Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2014 22:20:28 -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: <52F08302.6040507@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
on Studless Winter tires ..
it's not just the tread pattern at all..
it's the rubber compound ...
the newer the model of studless winter tire ..the better.
They're making progress there all the time.
On 2/3/2014 10:04 PM, JRodgers wrote:
> Running the right tire for the conditions is like running the right wax
> on your cross country skiis. In Alaska a tire with a "stickiness" or
> "tackiness" to the rubber on the road was highly desirable. Cross
> country skiers use either a sticky wax or a hard wax and in some cases
> some of both - depending on the ski conditions. The hard wax makes you
> glide so easy - but it's the pits when trying to wishbone up a hill -
> makes you want to slide backward - but with a bit o the sticky and a bit
> of the hard stuff - you get the right combo and can go-go-go. Tires are
> the same. Sticky in cold climes - very hard in the deep south where the
> roads rarely ever see anything except rain. And harder still in the West!
>
> John
>
> On 2/3/2014 11:50 PM, SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss ) wrote:
>> 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)
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>
>
| 
