Slipping out of control

80's Kid

New member
So I was test driving my newly acquired st185 in a snowstorm when I stepped on the gas and went from 20km/h to 60km/h very quickly and I lost complete control of the car. It turned right into a skid as the front slipped then went the other way as the back slipped. I have not been able to repeat the incident though I tried to do so in even worse conditions. The snow in the first case was fresh on the ground. When I tried to repeat thus incident I was on thicker snow. This is my first awd car. Can anyone try to explain what's happened?

Btw this was on a straight road with no turns. The car also has winter tires on it. Could it have something to do with the LSD? From what I've gathered, the rear and front differentials are open, with the center locking in via the viscous fluid. I also read that this type of system has a bit of a delay in execution, but I thought the alltrac is a fantastic off-road car, so did I basically push it too far, or should I be looking at a mechanical issue to spot?
 

underscore

Well-known member
What kind of winter tires does it have? Like everything there are good ones and there are bad ones, and the difference between them can be quite large. Also if you suddenly put your foot down while driving on snow the tires are more likely to break loose, being AWD that means all of them may be breaking loose instead of just two.
 

80's Kid

New member
Michelin X-Ice. The weird thing is when I tried doing that maneuver again, I couldn't. I just want to be sure there isn't any possibility of there being a mechanical issue that I'm overlooking. I've not practiced enough of driving on the snow with it, so I don't know the limits vs my daily front wheel drive car. I know the suspension needs to be replaced, could that have contributed to it?
 

underscore

Well-known member
It shouldn't be the tires, I put a set of those through all kinds of nonsense on another car and they were great (at least for what we get around here). If it only happened the one time it may have just been ice hidden under the snow. Unless there were odd noises from the car the mechanicals should be okay.
 

80's Kid

New member
I had a passenger on another run listen to any sounds from the back, there were some coming from the suspension. He also said the ride was very rough. I realize this is a newbie question, but that's because I am a newbie to 4wd cars. It bugs me that I couldn't replicate the incident on another ice/snow covered pavement, this one in a large empty parking lot. It could be that the build up on the first road was different than what I drove on later, although ice is ice.
 
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