Urban Coyote Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Just wondering if anyone has some tips on driving through deep snow? How much can you expect to be able to navigate through in a Suby Legacy L? This is my first year with my new Suby in the country, and my driveway is pretty long (600ft). It's not unusual to come home to have it snowed in after a day at work. How deep is too deep?....when do you say no, and when do you say GO! How do you handle drifts? Ok, second question.....Nokian Hakka 2's, or RSI's for best tread life, variable driving conditions, and long commutes?? Cheers, UC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Basically like any other car, only ours dont get stuck. If the snow is deep enougs and packed, i imagine the car may get stuck. Be more concerned about stopping. Here in NY i have had no problem with 2 feet of unplowed snow on the streets. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfg9k Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Just wondering if anyone has some tips on driving through deep snow? How much can you expect to be able to navigate through in a Suby Legacy L? Ok, second question.....Nokian Hakka 2's, or RSI's for best tread life, variable driving conditions, and long commutes?? I would hesitate to go through snow that's much deeper than your ground clearance - these cars aren't plows :-) If it's light and powdery, you could do more snow. I used a set of Nokian RSI's last year on my wife's Saab 9-5. They were astonishingly good, quiet on the highway, made 6" of fresh snow feel like dry ground. I wouldn't hesitate to get them if you're not going to stud 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swi66 Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 My wife has used our 98 Right Hand drive legacy to deliver mail. she has plenty of times had to "plow" snow along the side of the road to get to mail boxes. One problem we did have was thowe little plastic inserts (cooling vents?) in the front facia. The snow would push them in. these were just normally popped into place. A drill and a couple of screws solved that problem. Once those were pushed in though, the inner plastic fendewr well would fill with snow and push down on the tire..................actually had one come off! swi66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 We've driven our '00 Legacy thirty miles in unplowed 18" deep snow, with no problems and great glee and enthusiasm. That, however, was Rocky Mountain powder, not Maritimes cement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 I've posted this pic before. Is a Forester with the ungrippy Yuckahamas. Snow is 12+ and moderately heavy. The pile in front is from the bumper pushing snow. After I took the pic the car had no problem with just driving away (no backup and slam into the pile) although I did have to ride the clutch a little. We traveled about 50 miles in this stuff. d. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 If you're going to try and force your way through a big pile, select a low gear, and don't touch the clutch. If you are just crawling and disengage the clutch, you will get stuck. Keep moving! You also need to be careful about what could be hiding underneath all that snow. Road signs, stones, other cars.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 12' of wet snow is about the max. I stopped buying Hak studded snows and switched to Coopers because the Haks spit the studs too easily. Unstudded, they hold great on ice. My wife recently bought some Hankook's for her new outback. Let's see how they do. (Once we get snow. Can you say global warming?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban Coyote Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 If you're going to try and force your way through a big pile, select a low gear, and don't touch the clutch. If you are just crawling and disengage the clutch, you will get stuck. Keep moving! You also need to be careful about what could be hiding underneath all that snow. Road signs, stones, other cars.... Awesome! All good advice....although I couldn't fathom driving through 24 inches of snow up here in the Maritimes. The stuff we get is more often than not heavy and wet, or wind driven and packed. I've found that, by watching other drivers, once you hit the underside of the car you'll get stuck pretty easily. I've also never seen anyone out driving around in more than 12 inches, except for the bigger trucks that have more ground clearance. We get pretty messy stuff up here. Thankfully I don't have to worry about junk in the road under the snow....it usually just my driveway that I'll have to navigate in deeper stuff. I wish we did get the lighter powder snow....sounds like it would be a blast getting out motoring around in that stuff! UC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaner Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 I dont live in an area where studs are needed, but was thinking of picking up a set of chains. Anyone have any recomendations, or are they even needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 kind of snow makes a huge difference. i've done alot of offroading and snow driving in my soobs (AWD XT6 with air suspension, LSD and center looking diff/transfer clutch). i've done 9 inches of fresh snow (not packed at all) with no problems up steep hills and cheap all season tires. but...i've also gotten stuck with wet snow that packs up under the car. success stories are grand, but the reality is that snow can pack, ground clearance reigns for all purpose functionality. keep moving is key as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 I use chains on my plow truck, even though I run studded snows on it. They are the best for traction, bar none. I dont live in an area where studs are needed, but was thinking of picking up a set of chains. Anyone have any recomendations, or are they even needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 The best advice I can offer is DO NOT STOP! As long as you have momentum, you can get through just about anything. The second best advice I can offer is to carry a large plastic snow shovel in the car with you. I carry one all winter long, and it's gotten me out many many times. For very hard/wet snow, you can probably negotiate depths of a foot or so without too much trouble. Momentum is even more crititical with this type of snow because it's not only a hindrance to traction but movement as well. For light fluffy snow, visibility becomes a problem before getting stuck does. Even with summer tires, I've had snow start coming over the top of the car without any traction/mobility problems. How to negotiate drifts: Make sure that there isn't something on the other side and GUN IT! Use a low gear and lots of revs because your car will get bogged down while going through. edit: I would pick up a set of cable chains for your subie. You may very well have clearance problems if you try to run "real" chains on a subaru. I carry a set of cable chains with me during the winter and have yet to need them, but I know that they're there if I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 When going uphill, more gas does not mean better traction. In effect, sloweris better. When you spin tires in snow, pressure and heat change snow to ice (in a hurry), Then you're screwed. Tis better to try to maintain traction and creep up a hill than floor it. If that doesn't work, get back and get a hell of a run at it and aim for the sides of the road where there may be more gravel/ softer surface underneath. Going downhill, feather the brakes. Do not lock them up. You lose control of your steering when you lock up the brakes and go into a skid. The anti-lock brakes will allow you to continue to steer, but won't stop you on a hill. Look ahead and plan where you'll end up at the bottom. It's better to go into a snowbank with the back end than the front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 I've done 19" of light powder in my GL wagon. But I've also gotten it stuck in 8" of slimey wet slush. The worst is when it's powdery on top, but wet underneath, or with glazed ice underneath. Second worse is the grainy sugar powder that's heavy, but won't hold still -- common on windblown drifts around here. I've found that what usually stops subaru's is ground clearance -- becoming a whole body plow or resting on the frame. I tried a road with about 14" of new powdery snow (and probably 4" old underneath) last spring, warmed by 45 degree sunshine so it was wet on top -- decided it was a no go before I got to the steep section, and backed into a field to turn around -- haha, no wheels touching the ground any more... Keep a shovel handy. In any deep snow, you won't really be able to steer very well, especially if you're spinning wheels or have wheels locking up. I've found that rapidly turning the wheel side to side, about from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock can actually help somewhat. Especially if you are in ruts from other vehicals that have plowed through. If you are in really cold snow, spinning the wheels doesn't seem to hurt. If it's in warmer snow, spinning the wheels can often just lubricate them and you'd be way better off going slower. You don't want to stop on hills -- it's alot easier to keep going up a hill, than to try to start on a hill. Sometimes if you get stuck from plowing too much snow, you can back down to the bottom again, and charge it. Speed will be much higher the second time since you've already made a trough through it. Then again, you could just park at the bottom and walk up to your house... I always turn around when I arrive somewhere, so I'm pointing down the hill ready to leave. Often I get stuck turning around, and I'd rather dig sooner, rather than be ready to leave, with another 4" of snow on the ground, and find I am stuck. One problem with drift charging in subaru's is that they're light and can ride up on top of it instead of plowing through if the drift is too hard. Then the wheels sink in, and you're sitting on the frame. I've seen toyota pickups have the same problem, although they obviously have a little better clearance, and a little more weight. For one of the windblown drifts, an old 4wd international pickup (about 8,000 lbs) was the only thing that could break through. Now we own a backhoe... I don't have chains for mine, and I've never used cable chains. The old chains I'm used to only work well at low speeds (like 1st or 2nd gear low range), so I question if they'd be much good on a legacy since they can't crawl well at 5mph. 20mph was just about self destruct speed for those. At low speeds, they make an immense difference over just snow tires -- we lived with a 2 wheel drive pickup for years, and it would make it up steep hills in 6" of snow no problem with chains on. The landrover with chains on all four wheels could usually make it up a 26% grade hill with a foot or more of snow on it. Unless it was too wet, then nothing makes it. Cable chains may work better at higher speeds -- don't know. Just about all of this applies to dirt roads covered with snow -- like driveways and logging roads. My two cents (or maybe about 25 cents by the looks of the length), from driving in snow in Colorado and Washington (and getting stuck many times....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncoolperson Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 there is no magic like cat litter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystro Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 You also need to be careful about what could be hiding underneath all that snow. Road signs, stones, other cars.... Excellent point hence the need to skid plates for the differentials which Subaru sells or just build a set and bolt on..the L and GT are low riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystro Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 I've posted this pic before. d. Great pic,I was hoping it was a GT or L :=) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live4snow Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Just wondering if anyone has some tips on driving through deep snow? How much can you expect to be able to navigate through in a Suby Legacy L? This is my first year with my new Suby in the country, and my driveway is pretty long (600ft). It's not unusual to come home to have it snowed in after a day at work. How deep is too deep?....when do you say no, and when do you say GO! How do you handle drifts? Ok, second question.....Nokian Hakka 2's, or RSI's for best tread life, variable driving conditions, and long commutes?? Cheers, UC I always say the faster the better as long as there's someone else in the passenger seat to push you out. Or you cold take it safe and stop when the snow is getting packed up under the body of the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123c Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Just don't drive through deep compacted snow, this can cause getting high-centered, which is the worse way to get stuck, which my brother got his Legacy stuck this way once. I gave him a shovel and told him to start digging, it only took him like 15 minutes to get unstuck. I keep a shovel in my trunk for this reason, but I also know the snow to keep out of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Of course we are all missing the obvious Stay home by a fire leaves less traffic for me to run around like a lunatic nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legacy Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Of course we are all missing the obvious Stay home by a fire leaves less traffic for me to run around like a lunatic nipper lol, c'mon, you mean you don't enjoy getting stuck in traffic on the LIE or GCP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban Coyote Posted October 18, 2005 Author Share Posted October 18, 2005 *lol* This is great! I'm going to have to make cue card notes out of all this great advice and stash them in the glove compartment A shovel in the back of the car is definitely a must during the winter months around here. Heck, we had so much snow on a few occasions last year that I was thinking of adding snow shoes to the list a few times. I had to park the truck at the bottom of the lane during some storms to avoid getting snowed in. The drifts out in the driveway were over 5ft tall! As for the tires, think I will be getting the Nokian RSI's. I was recently having a discussion with my parents about the benefits of decent winter tires. Dad thinks there's no difference between them and figures I'll be wasting my money on the 'good' ones and thinks I'd be just as well off with the 'cheap' ones. Well, the challenge has been issued....next snow storm we'll see who fairs best (on a deserted road or parking lot of course). My Legacy L with Nokians vs my Parents Impreza with cheap Wall Mart brand winter tires. Should be interesting to see who makes it, and who gets stuck UC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Heck, we had so much snow on a few occasions last year that I was thinking of adding snow shoes to the list a few times. UC Yeah, I forgot to mention that I do keep my snowshoes and cross country skis in the car in the winter time. Mostly just for recreation, but also, just in case.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystro Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 [quote name=Urban CoyoteMy Legacy L with Nokians vs my Parents Impreza with cheap Wall Mart brand winter tires. Should be interesting to see who makes it' date=' and who gets stuck UC[/quote] The Nokian WN or RSI is far superior to anything @ Wallyworld Chinese Emporium especially good for winter driving,that's a given... but you can bury them also,so it really depends more on whose driving. :=) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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