Who drove in tonight's storm?

[SuspectisHatless]

By us it was some of the worst driving conditions in a while (for an evening commute). A couple of inches of snow followed by a lot of ice and sleet. I had doubts about making it up a few of the hills near our house. It was kind of ugly and involved a lot of noise and fishtailing, but I am happy to say the car made it up some pretty steep icy hills. Once I was out of traffic it was actually quite a bit of fun.

[Wah]

Do you have winter tires on? I drove today... in my SUV. M4 is happily sitting in the garage.

[SuspectisHatless]

yes I have winter tires. I would not have made it out of the parking lot if I didn't.

[brianeck]

Originally Posted by SuspectisHatless

By us it was some of the worst driving conditions in a while (for an evening commute). A couple of inches of snow followed by a lot of ice and sleet. I had doubts about making it up a few of the hills near our house. It was kind of ugly and involved a lot of noise and fishtailing, but I am happy to say the car made it up some pretty steep icy hills. Once I was out of traffic it was actually quite a bit of fun.

Today was definitely the worst conditions I've seen in the last few years. I took a 20 minute drive in about 80 minutes on my way home from work, where thankfully we got out half an hour early to mitigate the commute home. I was away all weekend and had to pick up my dog, so I was very grateful for the extra 30 mins.

Fast forward 17 minutes: I'm at the base of a hill doing about 15mph about to go up. There are 3 cars in front of me. The one in front gives a bit too much gas and when the tires kick out (FWD) the front end gets a bit loose and the driver hits the brakes to compensate. . . BIG MISTAKE! I come to a full stop immediately about 1/4 of the way up the hill with about 7 car lengths to the next car in front of me, who continues driving up the hill apparently completely unaware of the sliding car up ahead. . . Eventually the 3 cars ahead of me are all forced to come to a stop. Car 1 slides back and love taps car two, and car three attempts to pass car 1 and car 2 on the wrong side of the road (there is now a long line of cars waiting at the top of the hill eying the potential destruction below). Car 3 gives entirely too much gas, and now all three cars are damn near next to each other, completely stuck.

I keep checking my mirrors and mercifully the car behind me has stayed off the hill entirely and given me an exit strategy. . . Car 3 loses grip entirely and begins sliding backwards towards me down the hill.

Knowing there is nothing behind me I keep the car in first gear and slowly allow it to creep down the hill until I back up enough to have forward access to a parking lot on my right hand side. I engage 1st and sneak in, with about 10 seconds to spare before car 3 comes sliding right down the hill where I have just evacuated. Upon further review of the parking lot it appears to cut out into a side street about 2 feet in front of the forward most car in the train of sliding ill-prepared winter time buffoons. Car 3 has crashed into the curb on the far side of the road I was on at the base of the hill so I can no longer turn around and head back the way I came. I decide to put faith in my snow tires, 6MT, and considerable winter driving experience and brave the hill since I have found a route that let me out just in front of the remaining two stuck cars. Much to the disbelief of all the cars patiently waiting to go down the hill but blocked by the clowns in question, I make it up the hill without even a hint of slippage and I get a few thumbs up from drivers and passengers on the far side of the road. I roll down my window and give the "turn around whirly finger sign" to all the cars stuck in line waiting to go down the hill, as I know first hand they aren't going to be heading that way any time soon. I pick up my dog who promptly passes out in the travel crate in the back seat, utterly oblivious to the icepocolypse that has just set in around him.

Next part of the adventure: heading down a hill on a 3 lane road in the center lane such that I have an escape plan on my left hand and right hand side should anything go haywire. There is a traffic light ahead that I know will have already turned yellow once I have legitimized its existence with a mere thought. The traffic light ahead which is in the middle of a fairly steep incline goes yellow upon realization of my thought command. Under perfect conditions I would say there was barely enough stopping distance and it is probably safer to give the car some gas and duck through the light with little time to spare . . . Without question if it was dry and I was to punch it I'd make it comfortably while the light was still yellow, but this is a terrible idea in the conditions that I'm stuck in. With an inch of snow and ice on the ground going down a hill, touching the brakes didn't even cross my mind as the perpendicular 'roads' were coming out of parking lots and I had already noted the stopped cars waiting for the light to go green. I decided to roll with it and continue down the hill at my current speed (28mph) right around the time that the genius in the Prius next to me decided to SLAM on the brakes. He proceeded to fight the spin, and thankfully I had another lane to switch to on the right side of the road and before I was even through the light I started this maneuver as smoothly as I could manage with a sense of major urgency (I knew the right lane was clear as I had been continuously on "asshole scouting patrol"). I made it under the light just after it went red, and the Prius ended up facing the wrong way, still through the light, with one wheel up over the median. Shouldn't have slammed on the brakes dude.

The remainder of the ride was pretty straightforward with a bit of minor slippage here and there, and about 4 additional accidents spotted along the way though thankfully I didn't witness any additional crashes. It was a very stressful ride, though the car handled beautifully with the LM32 blizzaks. I had a little bit of awkward spin starting on hills twice with the traction control fully on as I went to engage 1st gear, and it seemed like the traction control was really fighting the gear engagement (6MT car). With the TC off I was able to successfully feather the clutch to engage first with little to no wheel spin at all upon each restart. I was extremely happy to have the hill assist today as there were a few times I stopped on extremely slippery hills due to utter necessity (cars in front of me slipping, sliding, and/or ACTUALLY coming right for me), and stopping while going uphill in bad ice/snow is generally a huge no-no.

On a side note both cars that I saw "crash" were involved in very low speed collisions with inanimate objects and I made a conscious decision that stopping to help would do no help and would potentially cause additional harm or accidents. I swear I'm not a completely cold hearted and callous bastard. . .

Once I got home with my dog I did the smart thing and stayed there instead of venturing back out to the gym. After seeing what I saw and having one of the most stressful car rides of my entire life I wouldn't have been going back out in any car in existence as it really and truly just wasn't safe to be on the road with people that don't have the right equipment and/or knowledge of their own abilities, limits, and boundaries. Remember who you share the road with (and cringe).

[joeyb26]

wow that sounds like a hectic evening^^^ and yes i drove as well, grant it in my 335i xdrive, m3 was sitting in the garage. i was on route 80 at about 7-8pm and it was a mess. snow and slushy ice everywhere, only able to do 35-45 mph and that was mainly because i was following an 18 wheeler. fair amount of slipping, but im on the stock all seasons that are due to be replaced in a few thousand miles, still glad to have xDrive in situations like this

[SuspectisHatless]

great story brianeck. I am glad you were able to avoid the multiple collisions. I am pretty pleased with the how the car handled with the 18" winter tires from BMW. I live at the top of a fairly steep hill and I was already thinking that I might have to ask the neighbor at the bottom of the hill if I could park in their driveway. We see cars getting stuck on our hill in less icy conditions. But she made it up without too much drama. The only problem I have with the snow/icy conditions is backing out of my driveway (up an incline) without shoveling it first. Failed twice this week. Its just much easier to lose traction while in reverse.

[Stage1]

Well told story Brian. I am not far from your neck of the woods and fortunately I was able to catch a ride and use our second vehicle. I am also on summers, so I didn't dare move. I tried to get out on Monday, but I missed the warm afternoon temps when shoveling would have been easiest and instead tried when it was 9 degrees Tuesday morning. Needless to say, she is gonna sleep for a few days

Sunday


This Morning (the ice rink)

[brianeck]

Originally Posted by Stage1

Well told story Brian. I am not far from your neck of the woods and fortunately I was able to catch a ride and use our second vehicle. I am also on summers, so I didn't dare move. I tried to get out on Monday, but I missed the warm afternoon temps when shoveling would have been easiest and instead tried when it was 9 degrees Tuesday morning. Needless to say, she is gonna sleep for a few days

Sunday


This Morning (the ice rink)

WOW that pic from this morning is unreal! Probably took a few solid hours for that to thaw. As I'm a 1 car man at the moment that would certainly be well beyond my tolerance and would result in a work from home day

[Stage1]

I'm fortunate enough to live 1 mile from the office and have a gf that works similar times. I also have a few colleagues that I have leaned on for a ride in this disaster of a winter. Maybe I should have kept the STI for another few months.

[TheEnrique]

i drove to acm to get my exhaust ... it wasn't easy but I'm not a pussy either lol i might be really stupid actually. on stock tires btw the thursday of the snow storm.