I just got my winter set a week or so ago and today was the first opportunity I had to try them out in actual freezing temps with fresh snow. I'll start by saying I'm the type of person who loves driving, any time it snows I like to take my cars out and play around in empty parking lots. In the past that was RWDs with manual transmissions and all-season tires. I did play around with my FWD Prius, but just to learn how it'd behave. Anyway, I thought I'd do the same with the Y. Better to learn in a semi-controlled environment than get a pop quiz with a bunch of cars around.
I needed to get something from the grocery store (~5min away) anyway, so it was as good a time as any to go play around. This is my first AWD car, my first "SUV", and my first time ever having dedicated winter tires. Be that as it may, I used to take my previous cars to race tracks and if it was raining, we still ran, so I'm pretty well versed in how to drive in low grip conditions and push the limits of a car. I'm no Kimi Raikkonen, but I'm not new to it,
First I had to get out of my neighborhood which required going up a hill with newly laid snow, the kind you drive through and its eerily quiet. No issues at all, no wheel slipping at all (I'm sure traction control takes the hard work out of that). I got onto the main road and the snow was packed down a bit, no plows yet. I got up to about 40mph, made sure no one was behind me and slammed on the brakes. Always good to know your stopping distances... it was longer than usual, but was about what I anticipated it would be (actually a little shorter), car never got out of shape, was solid. I got what I wanted from the store and the parking lot was full of that fresh snow, no one around so I cocked the wheel to one side and floored it. No over/understeer at all, it just made a wider turn. Same thing happened when I swerved to the other direction and floored it. It was honestly boring (but in a good, confidence building way). With my RWD cars, its fun to go into controlled slides in snowy parking lots because it happens at much lower speeds, is much quieter, and doesnt hurt your tires. Ah well, different cars for different purposes.
In the end I have to give these winter tires two thumbs up!
I needed to get something from the grocery store (~5min away) anyway, so it was as good a time as any to go play around. This is my first AWD car, my first "SUV", and my first time ever having dedicated winter tires. Be that as it may, I used to take my previous cars to race tracks and if it was raining, we still ran, so I'm pretty well versed in how to drive in low grip conditions and push the limits of a car. I'm no Kimi Raikkonen, but I'm not new to it,
First I had to get out of my neighborhood which required going up a hill with newly laid snow, the kind you drive through and its eerily quiet. No issues at all, no wheel slipping at all (I'm sure traction control takes the hard work out of that). I got onto the main road and the snow was packed down a bit, no plows yet. I got up to about 40mph, made sure no one was behind me and slammed on the brakes. Always good to know your stopping distances... it was longer than usual, but was about what I anticipated it would be (actually a little shorter), car never got out of shape, was solid. I got what I wanted from the store and the parking lot was full of that fresh snow, no one around so I cocked the wheel to one side and floored it. No over/understeer at all, it just made a wider turn. Same thing happened when I swerved to the other direction and floored it. It was honestly boring (but in a good, confidence building way). With my RWD cars, its fun to go into controlled slides in snowy parking lots because it happens at much lower speeds, is much quieter, and doesnt hurt your tires. Ah well, different cars for different purposes.
In the end I have to give these winter tires two thumbs up!
