96 Imprezza gets squirley on snow covered road

[marinemedic]

Hello I have a 96 Imprezza outback This morning we had our first snowfall of the year while driving to work it seemed when the AWD kicked in the rear of the car would get loose the car has all new tires and over the summer I put in the Duty C Selonoid any ideas would be appreciated thanks Marc

[Fairtax4me]

AWD should not "kick in", it should be constant.

 

Some more details would help. What's the sub model? How many miles? What kind of tires are on the car? What speed does this feeling occur at? Does it occur when going around a corner or just going straight? Have you had an alignment done lately? Did you try putting some weight in the back of the car to see if that affects it?

[idosubaru]

my bet is tires. if you have significant snow to drive through consider buying dedicated snow tires for the winter. FWD with snow tires > than AWD with all seasons. a friend of mine drives his freaking hugoginormous 1955 whatever it is (i have no clue about old cars) all winter long as a daily driver. just throws snow tires on that rear wheel beast and tears it up.

[johnceggleston]

just because it is AWD and you can not get the front wheels to spin on dry pavement does not mean you can not spin the rear wheels. you can, if all 4 are spinning, especially on snow or ice. slow down and take it easy until you get the feel for how much you can push it.

 

spinning the wheels, especially the rears, will get the rear squirrelly in turns or on side slopes.

 

enjoy!!!!!!!!

[monstaru]

i fourth this.tires.slow down.cheers, brian

[Bmm001]

Of all my family's Subarus (an Impreza, Legacy, Legacy wagon, Impreza Outback, Outback), I think my dad's 97 Impreza sedan is the least reassuring in the snow. I think it's mainly because of the short wheelbase, performance all season tires, and the lack of ABS.

 

We should probably all remember that just because we're driving an all wheel drive car doesn't mean we can drive faster than "regular" cars in the snow.

 

Brian

[robm]

That is the problem with AWD. We CAN drive faster than other cars in the snow. But we SHOULDN'T! Sometimes it is hard to tell when that line is being crossed.

 

Since we don't have the instant feedback of road conditions, the way an old RWD vehicle did (hit the gas and spin tires - hmm, maybe it is kind of slippery out there) I find it best to really drive hard for the first hundred yards of so: Lots of gas, flick the steering wheel, and stomp on the brakes. That gives me an idea how bad it is before I get too far. (Do this on a quiet road with no other traffic, obviously!) The real problem is when the conditions change as you drive, and what was a safe and sensible speed becomes crazy without notice - and you don't find out until you have to do something like stop, or turn or dodge stuff on the road (like moose).

 

Don't drive unless you have to, and then drive later, after the plows and other traffic have had a chance to clean the snow off the road. Let someone else go into the ditch first, and point out the really slippery bits for you.

 

Good luck.

[Fairtax4me]

I always laugh at people in their 4wd trucks and SUVs that think they're bad muthas in the snow because they can "go" faster. They're usually the first ones to wreck. Then I laugh at them again when I drive by in my Rwd Lincoln. I might be driving sideways, but at least I'm still on the road.

 

Besides that it's fun to steer with the gas pedal every now and then.

And speaking of snow, we might get our first of the year here this weekend. Cant wait to try out the Soob in it!

[robm]

I have noticed this effect:

 

RWD go in the ditch on their own side of the road, often back end first. (Oops! Need a pull please!)

 

FWD go in the ditch on the OPPOSITE side of the road, usually front end first. (Bad news if there is oncoming traffic. Need a tow truck, and maybe an ambulance quick!)

 

4WD go in the ditch upside down. (Always bad news! Tow truck and ambulance for sure.)

 

I am not sure if there are more FWD and 4WD vehicles in the ditch, but the ones that go there are likely in deeper trouble. There are so few RWD now, it is impossible to get decent sample size.

 

I miss my old RWD Corolla. My 4WD Subaru is the closest thing I can get to it, dynamically. I don't miss working on it, just the handling (summer or winter) and better fuel consumption.

[gl2tosl2]

I'm originally from CA and have only been in the midwest for a few years (5? where'd the time go?). This is going to be my first winter with AWD, I've had a FWD Geo Metro (hatchback) up until now. In CA we didn't have snow or ice, but we had mud. My experience has been knowing how to handle your car and what the limits are is far more important than having more driving wheels. The only other thing that seems to really matter is having good tires.

 

I've taken the geo on plenty of winter trips (east to toronto and west to CA) mid winter without trouble. Though I saw plenty of SUVs in the ditches. Get decent tires and slow down if conditions are bad.

[Major Lazy]

My 97 does fantastic in the snow but it can still kick the rear around if i gun it just right (or wrong) Did you drive this car last year in the snow? I only had 2 probs in snow:

 

1 dragging the bottom pan it will only go a few inches then it needs chains

2 snow packs up under the rear wheel well and causes some pretty serious handling problems because there is about 1" of travel.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Major Lazy

[marinemedic]

Thanks to all for your response it is an 96 imprezza outback it has 4 new all season tires I was only going 55 mph on a highway and had less than an inch of snow . The car did not start fishtailing or anything it just seemed like the rear would get loose intermittantly

[Scooby17]

Thanks to all for your response it is an 96 imprezza outback it has 4 new all season tires I was only going 55 mph on a highway and had less than an inch of snow . The car did not start fishtailing or anything it just seemed like the rear would get loose intermittantly

 

Yup. Those all season tires tend to be pretty worthless in any real winter weather. Mine were over 60% tread and I was just spinning them on flat in FWD. I can drive my whole icy driveway up hill in FWD if I now choose with blizzak studless tires or I can press the 4x4 button.

[zyewdall]

Yup. Those all season tires tend to be pretty worthless in any real winter weather. Mine were over 60% tread and I was just spinning them on flat in FWD. I can drive my whole icy driveway up hill in FWD if I now choose with blizzak studless tires or I can press the 4x4 button.

 

Yup. Second that. I have gnarly studded snow tires on the Justy, and I can jam on the brakes on a packed snow road, and it just stops. Since putting the studded tires on it, I can go up stuff in 2wd that was squirmy in 4wd with the all seasons on it. I was driving the legacy yesterday, which has almost brand new all seasons on it, and on the same packed snow road, it's quite squirrelly.... it'll go fast, but turning and stopping are another matter -- I did an interesting slide last night when I came around the corner to find a truck parked in the middle of the highway with no lights on -- didn't hit anything as I went around him, but if I'd had snow tires, it would have been completely under control. I saw another subaru up in someone's yard on top of the landscaping in the morning -- road was a sheet of ice there, and he didn't have snow tires either. Subaru's are way better than most SUV's because of lower center of gravity, and better weight distribution... but with all season tires, anything sucks.

[Fairtax4me]

Thanks to all for your response it is an 96 imprezza outback it has 4 new all season tires I was only going 55 mph on a highway and had less than an inch of snow

 

Yeah.... 55 + ANY amount of snow = bad news.

[erik litchy]

Subaru's are way better than most SUV's because of lower center of gravity, and better weight distribution... but with all season tires, anything sucks.

 

oh are they ever. my 89 cherokee is GREAT in ice, with the right tyres (Kumho MT) but never was worth a damn in snow. as soon as you lift off the gas it oversteered even at 10 mph. it has a limited slip front and rear diff. yes it has left me in the ditch a few times. the subaru is so much better in snow!

[cagranitz]

When it comes to driving any car in the snow...

 

Snow tires = the right tool for the job

 

All season tires (even brand new) = the wrong tool for the job

[strat]

AWD should not "kick in", it should be constant.

 

 

if it's a 4eat (which is should be since he mentions the duty c solenoid) when the awd system transfers power to the rear from the 90/10 split it usually is at, this could be upseting the balance of the car. especially if there is alot of wheel spin with the fronts, the rear tends to engage kinda suddenly.

[robm]

"4 new all season tires I was only going 55 mph on a highway and had less than an inch of snow"

 

Worst possible tires for the worst conditions, although new helps. That stuff was probably turning into a curling rink right under the tires. Drove home in something similar, yesterday, but lots of others had gone before and made the rink. The worst part is not knowing where the edge of the road is, and the snowplows forcing you over as they plow 2 feet over the centreline, coming from the other direction.

 

All seasons aren't too bad once it gets really cold (below 0 F), but they suck until then. I spent a winter on them in Northern Alberta, 0 to -40 deg the whole time, and never had a problem. Sure, they didn't stick well, but they stick reliably poorly - one can adapt. ABS brakes helped on the icy roads downtown. All the highways were pretty bare due to the wind. Come spring breakup, it was funny to watch the local drivers try to adapt to slush. They hadn't a clue! I was the only one in the apartment building that used the (unplowed) parking lot, everyone else was afraid of getting stuck. And this was a FWD Pontiac with OEM all-seasons, not even a Subaru. It all comes down to knowing how much wheelspin is useful, and when. Don't just plant it and burn a hole in the snow down to pavement, then make black smoke trying to get out of the hole, as I saw one fellow doing!

 

And the one corner on the road to the pulp mill was the biggest joke. All the big pickups would blast by me at 70 MPH to my careful 55, then crawl around the one corner at less than 20. That was the only spot on the highway where the snow would build, for some reason, but even so, that corner was an easy one at 35.