holy snow!!!

86capriasc · Post by **86capriasc** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:27 am

Well we now have had a total off 82 inches so far for the year. The last 2 weeks have been real cold as well.

Can't wait for Spring!!!!

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:02 pm

Okay....New Jersey get it's first load! Began snowing 11:00 PM last night. We now have 6 inches on the ground and an ice storm awaits us later. There is zero movement on the streets. I see no cars/trucks anywhere - just "white-out"
Sadly, I could NOT talk our 24 Y.O. son into staying home. He went to work and it's a pretty long ride on major interstate type roads. He has no snow tires and only front wheel drive. Not only am I sick, now add a big portion of worry! We need to move to So. Carolina, where our neighbors moved to. They are so happy there, in a retirement condo and no shoveling and a heated 2 car garage.

STAY SAFE

rlyons13 · Post by **rlyons13** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:42 pm

Sandy,

I drove into work today. Interstates are moving at 45 MPH or so. Everybody seems to be calm. Don't worry.

Of course, pre-merger AT&T would have shut down today. I am the only person in my wing in the NJ headquarters building. Damn if I was going to blow a vacation day for a little snow shower.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:33 pm

'Ya, but you've got a big heavy 4X4 truck. Son has a new '07 Mazda 3 Grand Touring Edition, Front wheel drive, no snow tires.

His trip is GSP No. to Rt 3 to RT 46 to River Road in Wayne.

rlyons13 · Post by **rlyons13** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:15 pm

Sandy,

The Queen Mary (my 06 F-150 XLT Standard Cab Long Bed) is a 4x2. And a 4x4 skids and slides very nicely I may add. I've seen enough of them off the side of the road. My wife has an 07 Mazda 3 S Touring (the 4th of the 5 trim lines). That car is a pretty good ill-weather car. He'll be fine.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:14 pm

WOW, almost the same car, sans leather. What color? Matt's is the dark purple with moonroof.

86capriasc · Post by **86capriasc** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:01 pm

We now 86.5 inches with 2-3 more on the way tonight, plus an ice storm coming Sunday.

Will it ever end?

shelbyscarab · Post by **shelbyscarab** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:10 pm

rlyons13 wrote:Sandy,

The Queen Mary (my 06 F-150 XLT Standard Cab Long Bed) is a 4x2. And a 4x4 skids and slides very nicely I may add. I've seen enough of them off the side of the road. My wife has an 07 Mazda 3 S Touring (the 4th of the 5 trim lines). That car is a pretty good ill-weather car. He'll be fine.

We just had about 8" fall this week, and are currently getting about 2-3" more.

About driving, cars, trucks, 2 wheel dr., & 4x4. It comes down to being smart. When it gets bad enough out, out comes the F250 and its great (it doesn't hurt having larger than stock BFG Radial A/Ts either). NO your not invincible driving a 4x4, but if you know the limits of your vehicle and drive intelligently with it, a 4x4 can and will run circles around a smal 2 wh. econo car (that IMO has no business being out) I've toughed it out quite often this winter going to work in very bad weather and my truck got me there with ease. It amazes me the people with certain types of cars out there trying to drive in 8"+ of snow.

No business being out, and end up getting in the way and causing accidents. Similar to the "national spandex law" that should be in effect, there should probably be a law about when the weather is bad, depending on what you are driving - STAY HOME!

I know, who do I think I am......

rlyons13 · Post by **rlyons13** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:40 pm

No arguement here!

Several years ago, just after a decent snowstorm, my step-daughter started getting on my wife's nerves about going to her friend's house about 4 miles away. I told her if she could shovel out the driveway, I'd drive her. Now, I knew there was no way in hell the girl could clear the driveway. After she struggled for about 30 minutes, making little headway, my wife gets on my case about being so cruel (I thought it was pretty smart myself). Anyway, she nags me into going outside and clearing the driveway. Mistake number two is that the last car in the driveway was my wife's 98 Contour. So, we free it and I'm off to drop off Kim. However, her friend lives in a new development that has private snow removal, and they hadn't got there yet. Well, I find a way into the development, pretty much push Kim out of the car (because I didn't want to stop the car's momentium), and try to loop back around to get out. About a block away the car sinks into the foot deep heavy snow and gets stuck. I won't bore you with the rest, but 3 hours later I'm home with the car, soaking wet.

Lessons learned. 1) When snow is coming, the truck is the last car in the driveway. 2) Stick fingers in ears when wife and daughter start nagging you.

Post by **negusm** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:12 pm

shelbyscarab wrote:
rlyons13 wrote:a 4x4 can and will run circles around a smal 2 wh. econo car (that IMO has no business being out) I've toughed it out quite often this winter going to work in very bad weather and my truck got me there with ease. It amazes me the people with certain types of cars out there trying to drive in 8"+ of snow.
I would heartily disagree with this. The best snow car I ever had was the 1988 Escort I had which I slapped some skinny wheels on. We used Cooper snow tires with very blocky tread and a tall side wall. That car would scoot through and over about any amount of snow. I had some panic situations coming around corners and hitting a drift of snow and thought for sure it was over...but she sliced through well enough to not lose it. This was all in upstate NY.

But it was all in the wheels/tires. People who drive the same car with wide wheels and all-season/low profile tires deserve to get stuck in a ditch or snow bank.

-Mike

75coug · Post by **75coug** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:42 pm

negusm wrote:
shelbyscarab wrote:
rlyons13 wrote:a 4x4 can and will run circles around a smal 2 wh. econo car (that IMO has no business being out) I've toughed it out quite often this winter going to work in very bad weather and my truck got me there with ease. It amazes me the people with certain types of cars out there trying to drive in 8"+ of snow.
I would heartily disagree with this. The best snow car I ever had was the 1988 Escort I had which I slapped some skinny wheels on. We used Cooper snow tires with very blocky tread and a tall side wall. That car would scoot through and over about any amount of snow. I had some panic situations coming around corners and hitting a drift of snow and thought for sure it was over...but she sliced through well enough to not lose it. This was all in upstate NY.

But it was all in the wheels/tires. People who drive the same car with wide wheels and all-season/low profile tires deserve to get stuck in a ditch or snow bank.

-Mike
I have to agree with Mike. Back when I was young(er) and stupid(er), my friends and I would play a game called "chase" in the snow-and-ice covered streets. The goal of the game was to use multiple cars to chase down and pin-in the car driven by the person who was "it."

I will spare everyone the various illegal details about the game. My point here, however, is that the best chase car that I ever saw was a Ford Fiesta. That crazy little car would never get stuck, and it handled incredibly well under the conditions.

bigzeke42 · Post by **bigzeke42** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 11:44 pm

I live in Kansas and we get our share of bad weather, from sleet, snow or ice. Sometimes all in one day. I'll take a 4x4 over a 2 wheel drive anyday. We have a steep hill here in KC with a stop light at the top of the hill and if you hit the light red and snow on the ground you had better have a 4x4 or you will just sit their. They show it on TV all the time.

Post by **negusm** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:45 am

bigzeke42 wrote:I live in Kansas and we get our share of bad weather, from sleet, snow or ice. Sometimes all in one day. I'll take a 4x4 over a 2 wheel drive anyday. We have a steep hill here in KC with a stop light at the top of the hill and if you hit the light red and snow on the ground you had better have a 4x4 or you will just sit their. They show it on TV all the time.

If it's snow, I would have bet my escort against any 4x4 any day.

The only thing it couldn't handle was ice. But neither could anyone else.

I just don't think many people want to put snow tires on their cars. So when you see some FWD car sliding all over the place, it looks pathetic and a 4x4 vehicle is definitely going to cruise right by.

But I've driven all kinds of cars in NY (jeeps, SUVs, FWD, RWD, etc) and that little escort just kicked ass in the snow. It would always get going and stop on a dime (which is something no heavy 4x4 can do in the snow)

The factory wheels made that escort handle iffy even the rain.

It's all in the wheels/tires.

-Mike

tfs2121 · Post by **tfs2121** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:10 pm

this winter i drove my brothers 06 jeep wrangler it is the best in the snow. i had to put my foot to the floor to get it to slide around a turn. i had to give the jeep back but i am now driving a 04 jag x-type AWD. i was very suprised at how much it sucked in the snow. i do miss driving the jeep in the snow but it sucked on dry roads and highway speeds what a hunk of crap for only 2 years old.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:07 pm

Who's Jag ? I like those cars !