AudioCircle
Community => Non-audio hobbies and interests => Cars and Bikes => Topic started by: ctviggen on 4 Jan 2018, 08:11 pm
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Finally got my new Honda Civic Hatchback into some brutal snow. New Michelin Ice-X snow tires on it, but the roads were unplowed with a TON of snow on them. It was the worst snow storm I've ever been in, whiteout conditions, and my car was floating on the snow at times. The car handled well, but the "rubber band" (continuously variable) transmission isn't great. I much prefer real, mechanical gears. I also had a hard time getting into and out of traction control. I like traction control on flat ground, especially from a stop. I cannot stand it when going up hills though, as it kills forward momentum. On the Honda, you have to find the button then hold it in for a few seconds to turn it on or off. That's problematic when you're trying to get up a hill and trying to control the front wheels at the same time.
The idiotic control system also has to be changed. There was so much snow on my car that the sensors were covered, which lead to a warning that road mitigation could not be used. That was OK, but this KILLED my ability to make a phone call from the car. Without picking up my phone and manually dialing a number, I could not get the car to make a call because of that idiotic warning.
I passed an SUV with terrible tires that was all over the place. I had to pass them, as I knew there were hills ahead, and they were going too slow. With a front wheel drive car, you have to attack the hills (with traction control off).
I made it home, though, but it was tough. 6+ inches of snow on unplowed roads is a bit too much for my Civic.
How is your car in the snow?
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My BMW is a piece of shit !! But it's all wheel drive and does well in the snow. My wife's Forester kicks ass in the snow . She however panics in the snow !!! Subaru has the best all wheel drive I believe. But any heavy all wheel drive SUV should do well. I live in the Burgh , and it's a super hilly city!!! Many people do have front wheel drive cars here though.
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I have an STi with Michelin PA4 performance snow tires. It does ok... :P
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So far I only had to call a tow truck once this week; was able to free myself the other 3X with a KIA Soul.
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My BMW is a piece of shit !! But it's all wheel drive and does well in the snow. My wife's Forester kicks ass in the snow . She however panics in the snow !!! Subaru has the best all wheel drive I believe. But any heavy all wheel drive SUV should do well. I live in the Burgh , and it's a super hilly city!!! Many people do have front wheel drive cars here though.
For the most part, it's about the tires. I always put 4 snows on my BMW's over the years with great results. My RWD E39 540i 6-speed was a beast in the snow and slick stuff, as long as it wasn't crazy deep.
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My Odyssey does well in the snow but I prefer not to drive till the roads are very clear. I spent a few winters skiing in VT and ID and know how to drive in it...it’s the other yahoo I’m concerned about. :roll:
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My Subie Outback is great in the snow.
NB
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Still driving a '77 Jeep Wagneer with full time four wheel drive and off road tires and have never been stuck in 40 years, even through Colorado winters. Weighing in 4230 lbs. the gas mileage isn't that great but this baby will go anywhere. You need one.
In the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Colorado.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=173827)
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tires....tires...tires. If you take driving seriously and drive in serious snow then get the best........ Nokian.
https://www.nokiantires.com/winter-tires/nokian-hakkapeliitta-r2/
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No problems with the snow with my 4-Runner as long as I shift it into 4WD. I can do cool spin outs in 2WD mode, but can't get my driveway with it. I have a lot of clearance since the vehicle was meant for off-roading.
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My 2009 Ford Fusion riding on Firestone winter tires is doing well. My wife’s 2014 Acura RDX with Goodyear winter tires is dong really well. I have run snows for years now.
The best winter car I ever owned was my old 1997 Accord. 4 banger auto box, and with a set of Hakkapelitta snows it was a complete tank. I only miss that car in the snow. The rest of the year it was so boring!
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I’ve had two Toyota LandCruisers (1994 & 2002) with BFG KO2’s over the last 10 Idaho winters with many trips to the ski slopes on largely unplowed roads and aside from the very occasional tire slip I’ve never had an issue that caused anything more than a slight pucker.
As said before, it’s the other folks that will either scare or humor me. Brett
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I’ve had two Toyota LandCruisers (1994 & 2002) with BFG KO2’s over the last 10 Idaho winters with many trips to the ski slopes on largely unplowed roads and aside from the very occasional tire slip I’ve never had an issue that caused anything more than a slight pucker.
As said before, it’s the other folks that will either scare or humor me. Brett
Holy sh%t. A new Land Cruiser starts at $83,665.
My Honda CR-V does fine though I don't have any need to go out when the Governor says to stay off the roads so I haven't really pushed it to the limit to know where that is.
I have friends with Subarus swear by them for driving in the snow. I were doing significant driving in the snow I'd probably be driving a Subaru.
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I live in New Jersey. The snow storm is finally over. My Kia Forte even with new tires sucks in snow. Can't get to work tonight. But home enjoying audio. :thumb:
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I have 4wd X3, it's pretty good but the run-flats probably limit the potential. Very insulated from the road does not inspire confidence on slick roads.
My favorite best winter driving experience was a 1979 VW Rabbit with Fulda all weather tires. Skinny German tires on 13" wheels. They really dug in, even after 50k miles. We would go out in heavy snow for the fun of it, only plows were out. Drive through snow banks, up steep hills, could not get stuck no matter how we tried. Only time I ever got stuck in that car was because rear tire was flat and didn't realize the E-brake was on. Very light car, with strong front weight bias over the front tires. Manual steering and brakes, like extension of my body. Very fun!
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Holy sh%t. A new Land Cruiser starts at $83,665.
I bought both mine used...I’d have to live in any vehicle that I bought near $80,000 +! The used market is strong, as in my experience they’re amazingly reliable, solid and enjoyable in snow and sun.
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My current Toyota 2011 Venza with a wet road tire ( it rains here in Oregon) and all wheel drive does real well.
I haven't had to drive in to much fresh deep snow but at the 4 to 6 inch depth it does well.
What I do hate any time hot cold wet or dry is the electric steering. No feed back at all.
In past front wheel drive you could feel it in the steering wheel .
I hear that this has been updated in newer cars.
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My Subie Outback is great in the snow.
NB
My neighbor has a 2017 Outback. I have a 2017 Mazda CX5 Grand Touring. I’ve driven his Outback in the snow, and where as the Mazda does fine, I thought the Outback did better, a little more of a ‘solid’ weighty feel to the handling and breaking. Nice car that Outback.
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Growing up in a snow state.. I am unfazed by sliding around on snow. Actually the sliding is what is the FUN. As a teen I remember rear wheel drive cars with almost bald tires...
However since I have retired...
I never drive in any rush hour traffic. Nor much in the dark.
Plus I can just stay home instead of driving in the snowstorms.
So bumper to bumper traffic is no longer my problem (unless an accident blocking lanes)
My Metro area has always been pretty good at clearing snow from streets too.
Typically the streets are clear all winter unless it is currently snowing.
(only severe, multiple snows back to back tend to 'wear out' the snow response.. more for saving tax money than lack of equipment to do it.)
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tires....tires...tires. If you take driving seriously and drive in serious snow then get the best........ Nokian.
https://www.nokiantires.com/winter-tires/nokian-hakkapeliitta-r2/
Had these on my Touareg TDI, awesome winter tires :thumb:
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ctviggen, you bring up some valid concerns...
I mostly drive a 2009 Rav4. It isn't AWD, but if it senses problems it kicks into 4WD. It also has a locking button but it turns off after 25mph... All over the internet it says that it's FWD when the 4WD isn't engaged. That's 100% a lie. Trust me. I take it out of traction control, including nuisance horse shit that makes you hold it for awhile to get it off... (side to side throttle cuts) Then I spin the rear wheels to make hair pin turns when it's snowy and icy on roads and I want to turn around. I also power slide right before I go into my driveway because simply turning into it on the totally snow & ice covered street I'm on is for the weak... None of which is possible with FWD.
I totally understand your concern about needing to get the damned traction control off at times. Once time I was going somewhere and GPS took me onto a seasonal road, and it was, well, out of season? It looked ok at first but then it ended up being straight up mud-bogging. I turned off the traction control for spinning, as it turns on/off one touch. If it weren't for that I would've been stuck in a couple of seconds. The funny thing was a couple farmers watching me do it, probably prepping to shit a brick because they had no desire to spend the next 2 hours getting me out. And yet I made it somehow... The farmer's truck probably would've got stuck if it actually got into the mud.
The censor that prevent phone calls is a serious issue. In WA state it's an instant $600 ticket, no warning, if they see your phone in your hand. I hate nanny rules like that and wish for everyone to who made it to be turned to dust or sent to Guantanamo as terrorists to the freedom of the people, but we have it. If you can't engage in allowed safe ways of circumventing breaking that law simply because it snowed outside... well... These new cars are starting to drive me crazy. They beep a lot too. If my next car beeps, I will rip apart the entire dash to remove the beeper.
On top of that I can see how a CVT transmission is probably the worst idea ever for snow... It basically encourages spinning.
One of the best snow vehicles I've had was an 80's subaru wagon. It was slow, the block broke... a pile of crap really. But even with bald front tires it could go anywhere in the snow. I purposely drove through several feet of snow in a field instead of a driveway one time. I couldn't open the doors, but I couldn't be stopped!
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And WGH, your photo is awesome.
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Still driving a '77 Jeep Wagneer with full time four wheel drive and off road tires and have never been stuck in 40 years, even through Colorado winters. Weighing in 4230 lbs. the gas mileage isn't that great but this baby will go anywhere. You need one.
In the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Colorado.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=173827)
40 years is a long time, how has the body held up and how many miles?
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I purposely drove through several feet of snow in a field instead of a driveway one time. I couldn't open the doors, but I couldn't be stopped!
I'd love to be able to do that. Winter isn't usually a big deal around here but this year has been different.
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My Subie Outback is great in the snow.
NB
+1
Very confidence inspiring ('09 with 4 speed automatic).
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tires....tires...tires. If you take driving seriously and drive in serious snow then get the best........ Nokian.
https://www.nokiantires.com/winter-tires/nokian-hakkapeliitta-r2/
+1
Bought them last winter (mild), so this year should find out how they'll perform on our '09 Outback.
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40 years is a long time, how has the body held up and how many miles?
And WGH, your photo is awesome.
Thanks Folsom.
Jeep has about 270,000 miles, I have a great mechanic. I had the 360 V8 engine rebuilt at 80,000 miles (bad build) and now have 190,000 miles on the rebuild and still doesn't burn oil. A few dents and a little rust but the body is still in pretty good shape, that is the original paint too. Leaf springs have a 2" lift and tires are Goodyear Wrangler with Kevlar. Factory air conditioning is cold as a frog, a necessity in Arizona. My daily driver and I always use a heavy duty club on the steering wheel.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=173867&size=xlarge)
Wayne
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2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. Just turned 200,000 miles on it. CVT has been great through every Minnesota winter. As long as you don't plow headon into a snowdrift and lift the front end, you're fine. Replaced the shitty original Dunlops at 20,000 miles. Switched to Michelins and they lasted to 140,000 miles. Now I'm on my second set of Michelins. It works for me.
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First winter with my A7, and yesterday went surprisingly well despite not having winter tires. My township didn't plow my street, so when I get home last night around 5PM from work, there was still significant snow on the ground.
I didn't have a problem driving through it, and parking the car then. This morning however, there was significant ice and snow stuck to the tires and in the well. Car was shaking like crazy driving. With temperatures in the single digits today, I will have to find some way to deice the well and the tires. Only issue so far.
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For the most part, it's about the tires. I always put 4 snows on my BMW's over the years with great results. My RWD E39 540i 6-speed was a beast in the snow and slick stuff, as long as it wasn't crazy deep.
Tires make a huge difference. One of our cars is a Mercedes C300 AWD, and the OEM tires were not good in the snow. After replacing the tires with Nokian WR-G3's, the car handles the snow much better. I had read somewhere that Nokian is a top selling brand in Canada.
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I own a 05 Chevy Silverado HD 2500 two wheel drive pickup and a 10 Chevy Corvette. I have tried both in snow and ice and I now leave both home when we get our infrequent snow storms. The Corvette was the better of the two, but the performance tires left mush to be desired.
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I live in MN and I run Continental Pure Contact All Season V Rated performance tires on my Maxima and Acura. The are rated very good in light snow and I can attest to that. They stop and handle great and have a comfortable ride for a high performance tire. Consumer reports and Tire Rack had them neck and neck with a pair of Michelin's. I also have an old Toyota Corolla that was my mother's and I put on General Altimax RT43 T-rated AS tires and they handle well in the snow. They were rated very good for snow by CR and Tire Rack. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they handle and ride for more of a budget to medium priced tire.
Of course, neither tire could compete with the pair of snow tires that I had on my daughters Mitsu Eclipse.
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I remember my old 1976 Toyota Celica. A little beauty of a car that did surprisingly well in the snow. I used to drive it up in Cambridge when I was in college, and up and down from my parents' house in NY. I remember one year leaving the day after Thanksgiving to drive back up to school. The entire stretch up was covered in heavy snow. It was a great drive. Very few cars on the road. It was one of those supernaturally quiet days where it made me feel like I was driving alone during some post apocalyptic Ice Age. That car did great in the snow.
The best was probably my '93 Ford Explorer Sport. The old 3 door model.
Sorry to read about CVTs and snow. I just bought a 2017 CRV AWD. It was that or the Mazda CX-5. I knew about the CVT vs. real gearing between the two, but the Honda just felt better to me driving. I spent a bit of time behind the wheel of both and came away liking the CRV better. Is a CVT really that much worse in snow?
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All three are excellent on ice. The Miata has cheap Wall-Mart "Ice Radials" which are not very good on snow but pretty good on ice. The PT Cruiser (FWD) is excellent on both ice and snow (Continental ExtremeWinterContact) and the Truck is also excellent on snow (Cooper AT3) but a bit slippery on ice.
The Conti's I have driven in snow where it was high enough where you could see that the plastic engine lower cover was clearing snow behind the car (flat ploughed snow between the tire tracks lower than the snow around the car). They are unusual for the "ice radial" category of winter tires, most are good on ice but useless in any reasonably high snow cover.
The Truck's Coopers can go through any amount of gravel, mud or show, winter or summer, and are fine (not too noisy) on pavement.
I've been running dedicated winter and summer tires for longer than most people. I've tried most of the highly touted brands and compounds; the worst were Nokkians which were great when new but wore very quickly. With most ice-type tires, the ice sticky layer is only on the outside of the full tread, so that they wear down to tires with tread depth left but have lost their grip on ice itself. If they weren't good on snow, then you are left with a fast wearing summer tire that takes longer to brake in warm dry pavement than an all-season in summer.
So I chose the Conti's which are not quite as good as the very best ice radials on slick ice or packed snow, but still much better than all-season tires or winter tires that are mud and snow rated, and they are excellent on any other winter conditions. They will spin for a few rotations taking off from an ice covered intersection, then grip and go, plus they do stick when braking, just that you might travel ten feet or so longer than with something like the top grade Bilzzaks (about the same as the economy grade Bilizzaks). A good compromise in my experience. I am very happy with them and will buy them again in five or six years when they are due for replacement.
I didn't like any of the Michelin ice radials, they last a long time but don't stick as well I as like. Nokians might be good if you live in a normally warm winter climate (more slush, rain and not very cold sub-zero temps) but where I live, not so great. Roads here are always packed snow covered unless a major street ... once snow falls, it stays till spring with few above zero melts ... and the quick wearing means replacement every four years, and you might want to go three. That makes them too expensive; I need tires to last more than 20,000 km (12,000 miles) before they stop sticking.
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All three are excellent on ice. The Miata has cheap Wall-Mart "Ice Radials" which are not very good on snow but pretty good on ice. The PT Cruiser (FWD) is excellent on both ice and snow (Continental ExtremeWinterContact) and the Truck is also excellent on snow (Cooper AT3) but a bit slippery on ice.
The Conti's I have driven in snow where it was high enough where you could see that the plastic engine lower cover was clearing snow behind the car (flat ploughed snow between the tire tracks lower than the snow around the car). They are unusual for the "ice radial" category of winter tires, most are good on ice but useless in any reasonably high snow cover.
The Truck's Coopers can go through any amount of gravel, mud or show, winter or summer, and are fine (not too noisy) on pavement.
I've been running dedicated winter and summer tires for longer than most people. I've tried most of the highly touted brands and compounds; the worst were Nokkians which were great when new but wore very quickly. With most ice-type tires, the ice sticky layer is only on the outside of the full tread, so that they wear down to tires with tread depth left but have lost their grip on ice itself. If they weren't good on snow, then you are left with a fast wearing summer tire that takes longer to brake in warm dry pavement than an all-season in summer.
So I chose the Conti's which are not quite as good as the very best ice radials on slick ice or packed snow, but still much better than all-season tires or winter tires that are mud and snow rated, and they are excellent on any other winter conditions. They will spin for a few rotations taking off from an ice covered intersection, then grip and go, plus they do stick when braking, just that you might travel ten feet or so longer than with something like the top grade Bilzzaks (about the same as the economy grade Bilizzaks). A good compromise in my experience. I am very happy with them and will buy them again in five or six years when they are due for replacement.
I didn't like any of the Michelin ice radials, they last a long time but don't stick as well I as like. Nokians might be good if you live in a normally warm winter climate (more slush, rain and not very cold sub-zero temps) but where I live, not so great. Roads here are always packed snow covered unless a major street ... once snow falls, it stays till spring with few above zero melts ... and the quick wearing means replacement every four years, and you might want to go three. That makes them too expensive; I need tires to last more than 20,000 km (12,000 miles) before they stop sticking.
Miata in snow? You are brave or nuts - like me. I had my 2000 Miata out today following snow in Philly. Drives OK but traction in snow with newer non snow tires in dicey. I'm thinking about throwing a bag of sand, salt and a small shovel in the trunk. Figure extra weight might help - the car is so light that might be part of the handling problems in snow.
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I remember my old 1976 Toyota Celica. A little beauty of a car that did surprisingly well in the snow. I used to drive it up in Cambridge when I was in college, and up and down from my parents' house in NY. I remember one year leaving the day after Thanksgiving to drive back up to school. The entire stretch up was covered in heavy snow. It was a great drive. Very few cars on the road. It was one of those supernaturally quiet days where it made me feel like I was driving alone during some post apocalyptic Ice Age. That car did great in the snow.
The best was probably my '93 Ford Explorer Sport. The old 3 door model.
Sorry to read about CVTs and snow. I just bought a 2017 CRV AWD. It was that or the Mazda CX-5. I knew about the CVT vs. real gearing between the two, but the Honda just felt better to me driving. I spent a bit of time behind the wheel of both and came away liking the CRV better. Is a CVT really that much worse in snow?
My Maxima and Murano both have CVT's. I love them and I have had no problems with them in the snow or ice. The Murano is AWD however.
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I had a '94 Maxima too. :D A beast of a car. Much more nimble than people would expect. I bought it after my '89 Supra got stolen. :x But I could never get comfortable behind the wheel. The wheel/pedal/seat alignment was just wrong for me. Couldn't really appreciate that until after owning the car for a while. My wife loved it so it went to her. :)
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Tires make a huge difference. One of our cars is a Mercedes C300 AWD, and the OEM tires were not good in the snow. After replacing the tires with Nokian WR-G3's, the car handles the snow much better. I had read somewhere that Nokian is a top selling brand in Canada.
As said in my previous post Nokian is considered by most to be 'tops' no matter where you reside. Being born and raised in Buffalo, NY , a life long snowmobiler who has traveled through winter weather the likes that most will never know, I love 'em !
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As said in my previous post Nokian is considered by most to be 'tops' no matter where you reside. Being born and raised in Buffalo, NY , a life long snowmobiler who has traveled through winter weather the likes that most will never know, I love 'em !
They do have the best performance in the snow, but not so great on dry pavement... For those whose roads are dry most of the time but temps are low performance snow tires are a miracle. The combination of performance in the snow and on dry, cold pavement is amazing. Summer tires don't work in the cold even if it's dry, so if you switch between summer and winter tires and live where it's dry/cold a lot of the winter these are the best type of tire to buy imo.
Sizes on Michelin PA4 are unfortunately limited, but other manufacturers are offering similar tires that might have more size selection. My Subie has gone through 8" of heavy snow (3"+ over the front air dam) with no problems and did ok with ice racing. IMO you need spikes to make ice racing worthwhile but it's a fun experience. Basically, traction control that can do amazing things in the snow doesn't work on ice, so I had no advantage over any other 4wd vehicle. Disappointing, but I think it would be different with spikes and the car would be very fast because the traction control / torque vectoring would be an unfair advantage. :) They've come a LONG way in recent years....
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Alpin+PA4
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Switching tires works great. Switching wheels is better but you have to buy much more expensive factory wheels with sensors now...
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My BMW is a piece of shit !! But it's all wheel drive and does well in the snow. My wife's Forester kicks ass in the snow . She however panics in the snow !!! Subaru has the best all wheel drive I believe. But any heavy all wheel drive SUV should do well. I live in the Burgh , and it's a super hilly city!!! Many people do have front wheel drive cars here though.
I have an awd Bmw and my so has an Outback. I have oldish tires but it handles the snow well. The Outback is good for snow but sounds like a truck and not fun to drive :)
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For the most part, it's about the tires. I always put 4 snows on my BMW's over the years with great results. My RWD E39 540i 6-speed was a beast in the snow and slick stuff, as long as it wasn't crazy deep.
Totally agree. I have a FWD car (PT Cruiser), a RWD car (Miata) and they both do excellent in winter. Tires? Continental ExtremeWinterContacts.
I've run "ice radials" since my first set of Cooper Weatheralls for my truck more than 20 years ago. They vary a bit from each other, and I've tried Michelin X-Ice, various models of Bridgestone Blizzaks, Nokians, and Coopers, which so far, the best "true truck", as in not P-rated (which means Passenger Car) variants, but even cheap Chinese $40 Wall-Mart specials are markedly better than all-seasons, as I've bought some tires for the kids' and they were an eye-opener to drive on. If that's all you can afford, go for it.
The biggest thing these days are modern vehicles and two things ... catalytic converters and anti-lock brakes. The anti-locks polish the approach to intersections and the cats mean there is a lot of tailpipe moisture until the vehicle is fully warmed up, so when a car or truck accelerates after a stop, they dump water between the crosswalks which freezes on contact with below-freezing pavement. So the whole section from approach to past the threshold of the far corners is icy.
The Conti's are the best passenger car tires ever, I am amazed at their snow grip, which you don't always get in a winter tire that is designed for ice traction, and they still are 95% as sticky as the best on ice and great in wet cold weather pavement. Not even noisy. Drove more than once when the snow was so high that the car is plowing with the plastic under-engine "skid plate" which is really to control airflow underhood, or the front dam, and no problems with traction.
For the truck I've settled on Cooper AT-3's which are more of a snow tire than an ice tire, but they are M+S rated and have the mountain/snowflake. The key to driving a heavy vehicle like that in winter is smooth power and brake application. Right foot discipline.
RWD or FWD, they drive differently but there is no reason not to use a RWD vehicle in winter. If you have some experience with them (even FWD cars are easy to spin with understeer and unexpected bite which can take an inexperienced driver by surprise), it's not a case of FWD is the only way to go as some believe. AWD is OK but you don't stop any faster.
Contrary to what some believe, if you have uneven F-R wear, put the tire with the most bite on the rear. That goes with FWD vehicles as well; otherwise understeer on declining radius curves, like a cloverleaf or freeway exit ramp, will introduce a spin. With RWD you can drive with the throttle, nudging the vehicle to be tail happy or nose-heavy without understeer, as you see fit.
I actually *like* driving in winter, it's fun and with experience not dangerous, although you do have to be paying attention. I feel sorry for people who can't experience low-traction driving, it's a gas sometimes and just as controllable as on dry warm pavement. It's kind of like on summer gravel only more so. A Dirt Track racer would know what I'm talking about.
It must be said, though, that the near-extinct manual transmission (both cars) is so much better in winter than an automatic (the truck).
By the way, this topic was dead for "more than 30 days", although not by much, but the reason I'm posting is, if you can spare the money, the real deals on good winter tires are happening right this minute. Check out online stock and have them sent to your local store, or just call around. They don't want to inventory them, so it's at cost or less right now. Buy something fresh for next winter.
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I've been driving in snow for as long as I've been driving but mostly have had 4wds. Like someone mentioned the 4 runners go well but they must be in 4wd, they are bad in 2wd. The other comments about tires is also correct and very important. I have had great luck with goodyear all terrain tires, they don't last all that long because the rubber is soft. Of course that's what you want for snow tire.
Out of all the 4wd vehicles I have owned by far the best one was a 1999 Ford Expedition. All wheel drive all the time or 4H and 4L. I put Good Year all terrain tires on that rig and I could go anywhere. It was hard to break loose from the road on compact snow and ice and I could drive 50mph on the passes here in WA. State. The worst care I ever had was a 1967 Ford Mustang, manual 3 on the floor with a 289. It would hardly go in the snow at all and mostly I just took in out in the parking lots for fun and spun around a lot.
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By the way, this topic was dead for "more than 30 days", although not by much, but the reason I'm posting is, if you can spare the money, the real deals on good winter tires are happening right this minute. Check out online stock and have them sent to your local store, or just call around. They don't want to inventory them, so it's at cost or less right now. Buy something fresh for next winter.
It's almost winter again. I've had trouble getting tires if I order much past September. Something to keep in mind...
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On top of that I can see how a CVT transmission is probably the worst idea ever for snow... It basically encourages spinning.
not all CVT's !! my old 'snow pony' could hook quite well !
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=184050)
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I got one snow car and one road car. No tire change is going to make a Mustang GT a snow car. It's not going anywhere if there is snow or ice. Expedition EL 4x4 on the other hand came with Hankook all season tires on 20" wheels. It's great on snow. Under a foot and it's good. More than a foot would close all businesses, schools and offices around DC and I wouldn't be driving at all. Having 2 different sets of tires make sense but I am just too lazy and we don't really get that much snow around here to justify keeping an additional set of tires just for snow. Plus, there is the subway option if I must go into the city.
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Snow? Really?
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=184061)
Sweating my a$$ off today!
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I'd rather not know how my car performs in snow. Best to stay home by the fire and wonder than to go out and be disappointed or pleased. Play it safe. Stay warm. Snow outdoors just enhances the listening experience in your room that much more. Put the snow tire money toward a winter amp.
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I live in Minnesota. I have a 2009 Nissan Maxima and a 2001 Acura CL Type S. Both have traction control and Continental Pure Contact V rated AS performance tires which do great in light to moderate snow. Also have a 2004 AWD Nissan Murano with only 65K miles which does great in the snow.
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Practice Practice Practice :
First good snowfall, head out to the biggest empty parking lot you can find.
Launch and lock, launch, turn and loose it, launch, turn and recover.
ABS off and do it all over again.
After hours we were practicing in our local mall lot and a local Cop filipped his lights at us.
"What in heck do you think your doing!!"
My wife, the driver repliides "Practicing" after a brief moment of silence he nods and said "Carry on".
Unless you spent the summer driving dirt backroads you forget that controlled drifting feeling.
Shawn
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I find most cars built after 2007 or so cannot be slid much. The traction/yaw control comes on immediately when I yank the e brake on my 2009 Fusion - regardless of how the traction control is turned off.
I grew up driving front wheel drive cars in the snow and e brake turning was excellent practice (done safely in parking lots) for loss of traction in winter.
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Three words: Subaru , Subaru, Subaru!!!
I had an old Subaru stick shift many years ago, the street would get plowed in . Turn wheels and floor it out of the snow bank.
Now we have a 2015 Forrester and it is awesome in the snow !!!
My BMW all wheel drive does pretty dang well .
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Subaru Outback - nuff said
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Firestones on a Toyota tacoma...does ok but not the greatest