I’m on my 3rd winter with my MY and just replaced the OEM Continental tires with Vredestein. even accounting for the age of the tires the Vredesteins are significantly better in the snow. They’re still and all season tire, though, and a dedicated winter tire will clearly be better.
One thing I’ve noticed in my first 2 winters is that the MY has a tendency to swing it’s rear out and fishtail a bit on turns. I attribute that to 3 factors:
- The tires are fairly wide. Great for traction on dry pavement and also more necessary with a heavy car but it makes them more likely to become skis
- Even though it’s AWD, the MY has a rear wheel bias in its power distribution with the front motor being more of ‘on demand’ than full time. From what I’ve read I think this is due to the rear motor being more efficient combined with the fact that RWD is normally preferred for driving dynamics.
- The center of gravity of the car is further back than it is with an ICE car due to the battery placement.
The end result is that as you turn and start to accelerate out of a turn like one normally does the rear tires are more likely to lose grip. Having said that, the traction control system is quite good, IME, and it reliably recovers. I’ve never had an issue starting from a stop, either.
The final thing to consider is that the MY is a heavy car at 4500 lbs (2000 kg). No matter what it will take longer to stop - it’s just plain physics.
I came from an Audi A4 with the quattro AWD system - one of the best on the market. For winter driving it was clearly better and I was initially kind of disappointed in my MY but after getting some experience with it I’ve found it to be controllable and consistent, I just need to drive differently than I did with my Audi. If you have an AWD CRV that will still likely be better - it’s lighter and less powerful making it easier to control. (And cheaper to repair if you crash!)
Congrats again on your new baby!