Ti> > Ugh, hate losing control like that.  Once went sideways for over a klm
  > > when I hit black ice on a back country road.  Scared the shit outta me.
  > > That was a rear wheel drive crown vic taxi. 
  > >

JH>oh yeah i had a rear wheel drive delta 88. that shit was not fun in the ice.

I'm from mid-Northern Ontario Canada and you get used to winter conditions or
you die trying, not always a joke phrase. I'd now and then drive through the
USA heading to Florida for a vacation in very late fall and occasional snow
storms down there were almost comical.. We'd drive along watching people
sliding off the road or into each other while we cruised past. It generally
just takes (a lot of) practice.

That said, my first car was (after some work) a 575 HP Chevelle SS, and I
couldn't afford to drive something else in winter and I was outside of public
transit areas. I'll tell you, driving a car that I couldn't get rolling
without laying a little bit of rubber on dry pavement (did it once trying
deperately not to beside a police car) was a joy to drive in snowy and icy
conditions. That was when I was still in highschool and it was a 16 mile drive
to my part time job after school, and then home again late at night after
they'd usually stopped sanding and plowing the country back roads I had to
travel on..

These days I try to drive as little as possible when the weather gets bad.
I managed fine this winter in a recently purchased Ford Escape with Michelin
M&S tires on it. The worst part of most runs was getting back up the curved,
steep driveway into my own garage..
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 * SLMR Rob  * Echo Trek: To boldly go Off Topic where &#*@^$ NO CARRIER
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