"I have an SUV so i am ok in snow" myth

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
w/ stick, what I do is start in 1st and short-shift to 2nd; if there is a drift, i just let the weight of the car roll though it w/o throttle. driving in the snow w/ a stick is a lot of fun.

Plus, if you know how to use it, there is no substitute for clutch control in the snow.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

I was coming down a rather long hill. There is a stop light in the middle of the hill, as another street crosses it. The light was red.

I had been following a woman in a Sunfire. I assumed she was running some rather hideous summer tires because she was sliding when she was doing pretty much any braking.... And I wasn't sliding at all.... And I'm not running snows.

Anyways, she seemed VERY aware of the fact that she was driving a vehicle ill-equipped for the weather. She never got above 40Km/h and was driving VERY cautiously. Which is good.

HOWEVER

When we were coming down the hill, even though she was basically crawling, as she was preparing to come to a complete stop... She began to slide....... BADLY. There were three cars stopped in front of her, I was watching her pulse and steer, aiming for the snow bank so she didn't crash into the Camry in front of her. She just missed having to hit either. But I imagine she had to change her pants when she got home.

Now.... I'm coming down the hill behind her. I had no problems stopping at all. The hill wasn't slick. I'm running LTX M/S's, good tires, but as I said earlier... Not snows. So whatever she had on her car must have been utter garbage.

She was obviously a good driver. She was driving according to the conditions. But was driving a vehicle that was not setup for them. A set of snow tires would have made a huge difference for her.

So this begs the question:

What was so important that you'd get in a car that you KNOW is going to behave VERY poorly in the conditions it is about to face. Risk life, limb and at the very least an accident?

I don't know.

My FIL is the same way, although since he's retired I think he avoids more bad weather days when he can. Anyways here's a little story about how bad some tires are in the winter.
My FIL has the original 3 season tires on his 07 Civic and was over for Christmas dinner and tried to get up our packed snow hilly driveway and slid back just off the road.
So we took my Tracker out and some chain and hooked up to the Civic, and pulled it out easily and could easily drag the Civic around with all 4 wheels locked on the snow... And the Tracker is only 3000lbs soaking wet.
I suggested he get some snow tires as my Neon has no issues at all getting up the same hill, but he's so cheap I doubt he will.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan

My FIL is the same way, although since he's retired I think he avoids more bad weather days when he can. Anyways here's a little story about how bad some tires are in the winter.
My FIL has the original 3 season tires on his 07 Civic and was over for Christmas dinner and tried to get up our packed snow hilly driveway and slid back just off the road.
So we took my Tracker out and some chain and hooked up to the Civic, and pulled it out easily and could easily drag the Civic around with all 4 wheels locked on the snow... And the Tracker is only 3000lbs soaking wet.
I suggested he get some snow tires as my Neon has no issues at all getting up the same hill, but he's so cheap I doubt he will.


Blows my mind!

My wife's Focus came with very cheap snow tires. But the car is awesome in snow! Even cheap snow tires are better than 3-season wonders!

 

[AuthorEditor]

Not a big SUV fan, but the ground clearance issue is real up here in snow country. There are many days each winter when I wish I had a few more inches in my sedans. But, having said that, some cars are just better than others in the snow for a variety of reasons. I used to have a Rabbit diesel with skinny all season Sears tires, back when they were made by Michelin. I got up one day and there was over a foot of snow in the driveway and a huge berm at the end where the plow had dumped it. I thought no way could I get out, but decided to try anyway and that Rabbit just plowed its way out. The mound of snow ahead of the car rolled up over the hood and I just kept going right through the snow drift and out into the road. I had an old VW Dasher wagon that was equally as good. One time on the Maine turnpike it was closed due to deep snow and I just kept going until the air cleaner got so clogged with drifting snow that it put the engine out. It was just me and the plows out there for quite a while. On the other side of the coin, a lot of SUVs have tires that are too big and fat for snow--they don't cut down to traction. You want skinny snow tires.

 

[javacontour]

I had similar, an early 80's Rabbit Diesel with skinny tires. It would go through any snowfall we got in the St Louis area.

Now that and the great fuel economy were the only good things about that car. Between the few electrical things it had failing, leaking windshield and window regulators made of what must have been paper-mâché it was a love-hate relationship with that car.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

And how often is the snow exactly high enough to prevent a decent car from moving, but not high enough to impede a small SUV?


Once is sufficient to indicate that an SUV and car different WRT getting through the snow; that is my only point. Impala != RAV4

 

[sciphi]

Our cars have fairly good snow tires on them. But the Fit does slide around much more than the Buick. 205/70-15 Altimax Arctics on it punch down through most stuff. 185/55-16 Blizzak LM-25's on the Fit help it float. The Buick also weighs ~900 lbs more than the Fit, with very narrow tires for how large a car it is. I pity the Fit owners who opted for the 205/50-16 Mugen wheels this winter.

Many small SUV's are halfway decent in the snow since they weigh ~3500-4000 lbs and generally come with taller, skinnier tires than a fair number of cars. Those advantages make it appear to be better in the snow than a lighter, wider-tired car.