Having this be my first (ever) midwest winter I have yet to find a nice parking lot to drift my 6000lb truck without flipping it over. :D

Skilled/experienced driving is the key. Whenever I am on the freeway in winter storms, surely enough there are vehicles in the ditch. And take a guess as to what type of vehicles are in the ditch the most...pick up trucks and SUVs. They even have 4 wheel drive. Why you ask? They don't think they need to drive to the conditions.

I remember last winter, my team (I coach) was in Moorhead MN (next to Fargo). We drove back in a terrible storm (all the way across the state). I remember seeing many, many trucks in the ditch but not one single car.

Yep, stupid SUV and pickup drivers think they are immune to the conditions...I laugh every time I see one that has gone into the ditch or done some other stupid thing....

I agree with Kerry's idea of large, empty parking lots. That's the way to do it. I know I probably sounded harsh on your 'rain' post, Jordaan, but I can't help but think of how your dad would feel if the phone rang and it was bad news about you. On the other side of the coin, I remember when I was where you are now... And it was fun.

The best 2wd snow car I ever owned was a 1965 Corvair. With RWD and engine in the rear it was almost unstoppable. It's only problem was that it had a light front end with a large flat bottom to the front trunk. When the snow was over about 18 inches and you were driving at speed, the trunk would act like a toboggan and pick the whole front of the car up on the top of the snow. The only directional stability left would be the effects of the tires pushing against the snow since they no longer touched the road. It was still controllable but with great lack of precision.

240Ds are the best snow cars and don't let anybody tell you different. Low power to weight ratio and heavy with narrow tires. Put good studded snows on and 100-200# in the trunk and you'll go anywhere that Audi will go and then some. The Audi's trouble is you'll start ripping it up when the snow gets too deep or if you hit a hard piece of ice. The 240D has better ground clearance.

Last winter we had an unexpectedly bad storm starting around noon (New Englanders will remember the December storm on a Thursday). At one point on my commute I go up a steep hill than banks to the left (anybody ever driven Rt 2 west out of Fitchburg, MA?) I was climbing it in my 190D thankful I'd gotten snowtires earlier that week. I was going slow and holding my own. I looked over to the right and saw a Toyota pickup crabbing up the hill SIDEWAYS in 4wd barely making it. The car in front of me slid into the jersey barrier and got stuck, so did the car in front of him, I snuck around them and the road ahead was clear. I gassed (dieseled?) it and pulled away from the Toyota leaving all other traffic behind.

I had NO problem getting anywhere other than all the other cars getting in my way!

LOL, You'll probably be starting "snow boarding" lessons:D

I keep a foldable trench spade (from the 1980's german army!) in my trunk, and lots of weight in the trunk for the winter, have gotten stuck sometimes because I have all season tires, but I am able to dig my way out... Also very useful when the snowplow buries your car. :)

I miss the snow. I haven't been able to get my 300cd out there, I moved south before getting it. I would like to see how it would handle though. I hope I get to move to CO this year.

I understand, I made sure to keep them updated and didn't do anything crazy seeing on how it was first time in the snow, didn't want to worry them, and it was a residential area where I was at with all the snow.

I went back up with my dad this morning and came back about half an hour ago. The snow is already starting to melt and the roads are well clear. There was still lots of mushy, watery and dirty ice and my 240 got all dirty. I threw tons of snow all over the car so I could maybe get it back to the desert floor but it all melted haha :(

Well with all this crazy weather out of the way, I think :confused: It's now going to be back to normal driving. I love my little 240D and can't stress enough of how much of a trooper it is. I have to go re-wash the under body wheel wells ect... :D

They were the worst! I guess the people didn't realize it was snowing because they were slipping and sliding all over the place lol

I remember...:( 4 hour commute into Boston for a night shift, I left an hour early and was 2 hours late with a cracked windshield from ice buildup... It could have been fun except for all the (other) crazies on the road... The drive home in the early morning hours was more interesting...

Joe

Back 0ff----
 

I can't comment on pickup drivers --- But I most certainly will chime in when there's an attack of SUV drivers! For future reference please adjust your statement and thoughts :D :)--- maybe something like "some stupid SUV..."

Sadly the majority of SUV drivers are under the impression (thanks to salesman telling them so, in order to close the deal) their vehicles are unstopable --- Sadly it's not true, no matter what you're driving you still gotta use common sense and caution......And most SUV drivers aren't trained on how to drive their vehicles in snow, ice, mud or any type of off road situation.

But for MANY of us SUV drivers --- we absolutely know what the h_ll we're doing! And part of that is due to the training and support REAL SUV manufacturers offer - for free!

Last winter during an 'up north' family vacation we encountered a major awesome snow storm --- I pushed thru 10 inches of virgin snow and ice, in the left lane maintaining 45 - 50 mph for over 2 hours, without issue - Part of the left lane drive was strickly a Land Rover 'show off, kiss my @ss kind of thing', but the other reason was to go around and keep away from the other cars, and the typical SUV driver!! Wife and kids looked up occasionally, and went right back to sleep, because of their knowledge of 'dads' driving in those conditions and their knowledge of the REAL SUV I own and drive!! There is a differance...whether some will publicly admit or not.....:D

Enjoy the below pics -
**A 'soccer mom' being trained in her new vehicle capablities!

And notice the 'clean' front wheel on these 2 disco's --- mine is the one on the right - we both busted wheels going thru a swamp and have no idea what was down there -- Could have been Hoffa's concrete wrapped body??? ;)...you haven't lived till you layed in ankle deep mud changing your tire --- And the busted wheel is hanging in my garage -- A trophy to us REAL SUV drivers!!!

The W123's properly driven in snow are tanks and absolutely AMAZING!! That torque to weight ratio thing is great --

Not all SUV drivers are stupid or created equally --- :D

So ;

How was the heater ? . SWMBO's cherry '82 240D has a killer heater , it's the manual one . my '80 300CD , less so , it has the Klima I HVAC in it and I've gone through every bit of it , when it's freezing the vents blow mondo heat but as soon as the interior warms up to 75° or so , it cycles down on both fan speed and outlet temperature , needsless to say this pisses me off greatly .

Oddly enough , the AC is _KILLER_ and easily keeps the inside temp @ 65° F even in the 125° F desert...

WTH ? .

I'm glad you didn't _slide_ all the way down Rt. 62 ! :eek: that's a nasty hill .

My wagon doesn't have 100%, maybe more like 80%. Combine that with 4 Winterforce snowtires and its a tank in the snow. I'm not to crazy about subjecting it to the winter, but I pretty much had to. These cars are fine in the snow just get good snows.

Dave