I took a Chevy Cruze off-roading through the snow - here's what it taught me about winter driving

I took my car down a snowy hill and immediately panicked because I thought the stocatto noise my brakes were making was a bad sign.

I ended up letting go of the brakes and skidding into a two-way street that was (thankfully) devoid of cars.

But I like to think I've come a long way since then. At the very least, I survived driving slalom-style in a Chevy Cruze in the snow, and that should redeem my past errors somewhat.

That slalom snow course I drove on was at Lime Rock Park, the site of a road racing circuit in Lakeville Connecticut. I drove up there for a class organized by Chevrolet to learn more about the ins-and-outs of winter driving.

I didn't get to drive on the big-girl racing circuit, but I did a few rounds on their winding snow course and conducted a few acceleration tests.

Here's everything I learned from Pat Daly, a Lime Rock driving instructor who rode shotgun with me on the winter course, and others on campus that day: