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Those with RWD cars, how'd it handle the ice storm?

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Yikes this weekends ice storm in Toronto has me a little concerned about how the RWD will handle the worst of winter. Especially since I'm losing my AWD CRV (along with my wife). I'm thinking I might have to bite the bullet and wait for the AWD at the end of this year and risk the rebate.
 
Yikes this weekends ice storm in Toronto has me a little concerned about how the RWD will handle the worst of winter. Especially since I'm losing my AWD CRV (along with my wife). I'm thinking I might have to bite the bullet and wait for the AWD at the end of this year and risk the rebate.

Hi,

This is my 5th winter with my Model S RWD and it has been a champion. But I make sure I have good tires. Today was crazy in my neighbourhood but my S came through comfortably whereas others on my street were homebound. Weight helps a lot.

I like the way that is written above - are you selling the wife with the CRV or is it a separate transaction? Just curious.
 
Yikes this weekends ice storm in Toronto has me a little concerned about how the RWD will handle the worst of winter. Especially since I'm losing my AWD CRV (along with my wife). I'm thinking I might have to bite the bullet and wait for the AWD at the end of this year and risk the rebate.

My wife absconded with a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan. It was only FWD though. I would have been devastated if it had been AWD.
 
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Hi,


I like the way that is written above - are you selling the wife with the CRV or is it a separate transaction? Just curious.

One transaction. No selling involved. But boy is it going to cost me. :( The good news is that the Model 3 should be a good chick magnet. I'll get a dog too. Life will be good. More importantly did you take the car out last night? That seemed like the worst of it. Even the CRV wasn't 100% on the side streets where it was all ice and islands of built up frozen slush. And that's on Blizzak's too. But, if the RWD could make it through any of that, I could live with it.
 
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My Civic was trapped in the garage. It could not clear the ice mound that formed on my driveway in front of my garage. My RAV4 with X-Ice 2's struggled a lot just going down the street to grab some food. I don't think it matters what you drove during this storm, it was just better to stay off the roads because all cars performed poorly.
 
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RWD is fine. I live in Northern NH and got the ice storm this past weekend. Drove fine. Once you are used to it, you will know how to drive. AWD would be handy if you are really stuck in mud or heavy snow, that's a rare instance for me. Once you a stuck once, you will know all the strategies on how not to get stuck again.

RWD is fine since my MS is RWD.
 
My Civic was trapped in the garage. It could not clear the ice mound that formed on my driveway in front of my garage. My RAV4 with X-Ice 2's struggled a lot just going down the street to grab some food. I don't think it matters what you drove during this storm, it was just better to stay off the roads because all cars performed poorly.
XC90 with Blizzaks in Caledon was okay, but i drove cautiously.
 
The RWD handles great in winter. No problems. Traction control works amazing. Of course you get more acceleration traction in a AWD car, but that's all. An AWD doesn't have more traction in corners or when braking. The only advantage is acceleration.
 
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I drove super slow, 20-25km/h on unplowed roads. It made the journey but it was just a bad day for people to be out and about.

Sidenote: How are you liking your XC90? My wife is looking at one of those to replace the Rav4. What trim/engine do you have?
It's okay....a lot of the bells and whistles that were touted were found in lower price cars shortly after, Lane keeping, auto stop, cross traffic alert, phone app, pilot assist was only up to 40km/h in my year, i think it's similar to Audi's system only for traffic jams.

Mine was a 2016 the first year the new model came out yet I found no deficiencies really. Fit and finish is immaculate, lots of little details really create a high end feel, lots of little accent lights. The digital dash is great too, minimalistic but has everything needed just like the interior.
I feel with a couple changes this is what Tesla's minimalist interior should strive for. A few buttons for quick access, everything else on screen. Base level sound system is great for all my favorite AM radio stations... Damn Tesla. I chose the T6 R design because i still associated Volvo with an old man brand so I wanted to distance myself from that as a young 30 something as I listen to am1010 inside I didn't want people on the outside to know. The Sports seats are really supportive, on the track and steep turns I'd imagine but I find lack comfort for long road trips, the thigh extenders help a bit but still not up to the comfort of the inscription seats. Of course safety is still number one I can't speak to any accidents first hand but just open and close the doors and see how satisfying the thud is. With an infant girl and another on the way safety was a larger part of my choice than ever before.

The engine and drivetrain are second to none I love the acceleration of the supercharged + turbocharged engine, it's got a lot of pep for such a large 7 seat suv, it's odd in that it's a big suv but doesn't feel or handle big, steering is light and nimble when needed and stiffens right up at speed. Because of the small 4 cylinder the front wheels can turn at a greater angle, leading to a really small turning radius, also my Ave L/100km is in the 10s with mostly highway driving. I was torn away from the T8 in 2016 because the rebate was either capped at the time or the battery was too small to qualify I forget which and budget or sensibility kicked in.

I don't think the XC90 is cutting edge aside from it's looks which can be subjective of course, it's not a Tesla by any stretch, but it just does everything really really well and at a lower price than it's German counterparts. I really hope I don't miss the fit and finish and attention to detail when I get my model 3
 
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The RWD handles great in winter. No problems. Traction control works amazing. Of course you get more acceleration traction in a AWD car, but that's all. An AWD doesn't have more traction in corners or when braking. The only advantage is acceleration.

This should not be true. What Tesla engineering needs to figure out is how to use the regenerative braking with variable regen on each tire to enable a slip-free stop during regen braking. While it isn't clear if this would provide more traction than ABS or not, it would be much better than the warning that greets us from Page 62 of the Model X owner's manual:

"Warning: In snowy or icy conditions Model X may experience traction loss during regenerative braking, particularly when in the Standard setting and/or not using winter tires. Tesla recommends using the Low setting (see To Set the Regenerative Braking Level on page 63) in snowy or icy conditions to help maintain vehicle stability."

I'd guess that most of us driving in the ice storm conditions failed to change our regen braking setting due to the weather. It seems to me a major failing of this vehicle that traction control hasn't been thought through in combination with the very aggressive regen.
 
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Yes. I agree with you statement.

The Chevyrolet Bolt/Volt regen system is able to use regen in a way to reduce the amount of tire spin when you are going over slippery surfaces. It feels like you are in control when you let go of the accelerator pedal. But, for the Model S/X, it just feels like it's not working like the Bolt/Volt.


This should not be true. What Tesla engineering needs to figure out is how to use the regenerative braking with variable regen on each tire to enable a slip-free stop during regen braking. While it isn't clear if this would provide more traction than ABS or not, it would be much better than the warning that greets us from Page 62 of the Model X owner's manual:

"Warning: In snowy or icy conditions Model X may experience traction loss during regenerative braking, particularly when in the Standard setting and/or not using winter tires. Tesla recommends using the Low setting (see To Set the Regenerative Braking Level on page 63) in snowy or icy conditions to help maintain vehicle stability."

I'd guess that most of us driving in the ice storm conditions failed to change our regen braking setting due to the weather. It seems to me a major failing of this vehicle that traction control hasn't been thought through in combination with the very aggressive regen.
 
Ice storm sucked, but not in my 6 day old stock tire (not my usual studded snow) Model 3 RWD.
Getting into car:
Turned on climate control from lobby of hotel
Car was outside in 20 degree F weather overnight with freezing rain not plugged in.
All ICE drivers hacking away front and back.
Model 3 was toasty on inside VERY Quickly, rear defrost no ice.
Front windshield was a mess, I think it must have melted and refroze, gotta figure out how to make sure Front is taken care of better next time.


Driving the car:
I went up and down Vermont's famous Middlebury Gap, a few thousand feet elevation early Sunday morning.
No sand no plows, just a thin veneer of ice with some snow on top. treacherous driving. Despite this Model 3 RWD was fine , kept it slow 30-35 MPH, I did have a Fishtail 1-2 x, but corrected easily with REGEN
Car was 6 days old so did not push speed to see how much it spins out
Picked up car Monday, never even considered snow tires since it was April
I have driven decades in snow and ice, last 10 with studded snows on Front wheel drive car (VOLT PRIUS VOLVO )and have had no issues.
As have been said many times Tires are most important.
Given weight of Model 3 and traction control RWD is fine in snow, at least my first experiment!
 
I've always been of the opinion that if you don't have enough traction to get going with a RWD car, you're not going to have enough traction to stop with a AWD car. And I'd much rather not be able to go than not be able to stop. Personally I think AWD is just something that Audi and Subaru have managed to convince everyone they need so that they could sell more cars.
 
I've always been of the opinion that if you don't have enough traction to get going with a RWD car, you're not going to have enough traction to stop with a AWD car. And I'd much rather not be able to go than not be able to stop. Personally I think AWD is just something that Audi and Subaru have managed to convince everyone they need so that they could sell more cars.

Dont forget JEEP, though I loved my blue cherokee FWD, a beast in the snow
 
I've always been of the opinion that if you don't have enough traction to get going with a RWD car, you're not going to have enough traction to stop with a AWD car. And I'd much rather not be able to go than not be able to stop. Personally I think AWD is just something that Audi and Subaru have managed to convince everyone they need so that they could sell more cars.

All I have to say is