Donuts during snowstorm, any harm?

Took advantage of the snow last night and had some parking lot fun with a buddy of mine. During a donut I felt/heard some vibration noise in the steering column. Seemed fine after that, drove the car home but haven't been in it since. Could I have done anything harmful?

 

It doesn't seem like doing some donuts would cause any harm to a car, but it was my first time taking the Legacy out. I've read some people mentioning driveshaft or power steering problems, but it seems like that would be from pavement, not snow?

If you did, Never hold your steering wheel at full lock.

Check for snow building up in the wheel spokes/inside of the wheel. When you do donuts the sideways motion through the snow can cause it to pack up in the spokes and behind them. This will throw the wheel off balance and make a noticeable vibration when you get up to speed.

 

It happens to me with my winter wheels (simple, thin 5-spoke design.) There's no harm in having some snow fun, you bought a Subaru after all, didn't you.

^ This.

 

Clean out your wheels really well, maybe even wash your car. The symptoms you have will be gone.

 

And the vibration you felt during the donuts could have been your ABS locking up.

if riping doughnuts is bad for a subaru .. omg ...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeFp3tz95HQ]YouTube - legacy gt, wrx and z24 playing in the snow[/ame]

If you did, Never hold your steering wheel at full lock.

 

This.

 

Once you get spinning, it actually takes very little steering input to keep the rotation going. You can unwind the wheel almost completely and still keep spinning.

 

The only other thing to keep in mind is that you might spin the oil in the pan away from the pickup. Though with the way Subarus do donuts, I would think it wouldn't matter much since the sump is in the front of the engine. But to be on the safe side, keep your donuts short and your RPMs low.

If you did, Never hold your steering wheel at full lock.

 

I had it at full, I think. I didn't know this piece of information unfortunately, and I believe that is when it happened. It was a narrower area so I had to have it at full to turn it (atleast, I think I did). Wasn't ABS since I was pressing the gas (though lightly). Did feel plenty of ABS last night though at different points.

 

This was my first time taking the car out in the snow for anything but to get to point A to point B. After seeing so many Subaru's tear around in the snow doing donuts (case in point, video above) I didn't think I could do any damage. If I had it at full tilt, is there something I should worry about? Or is it only on dry pavement that it would cause an issue?

 

Thanks for the helpful replies guys. I've had a pit in my stomach all morning worried I did something harmful.

I wouldn't sweat it. Check for snow/ice on your wheels before jumping to any conclusions.

Just keep driving it if anything irregular comes up then take it to a shop, these cars are pretty tough

I haven't left the house today, but I'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm still under warrenty, though I doubt if it's something I messed up that they'd fix it.

I haven't left the house today, but I'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm still under warrenty, though I doubt if it's something I messed up that they'd fix it.

Stop worrying, you're fine.

Stop worrying, you're fine.

 

Thanks man.

Took the car out for a drive around the block. Seemed ok.

 

If it were power steering, I would hear a whining, correct? And obviously drivetrain I wouldn't be able to drive the car. Someone told me I could've messed up a center diff, but would the car be driveable if I had done this?

 

Someone else mentioned CV boots, but I haven't heard this on here.

 

Sorry, I'm admittedly over-worried here. Always babied this thing, so I'm dreading damaging something on it.

Might've just been your tires hopping across bare pavement, kinda like the shake you get in a fwd car when the front wheels are hopping. I wouldn't worry, I was out doin donuts the other night myself too. Probably will go again with this upcoming snow storm we got tomorrow into wednesday

I'm sure it was just snow built up on the front wheels that caused them to be out of balance and therefore vibrate the steering wheel at speed. You're fine.

 

I've done donuts in a '90 Miata with the top down in a blizzard, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert.

Could someone please elaborate on why not to hold the wheel fully to lock? I’ve noticed when backing out of my drive way, the wheel feels “funny” when it’s turned to full lock, my street is really narrow so you have to turn tight backing out. I’m not gonna test it, I am just curious. Thanks!

The power steering tries to keep pushing past the lock point even though it can't. This wears out the fluid and the ps components. Just turn the wheel to lock, and then feather it back and forth about a quarter turn short of lock and full lock after you get into the spin.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, everyone. Car seems to be driving fine, you've helped me ease my mind.

Ok, so I noticed today after starting the car up from a cold start (sitting for a day or so) that I got a shrieking noise from the car for a quick second. I saw another thread discussing this where alot of people have this issue, but I'm wondering if it's related because I just started noticing it since the "wheel vibration".

 

Someone in the thread mentioned it could be due to power steering pump, and I know someone in here mentioned that power steering could cause the vibration from being at full lock. What do you guys think?

Subaru's just make that noise... many have found it to be the starter actually... your power steering pump will Whine when you try and turn your wheel (If it's bad or going bad)...

STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR BABY AND LET IT GROW UP! Homework: Go do some more donuts this weekend and take pictures/video and post. haha

Subaru's just make that noise... many have found it to be the starter actually... your power steering pump will Whine when you try and turn your wheel (If it's bad or going bad)...

STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR BABY AND LET IT GROW UP! Homework: Go do some more donuts this weekend and take pictures/video and post. haha

 

Good info on the power steering pump whine, I had no idea it did that. Thanks for that, I'm a little more at ease now.

 

Is there a name for hypochondria of the car? Because I definitely have that. Thanks again, Instanced.

I broke my sway bar bracket I think from doing donuts but should of got better ones when I got a bigger bar. But other then that I never had any problems.