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Have you used the autosock? How well did it work? Looks like a nice alternative to chains.
by lancefisher 10y ago
Have you used the autosock? How well did it work? Looks like a nice alternative to chains.
- jsolson 10y agoNot yet -- I carry it because I'm required to have chains or an equivalent (the autosock counts) in the vehicle when driving into the mountains in Washington state and British Columbia during winter. Since the Tesla (P85D) is all wheel drive I'm not actually required to use the equivalent as long as I have M+S rated tires on the car. For the past couple winters conditions have not demanded anything beyond the AWD and the tires. This is also an unfortunate commentary on the snow situation for the last couple winters. I picked the autosock over chains as the Tesla owners manual advises against most change due to risk of damaging the wheel wells and body. There is apparently at least one model they've approved, which I'll likely invest in the first time the autosock proves itself not up the task and forces me to turn back from a ski weekend.
- copperx 10y agoDo they really check every car, one by one, to make sure they have all the required equipment? Sounds time intensive.
- neutronicus 10y agoIn Colorado they don't.
- nathancahill 10y agoUntil you get in an accident, and then you better have them.
- X-Istence 10y agoSometimes they do, if chain laws are in effect and the weather is getting really bad... Also, if you don't have them and you get into an accident, it's expensive fine time :P
- cmurf 10y agoCalifornia yes, sometimes, I've been in such a tediously long line for 1/2" of snow on the road, it was absurd. Colorado, only if you're in an accident does it come up. So from one extreme to another. No idea about other states.
- danellis 10y agoIt's not so much about how much snow is on the ground, but how much might quickly fall while you're up there.
- duaneb 10y agoI would argue (from Colorado) that 1/2 inch of snow is more dangerous than even feet: you can get up to speed and lose traction completely if you don't have chains and aren't experienced with snow driving.
- nnutter 10y agoThe few times I've ever seen checks (CA, WA) it was for particularly dangerous places that had lots of inexperienced travelers passing through.
- praneshp 10y agoYes, in Tahoe, CA at least.
- loeg 10y agoThere are a lot of AWD/4WD cars in WA and they generally get waved through without chains. In truly bad conditions they might check everybody. Driving through the mountains in really bad conditions is time intensive.
- rsync 10y ago"Do they really check every car, one by one, to make sure they have all the required equipment? Sounds time intensive." On I-80, heading into Donner pass as you go through lake tahoe, CHP/Caltrans does indeed check every single car as it drives through ... during dangerous driving conditions, that is. They usually funnel the interstate down to two lanes and have two guys waving cars through, one by one. They make sure that you either have a AWD/4WD vehicle or that you have chains on. Theoretically they are checking that AWD/4WD vehicles, without chains, also have snow tires, but that isn't really happening - they can't tell that at the 8-10 mph speed you roll through at. It may also interest you to know that there is a lively cottage industry of chain rentals and installers just prior to these checkpoints. You can pull over just before the checkpoint and for $40 someone will quickly (and properly) install chains on your car, and then for another $20 at the other end of the pass, someone will quickly take them right back off. This is regular and organized enough that you could absolutely drive through Donner pass in a blizzard, with no preparation whatsoever (other than $60 in cash). It may also interest you to know (it interests me) that other, higher passes, with just as much potential for snow/blizard don't have any of these checks or precautions. You can drive yourself right over vail pass (I70, Colorado) with whatever drivetrain or tires you like.
- X-Istence 10y agoTests have shown that the Autosock actually works better than chains in almost all situations. Here in Colorado you'll see big rigs carrying goods with auto sock's on rather than chains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtBzXVbE3Rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtBzXVbE3Rc This shows the various tests that they did, and the auto sock comes out of the tests very well.
- dghughes 10y agoKeep in mind grip for stopping is more important than getting grip to accelerate. Some provinces here in Canada have made winter tires mandatory AWD, 4x4, fwd or rwd it's not so people can go faster but to stop on ice and snow.
- toddkazakov 10y agoI've used autosock on a few occasions. It's not as good as the good old chains but never had any problems. Here (in Bulgaria) during the winter we often hit -15/-20 C and the roads are rarely cleaned - they are icy and snowy for the first few days after the snowfall. My experience tells me that the better the brand of the autosock is, the more durable it is.
- mrfusion 10y agoHow does it work. I just looked up some pictures and it just looks like fabric. Seems like it would be more slippery.
- goldenkey 10y agoWhy would fabric be more slippery - Have you heard of rugburn?
- duaneb 10y agoHaven't you seen Jerry Maguire?
- goldenkey 10y agoActually no. The white shirt looks soft but whats the inside joke so I dont have to watch a cult classic that probably didnt age well
- duaneb 10y agoHe skates across a wooden floor in his socks--something not possible because bare feet are too grippy.
- eru 10y agoRunning barefoot in snow and ice works surprisingly well. Mostly because when I tried I had more coordination and sensory information, I don't think because my feet had better grip. (Feet are warm, so going over ice will be different than going over polished wooden floor.)
- icefo 10y agoI haven't tested autosock but but chains with this kind of fixation tend to slip out during hard cornering / spirited driving. I saw the chains flying away two times in the mirror before giving up and switching to grandpa driving style.
- nnutter 10y agoYou're "supposed" to drive 25-30 MPH with chains on.
- BinaryIdiot 10y ago> chains with this kind of fixation tend to slip out during hard cornering / spirited driving Uh, how fast were you driving with chains? When you need chains it's a bit of an extraordinary set of circumstances that typically warrant doing significantly less than posted speed limits. I don't think I've ever seen anyone attempt to do hard cornering or anything that would be considered "spirited driving" with them on. That seems like the exact opposite of what you should do with any type of tire wrap that is meant to add traction to your vehicle.
- icefo 10y agoI just wanted to go to sleep when I wrote this comment. I should have been more precise. I was drifting up the mountain with an RWD car and when I took a corner at 15-25kph with a nice angle I heard a ratatatatak and saw the chain flying. Tried again and got the same result. At this point I got curious and I wanted to know under what condition the chains would stay on the wheels. I did some experiments and came to the conclusion that you can do what you want with theses chains as long as you're driving more or less straight but as soon as you start cornering you better be careful or you'll see the chain flying. They hate lateral force. Will try next winter with regular chains to see how well they do. I precise that I did that during the night and the road led to village that has at most 100 inhabitants. I didn't expect to see anyone going up or down the mountain and you can see car lights way before crossing an other car. I wasn't reckless driving
- eru 10y ago