Severe weather makes driving treacherous. Snow, ice, freezing rain, fog and even the winter sun can all conspire to make winter driving even more difficult and dangerous. With a little planning and a little training however, this winter doesn’t have to be a “white knuckle” winter for you. The two phenomenons associated with loss of grip in winter conditions are understeer and oversteer.

Understeer
Understeer is just what it sounds like; the car is not turning as much as you would like. Understeer is usually caused by entering a corner too fast, or by braking while trying to turn. Being in a car that refuses to turn can be very intimidating, and understeer is the most difficult situation to control on a slippery road.

So, what can you do in this situation? First, there are several things driving experts say you should NOT do. Don’t increase your steering angle, because the tires have already lost grip and increasing the steering will only make it worse. Don’t hit the brakes because the front tires are already skidding, and more brake pressure will only make it still worse.
Driving experts say that your best chance of correcting an understeer is to lift off the accelerator and stay off the brake. As the car’s weight shifts forward, it will load the front tires, improving their grip while you carefully decrease the steering angle. This improved grip and slower speed should allow you to steer smoothly back into the corner.

Oversteer
Like understeer, oversteer is exactly what it sounds like; your car turns more than you want it to. Oversteer occurs when you lose grip on the rear tires in a corner, and the side force pulls the back of the car to the outside of the turn. This is generally the result of excessive speed when entering a corner. However as well, if you suddenly decelerate in the corner, the weight transfers to the front, giving less grip to the rear tires and allows the centrifugal force to pull the back of the car to the outside of the curve. If your car starts to lose grip on the rear wheels because of this weight transfer, driving experts say you should gently accelerate to transfer the weight back to the rear wheels, while you steer in the same direction in which the rear end is sliding. Remember to look down the road in the direction you want the car to go.

All in all, driving experts say to avoid oversteer, adjust your speed before the corner. In rear-wheel drive cars, make sure the oversteer is not coming from simple wheel spin. If it is, adjust your accelerator pressure to eliminate the wheel spin.

Winter Air Pressure; You Can’t Just Set It…And Then Forget It
Maintaining the correct air pressure is a requirement for good handling, traction and durability. The tire pressure recommended in your vehicle’s owner’s manual or on the tire information placard on the driver side b-pillar is a “cold” pressure, so it should be checked in the morning before you drive more than a few miles.

The fall and early winter months are the most critical times to check your tire’s inflation pressures because air is a gas which contracts as the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder. For every 10-degree Fahrenheit change in outside temperature, your tire’s inflation pressure will change by about 1 psi (they’ll increase with higher temperatures and decrease with lower temps). If you park your Porsche in an attached or heated garage you will also “lose” pressure when you leave the warmth of the garage and venture into the real world outside. So, add 1 psi of “cold” tire pressure to compensate for each 10 degree temperature difference.

And finally, don’t forget to keep your valve stem caps on. If left off, moisture can freeze in the valve and allow the air to escape.

Any and all questions on these topics are welcome, please ask!

Part 3 of Winter Tech will discuss putting your Porsche away in hibernation. Until then, drive safe and alert!

Jeremy Williams is the Oregon PCA Technical editor. He co-owns Matrix Integrated Inc. (Matrix Integrated Inc.) with his brother Justin. Jeremy can be reached at [email protected]

4 Responses

  1. Thank you for all the good information
    Let’s all practice good, safe driving

    1. You’re very welcome Larry, I’m glad to hear you’ve found it helpful.
      Let’s all practice safe driving indeed!

  2. Hibernation?! What’s that?

    No – I completely understand putting some cars away for the winter, but my 996 C2 is my daily driver. I haven’t been through a winter yet with it, but when I bought it in the spring, I put some Michelin Pilot Sport All Season tires on it. I would have liked to put on summer tires, and have another set of wheels with dedicated winter tires, but I don’t really have the space to store them.

    I know I won’t get quite the winter traction that I would with winter-specific tires, but I should be fine in the conditions we typically see around Portland, right? Rear-wheel drive, and rear engine – that’s gotta be a great combo.

    1. I would agree that your all season(a/s) tires are going to be much much better in the fall-spring than summer tires, however when the roads get slick with snow/ice this winter, even with the engine weighted over the rear tires, you may want to stay home to be safest. A/S tires still aren’t true winter tires, so if you had to accelerate to avoid an accident(with someone with summer or bald tires), you may not have ultimate grip to do so. Just my $0.02.

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President's Message

Carol Hedstrom

People Power

I have been an advocate and cheerleader of our many volunteers for several years. This year we have
had even more members step up and help out! Clearly, in order to organize and host over 100 separate events, it takes some peoplepower. As we are at mid-year, I want to share an update on what our volunteers are doing for the Club. It’s your Club and we want all of you to enjoy the fun and of course help out if you feel inclined to do so. 

ORPCA’s Autocross Team layout courses, set up and take down cones, implement safety procedures, keep time, manage standings, train and encourage new drivers, and do it all at the break of dawn. This is a hardy, knowledge-heavy group of dedicated people who produce one of the strongest autocross organizations in the Pacific Northwest. If you have not participated in autocross, you should. You will be introduced to the sport by some of the best and probably become a better driver. 

Our Social Committee and volunteers organize our monthly dinners, scout locations for future events, and plan the new-member orientation as well as the holiday party. They also monitor tickets for each social event, help prevent allergic reactions, and are on the lookout for all mobility needs. Have you tried one of the new Road and Fork events? These small-scale, intimate, elevated experiences are the brainchild of the Social Committee. Cheers to this team! 

Drive Team volunteers scout routes and roads, lead drives, curate drive groups with leads and sweeps, check out potential stops for restroom breaks, maintain a large library of routes, handle oodles of pre-and-post drive logistics including insurance and follow-up reports. The drive team works closely with the Web Team to ensure that all drives (70+ this year) are listed and described accurately on our website and that registrations open in a timely manner to keep it easy for members to join in drives throughout the year. 

The Membership Team orders and distributes name badges and anniversary pins. Name badges are key, but only one element of the many tasks involved in the Membership purview. Team members are master spreadsheet and database gurus. When questions arise around membership dues: what’s included, when and how to pay, this Team jumps in and clears the confusion. Additionally, Membership and supporting volunteers staff our tents and booths at public events to encourage new members to join and answer all questions relating to ORPCA. 

Our new Community Outreach Committee is currently a small group of volunteers strategizing on how to serve others. This team guides our charitable giving efforts as well as finding opportunities to enhance our image and reputation in the small towns and cities we pass through on our drives. We will hear more from them as the year goes on. Please be sure to check out the June Anzeiger message from member Wendy Wells regarding this team effort. Your input is needed; remember, it’s your club and you can help guide the future. 

Web Team, oh geez, what don’t they do? The Web Team, together with Social Media and Member Email, are the heartbeat of your Club. These people guarantee that you know about drives and upcoming events, and that you can register for events. They maintain lists of who is attending, handle cancelations, provide instructions, share information, and announce changes when needed. 

Northwest Passage Team, a stand- alone, perpetual group, handcrafts an epic journey every spring and then does it again a few months later in the fall. These people know their stuff and are quick to adapt to conditions and unexpected events like road closures due to weather and those unfortunate seasonal fires that pop up in our part of the country. While on the tour they are alert to pitfalls like rocks on the road that may take out tires or create other hazards. They and the event they organize are an example of planning success on every level. 

Your member newsletter, Anzeiger, is produced by a team of people, but mainly the editor and editorial support team. They are joined by a small group of experienced proofreaders, and many member contributors. Anzeiger is a big monthly project that showcases our many events and entices members to participate in future events. 

ORPCA’s Board Members are a classic working board. This group of people, along with numerous chair-people, manage the behind-the-scenes workings of the organization. That means everything from finances and calendar of events to interfacing with the national organizer, outside clubs, advertisers, sponsors, and kickstarting many sub-committees that make up the greater ORPCA organization. They are the hands that guide the other teams and committees and try to stay in the background. 

While I have not listed the names of everyone on the above teams, the list is long. I want to thank the entire unnamed list of people for their efforts, commitment and sense of fun for all that they do. I hope you thank them too! I know that after many events, some people will drop a short line of thanks to the organizer. You may not realize how good that makes them feel, but trust me, a little thanks goes a long way. If you enjoyed reading an article, had a good time on a drive or one of our multi-day tours, please give a nod and a thumbs-up to the organizers and volunteers who made it happen. It’s your club and it is 100% volunteer run.

Let’s Drive!

You can reach me at [email protected]