Sketchy Winter Handling

[deuce08s]

I've tried searching for info on my issue but not seeing what I'm looking for here......

This is my first RWD car for winter up in Minneapolis, and our road conditions go from dry to snowy to blowing snow to black ice to slush to washboard to some mix of up to four of those conditions.

Last year my car was crap in the winter because I needed new FCABs. I would drive on a snowy road or even the dry tracks on a highway and my front end would seem to skate around underneath me. Wind made it worse and I was downright scared to drive my car. I told myself I would change the bushings and give it one more winter. Well, here is that winter, and so far I have had too many episodes of instability on the freeways that cause me to have to watch people in minivans with A/S tires whiz right by me. It is usually the worse at highway speeds, and it gets really bad when it's windy out...or breezy! The road it cold as it's below zero here, there may be a dusting of snow like in my latest episodes, but the whole car just seems to make quick direction changes without me touching the wheel. The front wheels are the worst. i don't know how to explain it besides just saying that it seems like the car is not planted and there is a motor at each wheel driving each one at a different speed so the car just hunts all over the place.

My snow tires aren't terrible, but they are coming up on replacement for the front.....they are still not near the wear bars though, so I can't imagine its the tires. The dealer checked out my front end and said everything looks perfect. Brakes are good, though I didn't get an alignment after replacing the bushings...though the car doesn't really drift or pull either.

My rear snows are almost new but a little cupped inward in the middle (not sure how that happened). Either way, since I can't afford three cars I'm getting to the point where I feel I need to dump my ZHP even though I don't want to go down that road!

Is my last resort to get all four new snows, an alignment, and THEN make that the last test? I'm reading how everyone says this is a great RWD car for the winter but this has been the scariest car for me on the highways......and it's not fun!

Has anyone else felt this while driving their car on barely slippery roads and high speed?

Thanks for all your responses!


Bob

[brettbimmer]

Hi Bob, sorry to hear of your trouble with winter handling. A couple questions:

1. Do you experience any tramlining when it is dry? (This would be the car getting pulled left & right with the grooves in the road, or variations in road surface).

2. Do you have a matched set of winter tires (same brand/style)? If not, I wonder if your traction control is trying to compensate for different traction between different winter tires.

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[deuce08s]

Brettski,

1. With both my winter and summer tire setups I do have tramlining. I know my front summers need replacement badly. However, the roads I drive on in the winter that are also highways are pretty darn flat. But I wouldn't rule that out.

2. I do have mixed fronts and rears for brands...that's how I bought them from the PO. My traction control doesn't flash when all of this swerving is going on though. I actually have my foot off the gas when it starts or just barely throttling it.

I'm starting to think I just need to replace all the tires and see if that fixes it.

[rguti153]

I have problem 1. After I change my back rear tires ..mmmmmm

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[billyjack]

I would start with a new matched set of winter tires. Winter tires with the traction control should be a good combination.

[alexandre]

Many winter tires become as efficient as all seasons (ie. Garbage) past 50% wear. We got 3 ft of snow up here already and with 17" 225/45 blizzaks I feel very safe in my car. And I had only driven AWD Subarus before buying it. I think your first call would be to replace the tires on all 4 corners.


iP4S + TT2

[az3579]

I think you have a suspension or other kind of bushing issue. Your tires should not be cupping with good bushings and good alignment. You must fix that first before trying new tires.

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[kayger12]

I think you have a suspension or other kind of bushing issue. Your tires should not be cupping with good bushings and good alignment. You must fix that first before trying new tires.

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My thought initially as well, but the dealer said everything checked out ok with the front end.

RTABs could certainly be an issue in the back, but that shouldn't cause the problem he's describing.

Cupping in the middle sounds inflation related.

Sounds like your tires aren't playing well with each other. I'd go new all the way around and closely monitor for even wear.

[midlandtech]

How much camber is on the car? I've known guys that ride with a fair amount of camber to have issues on snowy and wet roads

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[UdubBadger]

yeah get a GOOD set of winters. Blizzaks or Dunlops come highly recommended. RTABs could be the cause of a squirrel ride as well. Remember you're being pushed from the back and not dragging the rear end. If your thrust angle is inconsistent from mushy RTABs you'll feel the back end come out very easily.