Hello All,

I wanted to write about a minor accident that happened to me and for a warning for anyone who drives like me....

Anyway,

I was on the highway and i was coming to my exit, the exit is a incline with a pretty decent sloping left turn. Normally I speed up before the exit, then throw the car in neutral (5-speed) and ride out the exit to the stop sign. Last night however, it snowed slightly and when i took the turn going 40mph in neutral(to save gas), my car lost control and slid left, then right then i ended up slamming the drivers side onto the curb. I was with my girlfriend at the time, needless to say she was scared shitless.

My car was on a grassy area by the end of the exit and we just looked at each other like WTF. I hit the curb really hard i thought i broke my ball bearings, axle, flats...you name it.... so i was like..what the hell, I threw the car in reverse, the car quickly responded, got me out of that grassy area, and I was back on the road!!

Futher inspection of the car i have slight molding damage to my lower drivers side, and my back wheel lost a small chunk of the rimm. but it drove fine, no shakes, rattles , no flats. its a true testiment on how tough this car can be and how im lucky to have it.

Moral of the story, dont take turns in neutral. its not worth the MPG you'll save.

I love this car

 

Moral of the story? SLOW DOWN!!!!

Sorry dude, but the harsh truth is, if you lost it on snow, it's YOUR fault. It wouldn't have mattered if you were coasting or not. You were obviously going too fast.

 

I'd like to know how much gas you think you actually saved anyway. When I drove manual, I liked the feel of the road when down shifting and riding corners . . .

 

yeah, all good advice, and yes i am a dumbass, but thankfully, no one was hurt and I've learned a valuable lesson.

 

ONE VERY BIG MISTAKE, that could have cost you your cars life, and lost thousands of dollars, Just a few advice snow tires help very little when its snowing,BUT WHAT ARE PEOPLE THINKING???? SNOW TIRES AND PAY $500+++, It snows for one day or two and plowing continues, your gonna go buy snow tires for one day, I think thats ONE big mistake people get into. 2nd of all its not a huge difference in MPG of you put it into 5th gear going down. Another thing it wears your brake pads pretty fast and can get too hot and it can be dangerous on the brakes. Also I have been noticing alot of people at stop light, they press the clutch and hold it in 1st gear on a stoplight. Why dont you put it in neutral and its also more comfortable. Holding the clutch down liek every time will make change your clutch and if your a bad stick driver. JUST some advice.

 

Just for the record, if your story had begun "So I was on this back road playing "WRC Drifter......" I would laugh it off. (Assuming nobody got hurt, of course.)
If I ever tell a similar story, that's likely how it will start off!

BTW, What tire DO you have? I just changed my 225/40r18 Toyos back to the 205/55r16 no-name all-season tires. I had the 18's on for 2 days of snow, and scared myself a couple of times. Self inflicted on a back road, of course.

 

Fortunatelly,your both and the car is ok ...Despite your trip computer shows 99 MPGor1 lt/100 km I read that putting your shifter to N is worthless namely on fuel injected cars even when coming close to stop [:-]lol

 

snow tires don't help when it's snowing? i guess gas doesn't help you go forward when your car is running either then. makes just as much sense. snow tires are made from different compounds than other styles and have different tread patterns. they are softer, and have deeper more agressive treads. you have a $15-20k+ car and you are worried about spending $500 on some tires, and you think it is a mistake?

what do you think people with automatics do, shift down to 2nd and 1st to slow down? they USE THE BRAKES. that is what they were meant for. i think you need to do a little more research on brakes before you start telling people that using them to stop your car will make them too hot and be dangerous. unless you are driving the car like an idiot i am willing to bet that you will never make a set of factory brakes too hot to the point it would damage them. ever.do you really think the designers did not anticipate people using their brakes to stop when they designed them? go price out a complete set of front rotors, pads and labor costs to install them. then go price out a clutch. i will be waiting to hear the results you find.

it is mostly for safety reasons that some people leave it in first with the clutch engaged. lets just say that it is snowing, and you are driving up from behind while i am stopped at the light. i already know you don't use snow tires, so i now have a big advantage being able to pull out of your way as you slide through the intersection. this is s.o.p. for all motorcycle riders - we always have it in gear and the clutch ready to go at a moments notice. that second or 3 it takes to engage the clutch, put it in gear and then roll away could be the thing that saves my life, or my car's life.

i realize you are only 16, but you have a lot of learning to do when it comes to cars.

 

Personally on these cars as long as you don't have high performance summer tires with the awd I couldn't imagine the car handling any better...personally I'd never waste the money on the tire as 500 is cheap for a snow tire that has a name brand! I check on some cheap dunlops last year and they were 800 bucks and that was a deal...adjusting to your conditions with a car equipped with awd, dsc and abs to me is remedy enough!

1stjag I applaud you stating your story and not sugar coating it! At least you and your girl are alright! Are you going to claim anything on your insurance?

No wonder all the fights start as tention's rise as people are making irrational decisions nearing Christmas...I hate when this site resorts to arguing...its so not that much fun...

 

You buy a decent set of all weathers there is no reason for winter tires! Especially here in Michigan...the temps go from below zero to 50 the next day...by the time a winter was through here in michigan I would already have to buy another set for the next year....with the features this car has a decent set of all season tires is just fine and driving to the conditions also helps...I know the difference between winter and other tires...the softness of the rubber was insane which would be the reason I'd need new tires before the winter was overwith! I haven't seen no name winter tires either or any winter tire that was affordable in the odd ball 17 inch low pro size we need for these cars...I've been driving on terrible toyo's for the last year and have had no problems driving in terrible weather...if I drive like an **** with the dsc off though its a different story...you hit ice though and no tire stands a chance without chains or studs...

 

Who cares about what the precipitation chart shows...perhaps you should travel here for one of our snow storms our salt trucks are out ruining the roads before the white stuff flies...you take road and weather conditions into consideration and all weather tires are all you need...

 

Thanks all for your input and support.

I currently reside in NYC, and rarely snows here. the 2 biggest factors for this incident was 1) road condition and 2) driver error. I normally know how to take a turn as I was driving around my home, even with the road condition I'd believe i was slow enough.

Everyone encourages getting good MPG, so speeding up on a downhill and taking it easy on an uphill is comon practice for me, i think its smart driving and hopefully eco friendly. However, thats for only perfect road conditions. In the future, I will be more cautious when driving under bad road conditions.

My tires are still pretty decent and they are an all season tire. I dont think snow tires would be beneficial here. One of the main reasons why I purchased an X-type was because of the AWD(and that it looks dead sexy).

I just hope my tale is a reminder to my fellow jag owners to becareful out there, no amount of snow tires, awd, LSD or whatever is a match for mother nature and black ice.

 

Nineball I love on how you have to be so rude responding on these question. People keep the clutch engaged even in the summer time im not just saying cause its winter now. They stay at the stop light with the clutch engaged, for what????? 1 sec faster or later wont make a difference at waiting for the stop light to change. Yes Snow tires are a different material and all, but like I said if you read my posting, it snows for 1 day and its all plowed here in NH. Drive slow like everyone use and be cautious but pay $800+ for snows come on. Like aquil said and other, once you hit ice nothing will be helped with snow tires. You cant do anything bout that. Also ynineball you dont put it in neutral while your entering the exit, you leave it in gear and can brake softer. What if you werent paying attention for a few moments and didnt see the car ahead, you will be more seucre with the clutch engaged. I will never buy winter tires paying $800+ for tires that you use for one day. But I guess I see how people get in debt easy, they pay for snows, things that they dont really need. But this is just my opinion and I think a good opinion.

 

opinons are like ********. everyone has one and their's is the one that doesn't stink.

just doing a 10 second search on tirerack i found Bridgestone Blizzak REVO 1WINTER tires for $80 each in the stock 16" tire size. if buying snow tires puts you in debt to the point that it is a problem than you have already spent too much money on your vehicle to begin with. i never said a thing about being in neutral while driving, but to each his own. i simply stated that using the brakes to stop your car is what they were designed for, and the odds of you or anyone using them to the point of causing heat failure is absurd. an extra second of reaction time can be a few thousand dollar difference.i stand by what i said - my car is worth a decent amount of money and i see no problem in spending a few hundred dollars to improve the only part of the car that actually makes contact with the road.


so can you tell me the difference in price between new front brakes and a new clutch?

 

new front brake pads can go for around $150 and a clutch can go for about $700

 

I understand, I have alot of money left and I am gonna do some exterior mods but instead of wasting $ on winter tires which it snows one day and its all dry the next day Id rather do something else with that money. Also I got 17" tires so I checked on tirerack and they go for $118 17" winter tire, plus $60 shipping, plus mounting and balancing, it gets you to about $700, Like I said it snows one day and the next day its all dry here. Also my car value in private party is $17k and my opinion thats alot espically being not even 16 yet and not 1 kid in my school has a car like this all paid off with no loans. I learned to save up my money, I sold some cars and I know my business of what to do. My parents have driven for 25+ plus never bought winter tires and never got into an accident. They got one speeding ticket in their life, and no they arent those people that go interstate speeds. Also if I spent my money on this, this and this I wouldnt even have saved up $1k. Like I said not 1 kid out of 2500 kids have a car this expensive, them paying for it and having the title in hand and ALOT OF EXTRA CASH. Also my parents are not rich they were pretty average. They have always bought brand new cars, they never have bought a used car. They saved up their money and always paid cash for their vehicle never any loans. They have a 2008 maxima now, they had a 2007 Camry 2007 Passat 2004 jaguar x-type a 2004 Lincoln Aviator and about 9 altimas. Believe it not im telling the truth. They like to switch cars every few years. And on the camry and passat after 4 months of use and aprox. 3500 miles I sold the car for my parents almost how much they paid for it.