So I hit the brakes...a bit too hard and sudden and my tail slips out. I am on all-season tires....

So am I suppose to give a bit of gas and countersteer to straighten myself out or what do I do?

 

once you've hitten the brakes too hard on snow the car will most probably understeer exept if you in a corner??!!?!?!?!? If your in a corner you will have to give a bit of gas without counter steering...

 

^sorry yeah, I was also in a mild corner at speed too fast on snow...basically it was on a highway offramp, sweeping right and going downhill

 

yea, do not countersteer

 

To best drive in snow you will have to try and never accelerate, slow down or change direction. If you can do that you will have great traction!

In reality however its an exercise driver modulation. Tires of course are always the number 1 variable with the nut behind the wheel being the key component.

When I was a kid I had to learn in snow driving an old truck which was rather tail happy to say the least. Anymore it seems we hardly ever have any snow to practice in but I find that practice is what you need to find out how your car reacts.

For myself I do in fact counter steer quite often and use a lot of throttle modulation with very gentle brake input to control the car. Maybe we should try and find some of those Canadian ice and snow rally racer types as thet seem to be the kings of this topic. Maybe they could hold court?

 

situation dictates whether to counter and coast or to counter and accel, take it to a parking lot and have fun while learning, watch out for light poles !

 

there are too many variables to correctly state "do not countersteer" etc.

from what it can tell based on your post, you braked (possibly "too hard", a driver error on it's own) while turning or initiating a turn. try backing off the throttle and braking sooner in order to avoid this. you dont't want to be braking IN or AS you initiate a turn unless you are trying to induce oversteer and bring the rear end around.instead you should be on the throttle through the coner and out. this applies to racing on hot tarmac as much as snow. when you brake, weight is relieved from the rear wheels and transferred to the front wheels. combined with initiating a turn, these are ideal condition for the rear end to slide out as you described.

in general and especially on reduced traction surfaces like snow and ice, any sudden and drastic inputs by the driver increase the chances of upsetting the car's traction. if you want to keep maximum traction you should avoid abrupt and "big" changes to brake, throttle, and steering.
if you find yourself pushing through corners, back off of the throttle gently and slowly. if you find yourself starting to oversteer toward the point of inducing a spin, do not simply let off of the gas off of a sudden, as this is one way to ensure that you will indeed spin. in this situation do not brake heavily either, just try to calmly and smoothly back off of the throttle and countersteer as needed incrementally until you correct your angle.
on snow, i try to keep brake use of any kind to a bare minimum (stopping and reducing speed, not yaw control) in favor of throttle and steering control.
so YES, you absolutely SHOULD countersteer, provided you are adjusting your throttle input accordingly.

 

Driving in the snow has to be more second nature than anything. You have to be able to react immediately if something requires you to. Most of all, don't drive like a dumb @ss and you'll be fine.

It may seem weird, but I really think that playing racing games such as Gran Turismo 4 or Forza Motorsports without things like Traction control on in regular racing gives you a bit of a clue on how to react.

 

I agree with this. completely. Whenever you're changing lanes on snow-covered roads, maintain your speed and change verrrry slowly at a constant speed.

Driving an Evo in the snow is relatively easy compared to the 1991 Mercury Cougar (RWD) that I drove the first winter I had my license. That thing was a piece in the snow. It had such bad traction that I literally spun-out on an on-ramp when it was RAINING out.

Another key is to have a bit of an understanding of the breaking point of your car. For acceleration, give you car a bit more gas than normal in some fluffy stuff and see how it reacts. In an open parking lot, take a turn just a little bit faster than you normally would to see how it reacts. Obviously the big thiing is to be SUPER SAFE when doing this. If you know the breaking point of your car (or at least how it will react) ahead of time, you'll have a better grasp of how to drive based on conditions compared to how they were during your tests.

 

Yeah Jon, the same thing used to happen in my 200SX when I was in my teens.Was forced to learn the hard way how bad those advans are in bad weather(on the EVO) and I have to say that if it wasn't for the AWD, I'd have a messed up insurance bill this month.

 

Well...where I live the worst thing people do when they're skidding is keep their foot on the brake (in non-ABS cars anyway) and just keep going straight into whatever they're trying to avoid...

 

Perfectly stated!

If you had to brake too hard you were going too fast. Like they said above, let off the gas earlier and brake lighter. The more drastic the change, whether it be speed or direction, the greater the chance of slippage. But definitely find a parking lot to practice in. I know cops can really give you a hard time, but it astounds me how to learn to drive safely in the snow, you should be practicing out on the roads with other drivers when you're clearly uncertain on how to react. See if you can find a lot where you will be alone and unobstructed and brake, cut the wheel, induce slippage and try to recover and repeat. It's no surprise that yet again in life, practice makes perfect.

 

Great info on this post! I miss the snow already!

 

How dangerous is it to drive on snow/sleet w/ stock Yokos? I need to drive from upstate NY down to PA tomorrow, after this damn nor'easter abates - and I was wondering if there's real danger of loss of control if driving conservatively with roads the way they are...

 

Very.