I was driving to drop off something off in Northern NJ earlier today when the weather took a turn for the worst. About a mile from where I had to drop these items off, the roads unexpectedly became quite hilly. Thankfully the roads are empty.

First off it should be noted that my 4x4 was not available.

I was at a stop sign on the top of a gentle hill where it goes steadilly down about 30 feet and then takes a fairly sharp turn to the right. My SS/TC was at a complete rest but then all of the sudden I notice that the car is moving. I hit the brakes and the ABS starts going nuts but nothing happens and the car is picking up momentum.

I say to myself "******* A!" and attempt to slow the car down, but to no avail. The car picks up speed and gets to what feels like 20mph. Deep down I know what is going happen, but I try to avoid it by attempting to steer the car in the direction of the upcoming turn to minimize the damage.

The car cooperates for about 2 seconds and faces the direction of the upcoming turn but the car overall continues to go straight. The car is now almost completely parallel to the upcoming curb and at around 25mph smacks into it sideways. The front driver and rear driver side wheels take all of the impact which was a decent amount since the opposing side of the car felt like it got an inch or two off the ground. Thankfully no injuries and nobody else involved.

I get out of the car and see that the front and rear wheels are on but seriously beat up. Huge marks all over the front and rear. While driving the car out of there and finally home, mechanically the car seemed fine but the steering was shot. In my side mirror I could see that the rims were totally bent and made any driving over 40mph impossible. After safely making it home, I must now assess the damage and make sure that there is nothing more severe as far as repairs being needed.


So BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!! If you need to take your car out, the ESC is excellent but watch out for those steep hills if you are decending. As good as the traction and brakes are on these cars, it is no match for snow and ice.


See post #53 for the first cost estimate on the damage.

 

did you have snow tires??

 

im going to say no...

 

If you are riding on the Continentals then I'll be the first to say that no one gives a **** about your story.

 

No snow tires, hence the lesson of the story.

 

I know a good story about a guy sky diving without a parachute and one about a guy playing Russian roulette with all 6 bullets in the gun.

 

We had about 4 inches last night of.. ice pellets I guess you would call them. Like driving on glass *****. I have all-seasons. It took some care and slow speed. But I had no drama. Drove about 30 miles from work.

With decent tires, even all seasons, common sense, ESC and LSD you will be good.

 

I hate to say it, but Acey isn't too far off here... It's not really a secret that the Continentals are 3-season only tires. You need winter tires to minimize your chances of an incident in the winter.

Either way man, glad no one was hurt.

 

By no means am I trying to gain any sort of sympathy here....The lesson is to not be idiotic like I was and try driving around in the snow without proper tires.

 

this is why you buy winter wheels. i tried to lose control today and didn't. and i'll put money i had more snow than you did.

 

**** happens man. i made the same mistake like 4 years ago. Now im all about some all season tires and LSD. Everyone be careful out there

 

I've been fine with the conti's til this most recent foot of snow. I have all-seasons on order. Should be here on Monday.

 

drove to work this afternoon with about 2 inches of snow on the ground with no problems. winter tires ftw. Sorry to hear your story though, that does suck.

 

I did the same thing last winter when I thought it was OK to drive on the stock Pirellis. Never again. 4k in damage later...

 

ice will always get ya......

 

not always... if you have the proper tires. peole think it will. they do the testing for good snow tires on ice. and you'd be surprised of the results. look them up. good tires do better than you think they do.

 

Wurd. My Blizzaks performed wonderfully in the ice storm last week

 

It may not be just the wheels, unfortunately. I clipped a low curb the other day at just the right angle, and it bent my wheel - the steering didnt feel right either, it turns out it also damaged the hub. Jack up that side of the car, grab the top and bottom of the tire, and wiggle in all directions. If it moves, you may have damaged the hub. (similar test to test balljoints).

I feel for you - we all do dumb things, and that one is going to cost you unfortunately... but at least its fixable! (BTW it was $1100 to replace the wheel and hub. The hub is cheap, the wheel is not.)

 

This is why I made that winter+ss/tc=death thread. Being the Canadian snow sucker that I am, I tried warning everyone. Seems like most people did the right thing and prepared. Clearly the original poster was not driving his winter car (the 4x4 he mentioned) for a legitimate reason and unfortunately slid into a curb. That sucks dude. Where was your 4x4 when this happened, the shop?

 

was outside, decide to clean off my car, didn't shovel it out, and moved through close to a foot of snow with out any problem whatsoever.

 

The 4x4 is a Subaru Forester. It was in the shop for it's 30,000 mile service.


As for the cost of the damage I have caused I am not sure yet. I am having a local shop over the weekend and give me an estimate and then I will take it over to a chevy dealership for an estimate as well. I will keep you all updated on the final cost.

 

Are u serious? You must have tired made by god himself then because even the best winter tire still won't prevent you from not losing control if that makes sense

 

I've been driving on my 3 season Conti's and the grip has been obviously a joke, but I don't have the money for steelies and snow tires right now. I'll just keep plowing through the northern Illinois winter for now

 

ice is ice
any tires will slide
and i work at a tire shop!!

 

In our nice province of Quebec, it is now a law : You have to have winter tires by december 15th.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/200...s.html?ref=rss

Most intelligent law I've seen in quite some time.