Lessons in winter driving.
In Calgary now, winter is deep into beginning and as a result the snow and ice which sits on the roads all season long is beginning to accumulate. For those of us enthusiastic about driving, this means everyday opportunity to practice and evaluate various driving techniques. At least, that’s how I view it.
It was after all, in a snowy parking lot under the guidance of my Dad that I first understood the limits of a vehicle when I was only 14. When I was 17, with 86 around me, I first felt power oversteer on unplowed Lethbridge roads. There is a great feeling of accomplishment, completing little driving goals on a winter road…
Over the years, I’ve had numerous winter vehicles: all of them have been rwd Corollas. With mild drifting interests since the beginning I’ve always wanted rwd so I could feel like I was a real drifter, blipping the throttle off and on through a corner, doing donuts and all the other basic stuff I always watched Taniguchi or Orido do. I think winters in my AE86 and TE Corollas did a lot to improve my skills at the auto-x and they certainly put me out on the right foot when I started doing real drifting… on asphalt where everything happens at twice the speed it does in the snow. That is why I think snow is a great place to learn real driving. It’s more forgiving… allowing us to slowly approach the cars limit and our own limits.
This year, I have advanced myself to what I believe is a greater challenge in winter driving. I have noticed over the past year, which was almost 100% drift based, a reduction in my own use of the drift techniques most fundamental to fast driving. These are, the weight shifting techniques like the feint, or braking drift for example. When I started drifting, these techniques were much more natural but as the season wound down this year, I found myself not using them at all and relying almost entirely on my drivetrain to maintain sideways action. IMO… this is a cheater method because it doesn’t apply to real fast driving, in addition it demands that the car make real power. I won’t deny though… the drivetrain based methods are much more exciting to watch and certainly do belong in a competition setting.
Still… my goal is not only to be a better drifter, but a better driver. That is why, this year I am happy to drive an FF car everyday. People gape… why would I do that? I’m now more than comfortable holding the rear end out for blocks on end in an FR car. I pick FF for the new challenges it provides. Being much more front heavy than FR cars gives it a more natural tendency towards understeer and furthermore, with FF it becomes impossible for me to create oversteer with the right pedal. The cheater’s answer to these problems is the hand brake, but for me, this device will be for emergency use only.
I have various experience with FF cars in other conditions: a very unpredictable EW Civic, and a lovely A1 GTi which rotated very nicely on gravel with good weight management and left foot brake. Both taught me a lot about driving… But… if I’m successful, limiting myself to basic weight transfer techniques on a wrong wheel drive car, in the snow and ice where barely any weight shifts to begin with; will by my reckoning… make me a hero among drivers. The Test ground? CSCC Winter Auto-x… Lofty goals…