Driving home tonight: a gif

"CB" (jrcb) 12/11/2016 at 23:20 • Filed to: Torontolopnik

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>Tires slipping uphill for nearly a kilometre

>People trying to pass while we’re all swerving due to people’s tracks

>Oversteer and going decently sideways after taking a left turn at 20 km/h

Whelp, that was a hell of a ride home. A lot of snow and very few plows out means that speeds are slow and everyone is all over the place. Thinking that new winter tires might be in the cards next year.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:24

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Even the ice grabs at -30. Eventually, yes, it stops being slick. Frost or something, I don’t know.

Nibby > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:24

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what were you driving?

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:27

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So going the most effective way around a corner in snow.

CB > Nibby 12/11/2016 at 23:28

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2003 Nissan Maxima on snow tires. Probably had ten or so centimetres of snow on the unplowed roads.

CB > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 12/11/2016 at 23:29

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Well, if there wasn’t a snow plow or a Civic in front of me when it happened, yeah, it would have been effective. This was just pure code brown. They real need to get the salting trucks out.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:33

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Sanding trucks, they all ready dump enough salt on the roads. My commute has a few long bends (60kph), I might have lifted mid-corner and over steered. My Juke can slide around petty good.

vicali > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:35

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Noticed the xice2 on the Forester are getting a little slippy.. better than all seasons, but not as good as new. I think we’ll go blizzak next fall.

CB > vicali 12/11/2016 at 23:41

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Yeah, don’t know what we have, but for sure there’ll be new tires in our future. Told my girlfriend that if I move in with her, I’m buying the best snow tires we can afford.

JGrabowMSt > CB 12/11/2016 at 23:50

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My humble opinion on this is that a set of winter tires is cheaper than paint and body work.

CB > JGrabowMSt 12/11/2016 at 23:51

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Hence why we have them in the car. They’re just a little old and worn at this point.

404 - User No Longer Available > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:02

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Was in a friend’s Range Rover Sport earlier tonight. Downhill, ABS screaming but we’re not stopping. Skid right through a red light with two cars turning, luckily they saw us.

You guessed it: no winter tires. He thought it was new and didn’t need any, only had it on his other. Said it was a lease so “not worth getting.”

I’m definitely not getting in his car again.

CB > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 00:06

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Wow. That’s terrifying. What hill? The Bayview Extension is what I was having trouble with today.

JGrabowMSt > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:07

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If it werent for the alignment issues I had last year, mine would still be in great shape. The outside shoulder of the rears is worn, but literally only that. The fronts look perfect. Wish they still made the IceGuard tires I have or I would have just bought 2.

404 - User No Longer Available > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:09

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Steeles Ave near Maxome, between Bayview and Yonge.

404 - User No Longer Available > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:18

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Well forecast says snow won’t stop till tomorrow noon. Should make commuting tomorrow... interesting.

CB > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 00:20

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I don’t have to drive in the morning, thankfully. But I’ll have to take the TTC tomorrow night. So... I’ll have to leave for work at least ten minutes sooner than normal.

bob and john > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:50

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this is going to be fun when i get back to TO.

CB > bob and john 12/12/2016 at 00:51

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I’ll load up the Eurobeat.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > CB 12/12/2016 at 00:59

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I was thinking about stopping by Ikea and then my mom’s place, but decided not to when I heard there were something like 70 collisions this afternoon on the news.

I figured that since it’s the first snowfall, people will act like idiots who have never seen snow before. So even though I have snow tires on my car, and even if I’m careful, there’s still the risk of some idiot running into me (which is how my previous two cars got written off... and I wasn’t even in my car on the last one).

So I stayed home and did housework. Vacuumed the whole house and did a purge on my daughter’s room.

As for tires, I suggest a good alternative to snows are Nokia WRG3 or Nordman WR four season tires. They’re as good or a little better than the cheap snow tires many people get... and can be used year round.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 12/12/2016 at 01:18

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Nokian, not Nokia.

The problem with them is that their tires are hard to get in the US. The only way I can get Hakkapeliitta R2s is to order them well in advance. Hence, I run “common” (unusual size - 235/40R18) Bridgestone Blizzaks. A little noisy, mushy, and you can feel the drag, but they do grip well. Winter tires FTW.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 12/12/2016 at 01:34

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“Nokian, not Nokia.”

Damn autocorrect...

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 08:03

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I saw (sort of) a situation that must have been like that yesterday... someone in a brand new XT5 passed us, going a not unreasonable rate of speed (the roads were little more than wet at this point), and a little later we saw him in the ditch. Evidently they’d tried changing lanes, probably too suddenly, and ended up cleaning out the drivers rear quarter on the center barrier and ending up nose down in the ditch on the right side.

Only answer is no winter tires and too sudden of a movement. Like I said conditions were far from bad and they weren’t going that fast.

spanfucker retire bitch > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 12/12/2016 at 08:19

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An easy mistake given that Nokia has split off a lot of ventures into their own companies over the years as they pursued a decade or two of mobile dominance.

404 - User No Longer Available > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 12/12/2016 at 08:46

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All wheel drive crossovers with all-season tires. Yes, we totally need more of those.

That’s one of the reasons why I hate them, aside from blocking my view when I’m in my Solstice. High seating position, and false sense of security just lifts the ego of all those already under-trained drivers out there, it’s just more dangerous for all of us.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 09:14

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I really don’t understand why snow tires aren’t mandatory. And frankly if they won’t get snow tires I’m just as glad they have AWD, it makes them a little less hazardous.

Also, screw you, I like my (sorta) higher driving position :)

On training... I’ve often thought that before someone is allowed to take home a new vehicle purchase, it should be mandatory that they spent some track time with it so they’re actually aware of it’s limits. This track must ideally include artificial snow machines and coils under the track so that winter weather can be simulated at any time. Additionally, I suggest salting the track first for the ultimate terrible slushy mixup. Laps must be conducted both with all-seasons and snow tires.

Expensive? Yes. But frankly, with a little government juggling, I think it could be a win-win-win, at least here in Ontario. See, the government could take on the auto insurance industry, as Manitoba does, slash rates by 5/6ths and take in about twice the current revenue as far as I can tell. Not sure how tax applies to insurance. If anything it would be more than twice, but let’s say twice. Subtract from that the additional personnel that would be needed, it’s still win-win for everyone. Add in the fact that most people would be satisfied with a 30-50% cut instead of an 85% cut, and that would mean even MORE much-needed revenue for Ontario while pulling less out of the pockets of the public. Now, take that money and build the facility I suggested. You *should* see a decline in accidents. And therefore insurance claims. Which should mean rates should fall even lower. Or, keep them the same and start working on the ROADS, DAMMIT.

Of course, the ON gov’t has it’s head stuck so far up it’s own ass it won’t do this or any other, better ideas (I freely admit my limitations and lack of experience, but I genuinely believe this would be a step forward and anyway seeing the forest for the trees etc), and even if it did it wouldn’t execute it properly, so we’re fucked either way.

But back to the main topic... annoying people in snow. For me, pedestrians have to be very close to the top. They don’t seem to realize that no matter how much right-of-way they have, that can’t change physics. This is true at the best of times. And then we have the special breed of moron, the jaywalker. At night. In traffic. In snow. Wearing black.

404 - User No Longer Available > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 12/12/2016 at 09:20

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Well they did “do something for the people” and forced insurance companies to provide a winter tire discount. I read that as “raise your rates across the board but reduce it back a little for some.”

I still maintain, this world is run by three groups of legally operating crooks: the government, financial institutions (even though I work for one... if you can’t beat’em, join them, right?) and telco companies.

As for that form of training... I think that’s actually how they train drivers in the Nordic Europe countries.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 09:33

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Sounds about right. But that baby step needs to be pushed more. Yes, you have to pay out for winter tires, but you get to save a big chunk of that with insurance rates. Which brings it from significantly cheaper than bodywork to WAAAAAAYY cheaper than bodywork.

Insurance is a huge scam billed as a benefit. But the way it’s run is idiotic. The gov’t says “you have to spend a big chunk of money and have this” but then says “we aren’t going to provide any options for you, go find it yourself”. In essence, they just throw you to the wolves. They’ve basically created a trust group with a captive market. And lets not forget these insurance companies are BUSINESSES, they have to turn a profit. Everyone have to make money. And because they have a captive market, they can do whatever the hell they want with it.

It is my belief that if the gov’t says you have to have something, they should at least provide you an option. For example, they should at least offer the minimum coverage required, and if you want more tell you to go elsewhere. Though with all the trouble that would go into setting it up I’d hope they’d going all the way with it.

Sorry for the wals of text I’m putting up... but insurance really winds me up.

404 - User No Longer Available > spanfucker retire bitch 12/12/2016 at 09:39

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It’s actually not that long ago they still belonged to Nokia. Formed 1932 under the Finnish Rubber Works, spun off 1988.

404 - User No Longer Available > CB 12/12/2016 at 12:00

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http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/12/12/ttc-delays-snow-toronto.html

Hope it clears up for ya later...

CB > 404 - User No Longer Available 12/12/2016 at 12:07

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Well balls. Looks like I should try to take line two at Bloor instead of just going straight down line one as per usual. Thanks!