Driving in the Snow!

[Cut-Throat]

I just took mine out in the 6 inches of snow that has fallen. Not a good move, could not get up the hill. Turned around and got stuck in the street. Managed to get this out by rocking in Reverse and Low. Got back in my driveway and could not get it back in the garage.

It is now stuck in the driveway and another 4 inches have fallen on top of it. When our service comes to plow us out today, I will be able to get in back in the garage. I am glad I don't have to spend the entire winter here. I've had enough already!


Edit: - 3 hours later, I got the car unstuck from the driveway and made it into the garage for the evening.

 

[jasn]

I just took mine out in the 6 inches of snow that has fallen. Not a good move, could not get up the hill. Turned around and got stuck in the street. Managed to get this out by rocking in Reverse and Low. Got back in my driveway and could not get it back in the garage.

It is now stuck in the driveway and another 4 inches have fallen on top of it. When our service comes to plow us out today, I will be able to get in back in the garage. I am glad I don't have to spend the entire winter here. I've had enough already!


Edit: - 3 hours later, I got the car unstuck from the driveway and made it into the garage for the evening.

OK...I'll bite... did you have winter tires?

Living up north, I'm familiar with freak storms early in the year like the one you got hammered with. Fresh snow on relatively warm roads can be atrocious for traction.

 

[Cut-Throat]

OK...I'll bite... did you have winter tires?

Living up north, I'm familiar with freak storms early in the year like the one you got hammered with. Fresh snow on relatively warm roads can be atrocious for traction.

No winter tires, just the stock Dunlops. - It was not pretty!

I wanted to see how bad it was.

 

[jasn]

Thx CT. Hope things go better for you and your ride.

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

There are plenty of threads about this, and I agree that winter tires are the best way to go. As a lessor I've chosen to not go that route though. Some say it's stupid to use the Dunlops year-round, just asking for an accident in the snow. I agree, but here are a couple of tips in case you ignore the good advice like me:

1. Already been said, but 100-150 pounds of sand, cat litter, salt DOES help with traction. First year I used salt, but be sure to line the trunk with an old sheet. Salt bags will leach and stain your trunk liner. 2nd winter was cat litter, worked fine, no leaks, and can also provide traction if stuck (open bag, use contents).

2. Make liberal use of your pseudo-manual trans! From a stop in snow, shift over to 2nd and proceed from there (in snow). That takes enough torque off the rears so that you don't spin the wheels. Helps especially when going uphill.
Also use it to downshift! With practice you can go from 40 mph to a dead stop without touching the brakes.

3. Most important, snow tires or Dunlops, do NOT overdrive the car! Speed, late turns, hard braking will all negate the above. Physics will win out every time.

Finally, it really isn't 4 months of winter tire need: the last 2 winters have produced about 10 days total where the Dunlops were "dangerous". In suburban Chicago the plows do a pretty good job, especially during the days.
Once again though, I heartily endorse winter wheels!

 

[Cut-Throat]

Also, I did my 'test drive' in the local neighborhood, just to get a 'feel' for the car in snow. My other car is an AWD Lexus GS350.

In any event, even If I had traction, it would have been stupid to get on the freeways and start driving. Getting going is the easy part, it is the stopping that seems to evade people. There were plenty of accidents in the Twin Cities yesterday and many of them involved 4 wheel drive vehicles with great snow tires.

Also, keep in mind that even if you know how to drive, have 4 wheel drive and snow tires, the guy that is doing 360's in the other lane does not have any and when he plows into your car, your hassle will be as big as his.

If you live in a Metro area and it's snowing --- Stay Home!

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

Dunlops or Blizzaks sometimes doesn't matter:

Parts of the Upper Midwest dug out from a heavy snowfall Saturday that caused more than 400 traffic accidents in Minnesota, and wintry conditions also were being blamed for a collision in northern Wisconsin that killed two people.

Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Twin Cities area by Saturday evening, downing trees and causing sporadic power outages.

The storm that began late Friday night was blamed for a collision Saturday morning that killed both drivers and left a passenger hospitalized. The sheriff's department in Wisconsin's Bayfield County said the storm produced "rapidly deteriorating road conditions" that likely contributed to the crash.

 

[Disaster]

Hi Guys:

i just bought the car. So fresh set of al seasons, going into the winter. So trying to figure out if I really need to go out and get new winter tires? I normally find the all seasons to be good in winter for the first year. But never had RWD though. Please advise

The Dunlops, despite being called "all season" are closer to a summer performance tire. Their grip really falls off in the cold and on snow and ice. You really want a set of good winter tires, like Blizzaks, XIce, Altimax Artics..etc. We've got all of the previous mentioned tires on three different cars and the difference is dramatic.

Dunlops or Blizzaks sometimes doesn't matter:

Parts of the Upper Midwest dug out from a heavy snowfall Saturday that caused more than 400 traffic accidents in Minnesota, and wintry conditions also were being blamed for a collision in northern Wisconsin that killed two people.

Sometimes the best decision is to just stay off the road till road crews have had time to clear them.

 

[iqjumpuw]

This is my first experience driving a RWD so please correct me if I'm wrong. Wouldn't it be better just to get a pair of snow chains instead of investing so much more money in winter tires? That way you don't have to put them on during winter and swap them out during summer?

 

[dg_moore]

This is my first experience driving a RWD so please correct me if I'm wrong. Wouldn't it be better just to get a pair of snow chains instead of investing so much more money in winter tires? That way you don't have to put them on during winter and swap them out during summer?

Have you ever driven with chains? I would bet not, or you probably wouldn't be asking. Among their many other shortcomings, mfr recommendation is not to exceed 20-30 mph. They are brutal on bare roads, and if you don't have snow tires on the front your skid danger is increased. Also, they are not legal in some areas, but are required in others (are you heading through the Donner Pass in January?)

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[iqjumpuw]

No I've never driven in chains before. I live in Seattle and it only snows couple times during winter. I know snow chains are legal because they always sell out when it snows here. What should I do?

 

[Cut-Throat]

No I've never driven in chains before. I live in Seattle and it only snows couple times during winter. I know snow chains are legal because they always sell out when it snows here. What should I do?

Having lived in Minnesota all my life, here is my Recommendation.

If it only snows a couple times a year, stay home on those two days. In a metro area like Seattle, they probably have the streets clean about 10 hours after the snow.

The problem with driving in snow is not the snow, it's the ice. I see plenty of 4 wheel drive vehicles in the ditch that would not get stuck with snow up to the doors. They cannot stop on ice when they get going.

Also even if you had chains and could stop on ice, the guy that is going to hit you cannot stop. Either way you will wish you had stayed home for a few hours. The accidents during a snow storm in a metro area are not worth the hassle of driving in it.

 

[nb_mike]

I was born and raised in Milwaukee and NEVER had snow tires or front wheel drive I drove for 25 years there until I moved to southern Indiana.
I never had any real problems. Tricks I learned:
1) Start SLOW..don't spin tires
2) look ahead when driving....time lights as much as possible
3) stay away from other cars if possible
4) plan stops and stop slowly don't expect to jam on brakes and stop like on dry pavement.
5) put weight in car....I mostly used two 80lbs salt bags,one on each side near rear tires. You can get several bags of kitty litter or whatever but I found about 80lbs over each tire works fine.
6) To sum it up in one word PATIENCE..SLOW WILL GET YOU THERE FAST
Note now a days all season tires do help the equation. The base Dunlaps pretty much suck. I tried to buy the Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires but they are virtually unavailable. I just bought some new Pirelli PZero Nero Tires. They are suppose to be good ..just a tad less than the Continentals.

 

[TEF]

Yes, if you live in a place without snow, then don't worry about snow tires. However, for those not that lucky, buy snow tires - especially with RWD cars. Considering members on this forum have just spent $30K plus for a Genesis, skating around on those Dunlops with a trunk full of sand is nuts. If you're not familar with modern winter tire compounds (like those used by Bridgestone and Michelin), you'll be surprised at how well they do on snow/ice covered roads. A blizzard on I-90 in the Buffalo area can be stressful as one drives single file down two ruts in the slow lane trying to see the road. Under these conditions, moving into an unplowed passing lane, without snow tires, is pure suicide. Having lived in a lake-effect snow area for years, it's humorous to see SUV's with southern plates and summer tires parked at all angles in the interstate median. As they spun off the highway at 70 mph, I wonder if they remembered their car saleman telling them that their SUV's AWD could go anywhere.

 

[BMW Diehard]

We have ice and snow on the roads for at least four months a year. I would not consider driving any car without winter tires. It makes a big difference. So far so good on our Genesis. Of course rear wheel drive feels a little different if you are used to front wheel drive. Personally I prefer rear wheel drive. It's what we had for years when I was younger.

An added bonus with rear wheel drive: you can always increase traction by putting a sandbag in the trunk. I have not had to do that but it remains a possibility. There is no equivalent action you can take with front wheel drive.

I haven't had the the luxury of driving this sedan in the snow, I've driven an 05 X5 BMW and 328i, along with a 325xi in the snow fluctuating from 75MPH to 95MPH in over 9 Inches of snow feeling like I was driving on dry asphalt in the middle of july.

I was always curious as to wether or not ESC was a AWD application for this type of issue. Anyone Know ?
I test drove the 4.6 twice in the same day, but never got any real snow activity even in that winter season.