Miata Mailing List: October 1995, Message #18
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   From: Richard Dekker 
Subject: Re: Winter driving
   Date: Sun, 1 Oct 1995 16:02:08 -0400

On Sun, 1 Oct 1995, Michael Garozzo wrote:

>   The practice of adding trunk weight has been around for several years 
> and has been recommended in Miata Mag. letters.  I do not recall ever 
> seeing a negative regarding this on the net.  Actually just the opposite 
> has been said.  With such a light rear end additional weight assists 
> traction.  Adding weight in front of the rear axel would mean either 
> carrying a passenger or sand in the passenger seat.  A possiblity. 
> I would add that reducing tire pressure has also been mentioned as
> increasing traction in snow conditions.
> 
> Mike G.
>
> On Sat, 30 Sep 1995, Richard Dekker wrote:
> 
> > Do not put sand bags in your trunk!  This is a very dangerous habit to 
> > get into.  Adding weight to the car outside of the wheelbase can cause 
> > major problems.  It lulls one into a confidence that your car, on 
> > any type of tires won't spin and have better traction.  If your car does 
> > at some point begin to oversteer, with the added 40-100lbs in the trunk, 
> > it'll be that much harder to regain control.  This is why Porsche 911's 
> > are hard to drive in the best of times, let alone in snow.  VW Bugs were 
> > ok, as they never had the power to oversteer, put in a skid, they go into 
> > the ditch backwards just as easily.
> > 
> > Having some ice-racing experience, the only safe place to add weight to a 
> > car in winter is infront of the rear axle if you wish to improve RWD 
> > traction.  Since the Miata is already a well balanced car, the only thing 
> > you can really do is keep the gas tank as full as possible during winter, 
> > which also prevents a frozen fuel line.

How much winter driving experience do you think that Vince gets driving 
around in Atlanta?  He is after all the person who reponds to the 
letters.  Adding weight outside of the wheelbase will take away from the 
car's good handling in an emergency condition.  Adding weight will help with 
traction but should not adversly affect the car in other ways.  Keep the gas 
tank full and use GOOD winter tires.  If it's legal where you live, you 
may wish to consider studded tires however the latest generation of 
winter tires are better than the type which still allow for studding.

I agree with you on the lower tire pressure.  When I'm on the lake 
competing I deflate the tires down to about 20psi.  This helps them 
envelope any sufrace changes and maintain grip.  This is obviously too 
low for the street, but 26psi whould be ok as long as you're not piling 
on the highway miles.

Regards,

Richard Dekker        email: dekker@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca     o o
Edmonton, Alberta     President, Wild Rose Chapter, MCofA       >
CANADA                1990 Mariner Blue `R' package wannabe    \_/