I decided to drive a FWD car to work today.
It didn’t help much.
Roads were still slippery today, especially intersections. Black ice was plentiful. The smell of burnt rubber was in the air.
I didn’t see a single snow plow during my commute this morning and this evening. The local paper reported that the city had been working 24 hours a day clearing roads. Where were they? All of the major intersections in town were still in the same state they were yesterday evening — very slippery.
The Accord sedan I drove didn’t handle the slippery intersections very well, mostly due to a lack of traction control. My RWD G35 actually faired better with traction control enabled. It swayed a little (an inch or two) in the rear, but gained traction within a second and carried on. In contrast, the Accord swayed to the right at two intersections and took several seconds to gain traction at another local intersection. I recall my Accord V6 coupe (same year as G35) exhibiting similar behavior during a winter storm a couple of years ago. In retrospect, I think the 03 Accord’s traction control implementation wasn’t as refined as the one in the 03 G35 (eg. reducing engine output to gain traction and per-wheel torque distribution).
Drivers were fairly patient on the roads and highway yesterday. However, today, some drivers were back to being impatient beings. I mean tailgating while it’s raining is bad enough, but teenagers tailgating cars on icy, slippery roads? That’s just not smart. I had to keep a constant eye on the rearview mirror ensuring no one got to close. As a rule of thumb, whenever possible, I intentionally slow down (slightly) to prevent problems down the road. The last thing you want is someone smacking you in the back when you least expect it.
With more snow in the forecast, it’ll be another slow commute tomorrow morning and evening. At this rate, I may have to scrap my plans for a sedan in the future, and buy an AWD crossover vehicle instead!
In preparation, I hope the snow plows are out and about clearing the major routes tonight.