Car for commute + snow.

In a straight line I can practically stand on the throttle and it won't slip.
But if I crank the wheel a bit, just a slight dab of the gas will bring the car around, which coincidentally is how I park the car.

EDIT: Oh I see I missed that Kiki is using studded tires, I've never driven on those.

Nope, not using studded tires - just regular X-Ices.

Heh, didn't mean to start anything here, but I've got to clarify - I've just been trying to slide the car out at lower speeds (<40 mph) so that might be the issue. :)

All I can say is that I'm damn happy - on NYE, we had a car sliding right towards us trying to turn into our street. We floored the sucker to turn right onto the street, and it drove as if everything was normal (this was on hard snow pack). :D Yeah, I'm a happy panda.
 
Studded tires have generally better grip on dry and wet tarmac than the most extreme studless winter tires like Michelin X-Ice Xi2 or Continental ExtremeWinterContact.
The studless tires have softer compound to gain the maximum grip on snow and ice which make them worse on tarmac. Studded tires have harder compound which makes the studs work better and help for the grip on wet and dry tarmac.

Studs form a pocket where the rubber does not contact the road; the result is less rubber in contact with the pavement on tarmac, also, steel doesn't have the grip of rubber when it comes to tarmac. The softer compound rubber actually grips better on dry pavement than harder compound rubber, it just wears out a bit faster. The soft rubber actually does better in cold conditions than hard compounds, that's why racers use hard compound tires in hot weather and a softer compounds in cold weather.
 
Studs form a pocket where the rubber does not contact the road; the result is less rubber in contact with the pavement on tarmac, also, steel doesn't have the grip of rubber when it comes to tarmac. The softer compound rubber actually grips better on dry pavement than harder compound rubber, it just wears out a bit faster. The soft rubber actually does better in cold conditions than hard compounds, that's why racers use hard compound tires in hot weather and a softer compounds in cold weather.
Here you go:
http://img408.imageshack.**/img408/2162/tiretest.jpg

The compound on studless winter tires is way too soft to grip and handle well on dry/wet tarmac. They give away too much with the snow&ice optimized structure.
Racing tires are a whole different story as the structure and tread are completely different.
 
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Or perhaps the car's AWD, weight and tires are doing their job.

On snow my 1.4 with proper tyres can get slip in 5th without being in the torque band. Didn't try 6th, wasn't going fast enough. Add AWD to the mix, double the power, and drop a few cogs. If you can't get slip, something is wrong.
 
You're absolutely right, the car is running on only half a horsepower - and you should know having never driven or even seen it and knowing precisely dick about the conditions in which the car has been driven. I bow to your superior knowledge of the entire existence of the universe and all things automotive. :rolleyes:

Here you go:
The compound on studless winter tires is way too soft to grip and handle well on dry/wet tarmac. They give away too much with the snow&ice optimized structure.
Racing tires are a whole different story as the structure and tread are completely different.

Not all winter tires use the same compound. Some tires are much softer than others and there are a variety of tread patterns from various manufacturers. The same tire with studs will have a longer stopping distance on dry or wet pavement as that exact tire without studs. The studs don't offer grip on pavement because they work by digging into ice and snow. They can't dig in to pavement so they form a pocket, pressing the surrounding rubber up off the road and reducing the contact with the pavement, which reduces traction. All things being equal, studded tires will do better on hardpack snow, but a studless tire will do better on pavement.
 
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Not all winter tires use the same compound. Some tires are much softer than others and there are a variety of tread patterns from various manufacturers. The same tire with studs will have a longer stopping distance on dry or wet pavement as that exact tire without studs. The studs don't offer grip on pavement because they work by digging into ice and snow. They can't dig in to pavement so they form a pocket, pressing the surrounding rubber up off the road and reducing the contact with the pavement, which reduces traction. All things being equal, studded tires will do better on hardpack snow, but a studless tire will do better on pavement.
Yes, but when comparing the tires that are made for the most extreme winter conditions the studded tires generally perform better on dry or wet pavement than studless and can still be superior on snow and ice too.
Sure there are studless "winter" tires which perform better on dry/wet pavement than studded tires but they'll suck on snow and especially ice.

The studded tires don't have to make the structural compromises to perform better on ice/hardpack snow that studless winter tires have to. That makes the studless winter tires worse on wet and dry pavement.
Studless tires that are not made to work on ice/hardpack snow don't have to make these compromises so they perform well on wet and dry pavement.
 
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Here's a higher speed rating studless winter tire test:
http://img706.imageshack.**/img706/9646/tiretest2.jpg

Narf, yours won! :)
 
:clap: to me my tyres :lol:

Are the ultra grip perf. related to the ultra grip 7+? If so then :clap: for the Astra's tyres :lol:
 
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It's said we're going to get more snow tonight, altough still nothing. The mild weather have made the snow heavy and unlikeable and the roads slippery.

 
That guy is my hero.
 
Why didn't he power out?
Powersliding with an excavator would have been awesome.
 
Looks like we may have some more Seattle mayhem coming up.
 
I've decided that the Accent is horrible in the snow. Its probably just the tires (new, but wide and sporty all-seasons), but as I struggled up the maybe 3% incline of my street trying to get to work at 4:30 this morning, I couldn't help but wish we still had our beater Festiva; With its 12", narrow snow tires we could plow through anything below a foot and a half.
 
I've decided that the Accent is horrible in the snow. Its probably just the tires (new, but wide and sporty all-seasons), but as I struggled up the maybe 3% incline of my street trying to get to work at 4:30 this morning, I couldn't help but wish we still had our beater Festiva; With its 12", narrow snow tires we could plow through anything below a foot and a half.

You are in Canada and you don't run snow tires in the winter????
 
You are in Canada and you don't run snow tires in the winter????

Winters in the Pacific North West are mild to non existent. Unless you go up into the mountains it is mostly rain.

For reference, B.C. isn't far from Seattle.

279px-Cascadia_megacity_map.png
 
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Winters in the Pacific North West are mild to non existent. Unless you go up into the mountains it is mostly rain.

For reference, B.C. isn't far from Seattle.

279px-Cascadia_megacity_map.png


Exactly, so far this winter we've totalled about 2 days of snow. I grew up in a town 20 minutes south of where I currently live and we averaged maybe a full day of snow a year, when it did snow it usually melted by midday.
 
Winters in the Pacific North West are mild to non existent. Unless you go up into the mountains it is mostly rain.

For reference, B.C. isn't far from Seattle.

279px-Cascadia_megacity_map.png

Yeah I know BC is right above there, but thought you still had more snow.
 
Exactly, so far this winter we've totalled about 2 days of snow. I grew up in a town 20 minutes south of where I currently live and we averaged maybe a full day of snow a year, when it did snow it usually melted by midday.

Why wouldn't you drive the Dakota in the snow? It's 4x4 isn't it?
 
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