Xoutpost.com - E53 on Ice!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux (Post 977557)

Not with my tax dollars, Brandon! Trucks, plows, etc. to sit idle for use one day every three years or so? No thanks. Guv'mit, media should just learn from this to be more willing to recommend 'stay home' - though if they do it too often, its crying wolf.

You don't have to have any special trucks. Just about every city has a fleet of dump trucks for construction and road work. Most cities just slap a plow on them and then throw spreaders on the dump to throw salt. Pretty much nothing to it. In the case of Atlanta they don't even need plows just need to keep a pile of salt around and load up the trucks and throw it the night before, something like this is coming.

It is comically stupid that 2 inches of snow with some ice could turn an entire state / region into a post apocalyptic wasteland for 3 days. Its a daily occurrence up here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcurcio1989 (Post 977588)

You don't have to have any special trucks. Just about every city has a fleet of dump trucks for construction and road work. Most cities just slap a plow on them ....

Yeah...NYC & many coastal regions & regular snow territories that can get hit with snow...put plows on their garbage and/or regular street department trucks? Setting the street dept trucks up for salt dispersal would almost take care of cities like Atlanta that very seldom get snow.

I'm sure some local politicians are going to be taking some heat over this.

My X5 is infinitely better in the snow and ice than my 240sx was. It was a like a drive in summer compared to driving that thing in snow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmv (Post 977551)

The 275 Conti on the rear of my 540i act like a snowboard since they are wide.

Snowboards do amazingly well in the snow...but I guess you are talking about ice. Yes, snowboards suck on ice, but it has nothing to do with how wide it is. it's the fact that you only ride on one edge, vs. using two edges like skis.
Same thing applies to your tires. Driving on ice, doesn't matter how wide your tires are, just what kind of rubber you have. Width only matters when driving in snow of measurable depth. Skinny is better for vehicles, wider is better for skis/snowboards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcurcio1989 (Post 977588)

I couldn't have said this better myself. I can't believe someone would expect a city to warn everyone to stay home because of 2" of snow. Chicago puts plows on garbage trucks as well. With climate changes those cities that aren't used to snow better start getting used to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux (Post 977549)

Readers up north surely know this, but I had my first experience with the E53 on ice/snow with this week's Atlanta snowmaggedon. Atlanta traffic is terrible, generally, and the locals are absolutely clueless as to proper driving technique. Naturally, it was a disaster Tuesday when the white stuff arrived and everyone [who had gone to work or school] left at the same time - only to meet the normal semi traffic on the interstates around the city, now sliding and jack-knifing. I avoided that Tuesday, but got up early yesterday to rescue my stepson stuck overnight with many others on the west side of Atlanta's loop highway [I-285, south of exit 5]. I avoided the highways/connectors and had no problems, really. As for the E53:

If you follow the standard ice driving protocols [slow, keep your distance, stay off the brakes, keep the rpms low], with good condition all-season tires [fresh Conti DWS, 5k+ miles of wear], the E53 is an excellent ride. I slipped exactly once - when I had to brake because the dufus well in front of me stopped [going uphill, no less ...] short of an intersection. The e53 recovered well when I dropped down a gear and applied a gentle touch to the accelerator. Sweet! The DWS aren't snow tires, by any measure, but were great in this rare meteorologic event in the Southeast. Thank you, BMW and Continental!:thumbup:

Atlanta is similar to Dallas. Drivers never get enough slippery road experience to be proficient. We have a few sand trucks, no salt, that are only used on the most traveled freeways and some of them still close at two an three tiered overpasses--can't get up or down until the sand trucks focus there. This year we have had snow and ice that caused 4 days of dangerous driving, quite an exception. If I had winter tires I normally would use them once a year for a day. The better decision here is to stay home rather than join the demolition derby regardless of your expertise. My guess it is worse in Atlanta as it is more hilly than Dallas area.

This thread is hilarious. But maybe not for someone in GA.... I grew up with all four seasons, and learned to drive in all of them.

This is an E53 board, right? Pretty sure you have AWD and ABS... Does Atlanta have a bunch of mountains I never heard of? Never been there, but it's flat for the most part, isn't it? Strange.

I suppose I would react about the same, if say, a volcano erupted and covered the freeways. I guess I wouldn't know what to do if I had to drive home through molten lava.

Which is about the same result as what I've seen on the news and internet as far as the drivers down there. Armageddon-like. Good thing the big auto manufacturers are designing cars to drive for you.

Actually, the Atlanta area is quite hilly - basically the city is built along a granite ridge cut through [N and W of the city] by the Chattahoochie River. Relatively high altitude [close to 1000 ft above sea level]. Also heavily wooded. Result: curvy and up and down roads, so when we get snow/ice every 3-5 years, you'd think it was a zombie apocalypse for that day - except, but for the bumper cars, practically everyone is nice and neighborly. Hardly the apocalyptic disaster, requiring the gov't expenditures that make Chi-town [for example] such a great place to be in the winter ... [snark]

One of the sadder pictures in an album at the local paper. Is that an M5 burning?

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/l...ia.JPEG2_1.JPG

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux (Post 977680)

One of the sadder pictures in an album at the local paper. Is that an M5 burning?

That's an E36 3 series.