Your winter driving tips?

The Show
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41

Your suggestion of having a shovel and sand in the trunk is a good one. I have gotten out of bad situations many times with the help of these items. I offer here some refinements. The best shovel is a D handle one since they fit better in the trunk and are more maneuverable around the stuck wheel.

Also, rather than a bag of sand that will get dumped in a pile because it is so hard to handle, I suggest one or several liquid detergent containers with the cap area cut away. They stow well in the trunk and the sand can be sprinkled more accurately. Cat litter works good too, and cheap it its used.

42

If you drive am open-bed pickup, leave the snow in the open bed, and sweep any snow from the roof into the bed. The snow doesn’t blow out onto other drivers because the bed has a layer of “dead” air inside it, and the extra weight keeps your drive wheels on the road better.

43

For Trucks or Cars, especially diesel, I am a big fan of the HOT AIR POPCORN POPPER : )
Buy one, they’re cheap. Remove the plastic top and position the thing under your engine with an extension cord. The collumn of hot air warms the block, hoses, belts, battery, everything in a few minutes.
Unlike a block heater it gets the whole engine compartment toasty as a summer day.
The air is not hot enough to be dangerous-- just make sure there is some clearance between the top of the popper and anything hanging down under your engine. I use this method here in Western Massachusetts when things get seriously, seriously cold.

44

re: hills:

In Alaska, at least everywhere I’ve been that gets serious snow, there are never any stop signs on roads going up or down hills. The cross streets have to stop, the cars ascending or descending always have right of way…because they cannot stop. (Either because they won’t get started again…or because they CANNOT STOP.)

45

I lived most of my life in Alaska, and I learned to drive there. I have comments.

Re: Tune-ups

You should be taking care of your car anyway. In AK (and parts of the desert southwest, and probably the northern plains) it doesn’t matter if you have AAA if you break down 20 miles from the nearest cell phone signal.

Also, the reverse is also true of tire pressure…when it starts getting warm again you may need to release some pressure.

I’ve got a question about oil, though…should you use a thinner oil in winter? I always did, but does it matter? (I had an old inline-6 Nova and a Toyota Corolla, though, so for me it probably didn’t, but I mean generally.)

Re: Batteries

In extreme cold, batteries don’t last as long as they do in warm climates. (I’m guessing the frequent temperature changes have something to do with it, but I’m not a chemist.) So the “check battery” thing is doubly important.

A battery that says “60 months” on it might last over a decade in Arizona, but it pretty much won’t last longer than 60 months in Alaska.

Re: sand:

It isn’t just good for putting weight over the drive wheels, it’s also good for getting yourself unstuck if you get stuck on ice. Grit the ice with it, get some traction that way. Cat litter works better, though. Also, cat litter is good for cleaning up spills, in case your car decides to dump all of its oil or coolant on the road. Carry a bag of sand or cat litter even in a FWD or AWD car, just not as much.

Re: Block heaters:
I was car shopping and I looked at an early 90s Olds Cutlass Ciera owned by a Chinese graduate student. He’d just learned to drive the year before, and this was the first car he’d ever had anything to do with. Whoever taught him to drive didn’t bother to tell him he needed to plug in his engine heaters. I checked the oil and found coolant in it. Not that white foam that happens when you have a little bit of coolant in the oil, but a discernible mix of oil and coolant on the dipstick, like there were equal parts oil and coolant swirling around in the crank case. The radiator was full of exactly that.

It is a testament to the quality of General Motors’ engines that the thing even ran at all. And that was from just one winter of not plugging it in.

If it’s regularly getting below about 0 degrees Fahrenheit, plug it in. A lot of cars aren’t even capable of starting if it’s around -30 or colder and they aren’t plugged in.

Re: four snow tires on AWD cars:

You don’t want to mix old and new tires on an AWD car anyway, it isn’t good for the differentials.

Re: Cell phones:

Most cell phone batteries are crap in cold weather. Even if it does hold a charge don’t expect it to work for more than a couple of minutes if it’s cold. The old Motorola bricks worked great in cold weather, but I don’t think those are supported by most networks anymore.

Re: going slow:

A feather touch on the gas can get you there faster. You accelerate faster (still not very fast) if you don’t spend 3 seconds after the light turns green spinning your wheels. Also, braking in anticipation of lights changing, in order to time your arrival so you don’t have to stop (this works best with widely spaced lights and light traffic) means you don’t have to bother with that at all. If there’s a lane clear, you’ll sail past the idiot who rushed to the light, and is now spinning all four wheels trying to get started again.

And finally, re: tire chains:

46

One of my fondest memories of Alaska was the first week of snow, every year, between Eielson AFB and Fort Wainwright, seeing the ditches littered with pickup trucks and SUVs. Often they’d have Florida or Texas plates. It was just so much fun seeing people learning the hard way that 4WD doesn’t make them invincible.

47

Stopping distances are longer…it’s worse in winter.

Oh, and speaking of driving in snowstorms, people who don’t have their lights on during daytime snowstorms, or when there’s snow on the road being kicked up by traffic.

Yes, the light reflecting back to you can make it a little harder to see the road, but not having your lights on makes it a lot harder for other drivers to see you.

48

Few things are as much FUN as driving in snow. I refuse to call that a hazardous condition.

49

Hey, Consumer Reports being right about something to do with cars.

More frequent than leap years, less frequent than Olympics.

50

I drive the first mile or so in 1st (25-35mph). It’s that far to the freeway ramp and it’s the speed limit anyway. OK-maybe 40. R’s are about 3k+ and it warms the engine much faster than going through the gears and you get heat much quicker!!
Bob

51

Depending on the type of car or truck it does help to gain
traction by stepping on the foot brake while pressing on the
accelerator. This fools the differential.Or if cornering is
a problem use the handbrake to square your corners. Yeah Ha!

52

When it’s icy, slide the driver’s seat back an inch or two. When you are driving to work you are often on autopilot, and without realizing it you can get going the same speed you always drive. Sitting farther from the gas pedal helps to adjust your speed in a thoughtless way.

I live on a country road, and when there is black ice you’re much more likely to fall off the highway.

53

If you have an older car and have to stop, down shift (when appropriate) and let the engine slow you down. It helps reduce sliding especially when diving a re-wheel vehicle. ABS uses the same idea but this way you don’t get that crazy jerking.

54

Best winter driving tip: Move to FL. I’m a MIT student from FL.

55

Every year we have many people killed and injured because they got into a whiteout. If there is a lot of loose snow blowing about, then see a red flag any time a vehicle comes to pass you on the freeway or pass/meet you on two lane. Your about to experience a momentary whiteout during which you will see no further than the inside of your windshield. Meeting or being passed by big trucks is the worst as their whiteouts last much longer. When you see it coming, slow way down fast.

How common is this east of the Mississippi? In the West, it’s very common and a real killer.

56

While it is true that driving in the snow and ice is a blast, even during a snowstorm, it is still a dangerous situation, especially in heavy traffic. Yes, it IS possible to drive responsibly and have a ton of fun at the same time…just be careful and slow down, and by the way…have fun.

P.S. It is also very important to know your vehicle and how it responds on snow and ice as every vehicle handles differently. Knowing this will give you priceless confidence.

57

For all the folks here in Southern California…

When it rains, slow down, for crying out loud!

58

Save an empty sprayer bottle and refill it with windshield de-icer. Helps clean head & tail lights.

59

I’ve heard this problem mentioned on your show a couple of times. To prevent static electricity shock when you exit a car, open the door, hold onto the metal frame of the car with your bare hand WHILE stepping out. You will be shock free!

60

Yes, hence the need for car manufacturers to create these semi-tanks we all have to drive with 10 airbags and armour-plated bodies…the subcompacts now weigh close to 4000 lbs! My '94 Subaru Justy weighs a mere 1850 lbs and gets 45 mpg with a simple 3-cyl. gasoline engine. We don’t need safe cars we need safe PEOPLE! I daily witness people speeding and driving recklessly for the weather conditions. Try strapping them to the hood of their cars, then we’ll see how fast they drive.