gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Last Thursday marked the first time I've ever run a dedicated winter setup - 17" MSW rims with Blizzaks. In the past, I've run all-season tires, not really wanting to spend the extra money on two sets wheels/tires. After buying a set of '11 STI Enkeis with the stock Dunlops last year, I decided to give a dedicated winter setup a shot. I ended up finding a great deal on the above-mentioned wheel/tire setup here, in the classifieds section.
Unfortunately, this year, unlike last year's January-long blizzard, has been pretty mild, and all but snow-free. Luckily, my gf signed me up for Team O'Neil's Winter Safety School this past weekend. The December class was canceled due to lack of snow and I was worried it would be the same this month - they've had unusually low accumulation from what Chuck at Team O'Neil said. As luck would have it, snow fell for three days before the weekend and cleared up for a perfect Saturday, the day of the class. It was cold (dash read -2F) and clear and snow was aplenty, though the course wasn't overly filled nor iced over.
All I have to say is, Wow! I can't believe how much traction and control I have with this setup. I was happy with the all-season Proxes-on-OEM-5-spokes and figured any shortcomings were a result of the power and how wide they were, and that even a dedicated snow setup wouldn't too much of a benefit. The Proxes were safe to drive in the snow, but ABS would kick in under moderate braking and anything more than light throttle in I-mode resulted in traction control kicking in (if I'd forgotten to turn it off.)
Throughout the course of the day at Team O'Neil, I was able to drive pretty aggressively and traction control never interfered (I only forgot to turn it off for a couple of runs.) One part of the course is all about threshold braking -- braking hard, just short of ABS activation -- and I was able to stop amazingly well, applying a lot of pressure before ABS kicked in.
I thought I was a pretty good driver, but haven't had many opportunities to put my car through the paces in snowy conditions in a controlled manner, and never with snow tires. I learned a lot and had tons of fun. I'm planning to put some snow tires on my gf's Civic's steelies and have her take the course next year. IMO, unless you have tons of experience, something like Team O'Neil's course is a must. I spent minimal time sitting in the classroom and most of it driving around, learning how my car maneuvers in very-low-traction scenarios. The school was well worth the money!
Here are some pics:
Unfortunately, this year, unlike last year's January-long blizzard, has been pretty mild, and all but snow-free. Luckily, my gf signed me up for Team O'Neil's Winter Safety School this past weekend. The December class was canceled due to lack of snow and I was worried it would be the same this month - they've had unusually low accumulation from what Chuck at Team O'Neil said. As luck would have it, snow fell for three days before the weekend and cleared up for a perfect Saturday, the day of the class. It was cold (dash read -2F) and clear and snow was aplenty, though the course wasn't overly filled nor iced over.
All I have to say is, Wow! I can't believe how much traction and control I have with this setup. I was happy with the all-season Proxes-on-OEM-5-spokes and figured any shortcomings were a result of the power and how wide they were, and that even a dedicated snow setup wouldn't too much of a benefit. The Proxes were safe to drive in the snow, but ABS would kick in under moderate braking and anything more than light throttle in I-mode resulted in traction control kicking in (if I'd forgotten to turn it off.)
Throughout the course of the day at Team O'Neil, I was able to drive pretty aggressively and traction control never interfered (I only forgot to turn it off for a couple of runs.) One part of the course is all about threshold braking -- braking hard, just short of ABS activation -- and I was able to stop amazingly well, applying a lot of pressure before ABS kicked in.
I thought I was a pretty good driver, but haven't had many opportunities to put my car through the paces in snowy conditions in a controlled manner, and never with snow tires. I learned a lot and had tons of fun. I'm planning to put some snow tires on my gf's Civic's steelies and have her take the course next year. IMO, unless you have tons of experience, something like Team O'Neil's course is a must. I spent minimal time sitting in the classroom and most of it driving around, learning how my car maneuvers in very-low-traction scenarios. The school was well worth the money!
Here are some pics:
