Where to fit snow chains

[Skurfer]

Hi Guys

Just wondering do we fit snow chains to the front or the back on the legnum. You are supposed to fit them to the drive wheels, and we have an AWD. Most WRX owners fit them to the front. I assume we do the same, but maybe having the AYC might make things a little different.

 

[leebutts]

If you have to choose front or back (I'd fork out for chains for all four if it was me...), I'd put them on the front so that the wheels that do the steering have the most grip.

Having said that though, driving in snow without chains on the back would definitely give the AYC a workout as it would be working nearly all the time. You'd definitely want to make sure it was regularly serviced if you're going to be doing a lot of snow driving.

 

[Guest]

yeah I would have to agree with Lee but also pull the fuse on the ayc if you are not going to be driving hard as the ayc will be working all the time regardless of the chains being on the front or back. As little work for the ayc is good seeing as it is so expensive to replace. IMO I dont own one but having tcl and esp is some what similar to ayc and it is advised to pull the fuse on both if less wear and tear is wanted

 

[Guest]

if you pull the ayc fuse, you also loose ABS, not a good idea IMO

 

[Guest]

ummm no abs is a must on wet or icy roads!!!

 

[SiliconAngel]

I'm with Tom there - ABS won't kick in if you're doing less than 15km/h anyway, and when trying to stop on snow or icy roads without ABS your wheels will lock and dig through the snow until they grip. With ABS they'll just keep skidding 'cause they'll never develop enough friction to get through to the tarmac/ground underneath.

 

[bradc]

http://www.carbibles.com/brake_bible.html

Read all of that page for an interesting point on ABS in Snow. Personally I have no experience in snow/ice driving at all, so I'm not going to say anything on the matter.

 

[Guest]

wow that was long....

here's the snow ice bit....


ABS in snow and ice, and on gravel

Ah yes. The subject of a good 75% of the emails I get about ABS. The two camps for this argument are split almost exactly 50/50. In one camp, those like me who from experience would rather have their tyres lock up in deep snow to give me at least a fleeting chance of having them dig through the snow to find some road. Those who have anecdotal evidence that ABS is total crap in snow and ice. Whilst in the other camp, those who again believe ABS will somehow magically stop them from crashing in the same conditions. Those who have similar anecdotal evidence disproving all those in the first camp.
ABS by its very nature is designed to stop the wheels from skidding by allowing them to keep turning. On deep packed snow and ice, that's exactly what they're going to do - skid, so ABS effectively removes a considerable amount of your braking in an emergency in these conditions. It's why some cars have ABS disable systems for snow and ice, and it's why ice racers yank the fuse to the ABS system before they even get in a car to race.
The ABS Education Alliance, a group aiming to help educate drivers on how ABS will best benefit them, has this to say on the subject:
Even in fresh snow conditions, you gain the advantages of better steerability and stability with four-wheel ABS than with a conventional system that could result in locked wheels. In exchange for an increased stopping distance, the vehicle will remain stable and maintain full steering since the wheels won't be locked. The gain in stability makes the increase in stopping distances an acceptable compromise for most drivers.

So the short answer to this debate is that ABS is worse in snow and ice for overall stopping distance, but better for controlability

 

[bradc]

Or you could just yank up the hand brake, spin the wheel around, nail the throttle and pray AYC helps you out

 

[kiwibstokes]

Firstly in my first legnum i only had to put chains on it once at the ski feilds in NZ, and i put them on the front, keep in mind it wasn't a VR4 but was AWD, in any AWD it is best to put chains on the front because it gives you traction and steering where in a RWD car you need the traction because then you won't go anywhere at all but you still can steer just not a well.

Now in my experience of snow driving (quite a lot) i found it more benifical to pull the fuse on the ABS but that is only if you are aware of how to drive in the snow.

In coming down a snow slope if for some reason you need to brake hard, ABS kicks in and basicly doesn't slow you down at all because there is not much traction, so you can steer your way around if you need but this isn't often what you need to avoid a crash or driving off the side of the road you need to slow down..

Now without the ABS you slam on the brake those wheels lock up and will slow you down but you can't steer so you need to know the limit of your brakes before they lock and avoid lots of lock up but also know the method of pumping the brake pedal, this gives you maximum braking power and you still can steer the car

So i'd take out the fuse on the ABS if on snow/ice but thats me, i'm not telling everyone to go rip out the fuse as soon as it snows thats your decision, the feature is there for a reason remember. And the best advice for driving on snow is simple don't go too fast..

 

[Guest]

sounds like some fair solid advice bryan. i would think that the case of no ABS would be better aswell, but then again i have never driven at the snow.

 

[leg-it]

I go to the snow every weekend of the session. this year was the first in the legnum and I did not have to use chains at all, even on the most hard core day when just about every man and his dog fell in the ditch, I just took it slow and did not brake traction even once.
but to be safe going to the snow you must take chains with you! but just try to not use them as they stuff your tires and if your car is lowed it will stuff your wheel arch. but if you don't feel safe then use them.
I was very keen to find out just how good the 4wd was in my car. my subaru was not very good at all, so every time I got to the snow this year I was keen to try and see it's limits but every time it just pulled all the way up and never sliped I was having to make it slide and even this was hard!

 

[Guest]

sound like a wicked car for the snow, if you go to the snow that much it might pay to get a spare set of wheels and some snow tyres. some legnums have come in the country with them.lol

 

[SiliconAngel]

Mine did, but I didn't get to keep them. Not that I'm likely to ever have any use for them over here anyway

 

[Guest]

they are shit to drive with on the street, too much roll.

 

[Skurfer]

I have plenty of snow driving experience. Logged about 60 snow days in the past 2 years. I both agree and disagree with the ABS thing. in a couple of situations i have wished i had it in the car i was driving, and in others wishing i didnt have it in the car i was driving. Like someone else said, just slowing down is the trick.

As for snow chains damaging parts. I have never heard that before. You would really have to have really really really loose chains for them to damage your liner, and i still cant figure out how they will damage your tyres.

Does anyone have the owners manual who can give me a definite answer to where i fit the chains. I know the ford and holden books tell you, i am sure the japanese ones would as well.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Sorry Chris, we don't actually have an owners manual for these cars. Well, Brad does. But his is in Japanese

The owners manuals we received with our cars are USDM galant manuals and are utterly useless

 

[Skurfer]

Ah that is no good. I thought it was a part of complience that you got a manual. I bet that is a can of worms though i bet haha.

I thought someone would have one of those translated ones off Ebay or something. might have to get one. might be handy for these little things.

 

[SiliconAngel]

I don't believe there IS a translated one for the EC5W / EC5A yet. Funnily enough I made a post about it in Hayley's intro thread earlier today (I think her user name is PLYRH8R).

 

[bradc]

My one does have a section about snow chains, but all I can tell you really is that they go over the tyres on the little pictures Thats it!