Need tip with snow driving

[Bijli123]

Hi Friends,
We got some snow in Seattle today and I wanted to show ModelXMas to my parents. We probably had 2 inches of snow in the driveway and on the road. My car was parked facing out inside the garage and I decided to go on the road to take a U turn so that I can park the car outside the garage facing the garage.

I went on the road and as soon as I completed the u turn, while trying to enter back into the driveway while I was perpendicular on the road across the two lanes my X started slipping sideways and went about 10 feet sideways . Steering, throttle etc weren't responding and in panic I was even getting confused how to get the gear selector in drive/reverse. Luckily I was able to gain control of the car (by counter steering I guess) and get able to get back in my driveway.

Obviously what I did was really stupid. If I really wanted to do what I was doing - instead of attempting a u-turn on snow road, I should have driven around a block and entered my driveway. Or even better, with my lack of experience driving in snow not even have gotten out.

However I want to make sure I know what to do if I happen to be in such a situation again. My car has Continental All Season tires

What else could I have done to gain control, when I was slowly sliding sideways at a really low speed?

Thanks everyone and Merry Christmas!

 

[calisnow]

Two inches of snow should not make you slip 10 feet sideways unless you're on a hill or the road is covered in ice. I drive snow all the time. Not sure what happened to you here.

 

[Bijli123]

Two inches of snow should not make you slip 10 feet sideways unless you're on a hill or the road is covered in ice. I drive snow all the time. Not sure what happened to you here.

It was on a slope. It is also possible that there was ice below the fresh snow. 15 minutes later a RWD BMW went sideways just like me at the same place. A passerby tried to help but he couldn’t even walk on the road.

 

[calisnow]

Sounds like ice to me. Did you have freezing rain before the snow?

 

[calisnow]

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong - just crap conditions hard to predict - ice underneath snow on a hill. Worst possible scenario. If the hill is steep yeah maybe don't do that move again.

 

[calisnow]

Okay actually here is what you can do - buy snow tires. Can't believe I forgot to tell you that. High tech snow tires grip better not just on snow but also ice and on dry cold pavement. Best of the best includes the Nokia R2. Mine get installed Wednesday:

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 - Non-studded Tire / Nokian Tires

I learned my lesson 4 years ago when I could not make it up the hill to Snowbird in Utah in my 4X4 with advanced traction control and all season tires. I turned around and gave up - and proceeded to slide down the road gaining speed. Finally I opened my door and prepared to jump out the driver seat because antilock brakes couldn't even slow me down and I assumed I'd soon fly off a cliff. They finally gripped and I made it off the hill - I drove straight to a tire shop and bought snow tires - Bridgestone Blizzaks.

 

[Bijli123]

Sounds like ice to me. Did you have freezing rain before the snow?

Yep, it was 30F before that and raining for a couple of hours.

Just wondering what else could I have done. Disable regen? Traction control (which is hidden in menus)?

 

[calisnow]

Yep, it was 30F before that and raining for a couple of hours.

Just wondering what else could I have done. Disable regen? Traction control (which is hidden in menus)?

Tires. Buy decent tires. Everybody wants to skip the $$$. Do your research...

 

[Bijli123]

Okay actually here is what you can do - buy snow tires. Can't believe I forgot to tell you that. High tech snow tires grip better not just on snow but also ice and on dry cold pavement. Best of the best includes the Nokia R2. Mine get installed Wednesday:

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 - Non-studded Tire / Nokian Tires

I learned my lesson 4 years ago when I could not make it up the hill to Snowbird in Utah in my 4X4 with advanced traction control and all season tires. I turned around and gave up - and proceeded to slide down the road gaining speed. Finally I opened my door and prepared to jump out the driver seat because antilock brakes couldn't even slow me down and I assumed I'd soon fly off a cliff. They finally gripped and I made it off the hill - I drove straight to a tire shop and bought snow tires - Bridgestone Blizzaks.

Good point. It doesn’t snow a lot here. This year it snowed after 7 years. I am getting an Audi all road for my long trips so will definitely get snow tires for that one.

 

[calisnow]

Also I think traction and Esp are on by default unless you turned them off on purpose.

 

[kevinof]

As poster above said - Snow tires. You would be amazed how they will improve the grip. Just the fact that the rubber stays softer at lower temps gives you much better grip, never mind the groves (and studs). I drove a Model X on the Alps last winter on snow tires and it was terrific.

 

[panimes]

I believe the correct terminology for present-day is winter tires, not snow tires, which was actually a different type of tire that is no longer produced and was literally only good in snow and basically nothing else. Studs are possibly a bit superior for sheet ice, though one might argue that with modern day rubber compounds, studless tires may actually be quiet equivalent to studded tires on ice without the added noise and road wear of studded tires.

 

[jerry33]

The number one thing is to purchase a good set of winter tires, such as Michelin X-Ice or Nokian R2. Winter tires are not something you want to cheap-out on. In addition, there are winter driving courses that allow you to practice with your vehicle. It's well worth investing the money and time to take one of these. Failing that, if you can find a large empty and without obstacles parking lot, you can do some practice there.

 

[Nosken]

Yes, good snow tires are important. If you’re driving in inclement weather, and it’s icy, you may want to turn regeneration down to low, since, when you back off of the accelerator pedal, it goes into regen mode, it’s almost like putting on the brakes, this may cause you to slide.

 

[mongo]

while I was perpendicular on the road across the two lanes my X started slipping sideways and went about 10 feet sideways

I'm guessing your driveway/ curb has a slight bump / uphill from the road and once you tried backing in the rear end started going down the street?

If you are going sideways, the tires have already lost traction, and since they don't rotate that way, brakes vs no brake isn't going to make a lot of difference. What you can control is accelerator and steering. Since you have an X you are dealing with AWD, so if you press the accelerator, all your tires will try to spin. If you are already sliding sideways, that usually makes things worse. Tires only have a certain amount of traction, which can be used in a single overall direction. The amount of traction is lower once they start slipping. By trying to accelerate, you add more force to the system, and they can break free if not slipping, or spin faster if already spinning.
So a potential course of action is to reduce the force you need out of the tires. Figure out which end of the car is closest to pointing downhill. Work with gravity. Steer in the direction that straightens out the car while going downhill even if that means reverse. Putting the car in neutral will prevent the drive units from adding to the issue (or you can lightly use the throttle with the drive direction set to your course to try and bring the front around faster, but again, only so much traction)
All this assumes you have room to maneuver. I grew up in a house with a steep driveway that drained to the left, RWD conversion van had an affinity for the shoulder. If you were already against the curb, then steering down hill and low accelerator in drive may make the front slide faster and get you aligned with the street.

Which is another tip, at very low speeds, city shoulders can be your friends. The slush there can slow you down, and you can you them as a stopping feature, but don't bounce off them hard, or you can bend your rim/ frame.

Hope something was useful. I've been preferential to front wheel drive cars in snow, especially ones with center console parking brakes.

 

[idoco]

https://jalopnik.com/lets-settle-the-winter-tires-vs-all-wheel-drive-debat-1462180324

 

[tpoltron]

Winter tires wear out very fast on warm dry roads so if it is only like this once every few years they are likely not worth it. Then in dangerous conditions like this you best just stay home until it melts. Winter driving practice and experience are helpful though some conditions (like ice on hills) are just not safely drivable. Check out YouTube for videos on icy roads and hills.

 

[Dax279]

I don’t really know if there is anything you could have done once you started to slide sideways other than try, as you did to regain control and get some traction. While winter tires could have helped here, once there is ice like this I suspect the best thing would be studs or chains.

Given where you live, I suspect not even winter tires make any sense. Thus, my recommendation would be to stay at home.

 

[sub]

Agree on tires. I also live in a location that will get snow a few times a year. My plan is to leave the new X in the garage and drive the landcruiser that has proper tires. Not worth having an additional set of tires to use a few times a year.

 

[Bijli123]

I'm guessing your driveway/ curb has a slight bump / uphill from the road and once you tried backing in the rear end started going down the street?

If you are going sideways, the tires have already lost traction, and since they don't rotate that way, brakes vs no brake isn't going to make a lot of difference. What you can control is accelerator and steering. Since you have an X you are dealing with AWD, so if you press the accelerator, all your tires will try to spin. If you are already sliding sideways, that usually makes things worse. Tires only have a certain amount of traction, which can be used in a single overall direction. The amount of traction is lower once they start slipping. By trying to accelerate, you add more force to the system, and they can break free if not slipping, or spin faster if already spinning.
So a potential course of action is to reduce the force you need out of the tires. Figure out which end of the car is closest to pointing downhill. Work with gravity. Steer in the direction that straightens out the car while going downhill even if that means reverse. Putting the car in neutral will prevent the drive units from adding to the issue (or you can lightly use the throttle with the drive direction set to your course to try and bring the front around faster, but again, only so much traction)
All this assumes you have room to maneuver. I grew up in a house with a steep driveway that drained to the left, RWD conversion van had an affinity for the shoulder. If you were already against the curb, then steering down hill and low accelerator in drive may make the front slide faster and get you aligned with the street.

Which is another tip, at very low speeds, city shoulders can be your friends. The slush there can slow you down, and you can you them as a stopping feature, but don't bounce off them hard, or you can bend your rim/ frame.

Hope something was useful. I've been preferential to front wheel drive cars in snow, especially ones with center console parking brakes.

This is awesome! Very informative and reflects as much as I remember. I was sliding sideways at slow speed. We have sidewalk on one side and a lip on other side. The car slowed against the lip and then I slowly got it in control by using gravity to straighten the car. Needless to say it was scary.