Superb handling in deep snow

[bbamrah]

I would agree I have the Pirelli's and have been unhappy with them this winter. I have a very steep long driveway and with TC on the car stops halfway up. I take TC off and havn't made it up with more than 2 inches on ground. Even one inch is a struggle with TC off and I feel like I have burnt through half the rubber. I might change next winter. I bought a used Nissan Armada and threw some snow tires on that for the bad days here this winter.

 

[huntjo]

I have the Pirelli Sottozeros and think they are excellent in the winter down here in the front range. We don't get many days of deep snow and road are usually plowed here in town. I have driven up into the mountains in snowstorms and on icy roads, and I just drive a little slower to be careful. Haven't really gotten stuck, but I wonder if I should buy some snow chains for the back tires for the occasional blizzardy mountain pass. Or else I guess I could get the Haakas like everyone else, but I don't really need them as much as a Norwegian or a Canadian

 

[neroden]

I have the Michelin X-Ice 3s. They're lovely in deep snow. (And fine in dry weather and in rain.)

But I have had some serious trouble in slushy ice, which clogs the tread up and leaves them looking spherical. Of course, nothing does well in slushy ice, does it? And the car is exceptionally heavy, making for more severe problems with sliding on ice.

Anyone got good recommendations for, uh, "ice tires", for when the weather is 32F / 0C, or it's a bit colder but the salt on the roads is just enough to keep the roads icy rather than clear? Or is this just impossible?

 

[jerry33]

I have the Michelin X-Ice 3s. They're lovely in deep snow. (And fine in dry weather and in rain.)

But I have had some serious trouble in slushy ice, which clogs the tread up and leaves them looking spherical. Of course, nothing does well in slushy ice, does it? And the car is exceptionally heavy, making for more severe problems with sliding on ice.

Anyone got good recommendations for, uh, "ice tires", for when the weather is 32F / 0C, or it's a bit colder but the salt on the roads is just enough to keep the roads icy rather than clear? Or is this just impossible?

The best thing you can do is to increase the tire pressure which will help the tires wipe away more water and increase the chances that the tires will actually contact the surface rather than slip on the film of water. X-Ice are one of the best out there, so there isn't a lot more you can do tire-wise.

 

[Alysashley79]

I have the Michelin X-Ice 3s. They're lovely in deep snow. (And fine in dry weather and in rain.)

But I have had some serious trouble in slushy ice, which clogs the tread up and leaves them looking spherical. Of course, nothing does well in slushy ice, does it? And the car is exceptionally heavy, making for more severe problems with sliding on ice.

Anyone got good recommendations for, uh, "ice tires", for when the weather is 32F / 0C, or it's a bit colder but the salt on the roads is just enough to keep the roads icy rather than clear? Or is this just impossible?

i personally love love the nokian haakas R7 (studded) but if you want to go stud less the R2 are also fantastic they're quieter and are also a bit better for in town (when there isn't snow or ice at the time)

 

[AndreyATC]

I have the Michelin X-Ice 3s. They're lovely in deep snow. (And fine in dry weather and in rain.)

But I have had some serious trouble in slushy ice, which clogs the tread up and leaves them looking spherical. Of course, nothing does well in slushy ice, does it? And the car is exceptionally heavy, making for more severe problems with sliding on ice.

Anyone got good recommendations for, uh, "ice tires", for when the weather is 32F / 0C, or it's a bit colder but the salt on the roads is just enough to keep the roads icy rather than clear? Or is this just impossible?

Hm...
A bit odd
I was very positively surprised with slush and other bad-weather conditions
I actually think Michelins are better than Blizzaks in all, but deep snow situations

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Did have one scare though. Was turning around at an intersection of tarmac and surface road and the surface road had snow on it I think (was dark, but it looked white). Backed to the surface road and when I started to go forward... no motion. That's a spot where AWD would have been perfect as I have no clue what surface the rear wheels were on, they didn't bite. Took me a bit of backing up and going forward to get off the slippery spot and then all was fine again, but man, that had to be a truly weird spot as it was with my Hakka 8's so ice etc shouldn't have been an issue. As it was dark and I was hungry I didn't stop to go check what road condition caused it, but first case where I truly missed AWD.

 

[Doug_G]

In those situations, just try turning off TC temporarily. If the wheels are on something incredibly slippery the TC overdoes it and fails to even turn the wheels. Just remember to be very gentle on the throttle!

 

[GDH]

Mine did horrible in the snow, once the tread on the 21's got filled with snow the car pretty much didn't more lmao :tongue:

 

[neroden]

Hm...
A bit odd
I was very positively surprised with slush and other bad-weather conditions
I actually think Michelins are better than Blizzaks in all, but deep snow situations

Well, I think the weight of the car (7500 lb.) is making slushy ice a particularly hard challenge. This was NASTY weather, and the car was still fine... most of the time. But it was starting to slip on curves (at low speed, of course), and I finally got stuck going up a moderately steep hill. (I got out after a little shovelling under the car).

A lighter car would have had less momentum around the curves, and would have had less of the weight of gravity working against it on the hill.

This was, for reference, weather where *all* the tractor-trailers had pulled off the road stuck, and several city buses were also stuck. So I really think it's the weight of the car which was causing the trouble.

- - - Updated - - -

In those situations, just try turning off TC temporarily. If the wheels are on something incredibly slippery the TC overdoes it and fails to even turn the wheels. Just remember to be very gentle on the throttle!

OK, I'll try that next time. The TC really did want to turn my car down to "stop" on that hill.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

^^^
7500lb??
what are you carrying?
I don't think the wheels are rated for that :wink:

 

[Electric1]

Hm...
A bit odd
I was very positively surprised with slush and other bad-weather conditions
I actually think Michelins are better than Blizzaks in all, but deep snow situations

Sorry to contradict , but I have found the opposite. I have Blizzaks on my XJ-8 and I find that they are far better on ice/slush than the Michelin Ice's on my Model S.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[AndreyATC]

Sorry to contradict , but I have found the opposite. I have Blizzaks on my XJ-8 and I find that they are far better on ice/slush than the Michelin Ice's on my Model S.

Just my humble opinion.

i guess we both don't really have apples to apples comparison
However, i have blizzaks on my audi s6, which is very similar car in terms of weight, footprint and wheel size
tesla is tiny bit more sure footed in very slippery conditions and little less in deeper snow
i am surprised with climbing-hill ability, but you absolutely have to turn off TC
btw, I mostly drive with TC off, I hate it when my car tells me what I can't do
plus I live in the area where there isn't much flat, it's all hills, from moderate to steep

 

[Electric1]

i guess we both don't really have apples to apples comparison
However, i have blizzaks on my audi s6, which is very similar car in terms of weight, footprint and wheel size
tesla is tiny bit more sure footed in very slippery conditions and little less in deeper snow
i am surprised with climbing-hill ability, but you absolutely have to turn off TC
btw, I mostly drive with TC off, I hate it when my car tells me what I can't do
plus I live in the area where there isn't much flat, it's all hills, from moderate to steep

Indeed, but you A6 has four driving wheels, which may explain the deep snow superiority.

 

[AndreyATC]

It does, but i'm talking about the threshold before the tires break loose in deep snow
I can tell that it takes a little more snow for blizzaks to start slipping than for Michelins
Also, by default, S6 is RWD unless it detects slippage, then the front kicks in

So, yes, when it gets to spin its back it becomes awd and it helps in both slippery and deep snow

Again, it's not a scientific approach, but having driven number of rwd BMWs in the past, i concluded
Deep snow - Blizzak > Mich
Ice/slush - Mich > Blizzaks

P.S. The difference is not very noticible, at lease not as big as with Performance winter vs. winter ice and snow tires

 

[huntjo]

^^^
7500lb??
what are you carrying?
I don't think the wheels are rated for that :wink:

I was also surprised to hear such a heavy weight.

 

[dasRad]

Well, I think the weight of the car (7500 lb.) ....

Per specifications, the actual curb weight is 2108 kg or 4647 lbs