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dybmapi
11-04-2004, 12:46 PM
Hi guys,

i thought i would share with you my impressions after one winter in a country where there still are real winters.

A couple of facts first, it was a mild winter, with snow falling only on New Year's Eve, and staying only up to early March, and i was away two weeks in January, so really you should count only two months on snow and ice, plus another month in slippery conditions.

Considering that it was a mild winter by Russian standards, i tried, and succeeded, not to change my tyres, all seasons Bridgestone, to specialised winter tyres, like Nokia or other Finnish tyres. Which means that the car could do even better if it had appropriate shoes.

The drive on snow was really easy, but the lack of a manually blocking differential, like in old Audi quattros, means that if you are deep in snow, which may be the case outside of town, you are going to skid till you find pull or traction, and risk staying stuck in a deep pack of fresh snow. However, snow was regularly taken off Moscow streets, and even heavy snow falls could not trouble the car. Sometimes, the AYC would kick in in curves, but not really more regularly than when it's raining. Impressive behaviour.

About ice, which tends to stay on the streets when the snow is taken off, you end up with someting between 2 and 4 inches of raw ice, and most usual cars have trouble driving straight, or even for starting at all.
Here again, incredibly efficient behaviour of the VR4, it starts on ice as if it was dry, the AYC kicks in from time when there is a change in the ice condition, and you are swerving to avoid a car or a hole on the road, but nothing special. The only thing to take care of is braking. Here, there are no miracles, even if the ABS is very gentle and enables you to use the wheel to avoid hitting other cars, once you have put your foot down to stop, and start skidding on the ice, if there are cars left and right, then you will just be surpirsed by the unusually long stopping distances, and risk hitting the car in front of you at red lights. It happenned to me once, but we were in traffick, and my speed was about 10 miles, so neither of us had any problems, but it taught me to be careful under these conditions.

I'm probably going to put summer tyres next month, maybe Goodyear, and should next winter be more severe, i'll let you know the difference with winter tyres.

Have fun,

Pierre :$

Physician
11-04-2004, 01:27 PM
That is fascinating dybmapi ....... thanks for sharing. I have been wondering just what happens in icy and snow conditions.

Richard :D

KiwiTT
11-04-2004, 08:58 PM
Thanks for that story. I love how versatile the VR-4 is in really bad conditions. Some of your Russian collegues have switches to turn off some of the electronic controls. May be worth considering.

Have a look at the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 for a summer tyre. Good wet performance too.