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Winter sucks, and it finally got here. With a vengeance.

I woke up kinda late today, and my car was covered in snow... but I brushed it all off, warmed it up, and went to a local shopping mall. Half of its huge parking lot is always empty (most of the shops on one side are rarely visited, so usually there are about five cars on that side), so I figured it'd be a good place to do a little practice driving and sliding in the snow.

Man, was it ever! It was really fun to really put my car through things I'd never be able to do on a normal road, like slamming on my non-ABS brakes to see how different it was from my normal, gradual braking. That, and practicing left-foot braking and use of the emergency brake. But a lot of the time, if I cornered hard, the car would oversteer without any help from the brakes. It was pretty neat; as it's a FWD, I'm more used to understeer than oversteer.

Did a few 360-degree spins accidentally... a lot of sideways-ness... it was just really, really fun. And I had a couple of people watching me, so that was neat too.

That's one reason why I like the snow. And probably the only reason.

I just wish one of my siblings had come with me and taken the MiniDV with 'em. I don't have video of it. ^-^;

Anybody else get some skid practice in this winter? If it stays this slushy and cold, I think I'll do it again tomorrow. Heh.

It's how I taught myself to drive. I used be the only one out with the plows in night time storms back in HS. Learned a lot about car control ... and ways to work a shovel in tight spaces.

Steve

Yeah, I learned in my high school parkling lot. I think its one of the safest ways to learn.

Were you in the back part of Pyramid Mall behind Target? I got kicked out of there by the po po last winter. The "security guard" dude in the Chevy Tracker with the amber bubble gum lights drove by and then called the police instead of just asking me to leave.

I used to play around on the far side of the Wegman's parking lot before they installed the funstoppers (those little islands with curbs).

I guess I understand with the liability issues, but it seems counter-intelligent to prevent people from educating themselves on car control in a fairly safe manner. Maybe there could be some way to have cheap state-sponsored driving schools during winter months.

Steve

Yeah, that would be smart.

I asked a NY state trooper once about that... I mentioned that I'd been kicked out of a parking lot but was just trying to learn to drive more safely in the snow, and asked if there were any legal places for me to test it. He said I'd just have to beg owners of parking lots until one agreed, but he'd be surprised if that worked.

If only our whole system could focus for at least one second on improving driver skill instead of wedging in more airbags.

Yes!
I agree, V. I took a driver's class after my first accident, and it was just some paperwork, real smart.
When it comes to driving, you can tell someone anything you want, show 'em all the videos in the world, but it STILL won't amount to a hill of beans, because driving is Kinesthetic, plain and simple. You'll do what you learn while doing.

"Learned a lot about car control ... and ways to work a shovel in tight spaces. "

Couldn't put it better myself. I've put the first set of tracks through snow on backroads several times and I've also gotten good at shoveling and working sticks. This Christmas though I got two 12' cumalongs ...

And I agree completely that you can't learn until you do it.

vrg3 wrote:Were you in the back part of Pyramid Mall behind Target?

No, but that seems like a cool place, 'cept for the Fuzz, of course. Stupid mall police. I was at the far end of East Hill Plaza's parking lot. That's where I go for all sorts of driving practice, like learning how to work my dad's manual transmission Contour. It's really great for the practice since no one seems to care at all. Well, there were people watching wondering what I was doing or simply being entertained, but that's positive caring. XD

Now, if only I could get some people to join me sometime. Hehehe. Though not too many, 'cause I think we'd attract a bit too much attention in a large group, even in that parking lot.

By the Best Western? Or behind the stores?

I've used Cornell's vet school parking lot to teach a lot of people to drive stick. It's cool because the south/westmost section is nearly flat, and it starts to get slighly slopey the further you go towards the other end.

I spend most of the day in Rhodes Hall on Cornell's campus, several hundred yards from East Hill, so send me a PM next time you plan to go out there and maybe I can come watch.

By the Best Western entrance, yeah.

And roger that!

Now, if only my dad would hurry up and get his Christmas present to my manual transmission lessons can pay off... heh.

Ive got the best rally playgrounds by my house. 1 gravel, one dirt(with trees), all sorts of corners in both. there's also a great place to drive in the snow. Its a huge, totally secluded parking lot with those "fun stopper" islands which I like. you can make a course around em, throws a little more danger in it too.

Heh, only things I have to avoid are the light posts, but they make great targets, too. Yanno, things to skid around.

But you're lucky to have a gravel and dirt place to screw around in with corners and all. Those are the best.

There used to be a great dirt road through the woods near here, but now it's too potholed for a car I'm trying to preserve. Taking an ex girlfriend out on it eventually led to her getting a WRX, though. Maybe Subaru should use this selling technique.

Steve

evolutionmovement wrote:There used to be a great dirt road through the woods near here, but now it's too potholed for a car I'm trying to preserve. Taking an ex girlfriend out on it eventually led to her getting a WRX, though. Maybe Subaru should use this selling technique.

Steve

a salesman at my local dealership did something like that to sell an outback.

the woman wanted a car that could go where she drove her explorer. so the drove the outback through a snowy (6+inches) field. needless to say the woman bought the car.