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A bit scary this morning - ice

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RickB

RickB

Yoda
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Getting to the onramp I didn't see the patch of ice until I was on it.
The car started going sideways to the right, I corrected.
Then left, corrected again. Then right again and the final correction.
Foot off the gas right away, no braking.
It was touch and go and I did not like looking off in either direction at what I would run into if I didn't get it under control.
The car behind me took fair warning and slowed way down.
A State Patrol car had flipped over right ahead where that onramp met the freeway, so it wasn't just me.
I felt good that at least I did a little better than the officer.
He was OK - no injuries (other than his pride).
 
Nice save! I drove my Bugeye in the snow a couple of years ago and did not enjoy it at all. Surprisingly enough it did pretty good in the snow (never saw any ice), but it was coming down so fast that it overwhelmed the wipers and they just stopped working. I had to merge across 3 lanes of traffic blind so I could get off the road to clear the snow! Now she stays in the garage unless the roads are dry. :smile:
 
My time driving a couple LBC's in Anchorage has really helped in all the years since.

It's surprising to some people that Anchorage doesn't get all that much snow, but they do get ice.
Ice storms are the worst - I've seen 6 inches of ice accumulate on a car and everything around it.
Sometimes it's packed snow that warms a bit and turns to glacier roads.
I've never used studded tires, sometimes have used chains.

What I developed that has served me well are the right instincts when driving on ice.

No brakes, no gas, car in neutral if you can manage it and steer into the veer.
It can make a big difference when you swing the wheel the opposite direction too.
There is a very strong pucker factor involved, it's not fun but it's survivable.
 
I don't know why you guys drive these things in that stuff.

All I want to know is...can I be listed as a benificiary?
grin.gif
 
You'll have to fight that out with the wife and six children!!
For what you would get it wouldn't be worth the effort. :frown:
 
RickB said:
You'll have to fight that out with the wife and six children!!
For what you would get it wouldn't be worth the effort. :frown:
Click to expand...

Why, one of 'em wants the 5 speed? :laugh:
 
Yeah, slicker'n elephant snot this morning on the way to St. Arbucks......Jag does well in that stuff (so does the 50 Tudor). They had sprayed de-icer on the road coming back.
Back deck right now is rapidly approaching Olympic Ice Rink status.

Yer right, Rick, it's all Finesse. I have never had a problem. Crested the top of Snoqualmie once, with chains on, on six inches of pack and snowing like all get out, at 60 in the 50. The Staters were calling ahead, the guys were out of their 4WD trucks watching this ancient beast with vacuum wipers FLY by.

Took my foot of the gas, and man alive, I shoved it on down to over-drive.
 
"Took my foot of the gas, and man alive, I shoved it on down to over-drive"

...Charlie Ryan song quote.
 
Car Handling 101: get to a big parking lot with ice/snow and thrash the car around 'til you react to correct it well.

...or AutoX with frequency. :wink:
 
When things are looking like they may be getting dicey on the icey I like to throw it in to a mini slike at low speed just to get the feel for the road!


Drive the wife nuts!!!

Kurt.
 
:lol:

"We're goin' SIDEWAYS! WHEEEE!!!!" :jester:
 
kellysguy said:
I don't know why you guys drive these things in that stuff.

Howdy Folks,

I was just passing thru (Being an X-Frogeye Owner) & had to comment on this post.

"DITTO x 10" Kellysguy comment above!!!!!!

Russ
Click to expand...
 
Ok - imagine living up in Anchorage for a while.
How many days per year would some of you be able to drive any LBC with an attitude like:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I don't know why you guys drive these things in that stuff[/QUOTE]

After living up there a few years most of the stuff Seattle throws at me seems tame. I drove my MGB's up there year round.
I really liked the MGC-GT in that climate. It had a great heater and it had great tires and brakes and the 15 inch wheels.
I'll be the first to admit that I liked driving it on sunny summer days better, but after I installed a block heater and a battery warmer to keep the oil and battery warm it would start right up at -30F to -40F and it would get me where I wanted to go.

As I said, Seattle area weather is generally a piece of cake by comparison.
Seattle drivers however are a completely different kind of hazard.
:driving:
 
kellysguy said:
I don't know why you guys drive these things in that stuff.
Click to expand...

toysrrus said:
kellysguy said:
I don't know why you guys drive these things in that stuff.
Click to expand...

"DITTO x 10" Kellysguy comment above!!!!!!
Russ
Click to expand...

You guys live so far down south I'll bet you <span style="font-style: italic">don't even get</span> any snow.
grin.gif
 
I see snow on TV.
 
I remember in about 1972, maybe 73, it snowed in Charleston SC.
They had no idea what to do.
They used road graders and bulldozers and shoved the stuff onto the freeway on and offramps.
Flew into the airport, caught a cab home to Hanahan, he could not get off the freeway, had to go clear to downtown, get off the I-26, and come back on surface streets.
If it does snow down there, nobody knows what to do.
BTDT.
 
THAT is not snow. That doesn't even show up on the radar as snow. That's dust.
Snow is when it's 30" in 48 hours, iced up, chains or studded snows to even move, half a case of windscreen deicer to get the wipers loose and doors open, then 45 minutes of idling to get the car warm enough your mitts don't stick to the steering wheel.
That photo of SanLooieO was taken about 1915 or 1916. At that time in Seattle, I have a photo in a book of the streetcar line in West Seattle, when streetcar lines were required by law to plow their portion of the street, and the snowbank is as tall as the streetcar.
 
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