited slip differentials really help in the snow and ice,
>>>> but most critical are the tires. True summer tires are rarely used up here
>>>> in the 'Great White North' (unless you have a full-zoot set of high
>>>> performance tires on a sports car), but the year I was posted in Atlanta I
>>>> remember being surprised how uncommon even 'all-season' radials were - a lot
>>>> of cheap summer tires on sale. And the thing about cheap, long-life summer
>>>> tires is that the rubber gets hard, hard, hard when it gets cold - and hard
>>>> rubber doesn't have any traction on ice.
>>>>>> Softer rubber, with the right tire sipe pattern, can have surprisingly
>>>> good traction on ice. I haven't driven our Westy in the snow and ice, but I
>>>> have driven a lot of front-drive and rear-drive cars and trucks in snow and
>>>> ice. A decent, careful driver in a 2WD car with good 'ice and snow' winter
>>>> tires can get through on most icy, snowy roads. 4WD helps, but if the 4WD
>>>> has been crippled by not having winter tires, they are no better than 2WD
>>>> (and worse, if the driver is overconfident because of 4WD). My favourites
>>>> of the really good ice and snow tires are Nokians, Continentals
>>>> WinterContact, and Michelin's X-ice series. Studded tires are illegal here
>>>> in Ontario, but those three tires all will stop on ice for me.
>>>>>> My sympathies to all of you living through the ice and snow in Alabama,
>>>> Georgia, etc. While my Canadian neighbours snigger at your plight, I just
>>>> remember that most of them would wilt in the 100F with humidity that you
>>>> folks live in every summer.
>>>>>> James
>>>>>> Ottawa, ON
>>>>>> '91 Multivan Westfalia (Weekender)
>>>>>>
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