<VV> More Salt Now & Snow Driving

[Bill Elliott]

Henri van Wandelen wrote:

>I'm one of those warm weather wimps, living in California and Florida, with only one year in Colorado Springs years ago when I was young and frisky and drove a Slant 6 Dodge Dart -- my old pre-Corvair favorite ride.
>
>I know nothing about salting roads -- please help me.
>
>?  They're using more salt than they used to -- anyone know why a public agency would voluntarily use any more of anything these days than they absolutely had to?
>  
>
The public demands completely clear roads and the government have 
figured out that keeping the roads clearer significantly cuts down on 
traffic problems...both attributable in my opinion to a false sense of 
security of drivers because of the traction of front wheel drive cars 
and/or 4wd trucks... the cars are capable of getting going faster in 
slippery conditions and the drivers have little sense of instability 
until the car is out of control.... and frankly fewer drivers have ever 
spent much time driving on dirt roads, much less snow covered roads.

I am astounded at the drivers I see around me and their absolutely 
disregard for the road conditions. I was used to being in an all wheel 
drive car with high tech snow tires all around driving along just below 
my margin of comfort and have cars on all season or even summer tires 
blow past me like I wasn't even moving... these are the cars (often 
SUV's) that you see littering the median and ditches on the highway...

>?  Do they use sand anywhere or is it all just salt?
>  
>
Usually it's a mix of sand and salt (and often some even nastier 
compounds which will melt ice at lower temps than salt); some places use 
sand, but that mainly just adds traction (or when mixed helps the 
salt/chloride dig down in better), but doesn't really melt the 
snow/ice... reference the first answer that the public wants clear 
roads, not just passable ones.

>?  Do Corvairs handle snow driving well with all that nice weight over the drive wheels?
>  
>
Corvairs have tremendous traction in slippery conditions... almost too 
good because (like awd) it allows you to get going faster easier than 
you might think in slippery conditions. Following the laws of physics, 
Corvairs don't stop any faster in low traction conditions than any other 
car of the same weight and equivalent tires... and the slippery road 
only amplifies the car's natural handling characteristics.... meaning 
that if you do loose control, you're likely leaving the road backwards 
(versus sliding straight off in a FWD)... but with a knowledge of weight 
transfer (I really like a little left foot braking to get the front to 
bite) the Corvair makes an excellent bad weather car...

>?  Anyone have any good 'Vair snow driving adventures to share?
>
>  
>
How about ice racing on frozen lakes?
http://fnader.com/Ice_Racing.htm

Bill