I was sort of in a rush to leave this morning so I didn't let me car really warm up. It was about 29 degrees outside (Northern VA) and I made a left out of my neighborhood and almost lost control of the car. Luckily for me I have more than enough experience with tough situations like this and quickly regained control of the car, but I never onced noticed the SLIP light illuminate. I'm not sure if it was black ice in temperatures like this, especially since it's been dry the last few days, or what.

Anyone have any ideas? Is it possible that the differential was just too cold which prevented it from working properly (thus the SLIP light did not go on) and because I might've used too much power in the turn, my wheels spun, and thus resulted in the fish tailing/sweerving?

Thanks!

 

Might have been some black ice. There were apparently a few flurries last night according to the radio on the way to work this morning. Good thing nothing got damaged or no one else was there.

 

You live in NOVA too? I'm in West Springfield/Burke, and I was turning out onto Rolling Road to get onto the parkway when it happened. I'll have to start being more careful now. So even on ice, the SLIP light would not come on?

 

I think it is just the ground being cold. I did the same thing leaving my apartment this morning. Hoping to get Michelin A/S tires for Christmas.

 

hey shahrum, i live in burke as well. did u go to LB or WS?

Anyway, your tires are summer tires. They don't do so well in the cold with traction. And as soon as some decent snow hits you probably won't want to drive.

 

I went to Lake Braddock, just graduated last year and now going to Mason. What about you?

I used to have a Mustang V6 before this car. I used to drive the Mustang during the winter on it's stock tires, which I'm pretty sure weren't all season tires (unless you think Ford puts those on, let me know) and I managed to do fine. I ended up putting Continental ContiExtremeContact 275x40x17's on it in April, I bet those would've been nice in the snow! But the car is sold and gone with the tires. That makes me wonder now what type of tires the car came with...

 

One thing I noticed with the traction control is that it takes a few seconds to kick in. I've had it on going around corners in the rain and have had it start to fishtail before it kicks in. So be careful out there this winter, if you can't afford to get a beater to drive in the snow at least try and get some snow tires.

 

I did a quick search on Tirerack.com (where I bought my ContiExtremeContacts for my Mustang) and I pulled up three results for Ultra High Performance All Season's that match the OEM sizes. What do you all think about the Michelin Pilot Spot A/S's? They list excellent traction on mostly all conditions. Even snow traction got a nice smooth 7.3 rating. Which is decent. They're about $200 a tire. So about $800 in the end... but if I need it, I'll have to get it.

What's the practicallity of using these as complete replacement tires. I'm talking summer and winter. Will these outperform my summer tires? Or will the performance difference be unnoticeable. I just don't like the idea of swapping out tires if I can avoid it just by keeping the A/S's on all year. But I don't want to sacrifice performance on the days when I'd like it, if I can avoid it.

 

I live in Spotsylvania but i work up in springfield. Just graduated from college in may.

 

for winters a lot of times you are just better off getting strictly winter tires. all seasons are for light snow conditions. if you see more snow in the year or heavy snow falls the all seasons isn't always good enough.

some of the people in the midwest, north east, and canada get steel 16 inch rims or some cheap 17' wheels with winter tires in the winter. then switch to summer wheels and rubber in the summer.

 

I work for Fairfax County Public Schools Safety & Security (as an IT person in charge of some software/database apps we use in the office) and I was just speaking to the director, who's a retired police chief for the FCPD. He gave me a little education that made perfect sense. Unlike losing traction in a straightaway where the TC 'slip' light would kick in, I was overpowering myself in a turn, which is why I swerved, therefore TC would not kick in.

He has an 04' BMW 330i that come stock with summer performance tires as well and he said they don't have problems on dry cold roads, it's just whenever the road gets wet -- ice/snow/etc. I honestly can't invest $800 in tires right now, and really, if the weather is that bad, I'm not going out in it anyways. Luckily for me, I work for the public schools, so if the roads are bad enough, school's closed, and work is closed as well!

 

Darn Northern Virginians just don't know how to drive!

TT, is your car all repaired after your fender bender?

 

Haha :-D Gotta love us! NOVA!! :-D

 

It was flurrying lightly when I left the Naval Observatory last night (11PM), but by the time I got to the Funfax, the flurrying had long since subsided. Unless there was a crack in the road that seeps water, there shouldn't have been any ice. Lake Braddock eh? j/k

 

No . Finally got the insurance info from the trooper last week and i'm letting my dad do the insurance stuff, I dont hear too well on the phone sometimes anyways and i'm still under his insurance (yay). Hopefully by friday I will know what the deal is. And then hopefully it wont take long at the body shop. I haven't driven the car since just in case. The thing that sucks is my exhaust got bent, i wanted something else anyways but i dont know if insurance is going to get me another RSR or will just give me the money for a new one and stuff so i can use for something else. The exhaust issue is the only thing i want to get sorted out right now. Just need a new bumper besides that. No other damage that i can see. Hopefully there will be another meet.

 

what does cold have to do with the diff?

 

It's freakin cold outside...Coming from Ohio I should be used to it...I'm moving south

 

hey yea i went to LB. i'm not sure if u were the same guy i transferred the NHS website off to when i graduated LB? that was a while back.

i go to va tech now.


and i used to work at FCPS DIT. The guy you're talking about isn't Al is it? I was working at Wilton Woods not too long ago

 

Boo, a techie...j/k. I just grad. from UVA

 

Nice...this turned into a NOVA thread...That's a good idea rich we ought to all get together sometime since it seems we're all really close. For those of you who might not have checked out the regional forum for mid-A, there is a thread about a group drive near the end of Jan. You should check it out...