Howie411 Report post Posted February 10, 2010 Anyone in the DC Metro area taken their car in during either of these blizzards we had? I've kept mine nice and safe in the garage but was wondering how its traction is as I might actually have to go somewhere next week. :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oman Report post Posted February 10, 2010 I'm not in DC but we have snow banks here over 6 feet high. The car is doing surprisingly well in the snow. I was originally thinking about getting some good snow tires and cheap rims for the Winter because of the OEM low RR tires (hard compound) but they are holding up well. The traction control is very effective. I was afraid with the throttle by wire they would try to completely eliminate wheel spin which in my book is bad... but they didn't. I can still one-way rock out of a mound of snow if I need to. Jon Anyone in the DC Metro area taken their car in during either of these blizzards we had? I've kept mine nice and safe in the garage but was wondering how its traction is as I might actually have to go somewhere next week. :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldschool1962 Report post Posted February 10, 2010 (edited) The car does drive well in the snow. I second some of the points Jon made and would add that it has done better than any other Front Wheel Drive car I have ever owned. I was messing around in a Parking lot checking how it would do and sent it into a four whell semi controlled spin. The Traction control actually even seemed to monitor therear wheels as well as it appeared to apply thise brakes according to how the car was tracking. I had lifetd out of the throttle and only mention that because I'm not sue if it makes a difference. I will say that it certainly negotiated the icier hills during out 13" snow two weeks ago. I just kept in the throttle....not floored but adequate.......and the traction control took over. I was making it up hills that Volvos, Accuras and even a couple Lexus's wouldn't. Pretty dang impressive. Ya know there are some really positive things I can say about the FFH but it's just all the dang, very reall issues I have been having that has taken them away. What's the old saying......."you can have 100 attaboy's but ya have one aw sh!t and everyone forgets about the attaboys" Trouble is I'm having to many aw sh!ts with the FFH and only a couple attaboys. I would take a new one if the Deaker or Ford were willing to swap it out..........but that snowball in hell has a better chance of lasting than that happening. :doh: :finger: Edited February 10, 2010 by oldschool1962 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
junehhan Report post Posted February 10, 2010 I would suspect that snow traction is all about the tires you have on the vehicle. I would suspect that most of us still have plenty of tread left on our OEM tires. If we were to ask this same question 10k miles later, many of us might have different responses to this. Many tires seem to do decently until you get below 60% tread at which point snow traction is severely compromised. Nothing will substitute for the performance of a dedicated snow tire in the winter, as i've driven my brother's Honda Civic with snow tires through 22 inches of snow. Even when you plow into a smaller drift, you just keep a steady foot on the pedal and it gradually pulls you through. I have an older Focus that functions as my winter beater, so luckly I havn't had to subject my hybrid to this snow. I actually get jealous at you guys who tend to get a bit more snow as the snow that falls here in Cincinnati is usually only a few inches at a time with most winter storms dropping at most 5-7 inches at a time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zacher Report post Posted February 11, 2010 Snow + FFH = awesomness. Now being in Canada, where the weather gets cold and snow, I opted for 16 inch winter tires and rims. This car with the EPS handled ice, snow and icy intersections better then my 4x4. I went for the winter tires because we are constantly below -10C (where around the temp all seasons loose grip due to stiffness). The Traction Control works while in Hybrid or EV mode (tested both) which impressed me a lot! It's a great winter car (minus the mileage which is expected as per any car in a Canadian Winter). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites