THIS IS A GREAT SNOW CAR!!!
Driving home tonight in the Blizzard of 2003 (New Jersey's idea of a "blizzard", anyway...) 4-6" of medium-to-heavy snow already down, some untracked "virgin" snow, some ice, some slush... this thing is darn near unstoppable! LSD works great, stops on hills were no problem, directional stability on turns very predictable (but too much throttle means nasty understeer - very predictable and expected in a front-wheel-drive car, but more pronounced with the LSD). ABS seems tuned just right, doesn't step in too quickly or too aggressively, ju-ust right. Exactly what I was looking for and expecting in the MSP, and darned near perfect for a FWD car.
Summary:
The Good: LSD, good trac-ac-action, stable, well-tuned ABS, not as low a ground clearance as you'd think (this is a good thing)
The Bad: The clunk is really noticable when all the rest of the road noise goes away, stiff suspension is a little uncomfy on rough roads or over ice ruts, LSD-style turns mean a different "style" than non-LSD cars (I like this and prefer it, having had a Quaife-equipped GTI for 5 years... others should get used to it).
Oh - if you haven't guessed, my stock 040s are packed away in the garage, I'm on 205/55/16 Semperit Sport Grip (dedicated snow tires) on P5 wheels... and this allowed me to OWN a poorly driven Hummer H2 on the uphill near the house... I can imagine the look on the soccer mom's face as this little black car flat drove away from her...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR MSP IN SNOW ON THE RE040's!
Now... they're saying 10"-20", 50MPH winds tomorrow... now THAT's snow! Time to break out the Fischers...
Driving home tonight in the Blizzard of 2003 (New Jersey's idea of a "blizzard", anyway...) 4-6" of medium-to-heavy snow already down, some untracked "virgin" snow, some ice, some slush... this thing is darn near unstoppable! LSD works great, stops on hills were no problem, directional stability on turns very predictable (but too much throttle means nasty understeer - very predictable and expected in a front-wheel-drive car, but more pronounced with the LSD). ABS seems tuned just right, doesn't step in too quickly or too aggressively, ju-ust right. Exactly what I was looking for and expecting in the MSP, and darned near perfect for a FWD car.
Summary:
The Good: LSD, good trac-ac-action, stable, well-tuned ABS, not as low a ground clearance as you'd think (this is a good thing)
The Bad: The clunk is really noticable when all the rest of the road noise goes away, stiff suspension is a little uncomfy on rough roads or over ice ruts, LSD-style turns mean a different "style" than non-LSD cars (I like this and prefer it, having had a Quaife-equipped GTI for 5 years... others should get used to it).
Oh - if you haven't guessed, my stock 040s are packed away in the garage, I'm on 205/55/16 Semperit Sport Grip (dedicated snow tires) on P5 wheels... and this allowed me to OWN a poorly driven Hummer H2 on the uphill near the house... I can imagine the look on the soccer mom's face as this little black car flat drove away from her...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR MSP IN SNOW ON THE RE040's!
Now... they're saying 10"-20", 50MPH winds tomorrow... now THAT's snow! Time to break out the Fischers...
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