Heavy Snow and Icy driving Tip

[Wonderland]

when it’s really slippery out or a big snow fall I use the “off-road” mode instead of slip start. I find S/S is good to get you out of a pickle but for green light take offs and city driving the off road mode really helps with traction. Try it out when you can!

Side note: not using friction brakes in snowy conditions has been a blessing! Car slows down much more controlled with regen.

 

[bolero]

good to hear, will try it next time...

 

[coolmanfever]

when it’s really slippery out or a big snow fall I use the “off-road” mode instead of slip start. I find S/S is good to get you out of a pickle but for green light take offs and city driving the off road mode really helps with traction. Try it out when you can!

Side note: not using friction brakes in snowy conditions has been a blessing! Car slows down much more controlled with regen.

how do i access off road mode in model 3?

 

[Wonderland]

good to hear, will try it next time...

I just did some digging that may just be unique to the model Y.

 

[Big Earl]

how do i access off road mode in model 3?

You don’t. It’s only available on Model Y.

 

[andaconda]

when it’s really slippery out or a big snow fall I use the “off-road” mode instead of slip start. I find S/S is good to get you out of a pickle but for green light take offs and city driving the off road mode really helps with traction. Try it out when you can!

Side note: not using friction brakes in snowy conditions has been a blessing! Car slows down much more controlled with regen.

I do like the 'off road' mode better in crappy conditions. Makes a big difference. Grant you - it also turns off traction an abs, so you have to be aware of that while driving. Haven't tried it on the highway yet.

 

[Hippo25]

I was getting skeptical about my MYLR on slippery and icy road conditions cause it has so much torque that it feels like it's about to fishtail when the accelerator is even lightly pressed.

Today, in the light snow, I tried "off road" mode and it made a big difference. It drives more stable and doesn't feel like it's about to fishtail.

 

[Lon12]

Absolutely! Nice and balanced on slippery roads.

 

[israndy]

Had a lovely drive in Seattle's first snow last night, got to a 1% grade and ALL the cars around me started slipping. I thought I could just drive around them with my high tech vehicle, but they blocked my way and once they stopped, I was unable to get traction either. Spent about 45 minutes figuring out my 4 y/o chains as I have never used them before, but then drove thru a wasteland of stranded cars and trucks each grade area I entered. My TM3 is not designed for this weather, but the Pewag Servo chains were da'bomb.

 

[Randy-12]

Had a lovely drive in Seattle's first snow last night, got to a 1% grade and ALL the cars around me started slipping. I thought I could just drive around them with my high tech vehicle, but they blocked my way and once they stopped, I was unable to get traction either. Spent about 45 minutes figuring out my 4 y/o chains as I have never used them before, but then drove thru a wasteland of stranded cars and trucks each grade area I entered. My TM3 is not designed for this weather, but the Pewag Servo chains were da'bomb.

Do you drive on winter tires?
I've seen video's of 3 RWD going up snow covered hills without issue, with the proper tires and using slip start when needed.

 

[israndy]

I have them, but this is NOVEMBER, I don't think anyone in Seattle had their winter tires on, and I was on the Thanksgiving trip, the winter tires are still in the garage back home.

Brought the chains in case something like this happened, and it did.

 

[gyozaman]

Today was the 2nd snowfall in Vancouver this season. I had to drive early around 8am before the snow plows were deployed. it was my typical 50+ km drive east towards the valley. Total white out and couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me with all the blowing snow. Several issues I noticed.
1. It was -10C outside and the snow froze instantly into ice on my wipers even with the heated wipers turned on. It made visibility worse.
2. Head lights and frunk completely covered with snow during and after the drive because LED lights and no hot engine to melt the snow.
3. Windows were all frozen with solid chunks of ice spanning from windows to b-pillar after parking and inside cabin warmth melts snow which then freezes due to outside -10C. The ice made very loud cracking noise when broken apart with door opening. I was a bit worried that glass would break. I have rain guards so ice build up at top of windows. Icy on B pillar side.

The factory 19” Gemini with Pirelli Sottozero 3 were good today. It was a very fluffy snow where you could blow it off the car. Drove in about 10 cm snow accumulation at about 70 km/hr and felt good control. Last time it was icy and the tires didn’t do that well even at 30 km/hr speeds.

 

[Lon12]

Vancouver gets a rare snow fall.... hard not to find it slightly humorous from the rest of Canada's winter wonderland perspective. We deal with those issues on a much more regular basis. You learn how to manage it with experience. But wouldn't it be wonderful if car engineers could spend a few days with us in those conditions and implement our suggestions on how to make the cars better.... dare to dream...

 

[BitJam]

Here is a video that shows how "off road" works better than "slip start" in the snow:

His earlier videos showing the Tesla go up his icy driveway with all-season tires were good too.

 

[Lon12]

Looks like another snow disaster in Vancouver today. Yuck.
Apart from the ice on my side cameras the car worked well at -35ºC this morning.

 

[BitJam]

Here's How To Protect Your EV In Extremely Cold Temperatures​