Tips and Tricks for Driving your VW in the Winter

[Ian]

I hope that this post finds you safe and warm, and your VW is tucked away for the winter!! For some of us, we drive our VW's all year, even in the freezing cold. While I was driving this morning, I thought it would be smart to post some tips and tricks for people to help keep their VW on the road in the winter. I have driven aircooleds and watercooleds for many seasons now, and definitely prefer having the real heat of my Jetta. That being said, there are some basic things that apply to all VW's to help in the cold and snow. These are some tips that specifically apply to VW's. Please feel free to contribute your own tips and tricks that might help other VW drivers!!

1. Make sure your tires are OK. Good all seasons or some snow tires are great. Studded snow tires are the absolute best and will keep your car locked on anything, even solid ice. If you were driving on bald tires all fall, now is the time to get something. Find a set of four on craigslist.

2. Lower your tire air pressure. This is the first thing I do when it snows or gets icy, it makes a huge difference. I run 25-30psi on all four in my Jetta and I run anywhere from 15-25psi on my General Grabbers on my Bus. On my friend's Baja Bug we would drop the rear pressure down to around 10psi on his 31" BFG's and the thing is unstoppable.

3. Make sure you have a decent heat system. Spend a weekend getting your aircooled heater up to snuff. I just put a heater core and new thermostat in my Jetta, that was fun, but now I have real heat. Now is the time to think about a thermostat system for your aircooled and replace the one in your watercooled.

4. For watercooleds, check your coolant freeze point. Add undiluted antifreeze if needed.

5. Change your oil viscosity. For aircooleds in the winter I like to run 15w40 rotella, for watercooleds I like to run a 10w40 in the winter. YMMV

6. Keep extra distance between you and the car in front of you. You will need more time and more room to come to any kind of a complete stop. Tailgating is way dangerous and very stupid!!!

7. Plan extra time for your commute. In Denver, it's pretty much assumed you'll be late for work on a snowy day, nobody will complain. A normal 25minute drive might become an hour....be prepared.

8. Warm your car up. I like to warm my Jetta up until it is at least a 1/4 of the way warm. On an aircooled, warm it up for at least 10 mins.

9. Synthetic gear oil is much better for your gearbox in the cold than normal dino oil. It is a lot more fluid in sub-zero temperatures.

10. If you don't have ABS, get used to pumping your brakes. Practice makes perfect, but sometimes sliding is unavoidable. See #6.

11. If you can't keep your car warm overnight, consider carrying a small tool bag with you and removing and bringing your battery inside for night time. A warm battery is a happy battery. Deep freezes can kill battery cells and you will be spending more money. Make sure your battery is topped up on electrolytes.

12. Make sure all your belts are in good condition. The last thing you want is a broken belt and be stuck on the side of the highway where they plow the snow, replacing the belt.

13. Always always always stop for other VW drivers that appear to be broken down. Remember, we are in this together. Everyone has somewhere to be, but if it was YOU broken down, I'd stop.

14. Chains?? We don't need no stinkin' chains. Jumper cables??? Yeah, bring 'em.

15. Get new windshield wipers and make sure your wiper motor is in good working order. I haven't had a car with the "windshield squirter" working, so I recommend cleaning the windshield with one of the squeegees at the gas station about once a week.

16. Plan your route carefully, always park facing downhill because you won't be driving up an icy hill.

17. Always keep your gas tank over half full. See #7 above.

18. Bring a shovel. Those military style fold up shovels have gotten me out of more situations that I can count.

19. If the roads are really crap, just relax and stay home, watch youtube, and order a pizza. It will eventually warm up, it has to, right??

Here's some pics of VW's past and present that I have rocked out in the snow....

_________________
All your Buses are belong to us.
Love and good roads!
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ROB CRESS 1968-2012

[ebenasky]

All good thoughts. I'm sure others will chime in - but I never warm up my ACVW. I'm from the original school of though to just get in and drive. I've checked it against my Isuzu Trooper - and they both get the cabin heat going about the same place on the highway.

Just my two cents worth...

Oh - and always carry a cell phone!
_________________
"I don't fix 'em to look at 'em, I fix them to drive."

- '60 Beetle "Ruby"
- '70 Beetle "Peace"

[german_metal]

From when I used to drive my ACVW year round:

20) Carry a chalkboard eraser (new, not used). Use it to get rid of the fog inside your windows.

[pyrOman]

Don't!

_________________
Some people are so busy being clever they don't have time enough to be wise.

[Ian]

Wow, real helpful.

That picture is what we call a "light dusting" here in Colorado.

I busted a link-pin and bent a control arm on my Kombi driving it in about a foot and a half of snow doing 35-45mph. Thankfully no serious damage to Bus or to me. It was the same snowfall that the green Baja Bug is pictured in. I hadn't lowered my tire pressure yet that season, and will never forget to do it ever again. In really icy conditions you can drop to around 10psi with Grabbers or BFG A/T's and the Bus will be locked on the road.

As well, a slower overall speed allows you to lose momentum quicker by letting off the throttle and not pushing the brakes. This allows you to stop a slide out.

The idea is to help people so that they don't end up in a ditch while driving.

Bugs are way better in the snow than all Buses, and Baywindows handle way better than Splits in the snow.
_________________
All your Buses are belong to us.
Love and good roads!
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ROB CRESS 1968-2012

[KTPhil]

[ebenasky]

[pyrOman]

[pondoras box]

Make sure every vehicles has a good quality, non broken ice scraper.

Hate seeing people driving down the road looking out a port hole carved out with a CD box. Visibility is bad enough without having your usable windshield space cut down to a circle the size of a plate!

When driving on packed snow turned ice you can gain traction sometimes by moving to the edge of the road and getting into fresh snow, don't do this if the snow is deeper than the ground clearance of your car though. This may get you up that steep hill.

If you do find yourself sliding and you are going to hit the car in front of you sometimes its better to let off the brakes and aim for the side of the road. Mailboxes and snow banks will do less damage to your car and you don't have an insurance claim to deal with.

When you are at a stop light and your light turns green, look both ways before going, you might have to wait for the guy coming the other way with worn all season tires to slide through.

Your 4 wheel drive will still slide on ice and will not stop any better than a 2 wheel drive in these conditions.

And the best product to own in my opinion, for you guys living where you get more than a dusting of snow, is the Snowbrum. Awesome for clearing a foot of snow from the roof and windshield of your vehicle.

Lake effect snow provides a steep and sometimes painful learning curve.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[drscope]

Whats this "heat" stuff you talk about? Do you mean the burning oil smell and oil slick on the lower corners of the windshield when I turn that little knob on the floor?

I normally just do all the things the lady who does the weather tells me to do when I drive. After all she is a professional on TV so she must know what she is talking about.


Fortunately these days I have the toys put away for the winter and don't have to drive them in this mess. Right now there is more salt on the roads in my area then there is on the ground at the Bonneville Salt Flats!

With as much salt as they lay down around here every time they think we might get a little ice or snow, it’s often more treacherous to drive on that the following day then it was to drive in the ice and snow when they were salting the roads.

As for the air cooleds, I used to carry a gallon jug of water with me and a squeegee. We needed that to try to keep the windows clean from the salt spray when things started to melt.

And I kept an ice scraper on a string hanging on the ash tray knob so I could scrape the ice from the inside of the windshield.

It also helped to pile news papers in the trunk to try to keep the cold air from coming through the dash.

Living in an apartment it wasn’t possible to plug in an engine heater, so when things got really cold I would get up in the morning, light off the charcoal in my Hibachi and slide that under the engine. Then go take a shower and have breakfast & coffee. That way when I went out to drive to work the car started easily and it was a little warmer inside.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[VWporscheGT3]

when i was driving my 71 beetle daily the last couple of winters, the only thing i did was lower the tire pressure by 10 psi. other than that you couldn't stop the car from doing what you asked it to, it was far more capable in the snow than even my Jeep was, and I have nothing but good things to say about Jeep cherokees and capability. for a bug to beat that is a big deal.

just dont drive like an idiot and you'll be fine
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Schnell, SCHNELL!

I like being wrong, Because, it is another opportunity to learn. If you stop learning from your mistakes than what is the point?

If you have any questions about Forged ICON 4032 VW pistons just shoot me a line.

[BSQUARE]

Adding some extra weight - sandbags, cat litter, etc.- in the frunk (or under the front seat in a Bus) helps prevent understeer, and can help prevent the front end from "floating" in deep snow.
_________________
1988 Ford Festiva L
1965 Honda 50 "Super Cub"
2016 Miami Sun Trike

[ebenasky]

[marklaken]

Backcountry skiing "avalanche shovels" work great for clearing snow fast. They are light, small, and can pickup a lot of snow. Aluminum ones are much better than plastic ones.

20.) Wash your body and undercarriage frequently.
_________________
Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

15" Bus Wheels in fair condition

Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[hitest]

[60ragtop]

# 1 rule
watch out for the others who THINK they can drive in snow
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[crukab]

I don't drive my "Nice" Vws in the winter, they use waaaay too much SALT on the roads here in the Winter-thats late Oct. until mid April/May.
In my Jetta wagon, I do carry a shovel, a plug in the lighter air compresor, wool blanket, jumper cables, oil, a gallon of windsheild washer stuff, and DRY Sand in gallon Milk jugs- gets me out of slippery spots, I dry it in a metal pan on the wood stove- frozen wet sand does not help much...
_________________
Tom

My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....

In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon

[drscope]

[ebenasky]

[quote="drscope"]

[mukluk]

Just a few tips and tricks I used back in the day when I used to drive a Bug year 'round in Minot, ND:
- Do not use your parking brake unless absolutely required
- Refill at half a tank and use a gas drier like ISO HEET, frozen fuel lines suck
- Studded snow tires are your friend, they saved my butt numerous times
- Keep a good ice scraper handy for the outside and inside of your windows
- Keep a spare ice scraper for the passenger, put 'em to work while you drive
- Install a block heater (yes they made them for the ACVW)
- Isopropyl alcohol freezes at -20°, don't use lock deicer when it's that cold
- It takes 5 minutes for 10w40 to pour from the bottle at -10°, use thinner oil
- A hair drier and 100ft extension cord is handy for thawing a frozen throttle
- If turning the steering doesn't help, goose the gas and steer with the rear
- Rub baby powder on your door seals, it keeps them from freezing shut
- Clean and tighten electrical connections, voltage drops add up quick
- Make sure your exhaust system doesn't have any leaks, CO poisoning sucks