mobythevan Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Maybe someone can help me out on this. Been driving the talon for a week now and had two days that the roads were icy. This thing is horrible, thought I was going to spin out several times. It has 130k miles on it, excellent tread on tires, but they are a couple years old at least. It does have the LSD option and 5spd/stock clutch. So driving along at 20mph in third gear at like 1500rpm no where near the turbo, really light footing it and in the flat. It will just start tracking in a new direction out of the blue. Always feels like the rear end is sliding to the right regardless of steady gas, accell or decel. It has happened so many times that I know there aren't rutts in the ice on the road or anything alse from the road to cause it. My 96 chevy 1/2 ton in 2WD with 5spd manual does much better on the ice than the Talon? It actually slid out to the right on me a couple times, so I know its not my imagination. I don't know what to think except to change the diff fluids and make sure the rear tires aren't loose? What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 AWD in conditions like that are dangerous. When your sliding, all 4 wheels are sliding, and you have no control. That is why the 2wd pu seems better, because the steer tires aren't sliding. In conditions like that I run in 2wd instead of 4wd just for that reason, and use 4wd for getting started or traversing big hills on the upside, not the downside. IME it's always the tires, compound is too hard, probably a performance tire with crappy snow rating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Could be an alignment issue too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 alignment is off. i never had one problem out of the awd dsm's that i owned in snow, ice, or anything. then again they will torque steer around 400 awhp. but thats besides the point. i know that my gsx wouldn't take off straight at a stop light, it would actually go directly to the right. got used to this and counteracted it. awd, 4wd, usually don't go 100% true in snow and ice anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave88SS Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 just because there's tread on the tires doesn't mean they don't suck. My audi used to slide in wet corners (and was borderline scary in the snow), new tires fixed me right up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayz Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Buy some good winter tires, Snow or ice depending on witch you have more. Here in toronto there is always black ice and in Quebec always a lot of snow. It is so much more pleasurable with good tires. My Stealth 4wd is great in the winter...just need good shoes !!! Without those and the 340 hp I am in the ditch in no time. Have fun, Dayz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Ok, I'll have the alignment checked and look at new tires. The PO said it was really good in slick conditions, but it has been years since he actually drove it in the winter time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 On ice nothing works good. Even my Quadradrive Jeep Grand Cherokee had problems and it was significantly heavier than your Talon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 just because there's tread on the tires doesn't mean they don't suck. My audi used to slide in wet corners (and was borderline scary in the snow)' date=' new tires fixed me right up.[/quote'] Have to third-fourth-fifth what everyone else has said. Had a FWD Ford Fiesta I brought to Nebraska from California with budget Michelin tires. First time in the snow it no kidding slid sideways a half block down the street before coming to a stop in a neighbors front yard. Put on some new all weather radials and the car became absolutely unstoppable in the snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Sure the speedo isn't reading 120;) Used to have a 65 Olds 442 that would dog track under even light acceleration. One of the rear bushings shot...actually they all were, but one was getting ready to bail. Make sure everyting that should be is tight.John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Sure the speedo isn't reading 120 Thats why everyone seemed to be crawling this morning, heh heh I have to drive on 2 miles of dirt road everyday from my house, county road and well maintained. I have noticed it sliding around in the backend a lot on the dirt road. I was ignoring that until the icy roads proved that something just isn't right. My thinking on the dirt road kept going like this: Huh, sure is sliding a lot, I must be in the loose stuff, no wait it looks like I'm in the hard packed lanes, maybe I drank too much this morning. Well, except for that last part it has seemed weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
331CI 280z Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I had a Galant vr4 2 years ago which is basically the same thing as a Talon, except it also had 4 wheel steering. 4cyl 2.0 turbo awd 5 speed. You have to get used to the way the vehicle slides. Turbo boost adds to the fun. I have powered out of quite a few slides, but you have to be ready. Take it easy and learn how it handles in different conditions and you should be all set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 I measured the tread depth when I got home tonight using a piece of carboard inserted into the treads. The front tires have almost 3/16th inch more tread. Is that enough to screw up the AWD since that would make 3/8ths diameter difference between front and back? I thought they looked more worn out from a distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Heh Do the penny trick take a penny and put it in the tread if you can see mr washingtons neck its time for a change. Although youd probally be better off buying a tread gauge for like 5 bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 get a 4 wheel alignment-if rear is toed out it will handle funny.get some tall skinny rally tires on steel wheels and put some studs in the tires.even if old tires have tread the rubber gets hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Heh Do the penny trick take a penny and put it in the tread if you can see mr washingtons neck its time for a change. Although youd probally be better off buying a tread gauge for like 5 bucks This is what i've been told, with the exception of using Mr. Washingtons head, I don't see washington in the picture, its old ABE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I measured the tread depth when I got home tonight using a piece of carboard inserted into the treads. The front tires have almost 3/16th inch more tread. Is that enough to screw up the AWD since that would make 3/8ths diameter difference between front and back? I thought they looked more worn out from a distance. Are they winter/ice tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 I scheduled a 4 wheel alignment for Monday morning with a trusted shop. I'll let you guys now if they find something. I will also ask them about the tire tread difference front to back and also ask them about the tires themselves (old hard rubber, good for all weather, etc) Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 This is what i've been told, with the exception of using Mr. Washingtons head, I don't see washington in the picture, its old ABE Haha im a retard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technicalninja Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Another possibility is that the stock tires were fairly wide on that car (at least for its weight) Any car will do better in slick conditions with narrow tires. Look at some pictures of WRC cars set up for snow. Very narrow with big grooves all the way around to make the contact patch appear as multiple narrower tires. I once got a 300ZX TT stuck in front of my house because of the width of the rear tires. Couldn't move it at all after I got it turned sideways in the street. Had to round up a bunch of neighbors to push it into the driveway. This narrow tire feature is one of the main reasons VW bugs were pretty good in snow and ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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