That time of year....greasy roads

Noticed my car has been spinning up and front wheels and torque steering more recently! (2.0T A3)

The other day it was so bad I thought the traction control wasn't working properly!
 
scratch said:
I don't actually recall stating that I had to wheelspin away to make progress. It's just that to get the car onto the roundabout quick enough you can't dawdle around and feather the throttle like you normally would to keep traction.

The tyres are Bridgestone Potenza RE050A iirc, but I do have the pressures quite high so it might be worth lowering them slightly. Additionally I've noticed today that the car seems to be in 1st gear when pulling away from stationary, whereas I've seen it reported around the net that some peoples cars start off in 2nd, which would certainly help get the power down easier. I'll mention it to BMW tomorrow when she goes in to the the gear change looked at.
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Mine is starting off in 1st much more than it did in warmer temps, not entirely sure why (or if it's weather dependent(doubtful))
 
sovietspybob said:
Our old MK3 MX5's traction control was utterly rubbish because of this, any hint of slip and it just cut all power making it frankly dangerous to pull out quickly from a juntion or onto a NSL roundabout. It made the car feel like the limits were a lot lower than they actually were, with the traction control off you could really throw it into corners and boot it out of junctions with no dramas but with it on it made you feel as if you must be about to fly off the road the entire time the amount it interfered :mad:
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I get this a bit with the 4mo :/
 
The back end went on my C4GP the other week around an island, The other half wasn't impressed to say the least. The guy coming onto the island at my exit did though, had a big grin on his face as I went past, probably made his day seeing a people carrier drifting around an island :D

It's made me uneasy now though as it's never done it before even during last winter so I think i'll be getting some new tyres soon even though they look OK.
 
Yup, first time I've ever driven to work around this time of the year. I've had it for 5 years, never seen it so loose on roundabouts.

Very greasy!

Only ever really drove in the sunshine in the past
 
The cold weather gives the MR2 no problem losing grip at the back standing or in gear. The TC light usually blinks once or twice on the dash and no major issues. It does cut power but not enough to make you buck, it just seems to take the edge off it.
 
The Yokohama AD07s on the Elise fail to produce anything like grip until a few miles in. I struggle to get the rears warm. This resulted in a sideways moment under gentle acceleration last week, so it's tucked up for winter. Can't justify 4x winter tyres when I could jump in the Fiesta. However even with its piddly 82PS it loses front traction a lot on relatively new tyres. I think I need to alter my driving style to compensate. Not a pro like most here are.
 
[TW]Fox;25467778 said:
Are you running Kumhos or something!?
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I've always found kumhos to be very good. Acceleras on the other hand make for some interesting roundabout moments....
 
There's been a Silver Astra in the hedge on my morning commute the last two days.

Police aware!! Most stuff was robbed off it after the first night :D


Not quite sure how he/she got it quite so wrong though, the road is straight where he's erm.. parked it
 
I had a scary moment coming around a fairly innocuous bend that leads uphill earlier tonight where the back end slid out and I had to correct it. It's definitely spurned me on to finding some good tyres!
I just need to find some 17s for the E46 that don't break the bank yet aren't ditch finders now!
 
It is slippery at the moment - cold roads with summer tyres that won't heat up on short journeys. You just need to take it more easy on the throttle and slip the clutch a little more if you're struggling for grip. You shouldn't need TC kicking in really.
 
It's cold enough for me. :p

However, irrespective of that the roads do seem greasy. However, I agree it shouldn't be causing issues that many issues with traction at the moment. with RE050 245/45r18 seem to hold the road fine for the moment, that said, with a little carelessness with the throttle allows a little wobble.
 
The roads do seem very greasy compared to last year, I have the same tyres with similar tread levels to last year. I noticed that the grit lorries seems to be using a different type of grit that is smaller in pellet size and is getting mixed with something before coming out the spreader, I wonder if this is the cause.
 
I think it might be the lack of rain we've had in the last few months, meaning the roads are covered in a lot of crap that would normally get washed away.
 
My old BMW does have to be provoked particularly hard before it starts to behave badly, but it does have Kumhos on the back

the coldest ive seen was -1* and i was out in the BMW, i was trying to act brave until i rounded a corner and found a fiesta parked in a hedge at the bottom of a ditch
 
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