94M@X

Other than if I hit something, will doing donuts and drifting in a snow filled lot cause damage to the car?

MaximaBalla

It'll bring your gas mileage down a lot. I was having fun, but I tend to take the fun too far, so now if I wanna take a corner really fast, I tell myself not to do it. Last year, I took a corner too fast and this was the result.

http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/430640/2

BTW: It's the last pic on that page

Ninty-two-se

I was just wondering the same thing... I just got my allignment done yesterday and it was pretty much perfectly alligned but after driving to school, doing donuts/brake slides/attempting to drift in the parking lot, and comming home.. now my car drifts to the left (with no hands on the wheel) and the steering wheel is not centered when the wheels are...like it did before the allignment... Did I just undo all the work that the mechanic did?

I know what you mean by taking the fun too far, I was going too fast when I tried to turn into my driveway and I stuffed the side of the car into a snowbank at the end of my driveway... luckily it was soft powder and my car did not take any damage...

Maxima-4DSC

iTrader: (1)

it depends on how you drift and take corners - if you have been taught on how to control the car and how to "flutter" the gas since snow takes traction away then theres no friction therefore the tires are just goin for a slide and the power it takes to stop the wheels via ebrake is not much at all so the brakes dont take too much of a pounding. but like i said theres a right way and a wrong way - i think im gonna make a video on this when i get bored the next time i get a good snow cover on the ground.....

jaguax

iTrader: (1)

Speaking of e-brakes, it should stop the car when pulled all the way up right? Because I was trying to pull mine in the snow just to experiment with sliding and it did nothing. I was even idling foward with the e-brake pulled all the way up =/

Is there instructions around on how to adjust/fix it? I cannot find my Haynes manual at the moment.

Maxima-4DSC

iTrader: (1)

that could be an easy adjustment or it could mean somethings seriously wrong with your brakes. how easy is the handle to pull up ? if you look under the car you will see the cables comming from the handle there are tensioner nuts on a threaded bolt tighten them....

jaguax

iTrader: (1)

Ok cool I'll check it out.

As for my braking system I believe it needs a full brake fluid flush, the pedal goes way too far down and it's quite spongy. And I don't know how long the front brake pads are supposed to last, but I've been driving for well over a year and I just checked them, and according to my dad they look brand new. The little wear indicator indent thingy is no where near being close to the end. Dunno if that is normal? I hope they are grabbing ok, lol

edit - and as for the tension, it is very easy to pull up the first few clicks, when you near 9-11 clicks there is a fair amount of tension.

lophix

iTrader: (3)

on snow, it might not stop the car depending on how fast you're moving...the e-brake might lock the wheels but not necessarily stop the car. If you're idling forward, then there's sumpth up.

Golden Ice

IF you know how to drive in the snow, the e-brake can be your friend..I can't list how many times I've used mine to avoid slamming nose first into a pole, tree, ditch, other car, etc..if you're turning onto a VERY slick street (like all of the side streets are here right after snowfall), your front end can decide to keep going more or less straight, and the rear will follow..gentle pulling of the e-brake will allow the rear end to drift into the turn, which will in turn get the front end to go the right direction, allowing you to flutter the gas and go the way you WANT to go..I honestly haven't driven a vehicle thats completely helpless in the snow if the driver knows what they're doing..I drove an '85 camaro (not mine, unfortunately..) with 17" wide tires on the back through 7 inches of snow, and didn't have any trouble except when leaving a side street where the snow had banked up, where I somtimes had to rock it a little bit..and if a camaro with pontoon boats for tires can get through the snow, then a maxima with all seasons should be able to get around acceptably..although snow tires are always nice to have..

I play in the snow a little bit with my max, but I don't do much in the way of doughnuts unless its a completely empty parking lot thats had most of the snow packed down already..after the last big snow we had, a bunch of us played in a fairly empty parking lot by our football field at my school..the next morning there was a cop parked at one end of the parking lot waiting to write C&I tickets to anyone that didn't pay attention to their surroundings..

Realisticly, as long as you're not seriously abusing your car, you should be alright..I'm not saying that you arn't doing damage to your car, but as long as you arn't yanking the e-brake hard, or redlining in first gear in the snow, or otherwise being plain dumb, the damage probably won't be significant..

Ninty-two-se

C&I tickets?

jaguax- take the back wheels off and have someone watch the caliper to see if the e-brake cable is tightening and moving the cog to engage the E-brake. my car had no e-brake because both sides were frozen and the cable could not move the cog to engage the brake... Just another thing to check...

bobbydigital450

I just learned with in the past couple months how awsome the e brake is. i wish i would have known that a few years ago when id just stomp on the brakes and go sliding str8 into curbs. the past 3 months the ebrake has been my best friend and saved my aass many of times.

rcy

I

If I'm not mistaken, the adjusting bolt for the e-brake is accesed from inside the car. Just pull of the trim around the handle/armrest console thingy and you'll see the adjusting nut on a really long bolt. You may need a deep socket to reach it. It's supposed to be 8 -12 clicks I believe. If this does't work, then the linkage or cable itself may be seized somewhere.

Maroon'dMaxSE

iTrader: (1)

jus the other day my brother drove my max. he slammed the brake jus to do a donut or w/e. and the transmission got stuck in 3rd gear for like 2 hours. so i would not recommend fooling around in the snow. unless if u got a friend that has a escalade or h2..

Golden Ice

Careless and Imprudent(sp?)..minimum 30 days license suspension and up to a $10,000 fine and/or jail time..around here, you can be issued a C&I for breaking traction (excessive wheel spinning), doing doughnuts, street racing, any form of kicking up gravel in the direction of people or property other than your own, falling asleep at the wheel, and in some cases its thrown in on top of drunk driving charges..

Ninty-two-se

Dude that sucks, I think around here we get Reckless Indangerment tickets for that kind of stuff, I have no idea what the consequences of that ticket is... don't really want to find out either...

89maxSE

17in tires??? on an 85 camaro??? I'd really have to see this. They wouldn't even fit in the fenderwell. What brand tires were these? And whats specific size were they? 425/30/15;16;17 or what? I'm just curious about all this. Sounds like a lil Sorry but I'm sure some others agree w/ me

MaximaBalla

Yup, that's what happens. Just the other day, me and my friend were doing doughnuts in the high school parking lot (I was more watching than doing them) and he got his license suspended and he got a suspension from school because supposidely some kid got a piece of a rock thrown up at his throat?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I think he meant 17" diameter rim not width

94M@X

Well I guess I will have to find a secluded lot to have fun in. Only problem is I live in Manhattan and there are almost no outdoor parking lots

vwink182

iTrader: (2)

I got a careless driving ticket for cutting cookies after our 1st snow of the year. Luckily I was on campus so it was 25 bucks and no other consequenses. If a real cop had given the ticket 125 and goes on the record. Had he been in a bad mood I could have got wreckless driving...I dont even wanna know what that would entail.

So I guess make sure that there's no cops around

Golden Ice

I don't know what size the rims were (they looked like 15" or 16") nor the exact size of the tires..I used a tape measure to see how wide they were (16.75"ish, close enough to 17), because he tells me "here, if you can drive this in the snow, you can use it for today while your battery charges"..I had left my headlights on when I went to a friends house, and neither of us had jumper cables..there is no useable space behind the front seats because it was tubbed out to be a drag racer, then he decided to make it street legal after he had already hacked down the axle and widened the wheel wells..they weren't slicks, but the ============ tread pattern was bad enough..idle/flutter away from stops (well, slow and go if I could)..When I got to work, the first thing I did was measure the tires so I could laugh at the guy I work with that said no one could drive a sports or muscle car in the snow if it had anything wider than bicycle tires on it..I suppose I could see if the car is still parked at his parents house and go look..he joined the Air Force, so I haven't talked to him in awhile..
Honestly, I didn't know and really still don't know much about the car, aside from it had been pretty well stripped out..cloth covered hard seats, no door panels, no carpet, and it was a 5 spd with an '85 body..I wish I could drive it when the weather is nice...but, I also wish I could buy a McLaren/Mercedes SLR..

Btw, sorry for hijacking the thread..