tomorrow's gonna be a long day...

tomorrow (sat 19 dec) i'm driving from Charlotte NC to Detroit MI. problem is that every interstate from here to the OH border either has, or is going to have, a ton of snow on it. i'm on a well-used set of Michelin Pilot MXs, which are all season but not M&S and at 225/50 are too wide for good winter grip on a 2800-lb car anyway.

i think i'm going to head a little West, through Asheville NC to Knoxville TN and pick up I-75 there. Asheville got a ton of snow today but may have a cleared lane or two by noonish tomorrow when I expect to be passing through.

the other route, straight North on I-77 until just short of lake erie, is going to be slammed with snow through NC, VA, and WV, which is a pretty big chunk of the drive.

either way will suck. i hope asheville to knoxville sucks less. wish me luck!

AngryCorvair wrote: tomorrow (sat 19 dec) i'm driving from Charlotte NC to Detroit MI. problem is that every interstate from here to the OH border either has, or is going to have, a ton of snow on it. i'm on a well-used set of Michelin Pilot MXs, which are all season but not M&S and at 225/50 are too wide for good winter grip on a 2800-lb car anyway. i think i'm going to head a little West, through Asheville NC to Knoxville TN and pick up I-75 there. Asheville got a ton of snow today but may have a cleared lane or two by noonish tomorrow when I expect to be passing through. the other route, straight North on I-77 until just short of lake erie, is going to be slammed with snow through NC, VA, and WV, which is a pretty big chunk of the drive. either way will suck. i hope asheville to knoxville sucks less. wish me luck!

If a WRX on Summer tires would be a big enough advantage to detour a few hours south, you're welcome to.

best of luck, I have to make a long trip to Michigan soon too.

Be safe. Maybe go to Nashville and hit 75 in Cinci.

We're only "supposed" to get somewhere between 2-4 inches here in central OH...

*EDIT...just watched the "local on the 8's" (11:58)...looks like the snow is coming from the SE...and we are supposed to get 1" tonight and 1-2 inches tomorrow. Knoxville will probably be your best bet due to the way it's coming.

Stay safe and keep it shiny side up bro, I am available if you get into trouble

aussiesmg wrote: Stay safe and keep it shiny side up bro, I am available if you get into trouble

Same here. I'm a mile off of I-75 about 20 minutes south of Toledo if you run into unforeseen trouble in the area. Safe travels!!!

So, what's the deal with snow on the roads? I'm driving this Volvo back from Canada next month, and I can quite imagine I'll see some snow in January. I'm under no real had time pressure to get back, as long as I have fast internet and a place to work. So, like, when it snows are the Interstates clear a couple hours later? Days? Spring? Do little feudal societies pop up in breakdown lanes between people who have been stuck there for months?

If this were a thread title I suppose it would be "Lrn me winter travel."

jg

It's really not the snow that causes problems, it's all the Darwin Award nominees on the road who are in a hurry to get to the ceremony to see if they've won.

It's actually quite frightening how many people there are that have lived in northern Ohio for their entire lives, yet can't remember from year to year how to drive in snow.

But some people never learn... It's kinda like trying to teach your goldfish to sit.

To the OP, best of luck to you on your trip! Like others have said, it's not the conditions that are so challenging, but the nimrod drivers out there!

JG, what kind of Volvo and what kind of tires does it have on it? Proper snow tires will turn any car into a superstar in the white stuff. As for the Interstates, as long as the state hasn't spent the snow removal budget on hookers and cocaine, they are typically plowed within a couple of hours of the beginning of a snowstorm, and maintained pretty well until the storm's over.

I would trust pretty much anyone with a good amount of performance driving experience to do well in their first bit of snow driving. I think the problem gen pop. has is not knowing what to do once they run out of traction!

If you need a snow-driving sherpa though, just let me know, I'm right near Summit Point!

To give you an idea of my winter driving credentials, I drove 30 miles to work tonight in my 275-width Falken Azeni-shod 1994 Mustang GT in several inches of snow. I managed to scare the crap out of the co-worker I had to pick up, and had a great deal of fun driving up to Sheetz and being the only car in the parking lot! The rest of my fellow travelers decided to ride out in their 4WD trucks and SUV's...pansies.

A fellow on Corner-carvers wrote this blog to those who aren't really familiar with snow driving, it's a pretty good read!

http://braketurnaccelerate.blogspot.com/2009/12/tips-for-driving-on-snow-and-ice.html

JG Pasterjak wrote: So, what's the deal with snow on the roads? I'm driving this Volvo back from Canada next month, and I can quite imagine I'll see some snow in January. I'm under no real had time pressure to get back, as long as I have fast internet and a place to work. So, like, when it snows are the Interstates clear a couple hours later? Days? Spring? Do little feudal societies pop up in breakdown lanes between people who have been stuck there for months? If this were a thread title I suppose it would be "Lrn me winter travel." jg

Only four years driving experience, but this is what I've seen:

With no time pressure you will have absolutely no problem unless its the snow of the century. If it sounds like it will be really really bad, just keep driving until it is starting to look like it actually might be really really bad. Just make sure you are in an area that it is easy to find a hotel/motel room/friends house/long lost cousin. I personally won't stop unless I can't see the road or I'm actually plowing the snow with the car, but thats what you get for learning how to drive in a crown vic in winter on summer performance tires.

If its light snow, they get it moved quickly. If its real bad--heavy and not stopping for long periods (think 12 hours or more) then it starts to get things backed up. Rural areas are worse (although there are less drivers), but if it is a rural area on an interstate that links two major "snow" cities, it will get cleared. You probably won't catch too much trouble. If they get a lot of snow regularly, they generally will be able to keep up with it. Listen to the weather, find out how long the snow will last, how heavy, etc. Be careful if you will be immediately east of any of the great lakes, lake effect snow can come FAST. And to a lesser extent, west of the great lakes.

DILYSI Dave wrote: If a WRX on Summer tires would be a big enough advantage to detour a few hours south, you're welcome to.

This place is awesome...

Good luck, Angry...

JG - interstates generally stay open, perhaps with reduced speed limit, unless it is a blizzard and the plows get overwhelmed... but you will have given up well before this. The hotel bar will be in a festive mood and you'll be good to go in the morning. Not enough time to get feudal, at least not with ground transportation. At the airport, it may be a different story.

I went to work this morning at 5:30.. driving the Ti, on summer tyres.. almost down to the wearbars in the rear... no issues in 3 inches of snow, but i got to watch an exploder almost lose it going around a corner that I was able to do with no issues.

Good luck! Definatly keep an eye out for the other guy!

I'm crossing my fingers that the Escort holds together and i don't have to repeat last winter's adventures of driving the stripped Celica through winter on RS2s. Of course, last year, it was 215 width.

This year, 245s. That would suck. Bad.

924guy wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: If a WRX on Summer tires would be a big enough advantage to detour a few hours south, you're welcome to.

Hardy is awesome...

...sometimes...mostly.

Good luck angrypee.

i'm not a snow rookie, having lived in MI for the last 16 years and having been an ABS / TCS development engineer for many of those years. i've probably got 10,000 hours of driving time on snow and ice. but from here to knoxville there's probably not so many snow veterans like myself. the asheville newspaper's website said at 8pm yesterday that there were 260 emergency response calls in for accidents due to the snow. IDK how people abandon cars down here, but in MI when it gets really E36 M3ty they'll just leave em wherever they lost their confidence and/or grip. center lane? seen it. left lane? berkeley yeah. like someone said, Darwin Award candidates rushing to get to the presentation.

i'm hitting the road in a few minutes (about 10AM sat) and will post when I get to MI.

Dave, you're a true playa and i thank you for the offer, but i don't think longitudinal acceleration will be my foe on this trip.

oh, to JG, the scene described above doesn't happen too often. interstates are cleared first, and up north they've got plenty of equipment and employees to do the job. here in the cackalackys, i didn't expect them to be able to handle it, especially this early in the year.

93celicaGT2 wrote: I'm crossing my fingers that the Escort holds together and i don't have to repeat last winter's adventures of driving the stripped Celica through winter on RS2s. Of course, last year, it was 215 width. This year, 245s. That would suck. Bad.

Especially if there's a foot of unplowed snow on the street of Indy again this year! I've gotta say though, it was a lot of fun power-sliding our 18' box-truck around the corners in that. Scared the crap out of one of my guys doing it too.

petegossett wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote: I'm crossing my fingers that the Escort holds together and i don't have to repeat last winter's adventures of driving the stripped Celica through winter on RS2s. Of course, last year, it was 215 width. This year, 245s. That would suck. Bad.

Especially if there's a foot of unplowed snow on the street of Indy again this year! I've gotta say though, it was a lot of fun power-sliding our 18' box-truck around the corners in that. Scared the crap out of one of my guys doing it too.

Yep! I was driving around a slammed black rust free celica (ARG!!!! SNOW AND SALT) still with my EBC Yellowstuff setup on 215/45-16 RS2s. It was... Interesting. Getting out of Conseco Parking Garage was an exercise in butthole puckering.

If it gets bad, i'm going to put some crazy winter tires on the MX6 and go have a blast.

JG Pasterjak wrote: So, what's the deal with snow on the roads? If this were a thread title I suppose it would be "Lrn me winter travel." jg

When you get far enough to the North, it's not really a problem. It's really cold, it snows, they have enough plows to move it all off to the side and it stays cold enough to keep the snow frozen and the roads stay dry.

As you get further South, the sun comes out just enough to melt stuff and the water runs all over the road. At night, it gets cold again and everything ices up. The sand and salt trucks come out. Repeat. You're driving in slop all Winter long. Your car begins to disintegrate around the time that you make the last payment.

Go a little further South and they have no plows, entire states shut down and all the local drivers get themselves on CNN.

JG Pasterjak wrote: So, what's the deal with snow on the roads? I'm driving this Volvo back from Canada next month, and I can quite imagine I'll see some snow in January. I'm under no real had time pressure to get back, as long as I have fast internet and a place to work. So, like, when it snows are the Interstates clear a couple hours later? Days? Spring? Do little feudal societies pop up in breakdown lanes between people who have been stuck there for months? If this were a thread title I suppose it would be "Lrn me winter travel." jg

Ontario likes to SOAK their roads in salt constantly for about four months straight. You'll basically be driving through a brine slurry. Make sure you give the underside of the car a good, thourough rincing off immediately when you get back to Florida.

AngryCorvair wrote: i think i'm going to head a little West, through Asheville NC to Knoxville TN and pick up I-75 there. Asheville got a ton of snow today but may have a cleared lane or two by noonish tomorrow when I expect to be passing through. it's Sat at 1300, hope you get this before you start out coming towards Asheville...

here in Asheville there is over a foot in many places... at my home is Swannanoa ~ 14".... (10mi e of A) the Interstate should be cleared, assuming we don't get any more (prediction is only 50%)... but keep in mind that I 40 is closed west of Asheville (at exit 20) , rock slide.... won't be open 'til spring if then (there has been some more sliding

the detour is to travel N on US 19/23 (future I26) to I 81 at Bristol, then south to Knoxville, or take US 25/70 from Mars Hill through Hot Springs and on to I 81 ....( this way not recommended as there will not be any clearing of said road for many days...)

I made it to work this morning in my 2.2 RS ... barely ... the ruts were deep enough that the limited ground clearance of a stock RS made the traveling a wee bit rough...

I live in Canada, and we haven't had any snow yet

JG, I've driven lots in the snow and I'm good at it. 3 rules. No sudden movements of any kind, leave lots of room, and regularly check the road conditions (hit the brake/try to accelerate/turn) to make sure you know what you're dealing with. Traction can change, especially if gets very cold.

suprf1y wrote: I live in Canada, and we haven't had any snow yet JG, I've driven lots in the snow and I'm good at it. 3 rules. No sudden movements of any kind, leave lots of room, and regularly check the road conditions (hit the brake/try to accelerate/turn) to make sure you know what you're dealing with. Traction can change, especially if gets very cold.

there is iron in suprf1y 's words. mu checks are essential. do them when other cars aren't too close. gentle swerves to check lateral, squeezes of the throttle and brake to check longitudinal, then it's up to you to drive within those limits. any time the appearance of the pavement changes, it's time for a mu check.

i just got to my house in MI. 13 hours on the nose, for 805 miles. I-26 in the Asheville NC area was the suck, because it was a nice day and everyone who abandoned their cars last night went out to retrieve them today. much rubberneckery and general caution as a result. i did have a couple moments between Asheville and I-81 where my steering wheel input did not change the heading of the car, which was a little disconcerting, but for the most part i kept it in my lane. the tires are more worn than i thought.

I can't complain too much, because the snow-covered mountains were quite picturesque. I-81 was a beautiful ride, and 40W / 640W / 75N in TN were clean and clear and everyone was running 80 or so, until we got up into the hills where visibility went to crap due to fog. temp was above freezing until i got to a little bit south of Toledo OH, where the rain turned to a very light snow, not sticking to the road. took 475W to US-23N, and that was a little bit greasy in OH but 65 was safe. When I crossed into MI, the snow was sticking to the unsalted concrete and the road was so slick the car was being blown laterally with little gusts of wind. 40 mph was the max speed i could go until mile 14 where a salt truck had made the turnaround and treated the Northbound side. in those 14 miles, there were a lot of cars in the ditches. one laying on its side, a couple really far off in the ditch, and a couple that traded paint before going off. it sucks to go 40 mph after driving for 12 hours, but it sucks worse to hit a bunch of trees and call a tow truck and/or ambulance, so i Bob Costas-footed it for a while.

Oh, the odo hit 218k somewhere just before the Toledo area. i heart my probe GT. got about 28mpg on the first tank and about 25 on the second.

it's good to be home for Christmas.

Cheers to you Angry! You make sitting on the couch with the the windows and doors open, when its 45 degrees out to clear the stench of a self cleaning oven, seem less miserable.