papascooby

So it's be my first winter in the scoob (04 WRX) and all I was hearing last year were horror stories about scoobs in the snow and now they've started again.

I assume the trick is just not to drive up people's @r$e$?

I know the ABS is a bit overactive even in the dry, so I can possibly some reason for whipping it out.

What's the general consensus (here come the horror stories )

I don't suppose PFF7's with 225/40's will help much

mart360

dont have one so cant comment...


but from past experiance.... it made no differance on the golf i had with abs in
the snow...

now traction controll thats a diferent matter


Mart

Manners

My misses just overshot our road about 2" of snow 2nd gear 5mph abs cut in but wouldn't stop the car!

hades

General rule of thumb - wide low profile tyres etc aren't the greatest. I found (with my 02WRX), good traction, decent cornering, poor at stopping. However, power oversteer a-plenty, heaps of fun where there's room to enjoy it.

In most cars, I'd recommend for normal driving in very slippy conditions that to aim to be able to slow down with the gears rather than the brakes is a good idea - with the scoob even more so. I'd be curious if anyone has pulled the ABS fuse and if so, whether it helps.

Iwan

Pirelli P-Zero Neros were truly awful on my MY99 last year, ok pulling away but a nightmare going round corners or stopping.

Got a P1 with P-Zero Assymmetricos this year, can't see it being any better so will probably take the ABS fuse out if it isn't going to cause any nasty side-effects.

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

My scoob is staying in the garage in the snow to many nutters on the road trying to take your corners off, I`ll take the x- trail out and have a play in that

WR-one

Just driven home in my 05 JDM with REO70's - umm, not good in the snow!

corradoboy

Let's have a refresher. Which 2 fuses do you remove to disable the ABS

And let's have a classic and newage version, just in case they're different

mattsan

Just been out in the snow in mine,sod brakes just gear down

Duck_Pond

I had a 2 litre Celica before the Scoob. Compared to that, the Scoob is superb!

Rob D

No normal road tyres will be any good in the snow full stop, I did however prefer driving in the snow with the fuse pulled btw.

By far the best solution is to buy a set of winter tyres, I bought a set of Nokian WR's last year and what a transformation to the car, they were less than £400 to buy and fit, if it saves you from one knock in your car it's worth it.

davegtt

good job I read this thread, I am looking forward to getting out in the snow, the ground is covered and I have to pick the misses up from work in an hour so I best be careful since the end of my street is a VERY steep hill

GariYaRally

try zero ABS with a RA...... !!!

simpsons !

**** are Scoobs really that bad in the snow ? I have a MY04 and was looking forward to playtime in the snow ! All you guys keep saying is good at going but sh1te at stopping !

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Scoobs are great in the snow. Find an empty carpark and doughnut like a rally stage winner

My scoob doesn't have ABS, sorry!

richiewong

Damn right got some 205/45/17Toyo Snowprox and the grip is , summer wheels in the shed soon

Another without ABS but I've also got DCCD

StickyMicky

i need to change my wheels soon, my mate changed his yesterday on his beemer. might do mine tommorow

CyprusScooby

I found my UK Turbo 2000 to be great in the snow. But now I have a Type-R. NO ABS!!!!!!!!!

xiw2155

i have an ra, so no abs for me im afraid just pure skillz of the driver lmao (Y) and its white, perhaps it could be a moving snowman if i build on it lol. haven't seen snow for ages!

Shark Man

If it's a classic...pull the fuse. (disclaimer: -ONLY providing you have confident and experienced non-abs control of a car in an emergency stop/steer situation)

I also found (through exprimentation) that I personally can stop quicker in the wet without the ABS

Quite shockingly dire IMO, I suppose it still lets me steer around whatever I'm about to hit (into the path of an oncomming truck knowing my luck ).

When snow comes, ABS = off. Man is better than machine (as long as man knows what he is doing )

Brit_in_Japan

Be aware that pulling the ABS fuse is only of benefit when driving in fresh snow where a wedge of snow can build up infront of the tyre. If it's already slush or compacted, you would probably be better off with the ABS functioning.

I posted a link to a technical report last winter following research done in Sweden. They took a random group of people and put them into cars with/without the ABS functional. They measured retardation and total stopping distance on different surfaces (fresh snow, smooth ice, rough ice) with different tyres (new/worn summer tyres, new/worn studless winter tyres, new/worn studded winter tyres) both with/without ABS functioning.

I'll do a search and see if I can find that link again...

Shark Man

Is that report with a Classic shape scoob or another car?

The ABS system on the classic seems to much less effective than the ABS on other cars I have driven, the result being longer stopping distances in wet conditions. Admittedly brakes aren't fantastic anyway (which probably adds to the problem). When using my own car with it disabled there is definetly a marked improvement in stopability (is there such a word ). Unless my car has duff ABS

Brit_in_Japan

Found it !

http://www.stop.se/test/abstests.pdf

The tests were not carried out with scoobs, rather 6 x Volvo 850's. But the biggest factor in stopping distance is the friction between the tyres and the road, so I don't think what type of car would be a major factor.

Any car with worn summer tyres will be very pretty poor at stopping in the snow and ice compared to winter tyres, irrespective of whether the ABS fuse is pulled or not.

I put my winter wheels back on the weekend after next. Michelin Drice, available only in Japan and the dogs danglies

scooby-si

Another without ABS but I've also got DCCD

ps it the scooby doesnt go out in this weather

JamesMcD

Just a couple of quick questions for someone in the know:-

1. In cars with DCCD and ABS, does the DCCD use the ABS sensors to gather informtion about what the car is doing, if the ABS fuse is pulled, does it also affect the DCCD?

2. Has anyone ever spoken to their insurance company about pulling the fuse?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Here are the facts.

Cars with ABS take longer to stop in snow due to traction.
Cars without ABS take just as long to stop if it isnt fresh snow, also due to traction.
Simple rules of winter, no grip, no stop.
Dont think that pulling the ABS fuse will help either, driving in a higher gear at low speeds is your best bet, slow, steady movements of the steering wheel as not to loose traction, drive according to the conditions, ie heavy snow, drive slow.
Follow these rules and you should be ok, remembering that you wont see the likes of black ice, 4wd has no advantage over this either, now with snow tyres you will have more grip, but ask how many people on here need snow tyres? there wont be many.

Tony

ozzy

Well, I'm coming up for my 6th Scottish winter with the Scoob and I haven't stuck it in a ditch or over-shot a junction in the snow yet.

Removing the ABS would help in fresh, deep snow but I can't see it making a blind bit of difference if you can't build the snow up in front of the tyre.

I hope anyone removing the fuse will go somewhere safe and see how th car will react.

wide, tarmac tyres ain't designed for snow so I've always driven very carefully and made sure I kept a good distance between me and the car in front. Brake with the gears and just lightly touch the brakes.

Find a clear area, get to 30 and stamp on the brakes. That'll open your eyes to what it's gonna be like tearing around thinking your rally-bred Scoob is awesome in the snow and your Juha Kankkunen

AvalancheS8

The problem with Scoobies in the snow, and the reason that I would disagree with the normally sensible advice to leave the ABS fuses alone is that under snowy conditions the ABS can cut in and basically disconnect the brakes, preventing you from being able to brake to any noticable degree. I got caught by theis last year, first time driving the Scooby in the snow. I was coming down a hill towards a T junction, going about walking pace. There was a car sitting at the T junction waiting to get out and I was coming up behind it. I braked, very gently, and the ABS decided the wheels were slipping too much and prevented any more pressure going to the brakes. At this point the car was not slowing AT ALL due to the fact that it was going down the hill. After a moments panic and thinking I was going to hit the car in front for sure I decided to steer around it and ended up sitting to it's right, on the wrong side of the road, stopped by the camber change at the side of the main road we were coming into. Once I had stopped I had no problem at all reversing back up to get behind the other car again, so there was enough grip to stop, just the ABS didn't fancy it. Later that day I managed the same junction by dragging the handbrake, didn't have to lock any wheels and stopped without any drama emphasising the overactive nature of the ABS again.

Pastor

I found that using cadence braking works well in snow even with the ABS still enabled. You just need to know the point where it starts to operate.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

2 things you did wrong (first was to use the handbrake ) which isnt good as you can damage the rear diff, the second is to say remove the ABS sensor.
ABS only kicks in when there is no traction, no traction means no grip, so either way with or without ABS you had no grip, the fact is, without ABS you would have had a similar problem, but you dont know it due to you having ABS.
Im quite lucky in some respects as i have 2 cars, one with ABS and one without so i get both points of view.
At the beginning of this year in my new ABS equipped scoob, i had some nutter drive towards me on a snowy road (he was going far too quickly for the conditions) so it forced me to brake, this put me towards the curb now, the car just slid due to no traction (not good) and the ABS did kick in, i then took my foot off the brake and the car became controllable again (not bad considering my tyres are semi slick ).
You have to remember that driving in snow demands more from you than other conditions, you can still passive brake with ABS cars in snow, but you have to remember the rules....
Distance, distance, distance......
It take ATLEAST 3 times the distance to stop in snow (packed) than rain, so you have to adapt accordingly to it.
Im not pointing the finger of blame, but virtually everyone out there rely too much on what their cars can do, but they are only so good, the rest is down to experience and drivers ability to comprehend the changes due to the conditions, and as snow isnt the most frequent of weather we have, most just drive normally (thus more crashes in cold spells than at any other time of the year).
Drive according to conditions and give yourself much more time and space for braking and manouvers.

Tony