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RWD 1st Snow Driving Experience with All Season Tires
- Thread starter samta09
- Start date
youlikeadajuice
P 9130
For what it's worth, the snow storm in the Northeast on Thursday evening was particularly "special". Not so much the accumulation as the qualities of the snow/freezing rain/sleet and the sheer number of people who were out on the road. I've had my RWD Model S for almost 6 years and run it with winter tires during the cold months and have never been stuck until this past Thursday. Fortunately, I also bought a set of tire chains back in 2013 when I got the car "Just in case" which I never had to use but they always live in the frunk. Thankful I did as that made the difference for me being able to get home. I believe if there had been less people out on the roads I could have made it without the chains, but with so many cars stuck mid-hill forcing other drivers to stop and then try to re-start, chains were necessary for me. I also had problems with wiper icing over my 4 hour long, 23 mile, mostly stopped commute. I saw plenty of people in all types of vehicles getting out to clear the ice from their wiper blades.
All that to say, I wouldn't judge Tesla too much based on this one freak storm. I think there is room for Tesla to improve the winter characteristics of their vehicles, but I also think that their cars perform quite well in winter conditions as well.
All that to say, I wouldn't judge Tesla too much based on this one freak storm. I think there is room for Tesla to improve the winter characteristics of their vehicles, but I also think that their cars perform quite well in winter conditions as well.
Graffi
Member
I saw this video on Youtube and wanted to share with EVERYONE who thinks "All Season Tires" are okay in freezing conditions. On the video he calls them 3-Season tires and after watching the video you will understand. The Temperature he uses is 7*C which is 45*f, below which you need Winter Tires with the Mountain/Snowflake symbol. Enjoy the video.
In Toronto we had a small snowfall yesterday I’ve winter tires it was great very solid even regen worked ok although I’ll dial it down to low next time to be safer.
The biggest issue was wet snow falling on windshield the wipers didn’t auto detect fast enough I had to manually press for wipers a lot. They should have a sensitivity on auto like most other cars, is it heavy medium or light and then auto adjusts the delay based on that
The biggest issue was wet snow falling on windshield the wipers didn’t auto detect fast enough I had to manually press for wipers a lot. They should have a sensitivity on auto like most other cars, is it heavy medium or light and then auto adjusts the delay based on that
The only thing all season tires do in every season is suck.
M109Rider
Active Member
The AWD in my first snow storm worked great.
I have the original tires on it. I likely won’t get snows.
My XDrive AWD BMW was amazing in the snow. This AWD Tesla (non performance), is also amazing, they both drive a little different though.
The front tires on my BMW would sometimes slide, but rarely the back tires.
The front tires on the Tesla seem to rarely slide, but the back tires sometimes kick out.
No better or worse, just different.
I actually prefer how the Tesla handles. I’d rather have the back come out than the front.
Much more fun.
I have the original tires on it. I likely won’t get snows.
My XDrive AWD BMW was amazing in the snow. This AWD Tesla (non performance), is also amazing, they both drive a little different though.
The front tires on my BMW would sometimes slide, but rarely the back tires.
The front tires on the Tesla seem to rarely slide, but the back tires sometimes kick out.
No better or worse, just different.
I actually prefer how the Tesla handles. I’d rather have the back come out than the front.
Much more fun.
I got caught in pretty heavy snow on the way home from work the other day. My experience was a mixed bag. The handling wasn’t too bad, and I was able to get up one hill that others were getting stuck on, but eventually had to ditch my car in a lower neighborhood and walk home. In the 3s defense, only about 50% of the cars were successful in this area. The windshield wipers however were AWFUL. Perhaps it was just this type of snow, but I’ve never had a car before where the wipers got so clogged, so easily, and the washer fluid did nothing. I put the defroster on most of the ride home and that helped a bit, but it also made the interior unbearably hot to be sitting in.
I tried out the AWD M3 in the snow on the MPSS's -- handling was pretty bad in a small dusting of light snow. By that I mean that the MPSS just slides and glides on 30-40F light snow. Pretty much what I expected given it's a summer tire; that rubber is not meant to even touch ground at freezing temps.
AWD is sweet, but doesn't help steering/braking in the snow/cold (except for laying down power mid-corner, not really relevant to public road driving). Will definitely be getting a snow/winter tire combo ASAP.
AWD is sweet, but doesn't help steering/braking in the snow/cold (except for laying down power mid-corner, not really relevant to public road driving). Will definitely be getting a snow/winter tire combo ASAP.
Thanks for the vid, but I'll stick with all seasons and report back after winter. I've driven FWD and RWD in snow and on ice when the Midwest had those few days where everything way layered in ice. The tree looked really pretty coated like that. The roads not so much.
I left for work early, took it easy and careful and made it to work without much difficulty. I did see a truck and SUV in the ditch. Again, snow tires are helpful, but no replacement for carefulness and caution in that weather.
He clearly said that they are -20c (-4f) in that video. Suggesting people who live in climates that go below 50f regularly is absurd. Have you ever been outside of San Diego? Do you realize that nearly the entire midwest and NE regions of this country go below 50f at night for 9 months a year?
The fact is that AS tires are rated for temps below freezing. SUMMER tires are not. The only Model 3 that comes with summer tires is the Performance version.
No one is arguing that winter tires do not perform better then AS tires. They absolutely do. The point is that not all winter climates are the same, and not all winter climates will need winter tires.
SunCharged
Member
The real recommendation is when temps are consistently below 45. This would be the high temperature, not overnight lows.
For me that means snow tires from mid November until around mid March.
Now, if I lived somewhere that didn’t see very much snow I’d stick with all season tires even with temps below 45.
Scanned through the video, and he was driving on snow, and someone already pointed out he said -4f, not 45f. Slight difference.
I'm a huge believer in snow tires, but if you haven't driven on snow tires in 45f, go back, watch the s2k video I posted, and believe. Summer tires DO get rock hard in cold temps, but they still might well perform better than a snow tire on dry pavement.
What a helpful thread, thanks for braving the weather then letting the rest of us know about it! Our M3 stayed safely in the garage (while we used our Wrangler to get around, and rescue others who were stuck) but I did wonder how the M3 would've handled had we taken it out. I think we'll stick with the Jeep in bad weather!
I have a P3D. I live in Truckee CA and drive from the Bay area to Truckee almost every week. I had to put snows on in a rush as I came back from overseas and when I landed my wife told me chain control was implemented at Donner Pass which means two wheel drive and chains or snows on AWD and 4WD. My previous plan was to get Nokian R3s but with the panic I had an hour to find snow tires and ended up with Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady - no choice if I wanted snows/All Weather in a panic. Anyway got the tires and was allowed through the chain control gate by CalTrans. The road was covered in 3-4 inches of loose snow left by plows plus very slippery grey ice - the road (I80) was a mess. Basically a parade of me, various Subarus and other 4WDs going up the highway and the 3 was outstanding. The M3 was completely sure footed and dealt with the loose snow great - note I reduced Regen braking. Also in town where the roads were covered in packed snow or grey ice it continued to be solid. I am sure with the original tires the M3 would have been a sled and have slid all over but with the new tires it was rock solid - obviously with more than 3 or 4 inches of snow the 3 would just have pure depth of snow issues vs clearance.
Note my wife has a MX with Blizzacks and that is outstanding in the winter and the variable ride adjustment makes it great in the snow and slippery weather (again if it is slick she changes the Regen to low).
Note my wife has a MX with Blizzacks and that is outstanding in the winter and the variable ride adjustment makes it great in the snow and slippery weather (again if it is slick she changes the Regen to low).
What size weatherready did you get? It doesn't look like they make the standard Model 3 18" size in an XL load rating
Here in Quebec it's mandatory to have winter tires from December 15 to March 15. Even if you don't have a winter as harsh as ours, I do suggest everyone in the NE to install winter tires and not keep the all season ones. For your own safety but also for other drivers on the road.
eprosenx
Active Member
ElGuapoGuano
Member
I have never put winter tires on a car before, so I'm interested in how my RWD 3 is going to do. We've already had a couple storms and some ice and so far so good. But when it hits the fan, I'll be happy to report how things go.
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