[Portege_RAV4]

hi guys! its my first snow here at ny.

unfortunately i experience skid in driving at ~20mph when about to stop in the stoplight.....

please advise what should i do next time how to prevent my RAV4 skid at the ice/snow.

thanks!!!

 

[waltrav]

Simple. Read the other threads (articles) in this group on Snow Tires.
Then ask more questions :wink:

Walt

 

[Ants in my Pants]

Had our first storm here in Ottawa too, wow..AWD is a god sent.

 

[zoomie]

1. brake earlier
2. brake lightly
3. never brake while turning - brake BEFORE the turn.
4. pump the brake to imitate ABS if you don't have ABS.
5. Slap on some chains, $50-80.

Not much else you can do other than to replace the tires with something that has a bit more grip and designed for snow.

 

[Adrenaline05Rav4L4WD]

do you have ABS????????????

 

[Cal_Rav]

:shock:

Do you have winter tires? yes/no

 

[Bluenoser]

The only thing I would add to the above, would be to slip it into neutral if it's automatic 2WD and maybe do the same if it's auto 4WD as I find control is better without the engine trying to over come braking when it is very slippery.......

 

[Portege_RAV4]

1. brake earlier
2. brake lightly
3. never brake while turning - brake BEFORE the turn.
4. pump the brake to imitate ABS if you don't have ABS.
5. Slap on some chains, $50-80.

Not much else you can do other than to replace the tires with something that has a bit more grip and designed for snow.

thanks zoomie.,

btw, i have abs and all season tire (dunlope)

do you think its bettter to buy winter tire. my location is at upstate ny. i heard a lot of snow here (but not sure???)

 

[waltrav]

Depending on your speed with snow tires you will stop about
2 to 20 feet earlier no matter what technics you may learn.
All seasons rubber gets hard at about 5 degrees and the tread doesn't compare to Winters.
There are articles in this group that discuss this and what brands are good and how to do your research.

 

[Marcutio]

Sorry guys I've been busy for the last few days haven't been on here. 162 new posts since!! I have alot of reading to do.

Here is one of many threads where this topic was disgussed. http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1919&highlight=

Do a search for more in the search option at the top. Hope you find a better solution for this winter. Where are you from? Your first winter in the snow?
SLOW DOWN!!!! is the best advise I have for you. Becarefull and not only do you have to watch everybody on the road in front of you but also behind you. Most people under-estimate the distance needed to stop on slipery roads and the most common accident is a rear-end collision in the winter.

Stay safe. Later. M.

 

[parkwaycruiser]

Severe Rated Snow Tires

We just had our first snow up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 4" (10cm) along with a lot of road ice. It looked exactly like the photo on the site below. Our local ski resort opened up this week as well. I was over at the tire dealer getting my Nokian Studded Snow Tires installed due to the ice. These tires can handle just about anything. Studs are useful on ice but really do nothing for snow, but it's the ice that makes you skid, not so much the snow.

You really should look for a brand of snow tire with the Severe Snow Rating (snowflake in the mountain) symbol on the side, if you are serious about winter driving. There is a Canadian Government site that lists all the tires that have this symbol. Nokian is one of many companies that make such tires. 4x4 is nice to have, but it's the tires that really make the difference. I have some photos of my Nokian tires in my album. Both my summer and winter set are severe snow rated.

I put up a winter driving tips page at; http://www.blueridgevacations.com/main/winterdrivingtips.html if anyone has anything they want to add to it. The photo on that page was taken from my house a few Christmas's ago. The big tree behind the truck came down across the road a few hours after I took this photo, and blocked our way into town for 3 days. We get too many Florida tourists up here in January weariing shorts - yep - so maybe this page and photo will help clue a few people in.

 

[raj]

Parkwaycruiser,
Thanks for the very good information (on your site) on winter driving. Most of us who drive in xtreme winter countries allready have the information but it does not hurt to re-inforce it now and then. The information on studded winter tyres is vey important. All Swedish trafick tests have shown again and again that nothing beats the studded tyres. I was out yesterday, driving RAV 4,2 with non studded Bridgestone Winter dueler tyres and boy the car skidded at least twice on icy road. There is nothing that beats studded tyres when there is ice and all roads with snow have patches of ice and just one skid is enough! If it was not for the cost I would replace those non studded winter tyres for the studded Gislaved or Nokia tomorrow. I think all winter drivers should read the information on your site. Thanks.

 

[parkwaycruiser]

Studdless Tires

There are a number of companies making what is called studdless snow tires, but there is nothing close to the confidence real carbide steel studs give you on solid ice. I've gotten up my 200' 30° slope mountain driveway from hell that was totally iced over from a standing start! You could see all the scrape marks the studs made, but I made it up. I won't drive with anything else now.

I am running the Nokian Hakka 2's which have 14 rows of carbide studs. They use a special inverted "T" stud, that once in the tire, they won't work itself loose. Unlike aftermarket straight studs, which fall out by the dozens. If you buy Nokian studded tires, make sure they are factory studded with the Eco Stud design (inverted T).

 

[Marcutio]

Studless winters were primarily designed for municipalities that wanted a better system for cars that won't tear up the roads like studs typically do along with the tire industry trying to re-invent the wheel (a safer one). Pardon the pun.

Many cities around the world outlawed these types of tires. The new generation of "Ice Tire" we have now is really still in a transition from idea to a tire that will give us the performance we demand.
On ice a stud will give us what we want in the beginning without a problem as long as you can deal with the noise generated. As the stud wears down, after the first year of driving on bare pavement for most of the winter, all we are left with is a false sence of security, a tire that still handles snow well but lacks that bite we had the first year. If you get three or more years out of the same tire then in my personal experience most people just want the studs pulled out of the tires to make the noise go away so they can try to get though this winter with what they have because it's too costly to replace them at the time. I see it everyday.

With a tire that is "fairly good" as an ice tire (which is all you can expect, afterall no tire is perfect) you get the same feel on ice from the day you buy your tires to the day you throw away your tires. This is what tire manufactures try to provide. Consistent traction throughout the life of the tire. SNOW traction is less every year with any tire as it wears down so with respect to studs or not this fact doesn't change.

Getting used to your "ice tires" the first year is always fun but then you can expect the same performance every year after as long as they have some tread left on them so they can do their job.

A 30 degree slope with ice on it requires studs or even chains no-doubt but this an extreme somewhat "application specific" case. Unless everyone out there has this need then perhaps the alternative is something to concider with alot less noise.

I'll try to find some articles on this but I was talking to an RCMP Officer here in Canada and they are no-longer allowed to have studs on there crusiers for, believe it or not, SAFETY REASONS. They have studied the effect it has on vehicles at high rates of speed (highway driving) and what they found surprised many on the force.

Turns out that studded tires reduce rubber-to-road contact when travelling at or above highway speeds thereby creating a greater risk of loss of traction than a tire without studs on dry or wet pavement.
Sorry guys this is right from the horses mouth and info that is internal to the police force so I'm not sure if I'll be able to located it. Maybe you can help. I may have missed something so feel free to add your thoughts.

Just to clarify.
I'm a fan of studs in the right application, you need to define yours before you buy them.
I'm also a fan of ice tires for the same reason. Right place right application, define yours first.

Later. M. :lol: Long ain' it?

 

[archer]

I live just south of buffalo ny and we are famous for lake effect snow and lots of it. Well thanksgiving eve it started and did not stop for 2 days, end result was almost 40 inches of snow. I started the rav cleared it off and with some hesitation i got in and attempted to move it forward and out of the way so i could plow the snow. Well i steped on the gas just a bit and it went right through the snow without even spinning a tire!!!!! 40" of snow. i drove it about 300 feet and parked it and got out with a huge grin because i never thought it would even move from its spot, but it did very well indeed. The rav4 has guts and as long as the sown was light and not packed i had NO problem at all. GO RAV!!!!

check out the pics i took in my album

 

[BryanNH]

It sounds like you're not used to winter driving ... as in all cars, no matter if you have winters or all-seasons, you're gonna slip! Unless, of course, you've got chains or studs ... So, as said before - TAKE IT SLOW!!! Pump the brakes ... etc ... If you're on ice, you're on ice, no changing it!

The BEST thing to do is to find an empty parking lot, go out in your Rav4, and PLAY ... practive spinning out, recovering from a slide, stopping in snow/ice, etc ... and HAVE FUN doing it! You'll learn how your car handles, you'll learn how to spin out and make it around a corner when sliding like you were, you can learn alot - you just have to get to know your car in the snow!!

I was sliding like you were once in my old '96 Tercel, but towards a 4-way intersection ... and my light was going from yellow to red, and there was one car at each other direction in the intersection! I couldn't stop, was on glare ice ... I tried EVERYTHING to stop, but NOTHING worked ... pumped the brakes, down-shifted and gave it gas, tried to let the engine slow me down, but NOTHING ... I was going down hill and sliding into a 4-way intersection ... I got to the bottom, turned the wheel, pulled the e-brake up n down (got the back end to slide), Down-shifted, gave it gas and made it PERFECTLY around the corner like I was on pavement ... but I stalled the car (ha!) ... If I hadn't played in parking lots, I'd never know how to do that and save my life!!! GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!

 

[carmusic]

i also put a 40kg bag of salt (or whatever you want to put some weight) in the back of the rav4 , it give better traction on start and better handling on snow roads

 

[BryanNH]

You shouldn't need that for traction! Out here in Aspen, we just got 12 inches of snow .. I just cleared off the car and it was like driving on pavement - PERFECT ... and I don't even have snow tires! If its that good without snowtires or extra weight in the back, then you shouldn't need to have extra weight back there! After the snow was plowed and the streets are just packed snow & Ice, its STILL just as good. We already have snow covered streets and it'll stay that way for quite a while, but so far I'm fully confident in this car in the snow/ice, its truly amazing how the 4wd handles in this weather on snow & ice!

 

[sibbo]

You "should" not need traction weight,because the rav is well balanced with awd. Rear traction weight helps mostly in RWD vehicles where the extra weight helps the rear tires dig in and get traction, where there would otherwise not be enough weight. My Fathers 2wd truck can't move in the snow without weight. You must also be careful not to put the weight too far back behind the wheels, or the extra weight can cause a pendulum effect when the rear starts to swing, and make it hard to get control back. Over the wheels is best or slightley ahead of them. That all being said, not having tried it myself, I would be willing to believe that it might make a bit of difference in the Rav, especially if someone has tried both ways and is convinced it helps.I won't be trying it because cargo space is already at a premium in the rav for me.

 

[Portege_RAV4]

guys we have 5 to 8inch of snow today.

guess what??? no more skid for my rav4!

thanks a lot for your advice!!!!


btw, how many inch of snow (max.) i can drive my rav4?