couple questions, bad handbrake, and want to fix understeer on snow!

[ihavefingers]

hey so i just drove my ix for the first time in snow, first of all im really really happy with how it performs, but its sorta unpredictable, when it oversteers, it corners amazingly, but alot of the time it understeers badly when you try to whip the tail out. ive driven audi's and subaru's on snow and never had that big of a problem with understeer, like id be able to kinda whip the tail out whenever i wanted, but with the ix, it doesnt always oversteer, and sometimes understeers badly instead.
so does anyone have any reccomendations to fix this? would a rear sway bar fix it? im planning on doing a custom ground control setup, but not for awhile, for now how much of a difference would a sway bar be?

and my second question, when i try and use the handbrake to get the tail around in snow (which can be very helpfull if your in trouble) but instead of the back tires locking up and the back end swinging around, the back end just squats and the car slides straight, all 4 tires sliding in the direction the car was heading in before you pull the handbrake. and i really want to fix it. being able to use the handbrake is so helpful in snow, and its annoying not having it work right.
my best guess is that its because maybe the tires dont fully lock up, like i have to pull the handbrake really far up in order for the car not to roll on a hill. so maybe i just have to fix the handbrake?

can anyone give me advice for fixing it by myself? my friend fixed his so he pulled it about an inch before it locked up. and thats what id want.

thanks for any help!

[ihavefingers]

bump

[euroshark]

Stiffer rear sway bar? I'm pretty certain oversteer is one of the things BMW was trying to prevent...

[blunttech]

wow you sound like a total douche. i predict you r3v your ix in 3 weeks if you have a good amount of snow

[eric (^__^)]

does the driver work?

[MikeK]

4wheel-drift-ftw.

[Nicademus]

Is this guy complaining that his car actually handles well? "Why doesn't my car lose control? It totally sucks!"

[blunttech]

im not the greatest driver but i have learned over the years that if you go too fast on a slippery surface (ie snow) the car is going to understeer. the way i correct this is to slow down. but again, im not all that experienced

[MikeK]

^grandpa speed (45mph = BAT SHIT FAST)

[ihavefingers]

Is this guy complaining that his car actually handles well? "Why doesn't my car lose control? It totally sucks!"

im not sure that understeer means its handling well. in snow, or any slippery condition, the fastest/best way around a corner is to oversteer, its accelerating the car in the direction of the corner, which you want, even on dry a slight amount of oversteer is the fastest way around a corner (i think its like 15 degrees of sliding or something like that) even having the car handle neutrally no oversteer or understeer while going around a corner fast in snow is dangerous, there is a much much greater chance you will understeer and go off the road, the car is much more vurnarable.

oversteer around a corner in snow is actually more in control than it being neutral.

and to blunt..
yeah i could go slow all the time but then whats the point of having an ix? there are hundreds of miles of mountain roads and old dirt service roads around here that i can drive on. the only way i can seem to get the ix to ALWAYS oversteer is to go very slow in then floor it. but thats a bad habbit, you should be able to go at a decent speed in, pitch it and have the tail out before the corner even starts, and accelerate through the whole thing in one smooth drift, i tried for hours and i couldnt only only get it occasionally but even then it was sketchy. ive owned an audi and had hours of snow driving in subaru's and ive never had this problem.

[cferb]

Learn to drive? Normally you don't use your e-brake to drive, unless you're a drifter, or maybe a WRC driver...Yes even in the snow.

[euroshark]

Where's the popcorn emoticon?? This might get interesting.

[ihavefingers]

Learn to drive? Normally you don't use your e-brake to drive, unless you're a drifter, or maybe a WRC driver...Yes even in the snow.

yeah you dont always need the e brake, but sometimes you do, and in snow more than dirt, dirt has much more traction so you can get your car to handle how you want much easier. but mostly i want my e-brake to actually work because it can be really handy to get you out of shitty situations, like if your understeering bad towards a ditch, you quickly pull the e-brake to swing the back around, then gas it and your good! how it is now, if im understeering towards a ditch, im screwed.

[e30lov]

so the guy wants to have some fun in the snow on some back mountain roads..


didn't know that was such a huge sin

[euroshark]

Nobody said it was a sin, it's just that maybe he is confusing "handling well" with "drifting in the snow". Everyone likes to have some fun in the snow, but having a car that oversteers as soon as you turn the wheel is NOT the same as having a car that handles well, despite what he has grown accustomed to driving Audis and Subarus.

ihavefingers - I'm with whoever said you should work on your technique. Life isn't a video game.