Weight in the front

Anonymous · November 4, 2003, 13:54

After having my first spin last week, I've been thinking about the ice and snow that may be with us sooner than we think and what effect it will have on the '2.

Looking at the situation I've figured that loading up the front boot with weights may help balance the car on snow/ice (although the car is still driving only 2 wheels not 4). I know this will kill the fuel efficiency but if it saves me from doing road ballet it'll be worth it.

I've got a big set of barbells / dumbells which I can dismantle and securely place on top of the spare. Anybody done this and does it make much difference?

ROBMAXTOM

Anonymous · November 4, 2003, 13:57

When you spun, which end did you lose first? If it was the back then I reckon loading the front would make it even easier to lose the backend. All in all I think that your idea would make things even worse in most instances... but I may be wrong.

Tem · November 4, 2003, 14:11

phil is right, the more you add weight to the front, the lighter (and less grippy) the rear will be.

If you're afraid of spinning, I think you should remove weight from the front and take the spare wheel off.

dreambackup · November 4, 2003, 14:22

In case of any doubt about handling condition, the only good advice would be to go slower...

What you're afraid of won't happen if you don't make sudden changes of speed/direction, trust me.

With icy roads, more or less weight in the front won't change a thing: too fast will ALWAYS end up straight ahead! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Take care!

Peter Laborne · November 4, 2003, 15:06

Quote from: "ROBMAXTOM"After having my first spin last week, I've been thinking about the ice and snow that may be with us sooner than we think and what effect it will have on the '2.

Read through my post regarding winter driving (the sticky topic at the top of the General forum). This should cover most things, including the spreading of weight.

Anonymous · November 4, 2003, 15:06

espiacly now with winter creeping up on us!

the 2 i find is twichy in the wet but if you treat it like a lady then she wont bite you s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · November 4, 2003, 16:36

Now that Autumn is upon us a leaves on a wet road is a poential hazard. There have been a couple of occasions this week when I have felt the back-end twitch and I was only driving slowly on side roads.

s:D

s:D

Peter Laborne · November 4, 2003, 17:07

Quote from: "Roger H"Now that Autumn is upon us a leaves on a wet road is a poential hazard.

It isn't the leaves, more the <said with grimmace> wrong type of leaves </said with grimmace>.

What happens is as vehicles pass over the damp leaves oil is excreted from them. It's this oil that makes the road slippy.

Anonymous · November 4, 2003, 17:10

You know far too much.

Peter Laborne · November 4, 2003, 17:18

BTW the oil that comes out of leaves is more slippy than diesel!!!

Anonymous · November 5, 2003, 12:53

Thanks All,

I might put those weights in the rear bins instead. In any case I'm aware of what the MR2 can do when it starts to spin - I can just imagine what would happen if you started to spin on ice (720 degrees later...). Fortunately all I did was scrape an alloy last week so this makes me feel very lucky when I read some of the stories on these forums.

I'll be laying off the gas until April.