Winter Driving Experiences

[yobigd20]

FWIW I was very surprised at how well the Goodyears performed in the snow. After the major snow we had last week, I had absolutely no problem putting my car in high suspension, backing out of my garage, then driving forward about 50 yards down my driveway, and then down a road to the highway all of which were completely unplowed. No problem at all.

I've heard about how well it handles in the snow and now I'm definitely a believer. My prev vehicles used to get stuck in my driveway all the time (it used to be stone, more & more its really just dirt and mud now, even still have the holes in the driveway made by their tires getting stuck). Not this one. Not this MS. Not one bit. Drove out my driveway like stealing candy from a baby. I'm chalking this up to the 50/50 weight distribution and good traction control. It felt like it drives more like an AWD than my previous AWD did even though the MS is RWD. Go figure.

Later that day, I ended up going down a major road that was STILL unplowed, and I was driving past several people that were stuck. One was a pickup truck hookup up to and getting pulled out by a tow-truck as I passed him, and another was a GMC Yukon that just sat there spinning its rear wheels going nowhere. Here I am in my non-AWD sporty little MS driving circles around these guys in the snow and as I drove past them like it was nothing they were looking at me like 'WTF??'. No idea man. Get a better truck or something! lol Now I completely understand why the MS is selling well in Norway!

Given that the Goodyears seemed to do pretty well, I'm assuming that getting some REAL snow tires on would perform even better. I'm planning on moving higher up in NY possibly finger lakes area next year, so those winters I'll put some real snow tires on and can't wait to see how well they do too. Who really needs AWD anyway if the MS handles this great already?

 

[crazybrit]

FWIW I was very surprised at how well the Goodyears performed in the snow. After the major snow we had last week, I had absolutely no problem putting my car in high suspension, backing out of my garage, then driving forward about 50 yards down my driveway, and then down a road to the highway all of which were completely unplowed. No problem at all.

I've heard about how well it handles in the snow and now I'm definitely a believer. My prev vehicles used to get stuck in my driveway all the time (it used to be stone, more & more its really just dirt and mud now, even still have the holes in the driveway made by their tires getting stuck). Not this one. Not this MS. Not one bit. Drove out my driveway like stealing candy from a baby. I'm chalking this up to the 50/50 weight distribution and good traction control. It felt like it drives more like an AWD than my previous AWD did even though the MS is RWD. Go figure.

Later that day, I ended up going down a major road that was STILL unplowed, and I was driving past several people that were stuck. One was a pickup truck hookup up to and getting pulled out by a tow-truck as I passed him, and another was a GMC Yukon that just sat there spinning its rear wheels going nowhere. Here I am in my non-AWD sporty little MS driving circles around these guys in the snow and as I drove past them like it was nothing they were looking at me like 'WTF??'. No idea man. Get a better truck or something! lol Now I completely understand why the MS is selling well in Norway!

Given that the Goodyears seemed to do pretty well, I'm assuming that getting some REAL snow tires on would perform even better. I'm planning on moving higher up in NY possibly finger lakes area next year, so those winters I'll put some real snow tires on and can't wait to see how well they do too. Who really needs AWD anyway if the MS handles this great already?

Are your Goodyears All Season tires?

 

[JohnQ]

... I'm planning on moving higher up in NY possibly finger lakes area next year...

Thus ending your 200 mile RT commute? Or will it turn into a 400 mile RT commute :biggrin:

 

[biotweak]

I can second what yobigd20 experience has been.

The Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 on the car are pretty good. Definitely much better than the first generation Eagle RS-A that I've experienced on other cars. Recently, in Boston, we've had 6-inch (heavy wet snow) and 10-inch (light powdery snow, 10-18F degrees) snow storms. The car handled both situations very well for a RWD car. The traction control is pretty amazing on the car and unique to an electric car drive train, it's fairly hard to fish-tail the car because the traction control is so good. I've been able to park into the mushy/icy plowed parking lanes on streets with 6 inches of snow below and get going right off the bat. I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about you pull into a parking spot knowing you're going to get stuck when trying to get out but you're late for that appmt. This can hasn't gotten stuck yet....amazing.

If you do get stuck these are standard issue on UPS and Fedex trucks:
Amazon.com: Portable Tow Truck (orange): Automotive

Haven't used the portable tow truck yet for the MS in the conditions mentioned above but helped a FWD Camry get out of they're parking space with it! HA!

 

[jerry33]

The traction control is pretty amazing on the car and unique to an electric car drive train, it's fairly hard to fish-tail the car because the traction control is so good.

That's actually the stability control that prevents doughnuts, it's a separate system from traction control (which is also pretty good).

 

[InTheShadows]

I can second what yobigd20 experience has been.

The Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 on the car are pretty good. Definitely much better than the first generation Eagle RS-A that I've experienced on other cars. Recently, in Boston, we've had 6-inch (heavy wet snow) and 10-inch (light powdery snow, 10-18F degrees) snow storms. The car handled both situations very well for a RWD car. The traction control is pretty amazing on the car and unique to an electric car drive train, it's fairly hard to fish-tail the car because the traction control is so good. I've been able to park into the mushy/icy plowed parking lanes on streets with 6 inches of snow below and get going right off the bat. I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about you pull into a parking spot knowing you're going to get stuck when trying to get out but you're late for that appmt. This can hasn't gotten stuck yet....amazing.

If you do get stuck these are standard issue on UPS and Fedex trucks:
Amazon.com: Portable Tow Truck (orange): Automotive

Haven't used the portable tow truck yet for the MS in the conditions mentioned above but helped a FWD Camry get out of they're parking space with it! HA!

We left the local ski resort last night and the parking lot was snow covered. The stop sign at the end of the parking lot was a glaze of ice down hill and the car did very well stopping (I'm running in the OEM Primacy's). I didn't come to a complete stop though because I noticed a forerunner about 3 car lengths behind me and I wasn't confident he could stop as well as I could.

The next half mile was 25mph on a wet road, the. Pulling out on the highway I got on it a little bit (Aprox 100-150kw) when I was making the long sweeping turn onto the highway the back end kicked a little and the traction/stability control grabbed 3 times. I didn't expect this at all and figured there must have still been some snow packed in the treads.

I have been really impressed with the primacy tires on the snow. They have amazed me in other situations many times. I can't imagine what the blizarks will be like next year.

 

[kevincwelch]

I just need to share my winter driving experience.

Glad I'm not the only one who can't seem to get below an average of 650 Wh/mi. in this weather.

 

[InTheShadows]

Glad I'm not the only one who can't seem to get below an average of 650 Wh/mi. in this weather.

I'm liking the 30F's now after the stint of sub zero's. Back to less than 400wh/mi with our around town driving.

Now we just need a nice heavy rain to wash all the salt off the roads so we can dry out and get a good car wash. All of our smaller roads are like driving on gravel roads. We have been getting half an inch of snow almost everyday so they keep dumping new layers of salt.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

FINALLY SNOW! We've got -5C and snow so I was finally able to use the car at least partially in snow To be fair I never noticed that it was snowed or icy on the roads, the car behaved as usual in all conditions so I'd say the Hakka 8's are doing an excellent job. Jost completed a 383km trip in -5C going mostly at 90km/h and still had something left "in the tank".

 

[Doug_G]

FINALLY SNOW!

You can have ours. I've been driving in snow for two full months now.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

You can have ours. I've been driving in snow for two full months now.

Seems we are indeed as it hasn't stopped snowing

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Finally today I had the chance to drive the Model S a bit more in real snow conditions. Overnight we got a good 20 cm or so snow and most roads were packed snow + fresh powder on top. When I went out of the car to check my mail I nearly fell over as the packed snow was really slippery. However the car behaved far far beyond what I expected. Getting going on slippery conditions is slowish, but stable and comfy. Yes AWD would improve this part, but it's not really much of an issue. Handling however is superb, the car never really let me feel that it's RWD, no kicking out of the back etc. It might let it slip a few cm, but it quickly catches it and from there on the car is like on rails. I didn't want to push as I was driving on roads where a mistake is costly (there's no runout area, but into a ditch on both sides of the road) therefore feeling safe going 50-60km/h was an impressive result from this car. Afterwards on roads with more clearance on sides I did get up to 100km/h and smooth curves were absolutely no issue so coming from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X (one of the best snow cars ever built with AWD) this is high praise for the Model S. I had some reservations and this was the longest deciding part as I've never had an RWD and have been driving AWD the past 10 years, but consider me convinced. Model S is a very good snow car and the Hakka 8's perform flawlessly. Almost felt like driving in summer except with some soft padding Everything happens smoother and a bit slower, but stable nevertheless.

Edit: oh and in real snow and packed snow conditions the studs can't be heard at all, the car becomes a silent fury

 

[mnx]

FINALLY SNOW! We've got -5C and snow so I was finally able to use the car at least partially in snow To be fair I never noticed that it was snowed or icy on the roads, the car behaved as usual in all conditions so I'd say the Hakka 8's are doing an excellent job. Jost completed a 383km trip in -5C going mostly at 90km/h and still had something left "in the tank".

I haven't seen consumprtion that low (184Wh/km) since early fall! I might have broken below 200Wh/km once with the heat off driving around at 70km/h...

 

[gpetti]

Finally today I had the chance to drive the Model S a bit more in real snow conditions. Overnight we got a good 20 cm or so snow and most roads were packed snow + fresh powder on top. When I went out of the car to check my mail I nearly fell over as the packed snow was really slippery. However the car behaved far far beyond what I expected. Getting going on slippery conditions is slowish, but stable and comfy. Yes AWD would improve this part, but it's not really much of an issue. Handling however is superb, the car never really let me feel that it's RWD, no kicking out of the back etc. It might let it slip a few cm, but it quickly catches it and from there on the car is like on rails. I didn't want to push as I was driving on roads where a mistake is costly (there's no runout area, but into a ditch on both sides of the road) therefore feeling safe going 50-60km/h was an impressive result from this car. Afterwards on roads with more clearance on sides I did get up to 100km/h and smooth curves were absolutely no issue so coming from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X (one of the best snow cars ever built with AWD) this is high praise for the Model S. I had some reservations and this was the longest deciding part as I've never had an RWD and have been driving AWD the past 10 years, but consider me convinced. Model S is a very good snow car and the Hakka 8's perform flawlessly. Almost felt like driving in summer except with some soft padding Everything happens smoother and a bit slower, but stable nevertheless.

Edit: oh and in real snow and packed snow conditions the studs can't be heard at all, the car becomes a silent fury

As someone who had the same reservations and who held off buying for a while waiting for a possible AWD, I can never get enough of these type of stories. Thanks for sharing and hopefully I'll have similar stories when I first drive on snow. Don't think I'll have studded tires and I might not have Nokians but I'm confident from the many posts here that things will be great.

 

[Peter_M]

For me, back when I was deciding whether to buy a Model S, rear wheel drive was on the negative side of the decision. I live in a wintery city and I've driven FWD for years. I just always associated rear-wheel drive and snow with fishtailing and difficult driving (admittedly, that's based on 80's RWD cars). I must say the performance on snow has turned out to be a huge plus now that I have the car. In deep snow you can raise the suspension (if you have air suspension) and the bottom of the car is flat so it tends to slide over deep snow easily. And in lighter snow or slippery roads, if you floor it (not recommended - just as an experiment), the car just gets whatever traction it can and glides along easily straight ahead. The rear end can "wiggle" a little, but it corrects so quickly, multiple times per second, that gentle steering correction is all that's needed to keep going straight. I never once felt a loss of control. This past weekend, I was turning around in a driveway that was sheer wet ice on a slight sideways slope. As I came to a stop, the rear end slid a bit sideways and then stopped with one wheel in a little dip in the ice. I thought I'd be stuck there but a bit of rocking back and forth and I was out. This is with Michelin X-Ice 3 tires - good snow tires are an important part of the story too.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

I haven't seen consumprtion that low (184Wh/km) since early fall! I might have broken below 200Wh/km once with the heat off driving around at 70km/h...

Might be the Hakka's then I didn't turn off the heating at all and during the -5C drive I saw average fluctuate around 190 +- 10. When I did the +2C drive I saw 170 +- 10 regularly on the trip back and that was going 90km/h. I actually discovered that going 70 or 90 made little difference in the instantaneous kW usage and therefore the Wh/km would actually drop or remain the same It hover just below 20kW so.

 

[mnx]

I wouldn't think studded tires have a very low rolling resistance but who knows...

Might be the Hakka's then I didn't turn off the heating at all and during the -5C drive I saw average fluctuate around 190 +- 10. When I did the +2C drive I saw 170 +- 10 regularly on the trip back and that was going 90km/h. I actually discovered that going 70 or 90 made little difference in the instantaneous kW usage and therefore the Wh/km would actually drop or remain the same It hover just below 20kW so.

 

[Oyvind.H]

After 194km from Oslo to Lillehammer last friday, my consuption was about 194w/km. Drove the speed limit all the way, and going with traffic where there was only two lanes. (I tink it`s about 70km with 100km/t speed limit, and then 120km with speed limit varying from 70-100km/t. Temperature was 0 degrees celcius, had roofrack with skis, 2,5 persons in the car and full trunk/frunk.
Check http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/ to plot the route!

On my way back from Ringebu to Oslo on sunday the temperature had dropped to -17 degrees celcius (actually -23 to -24 during nighttime!). Started with some preheating of the car, and about 82% SOC.
Drove most of the way in -12 to -15. Same load (roofrack with skis, persons, luggage etc). About 750 meters of decreased altitude right at the start of the journey, so I`m unsure hvow much energy I was able to regenerate.
Came home to Oslo with 22km typical left (which should be abut 45km actual range left with whats below zero). The trip was 255km, and the comsumption was according to the car 212w/km.

Really impressed with how low consumption I can get when I preheat and drive like a sane person! 19" inch wheels with real snow tires (Nokian R2), not studded though. Hate the horrible noise studded tiress make, so they`ll never make it to an EV I own....

 

[Mario Kadastik]

There's no noise if there is snow The Hakka 8's are really quiet then. Anyway the Hakka 8's are supposed to have 5% less rolling resistance than Hakka 7's because they've redesigned the studs to have less impact on dry roads.

 

[Doug_G]

I guess you don't get cold enough weather to get the "squeaky" snow?