Winter Driving

my riv tracks in the snow.. takes me a while to get places.. but its amazing... nothing like our suburban lifted 2 inches with 33's and some terra grapplers.. lol i love that thing

I don't see any need for extra weight in my trunk, after 3 winters of driving the Riv in ND.

Although I love my Riv I wish I could afford to put it away for the winter, they suck in the snow, I think it must be weight distribution. My best in the snow was a 77 Olds Delta 88, that beast went through anything and control that could slide it sideways into a parking spot rear wheel drive is much more fun.

Winter driving a Riviera... isn't that sacrilege??? I mean i know your winters aren't like mine, but c'mon guys no winter beaters?

Hometown Hero wrote:

Winter driving a Riviera... isn't that sacrilege??? I mean i know your winters aren't like mine, but c'mon guys no winter beaters?

It's currently the only vehicle i have to drive.
My winter beater is now beyond worth repairing.
If you want to loan out one of your fleet for the winter I'll be happy to oblige.

I bought my Riv with the purpose to drive it. That's why it has heated seats and mirrors!

I believe the body weight and setup is not THAT different than my old regal ('94), which was awesome in the snow. The biggest difference I see is that the Riv has 225-60/16 tires and the regal had 205-70/15s. (I think my winter tires were 195s) That will make a difference in improving snow driving, but negatively effect cornering etc. The other difference, of course, is the additional power. It's much easier to spin the wheels in a modded SC 3800 than the old series I N/A 3800 I used to drive.

I went for the first drive in winter conditions. New General Acclaim HP tires.

The Rivi definately isn't the tops in the winter. It gets better if you turn the traction control off,...but with it on,..it's very slow going with a nearly constant buzz under the dash.

Perhaps I'm spoiled with my Subaru STI. Computer controlled AWD, roughly 425 hp and 3,050 lbs. Goes like a raped ape in the snow.

duckstu wrote:

I went for the first drive in winter conditions. New General Acclaim HP tires.

The Rivi definately isn't the tops in the winter. It gets better if you turn the traction control off,...but with it on,..it's very slow going with a nearly constant buzz under the dash.

Perhaps I'm spoiled with my Subaru STI. Computer controlled AWD, roughly 425 hp and 3,050 lbs. Goes like a raped ape in the snow.

Your traction control is inop, you told us that, and so isn't a fair or reasonable measure.

That said, my Subaru (a was better in the snow, and for my driving (almost all highway) got worse gas mileage. The Riv is OK in the snow I think. In my experience the trac control give me the most help on wet leaves. It isn't as helpful on snow as 4wd or AWD, if only because there are only 2 powered traction wheels on the Riv (the fronts) and 4 on 4WD or AWD vehicles. On top of that Subaru has one of the best 4WD systems available - probably the best in its price range - and the cars, weight wise, are fairly well balanced because the boxer engines are so lightweight.

I find, overall, that traction control helps somewhat *as long as it is in good repair* but is not as good as AWD or 4WD. I have a Buick Rendezvous with AWD (and Pirelli Scorpion snow tires) that runs quite well on roads (snow/ice) that others find impassable, for instance interstate highways during the first hour of a heavy snowstorm.

Albertj


Albertj

I Live in Northern Minnesota and I think the Riv is great in the snow! If the traction control is kicking in you should let up on the gas. The biggest mistake most people make in the snow or slippery conditions is to go to fast. I almost never turn the traction control off.

I got a winter beater last year and am looking forward to using it agian this year. $500 for truck, $150 for wheels and tires, and traded spare wheels for 6" lift. Riv is sleeping in a heated garage, nice and cozy and I don't care what this thing hits... or runs over.

That thing will work in deep snow but I think the Riv would handle the normal winter driving better.

During winter I'm not worring about handling as much as people sliding into me or me sliding into things. The Bronco is a beater only. If this thing gets "dinged" beyond repair, I can throw it away. My Riv has a lot of sentimential value to it and I would be crushed if anything happened to it.

ewolfe0050 wrote:

During winter I'm not worring about handling as much as people sliding into me or me sliding into things. The Bronco is a beater only. If this thing gets "dinged" beyond repair, I can throw it away. My Riv has a lot of sentimential value to it and I would be crushed if anything happened to it.

My thoughts, exactly. Plus they salt the shyt outta the roads up here so if I don't want rust then i best drive my 4x4.

My first experience on snowy road was hellish, but there were two reasons: rear axle adjustment was way out of specs and summer tires were seriously worn out.
Result was 360° spin, luckily there were no cars or trucks coming.

After that I made 4-wheel alignment and bought a set of proper tires, Michelin X-Ice Xi2 with studs. Sixe is 215/65/R16.

And now.... no proper winter anymore! Well, now it seems to be snowing and meteorologists promised something -20°C to next week.

Riviera warms up very fast, I'm pleased. If it only could have heated seats, darn.

albertj wrote:

Your traction control is inop, you told us that, and so isn't a fair or reasonable measure.
Albertj

It was,...but I fixed it a few days ago.

There was a cut wire where the leads from the rear wheels meet a conector by the fuel filter. Fixed that, and the the light went off,....and the ABS and Traction both work properly.

I tested the ABS the other night by jumping on the brakes. Works as any ABS would.

If you haven't tried the STI's AWD system,...you should. Unlike the other SUbarus,...the STI is rear biased,...has gear-type limited slip difs front and back,...and has a computer operated center diff that can also be controlled manually. They call it DCCD (Driver Controled Center Diferential).

The STI system is a world better than the regular Imprezza, WRX, Forester etc systems (which are already quite good). In my car I can still do a 0-60 in under 4 sec in the rain. 3.2 sec in the dry.

today frech snow cam on ground again.
I had old winter tyres on the stock rims. Cone out for a test drive. the tyres are maybe 3-4 years old. not many spikes left. and 215 wide. have to say it drived very good. truyed to accelarate. offcorce it starts to spinn fast. truyed out for 1st time TC and abs on winter and they do great job.

made a short video.
cant wait to get the new tyres to arrive. will but them fast so i can but the sts rims back on.