[jigabop]

I am amazed, we get a prediction for half a foot of snow and it caused a pre thanksgiving/christmas dinner shopping spree that literally clears shelves of food. I made the mistake of going on my normal costco run thursday (usually a slower day), couldnt hardly move in that place (one up in Burlington). The frantic behavior was like that of a impending hurricane.

This place always been like this? Makes me wonder if this is what hollywood is like before a cold snap to the low 50s but with less sweaters and beards.

Just been like this since the massive spike in Californication over the last decade.

meanwhile, just another day in eastern washington.....

most of the westerners have no idea how to drive in a little white stuff. It's honestly kinda funny how bad they over react to a little Canadian sky fluff falling down everywhere

Hey now...Don't confuse native westerners with the southern invaders... Those retards out there panic buying are all transplants from the south.

Reminds me of several years back when we got a good amount of snow and all of said transplants were abandoning 4x4 SUV's all over the side of I-90. Meanwhile I'm driving my rear wheel drive 87 S10 pickup with regular all season tires, no chains, some weight in the bed (old excavator sprockets), and getting along just fine.

I was born and raised west of the mountains outside of the cities. I've watched this whole area get clear cut and over developed over the past 35 years. Been here through plenty of severe storms and even the really nasty ice storm we had 20+ years ago where it snowed a good 12 inches, then was freezing rain to add a layer of ice on top of the snow, then it snowed more, and then another layer of ice... there was so much snow and ice it brought a LOT of trees down because they were too heavy and the snow was frozen over by ice to the branches. that knocked out power for almost 3 weeks with how many trees it brought down and the roads were definitely nasty that year with all of the hills we have over here. We had one in the last 10 years that wasn't near as bad, but the ice still brought down a lot of tree branches and trees. Ice storms are the only thing ya really need to worry about since it doesn't just fall out of the trees when it gets too heavy like snow does. Snow is nothin.

Seen several houses destroyed from the ice storms too. trees crashing right into the house crushing the roof and walls. Those are no joke around here in the rural areas..But what's coming isn't an ice storm...Just a little snowfall.

Tell you what though: it is scary to drive in the snow around here when you're surrounded by idiots in lesbarus and californians that don't have a clue how to drive in the snow...

Had a good laugh that same snowing with the S10 when I was doing my usual 10-15 under the speed limit in the snow covered road and a stupid kid in a Subaru WRX passed me... I caught up to him a mile later and he was in the ditch and his car was all crunched up on the side... I rolled my window down, pointed and laughed as I drove by kid was in a big hurry to get to that ditch! 4x4/AWD does not make you invincible. snow and ice don't give a rats arse how much "traction" you think you have. go too fast and try to turn...your arse is gonna find that ditch real fast.

 

[jigabop]

pretty sure it says in the owners manual of my car to disable traction control for snow lol. it's only really meant for rain.


But while digging out my car yesterday I took a picture of the snow we got.

the snow on the ground next to the car is what came off the cleared section of the top. I shoveled a path all the way down to the concrete just to get to the roof to clear it.

Snow level was up over the wheels and bumpers and half way up the doors. Got it all dug out though. Took a while.

 

[jigabop]

The only mention I see of turning it off is once you are stuck - I found I would not get stuck in the first place if I just disabled it. Enabling traction control resulted in getting stuck often because you cannot power through deeper snow and will lose your momentum. Remember, this an observation from a low slung auto that is plowing with its lower air dam at depths over 6" but even the truck did better if I could induce a little spin once in a while to clear the tread. This was the first time I had driven the DRW 4wd unloaded in the snow which also did not help - Normally, it has 2 or 3 tons of camper on the back axle and just rolls through as if slush or snow was not there usually just in 2WD. Both the truck and car are my first vehicles I have owned with traction control - Snow this high at sea level only happens about once a decade, so I have never felt the negatives of nanny control systems until now (although torque management does hamper the Ram).

I guess I was wondering if there is a different driving technique to use with traction control. Everyone had to relearn how to brake with the introduction of ABS, so maybe there is a different way to work the skinny pedal under TC.

I know all about this LOL

My car was a little snow plow a year or two ago. Had a front spoiler made out of snow courtesy of the weather and roads..

Traction control always wants to nearly stall you out. It doesn't just hit the brakes but it cuts throttle as well and tries to get you stuck. Turn it off and let em spin!

 

[jigabop]

ooo and the truck out the window two days ago...Just cause lol

Those are 35" tires on the truck btw just to give a snow depth reference.

 

[jigabop]

Are you getting rain right now or snow? we are expecting another 2 days of snow tomorrow and Saturday, but i have freight moving over to your area, and am curious if it'll make it. if your getting snow that it's a solid no. lol

Neither. No precipitation right now. last night it was raining a bit. majority of the snow we got was over the course of about 30hrs of non-stop snowing. BTW: snoqualmie pass is open today as well with no restrictions. Just "traction tires advised."

Some people are still digging out. It's not that it's a huge amount of snow..It's just a huge amount to get in just 30hrs time lol. You shovel and an hour later you can't even tell you shoveled LOL. Like my truck there...I drove it the day before that picture and had it all cleared off of snow, and that's how much snow came down overnight on it...foothills got hit pretty good. north bend really got hit hard. They had a few more inches than we did.

Does your VW have traction control - Our 2003 TDI only had the stability control (optional) and anti lock braking (standard).

They call it ESP (Electronic Stability Program) and there's a button above the radio on the dash to turn it off. It will automatically apply the brakes and reduce engine throttle to stop your tires from spinning. And supposedly stop the rear end from drifting. It's utterly useless in the snow. Turn it off if you need to drive on snow. My car has ABS and ESP. But manual transmission as well, so it does good in compact snow, but this 2ft deep unplowed crap it doesn't do so well in cause it's above the bumper and up the doors LOL cant really move against a wall of snow...Truck doesn't do so well in it right now either. Need new tires on it, but that's $1200 I don't have right now.

 

[jigabop]

ESP must have been updated for 2004 or the programing was different for the automatic transmission

That is very possible since 2003 and 2004 have different engines all together.

2003 was the last year for the ALH motor with the rotary injection pump, and 2004 had the BEW motor with pumpe-duse injection.