[s-cars] Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 not good in deep snow

[Taka Mizutani]

Mike-
You definitely have a point there- the crappy AWD system of the Volvo is
basically a FWD car until the wheels start to slip- maybe by me disabling
DSTC and driving it like a rally car forces it to be AWD (due to all of the
wheelspin) and thus it feels better that way.

Anyway, when this car needs replacement, I'm getting an SUV- MBZ ML/GL
diesel or a used Q7/Touraeg diesel or possibly a BMW X5 diesel. Ground
clearance and crappy AWD system doesn't cut it in deep snow and I hate being
told when not to be on the road. :-)

The stupid thing is that the Haldex system allows torque bias to be wherever
it wants to be- it could be rear-biased if it wanted to be. I need a
variable Haldex controller that allows me to have it biased somewhere around
60% rear for normal driving and then run it 50/50 in the snow.

I miss my type 44s for their capability in the snow. Heck, I miss my 200 a
lot. That was a great car.

Taka


On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Michael Lardizabal <
mikellardizabal at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Taka-
>
> Do you think it has to do more w/ the Haldex of the R ?
>
> Not having had a Haldex equipped car I'm not sure where the bias is.
>
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 12/21/09, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 not good in deep snow
> To: "Joe Pizzimenti" <joe.pizzimenti at gmail.com>
> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Date: Monday, December 21, 2009, 11:08 AM
>
>
> How much fresh snow were you driving through?
>
> Not for nothing, my STi couldn't get through 8" of fresh powder easily with
> Nokian NRWs- the ones I had were too wide for the weight of the car. I had
> to lock the center diff to 50/50 in order to get any sort of stability in
> deep snow.
>
> All I know is that my old '86 5ktq was unstoppable with cheap Firestone
> Winterforce tires. No problem driving in deep snow- braking, turning,
> everything was a piece of cake. That's with the diffs open.
>
> My old A4 1.8T was similar even with Dunlop Wintersport M2 tires- no issues
> driving in the snow.
>
> It was really dicey in the Volvo this weekend.
>
> Please keep in mind I said *PILOT* Alpin, not Artic Alpin- everyone seemed
> to miss that part.
>
> I'm sure if I was on X Ice 2, I'd be fine. Then again, what do you expect
> from V rated snow tires? :-)
>
> Taka
>
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 8:09 AM, Joe Pizzimenti <joe.pizzimenti at gmail.com<http://us.mc621.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=joe.pizzimenti@gmail.com>
> >wrote:
>
> > Had no such issues in my Blizzak LM-60's.  Maybe you want to swap for
> > those.
> >
> > Then again, we didn't get as much up here as you did down there.
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 7:57 AM, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com<http://us.mc621.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=t44tqtro@gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Just FYI, since we're talking about snow tires- Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3
> >> are
> >> not good in deep, fresh powder.
> >>
> >> Directional stability and braking are poor- the tires cannot handle it.
> >>
> >> I had to completely disable DSTC (aka traction and yaw control) in order
> >> to
> >> drive around Saturday- a good 10" of fresh powder on unplowed streets
> and
> >> I
> >> had to disable DSTC, put the trans in manual mode and drive rally-style
> to
> >> make it through- carry speed through the corners, accelerate hard and
> >> countersteer the whole way around- very hard to do in a car with a long
> >> wheelbase and a poor turning circle like my Volvo wagon.
> >>
> >> They are awesome in the dry, awesome in the rain, but they're really a
> >> tire
> >> that is only good on plowed streets. Don't drive in deep snow with these
> >> tires.
> >>
> >> I'm thinking about contacting Tire Rack and seeing if I can exchange
> these
> >> for Primacy Alpin or possibly General Artimax.
> >>
> >> Taka
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> >>
> >
> >
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