How are your AWD Ys handling the winter snow?

[cusetownusa]

Standard wheels and tires on our MY AWD. Took it out in the snow recently and it did really well; better than my AWD Ford. Used regen to slow and then stop the car on a very steep slippery hill with a nasty curve on it half way down; didn't have to touch the brakes at all. Turned around, stopped it on the same hill and it then pulled away up the hill with no issues and very slight slip just at the start. A smooth approach to controlling the go pedal and one pedal driving was easy. Just my opinion.

what OEM wheels do you have, 19" or 20"?

 

[Velcade]

The stock Continental ProContact tires are garbage in the winter. TireRack even rates them as a 4 for winter driving. I got rid of them for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS4 tires. Much much better, no more sliding around.

 

[Snow Drift]

I drove for two weeks in pretty snowy/icy conditions, probably the worst I've been in. A lot of the roads were stacked with cars wiping out and sliding down hills.

I'm on 20" TSportline TY115 (forged) with Michelin X-Ice SNOW tires in a MY Performance. A few times on acceleration I fishtailed quite a bit, and it took some finesse to get back in line. The subarus around me seemed to be OK taking off from the light. On a downslope I guess I had let up too much on the acceleration and the regen braking kicked in hard, and I started fishtailing as well, which was very weird. If I didn't know any better, regen braking seems to be heavily rear biased or totally on the rear wheels. This was kind of weird and scary, it took me a moment to push down on the accelerator pedal just enough to stop braking. As you might imagine from a lifetime of ICE driving, this was unsettling to push the accelerator in that situation. Thank goodness I kept like a 10 car buffer in front of me and there was plenty of snow on both sides of the road.

Overall, I'm not sure if the tires did great. I've never driven in that area before in the winter, and maybe the times I did lose grip were minor compared to what would really happen.

In the past I've had Bilzzak winter tires on my Audi S5 and very rarely had any issues as I do now, but it could just have been that the conditions were far worse this time around.

The rear bias seems to be a big issue though, as I feel like my rears were the problem most of the time.

I tried to get the X-ICE Snow but it got backordered month after month.

How much are you lifting your foot? I am always touching the accelerator and just adjusting how much I am pushing down to go from acceleration to deceleration.

Are you actually lifting off the pedal? As in there's air between you and the pedal?

I only take my foot off the accelerator pedal when stopped (to rest my foot), in an emergency, or if I am hitting the brake pedal. If you lift, and cause a lot of regeneration it's like hitting the brakes hard, the weight of the car shifts forward and the rear end gets light, lifting, and allowing more fishtailing.

If the rear feels like it is stepping out, or wiggling, you need to stay on the power and counter steer as necessary. I don't mean you have to floor it, but you need to keep positive pressure on the pedal as the motors are powering the wheels to gain grip (especially in a rear-biased system where you need to kick on the front wheels for assistance).

Your S5 was 40/60 Front/Rear, so you should be used to the rear wiggling a little bit when you give it a bit more power. My WRX 50/50 and STI 41/59 wiggled a little, especially off the line in snow.

If it was manual, then you should also be used to engine braking and so you would lift off the gas a lot less. If it was QTIP, then you might be used to lifting to coast, which won't work very well with a Tesla and could be part of the problem in the snow.

 

[MountainPass]

It is handling it very well

 

[noshadow]

I tried to get the X-ICE Snow but it got backordered month after month.

How much are you lifting your foot? I am always touching the accelerator and just adjusting how much I am pushing down to go from acceleration to deceleration.

Are you actually lifting off the pedal? As in there's air between you and the pedal?

I only take my foot off the accelerator pedal when stopped (to rest my foot), in an emergency, or if I am hitting the brake pedal. If you lift, and cause a lot of regeneration it's like hitting the brakes hard, the weight of the car shifts forward and the rear end gets light, lifting, and allowing more fishtailing.

If the rear feels like it is stepping out, or wiggling, you need to stay on the power and counter steer as necessary. I don't mean you have to floor it, but you need to keep positive pressure on the pedal as the motors are powering the wheels to gain grip (especially in a rear-biased system where you need to kick on the front wheels for assistance).

Your S5 was 40/60 Front/Rear, so you should be used to the rear wiggling a little bit when you give it a bit more power. My WRX 50/50 and STI 41/59 wiggled a little, especially off the line in snow.

If it was manual, then you should also be used to engine braking and so you would lift off the gas a lot less. If it was QTIP, then you might be used to lifting to coast, which won't work very well with a Tesla and could be part of the problem in the snow.

Yeah, what you say is totally true. In my S5, when I felt a little slip in the same situation, I would let the car coast without any braking, which in this case was clutch pedal down and right foot hovering over nothing. In the MY, I had the instinct of letting up on the accelerator too much, which caused the car to slip even more, though I felt a lot more of the back sliding out than anything else. I don't think I've felt that much slide from the rear with the S5, but again, it's a totally different car and I probably went to the extreme of letting up way too much to have the regen kick in hard. I had to scramble a bit to figure out how much acceleration I needed to keep the whole "coasting" feeling. I think i had a better handle of things after that, as it didn't happen as much anymore and I got the car to correct quickly.

I'll equate it to user error, but it's a tough learning curve that goes against my now conditioned instinct.

 

[Snow Drift]

Yeah, what you say is totally true. In my S5, when I felt a little slip in the same situation, I would let the car coast without any braking, which in this case was clutch pedal down and right foot hovering over nothing. In the MY, I had the instinct of letting up on the accelerator too much, which caused the car to slip even more, though I felt a lot more of the back sliding out than anything else. I don't think I've felt that much slide from the rear with the S5, but again, it's a totally different car and I probably went to the extreme of letting up way too much to have the regen kick in hard. I had to scramble a bit to figure out how much acceleration I needed to keep the whole "coasting" feeling. I think i had a better handle of things after that, as it didn't happen as much anymore and I got the car to correct quickly.

I'll equate it to user error, but it's a tough learning curve that goes against my now conditioned instinct.

Just a learning curve. Tons of braking force controlled by the old "gas" pedal is new for everyone haha. I will say that after 2 years of Tesla ownership, One Foot Driving, is my favorite part of the experience.

Then add 0:100 (basically RWD) until slip, or some other event requiring the front wheels, is also very different compared to other AWD systems. So far I don't dislike it.

 

[brinox]

I just put on some Vredestein Quatrac Pro rubber on 19" rims, taking off the original PUP Uberturbines with Pirelli summer tires, and the grip/traction/control compared to previous vehicles with all season tires is pretty stark. I can't speak to the OEM tire on either the Gemini or Induction wheelsets, but I can say the Quatrac Pros will do pretty well in snowy/icy conditions. A friend of mine is buying a LRAWD Y at the end of the year, and is probably going to chuck the original tires immediately regardless of what rim choice, for these Vredesteins.

I'm in the midwest, so we definitely get all of the seasons here... Now I'm eager to go driving in our current snow situations, rather than hiding inside waiting for everything to melt!

 

[noshadow]

Just a learning curve. Tons of braking force controlled by the old "gas" pedal is new for everyone haha. I will say that after 2 years of Tesla ownership, One Foot Driving, is my favorite part of the experience.

Then add 0:100 (basically RWD) until slip, or some other event requiring the front wheels, is also very different compared to other AWD systems. So far I don't dislike it.

Yeah, I think it's pretty intuitive, but when you get into some trickier situations, it's a little bit of a battle between conditioned instinct, and reason. I definitely got more comfortable on the icy roads after awhile.

 

[tsottile]

just had my tirerack snows installed I went with 18" rims and Copper true north snows they had a good reviews for a inexpensive snow.

 

[patnshan]

can you elaborate?

We all know all season are not good in deep snow/very icy situation.

Is it garbage compare to winter tires?

or is it garbage compare to other all seasons tires?

They are garbage compared to every other all season tires I've driven on in my 20 or so cars over that time. They drive like summer tires in any level of snow, ice and even cold weather. Awful. I think they are summer tires that someone agreed to call all season for some reason.

 

[patnshan]

just had my tirerack snows installed I went with 18" rims and Copper true north snows they had a good reviews for a inexpensive snow.

Nice. I went with the MSW 48's in 18" with the Blizzaks. A little more expensive but still around $2000 out the door. Totally worth it rather than the other much higher priced packages I've seen around including from Tesla.

 

[tsottile]

what i have noticed so far is the true north by Copper are much nicer on bumps and I have driven in snow with great improvement. We will see how long they last.

 

[Barrygold]

I have Pirelli SottoZero 3s in the OEM 19 size on my PUP and it crushes the snow. I have to try very hard to break traction on snow packed streets.

 

[Suckin winter]

I'm really disappointed in our model Y. There is no information on the Tesla site about how poorly their car does in the winter. Range is cut in half and handling is absolutely terrifying. I have two Prius that have handled very well this winter the model Y four-wheel drive can come close.

 

[rypalmer]

I'm really disappointed in our model Y. There is no information on the Tesla site about how poorly their car does in the winter. Range is cut in half and handling is absolutely terrifying. I have two Prius that have handled very well this winter the model Y four-wheel drive can come close.

What are you using for tires?