To sandbag a rwd car in snow or not....

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If you've got modern traction control, it will brake the loose wheel.

Don't think you'll gain much.
 
What brand and model tires? Studded?

I put studded tires on my 78 Grand Prix and I never needed sandbags.

You could try it. Sandbagging I mean. It may or may not be an improvement. I wouldn't do it unless the car was scary on snow and ice.
 
I do not have the engineering data to corroborate, but on my car with a full tank of fuel (16+ gallons) there is considerable balancing of my vehicle noticed at the rear end.

Mathematically that comes out to approximately 112lbs of fuel. Some readings on my car say it is a 55/45 F/R weigh ratio.What I am not clear on is if the manafacturer is basing that on a loaded/fueled car, or empty curb weight? Then again, 112lbs is barely one adult passenger. Without real test data, my feelings could wholly be placebo?

Furthermore my car is prone to fishtailing depending on the (in order of effect) driving style, road conditions, and tire type.

Anyway from my by gone experience in the automotive rubber industry the best effect will be winter tires hands-down. My useless Camaro in snow was able to take down blizzards and snow drifts driving uphill past *stuck* over-confident 4WDs. You still have to drive extremely carefully, but the snow tires will get you home with high traction.

I used the Blizzak WS50, non high-performance design (unlike The Dunlop WinterSpors, etc), but very well regarded in Scandanavia actually. Cheapo Winterforce Sears tires are also great, sans the Sears installers.
 
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Even with traction control and winter tires, sandbagging could be beneficial. I used to fill the trunk in my CV when I lived in New Jersey, much less fish-tailing. As always, YMMV.
 
Some sand in the trunk is a good idea for a rear wheel drive car. (Probably not a bad idea for a front wheel drive either--surely those back wheels have some function that might benefit from the weight.)

More important than carrying sand for weight is to carry sand for traction. If you get stuck, it only takes a few handfulls of sand tossed under and in front of the spinning tire and in most cases you'll get right out, so I keep a gallon jug about half full of sand for that purpose. You need to be sure it is dry or it will freeze into a block and be worthless.
 
Just try weight in each rear foot well. 10:1 it makes a difference.

To much weight in the very back of the trunk is indeed scary once you get sliding sideways.
 
My 03 Tracker has similar weight distribution and weight, probably a bit more nose heavy. I find its Ok in rwd with snows, starting on any hill over maybe 6-8% requires 4wd though.
Carrying a bit of sand for getting stuck sounds like a great idea though. Also make sure you know how to turn off the traction control, sometimes the only way to go is to spin down to something that has grip. Tires turning at 30 rpm in slush gets frustrating fast.
My tires are 205 for width and next time I'll go skinnier to 195's, so if you've got something like 245 width snows you might want to try something like 195 or less if you can fit them. That will make the biggest difference in the sloppy stuff.
Ian
 
I'm with indylan the true benefit of sand is weight that the tires dig down to pavement with. Skinnier tires= more pounds of pressure on every inch of tire-to-pavement interface. A radical change from 245 to 195 will be what it takes to notice!

The only problem you may face in your car (since it's already fairly low) is the body sitting an inch lower on the suspension, meaning your bumper/lower fascia will scrape on "furrows" left by plows all the more.

I've never ridden in an 18 wheeler in the snow but they seem to do pretty well; that weight counts for something.
 
When we get a big load of snow, I shovel the bed of my F150 level and she'll start to squat, but man she'll ram her way through all kinds of snow clogged streets with no trouble at all.

So what is the trade off? Obviously drag racer pizza cutter front tires are extremely narrow, but I think would lose too much traction. Is there a formula for figuring the optimal tire width for snow? Prob not.
 
My sister used to throw a couple of 100lb bags of sand in the trunk of her 79 Mustang when the Wyoming winter gave its worst, and it got around a LOT better than with the trunk empty. Ditto for my mom's 2wd Chevy pickup.

Just don't drive under the misconception that the added weight will help you stop quicker or turn better.
 
My Rx8 was ok in the snow here in Philadelphia. We only got about 1-4 inches at most while I had it. Sand bags would help.


The worst car for the snow was my M3. I got stuck EVERYTIME I drove in the snow!


This is my fist winter in my Lincoln. I do not think it will fare well, so I just got a 96 Ford Bronco.
 
Probably a positive difference, but not the best thing to be doing (for many of the reasons mentioned).

An additional set of rims/thinner tires is probably best idea and doesn't cost that much.

Maybe the happy middle is having the sandbags on standby and then putting them in the vehicle when snow is forecasted..
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Keep in mind if the bags are behind the rear axle you will actually lighten the weight on the front tires reducing traction for steering
 
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I'm waiting for CapriRacer to chime in on this one...


Sorry, but I think personal experience trumps anything I could offer.



So this means, "some where in the United states" means some where in the south parts??????

lol
 
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I'm waiting for CapriRacer to chime in on this one...


Sorry, but I think personal experience trumps anything I could offer.



So this means, "some where in the United states" means some where in the south parts??????

lol


No, I spent 30 years trudging through snow and slush and consider my driving skills to be on par with the top 95% of the drivers out there.

What I meant was the techincal aspects are a mixed bag. The advantage of accelerating better has to be balanced by the additional mass that needs to be slowed down. So long as not a lot of weight is added - and it's added directly over the rear axle (as close as possible), I think the advantage is for adding the weight.

But my experience is limited because I went to FWD 25 years ago and haven''t looked back.
 
When I was a student I had a 1980 mazda b2000 short box pickup. This was a very light truck. With sandbags in the back, I got better traction from a stop, but it dramatically transformed the truck from a very front-heavy understeerer, to a serious over-steerer.

You can get used to all that, but you had to be light on the gas pedal in the corners on ice. Now if you've got traction control, the computer will do that for you...so the effect would be less I suppose.
 
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