# hopping while 360



## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

ok...you're probably wondering "what the hell?"....well we got snow today...and all the roads are ice right now and i had to go to the post office (yes at 11:30, i'm weird) and figured since i'd never driving my pulsar in winter conditions i'd test it out in a parking lot. well...car handles great...until you really push it hard. I was going about 15mph in first gear, cranked the wheel pulled the ebrake and floored it....oh mama it span like a washer machine. well i let it start spinning then i started correcting for it...well i actually did a full 720 instead of a 360 and i came out a smoking my front tires. kinda like in the movies...anyhow to the point! when it spins...or goes sideways....is it a bad thing that the back end hops and vibrates badly? i've never had a car do this before and didn't know if its cause of the cars characteristics or if it has something to do with tires or worn out suspension. anyhow..thanks for reading my little adventure.

Oh and btw...anyone know if a pulsar can drive in 4inches of snow??


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## a_stupid_box (Nov 16, 2003)

I drove a Geo Metro that did that. I alwas figured that, since it had such a light backend, it would hop like that due to the high tire traction (easier for it to hop than drag. It's all in the physics, which I shall be merciful enough to NOT regail you with).

Of course, it hopped when I'd corner too fast as well... when those ramp signs say "30 mph", they don't mean "30 unless you feel like going 50". Ahh... the fruits of youthful stupidity...


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## HoloSkull (Jan 30, 2003)

Oh man, this reminds me of last winter. I'd be in the outskirts of the Kroger parking lot... All of the sudden I would accelerate. I hit the snow going 25-30 mph and throw the wheel to the left and pull the e-brake. Using careful steering I would make my lil Sentra go around the edge of the lot, just a few feet from the curb. And then the perfect correction... :thumbup: 

Of course then it started getting warmer out and there were patches of pavement in the snow... That sucked. Yeah, it is kinda normal just because of a light back end and good traction. That is why i keep some "rainy day" tires for just for fun purposes. They are pretty much dead now.

...once I was talking to a friend who had joined me in the fun and I forgot to roll my window back up... it is a whole new definition of "face full of snow". Man, I had a whole bunch of fond memories in the snow. Why did my car have to go down?


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

As for driving a Pulsar in 4 inches of snow, or anything for that matter, assuming you mean driving on a road covered with 4 inches, it depends on the tires and the road condition. If it's lightly packed and no ice underneath you could probably do it (VERY carefully) but you'd want snow tires. If it was heavily packed, wet snow or if there's ice underneath you might be able to do it with good snows, but it'd be a bitch. Basically, wait for the plows. If you're talkin about a parking lot with 4 inches, just go mess around and see what happens. Worse comes to worse you'll just have a bitch of a time gettin out.

Road = Be careful, very careful
EMPTY parking lot = f**k around, just don't let the cops see ya


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

hell the snow here last winter was almost a foot deep on the roads (anarchic plowing system) and my car worked better than I expected, with all seasons.... just gotta be careful. the lack of weight in the back sometimes makes you kick out in the winter, but it's only happened to me once or twice. and the wheel wells clogged up fast too, so try not to spin your tires.


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

also try to avoid huge snow-ruts.. i high centered on one of those


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

spelch said:


> also try to avoid huge snow-ruts.. i high centered on one of those


thats why i've asked cause my puslar doesn't have much clearance and i dont feel like getting stuck in the snow. I'll have to invest in some studded tires or something cause today on just a wet road a did a 180 and ended up in someones driveway, missed a few garbage cans by a foot or two. Need to keep my throttle down too and wait til i'm perfectly straight to speed up. i'm young though so i have an excuse oh and by the way...i have all seasons on and it still slides around like a mofo


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

i'm not that old either... the reason most people crash in the winter isn't because of their tires, it's because they're going too fast, and/or they aren't used to winter conditions yet. My first winter driving, I drove carefully down to a ball park just outside of town, and pissed around in the huge parking lot there for a couple hours to get used to the ice and snow, and that really helped. it doesn't matter if you have summer tires or studded tires, if you go around an icy corner at 30kph, you're done. although the pulsar doesn't come winterized (shitty insulation), you can winterize it by insulating under that console where the e-brake is, that made a huge difference. not much you can do about the t-tops though. to keep your car warmer you can try putting cardboard in front of your radiator (give 6inches clearance, not ON the radiator). otherwise, if you pay due attention and are careful, you shouldn't have much trouble driving. the only time i couldn't drive last year is when the snow was so deep, It was coming over my bumper and onto my hood. I got halfway down the street, turned around and went home, and called my friend who has an f350... cause it was ridiculous. and ALWAYS carry a fold-up shovel in your car, as well as candles and other survival necessities.. you never know when that kind of thing will save your life.. for $20.


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

where do you live with that much snow? and last year i had an 86 Stanza Wagon 4wd and it just hauls balls in snow, excelent traction and stability. So this is a major change for me. Thats why i went to the empty parking lot and did a 720. And i did carry a shovel in the stanza...but it wont fit in my pulsar!! nissan could have at least made enough room....its bad enough i got one of those big ice scraper/brush things that is as long as the inside is wide so it flies around in the back sometimes. and i've figured if i ever really really get stuck....i can take the floor out of the back and use it for traction  and how do i keep my window from sticking to the seals? had a hard time opening my door this morning cause of it. i also need to fix a hole in the passenger floor before they start using more deice


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## a_stupid_box (Nov 16, 2003)

Living in Wisconsin, I have to know about how to winterize a car. These are my el-cheapo solutions:

A fix to keep the window from sticking (this is the first winter with ny NX, so this is a totally new issue to me... all other cars I've owned had an actual full door, and it works for those as well) is to put vaseline or some other petroleum based jelly on the contact area.

If you don't want to do this for whatever reason, and it freezes together, buy some lock de-icer. It's pressurized, so in a pinch you can spray it all over the seal. A slower solution is to hold your hand or something else warm along the seal area.

As far as a T-Top goes, on mine I took some house insulation and crammed it between the glass and those goofy cover things. It works better than I expected, even with just the thin layer I used. I put some black painted cardboard over the top so it doesn't look too terrible from the outside.

Two of the BEST things you can buy are a remote starter ($40 for the starter, about two hours to install) and one of those heaters that plugs into the cigarette lighter (about $20). What I did was put a switch on my ciggy lighter that toggles between constant power and ignition-only power. Before I get out of the car for the night I switch it to ignition-only power, then in the mornings I use the remote starter (which starts the car AND the heater -- I don't smoke, so I don't need the lighter... heater stays plugged in). About two minutes and the car is toasty-warm, especially considering how small it is.

I generally keep a collapsing "army shovel" in my back seat, along with a bag of sand, an emergency kit, full metric and standard wrench sets, some heavy boots, a heavy jacket, a blanket or two, and a spare fully-charged battery (trunk is full with four 12" boxed subs, so extra gear gets put on floor behind the seats). A bunch of those "heat packs" are in the glove box (they expire, so make sure you get new ones every two years), as well as a change of socks, some mittens (not gloves), and those green luminescent sticks.

I'm pretty well prepared, but I need to be considering that I don't have a cell phone (yet have a totally wireless top-of-the-line computer... go figure). I have some other winter gear in there, but I can't remember the rest offhand. Whenever possible I try to take either my roomate's Pontiac Sunbird or Ford Taurus (which I sold to her) in the winter because they handle the snow better.

Also, if you're driving a RWD vehicle in the snow, turn in your MENSA membership... you suck at smart. Yes, my NX is FWD, and I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't.


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

wow...you're ready for the worse. If my cig lighter worked i wouldn't mind getting a little heater. and as for remote start i dont mind taking a few jumps out the door to turn the key before putting my shirt and doing my hair (yes i am crazy). And I thought about the vaseline idea but didn't know if that might ruin anything. i suppose it would be ok...just have to keep the windows clean from it so it doesn't stay permanently smeared. now if only i had heated mirrors..and a rear defroster where all the lines worked.


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## a_stupid_box (Nov 16, 2003)

My rear defroster doesn't work either (one of the connectors is busted off -- was one of the things that helped me get the car cheap). Luckily the car is so tiny that having the heater run for a few minutes, coupled with the de-icer in my wiper fluid, saves me scraping except for the most brutal snow-and-ice buildups (in which case I usually dump hot water on it before I take off).

Vaseline is easy enough to clean off once winter is over, just be careful not to roll down your window while it's on. Elsewise, you're pretty much doomed to have smeared windows. WD-40 is a nice alternative, but it's so thin you've to re-apply occasionally... wonderful smell though. A friend of mine uses gun oil and swears by it, but I find it too runny. Be sure that, whatever you use, you apply it to the seal rather than directly to the window (where it will slide down too quickly to stop if unprepared for it).

I wouldn't mind jumping out to start my car if I wasn't on the second floor of my apartment complex. I used to thnk remote starters were stupid... until I got one 

If you want a quick-fix to the ciggy lighter, just run a new wire to it from the fuse. If it still doesn't work, just run it from a different fuse (as that means the opening in the circuit is pre-fuse). Just remember which fuse you put the ciggy lighter on. Most of my car is re-wired, with no single fuse handling more than two loads (that way, if I blow a fuse, it's not that terribly crippling). I did need to add a second fuse panel, though.

Heated mirrors are actually cheaper than you'd think, the trick is finding them for your model. I know that I can't get them for my NX. My roomie wanted them, and they didn't make them for an '89 Sunbird, so I just replaced her mirrors with some Lincoln Continental ones. Looks kinda funny as they're too big and didn't fit properly, but they work, and the car is a beater anyway. It's easy enough to put socks over the small NX mirrors, though, so I just do that.


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

Gsolo said:


> where do you live with that much snow?


northern alberta

with those cigarette lighter plugin things, if anyone finds one that is actually good could you please tell me? i bought one last year but it was damn useless. all it did was smell like electricity and blow cold air. 

and about the shovel not fitting, i got one at canadian tire for 12 bucks or something, and it folds up into something smaller than a backpack, and it just sits on the backseat floor.


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

a_stupid_box said:


> I wouldn't mind jumping out to start my car if I wasn't on the second floor of my apartment complex. I used to thnk remote starters were stupid... until I got one
> 
> 
> It's easy enough to put socks over the small NX mirrors, though, so I just do that.



yeah...running out and down from the apartment out to the car would be a hassle...i just have like 4 hops to my driveway from my front door.....provided i dont slip on the icy porch. And socks...never would have thought of that...i think i have a few of those somewhere  

btw...just some advice from me to anyone who might read this, dont use your parking brake if its really cold and you're parking in snow. trust me on this one. I've done it once and only once to see if it would freeze up and it did just enough to make it a pain.


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

do 97-90 pulsars have rear defrost? cause if they do, mine doesn't work. I've always kinda wondered that.


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

spelch said:


> do 97-90 pulsars have rear defrost? cause if they do, mine doesn't work. I've always kinda wondered that.


you mean 87....and most of them do....do you have lines across the back window??? and a button on your left that has a little defrost pic and if you push it you get a orange light?


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

there are lines, but no button... maybe i'll have to look closer. hell i didn't know the car had brights until i owned it for a year


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

spelch said:


> there are lines, but no button... maybe i'll have to look closer. hell i didn't know the car had brights until i owned it for a year



lmao...sorry but thast just funny


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## Spelchy (Jun 24, 1987)

yup. that's generally the response I get whenever I tell that story. I did take a look though, and sure enough, i see the orange button you're talking about. I haven't actually tested it because it wasn't frosty, but when i push the button, the orange light doesn't come on. does that mean anything, or could the bulb just be dead? I guess i'll have to wait to find out.


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## a_stupid_box (Nov 16, 2003)

and I thought I was bad-off when it came to knowing about cars...


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## Gsolo (Sep 11, 2003)

spelch said:


> yup. that's generally the response I get whenever I tell that story. I did take a look though, and sure enough, i see the orange button you're talking about. I haven't actually tested it because it wasn't frosty, but when i push the button, the orange light doesn't come on. does that mean anything, or could the bulb just be dead? I guess i'll have to wait to find out.


it could be anything ...just wait for frost/ice and try it out


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