How well does your Focus drive in snow?

[VOLDAR]

@Eurofordfan - I always used winter tires on my cars, so maybe this is why I never had the symptoms you are talking about. I do like TC even in summer, when after a quick heavy rain, there are lanes partial under water. When I run over them, I always feel the TC working to reduce/stop the aquaplaning.

@A2Focus - I put on my car the same General AltiMax Arctic's but on the 17" size. I had the 16" in my other car and was very pleased with them. Before, I had Goodyear Ultra Grip. They both are great in the conditions you are talking about : snow and icey roads. General AltiMax Arctic are better though on snow than on ice. To have an idea about how secure I felt with these tires, let's say I was driving 60-65 mph while everyone else was 40-50 mph on the right lane of the road.

[Eurofordfan]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

@Eurofordfan - I always used winter tires on my cars, so maybe this is why I never had the symptoms you are talking about. I do like TC even in summer, when after a quick heavy rain, there are lanes partial under water. When I run over them, I always feel the TC working to reduce/stop the aquaplaning.

@A2Focus - I put on my car the same General AltiMax Arctic's but on the 17" size. I had the 16" in my other car and was very pleased with them. Before, I had Goodyear Ultra Grip. They both are great in the conditions you are talking about : snow and icey roads. General AltiMax Arctic are better though on snow than on ice. To have an idea about how secure I felt with these tires, let's say I was driving 60-65 mph while everyone else was 40-50 mph on the right lane of the road.

I fully agree that four winter tires are really a necessity... and not just in snowy areas. The rubber formulation for winter tires (superior / stickier versus all-season tires, typically, at +7 Celsius and less) make it a no-brainer.

[DarinS]

Originally Posted by Craeshen

If you get the titanium sport package get winter tires asap.

The Michelin PS3's you get from the factory a terrible on snow and if there's even a little ice your screwed. Was going 15k/h and slid right off the road going around a curve over the last weekend when it snowed here. Suffice it too say

Michelin PS3 = great in summer deadly in winter.

The PS3 is strictly a "3-season" or "summer performance" tire. It's not designed to be used in any kind of low-temp situation let alone actual ice, snow, sleet, slush, freezing fog/rain, etc..

Driving on PS3s in the winter is like racing on studs in the summer

[Craeshen]

Yeah it snowed right before my car was due too go into the shop for it's winter rubber.

Tho, I just about wanted too shoot the techs @ the shop when they under inflated my tires. From what I understand about low profile tires that is a definite no no.

[A2Focus]

She's hesitating on black steel. Has anyone used the plastic wheel covers offered as a option by Tire Rack? Moving to an alloy wheel means moving to 16" and the price really jumps.............

[DougC]

Originally Posted by A2Focus

She's hesitating on black steel. Has anyone used the plastic wheel covers offered as a option by Tire Rack? Moving to an alloy wheel means moving to 16" and the price really jumps.............

We had their covers, silver, on my wife's red '06 Mazda 3. They are fairly heavy duty and looked pretty decent on the car.

[DarinS]

I'm really considering something like this:

[DougC]

Originally Posted by DarinS

I'm really considering something like this:

That's the setup I went with for my SE but I'm skipping wheel covers for now. I might add them should it look too "blah" with the plain steel wheels.

[csvt2060]

That's a good package and actually the 15x6 steel rims were Ford branded when I picked mine up from tire rack. Same rims were $85 my cost from the Ford dealer. I went with the Michelin X ice with the rebate with 205/65-15 to match the diameter of the Michelin tires on the Titanium handling package.

[thirdj]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

Are you talking from your experience? Because I had traction control on my last car (for 10 years) and had never the need to switch it off while on ice.

Something you should watch (FF to 5:00 if you don't want to see it all):

Thanks for posting this, I Just got back from a grueling drive across the Snoqualmie pass from Wenatachee to Seattle yesterday. I've driven maybe 4 times in snow in my life, all of them in my 2000 zx3 with nothing but a gas, brake(no abs) and power steering, I generally stay away from driving in snow with all the crazy drivers in seattle. Now I have a titanium hatch with the 18" handling package, and I certainly took full of abs, tcs, and stability control and they all worked really well.

I don't have my winter tires yet and got stuck in the snow with some really crappy chains, one broke within the first quarter mile going over the pass. First off the summer tires, as I found, should probably be only used during the summer because they didn't grip whatsoever, even on flat ground with compacted snow maybe an inch deep my car was struggling to stay on the road going about 25mph tops. As soon as any hill was encountered TCS would kick in and my car would slowly come to a stop. I didn't brave turning it off for fear of spinning the tires and losing control. ABS worked amazingly, this was my first encounter using abs, I was impressed with how well my car stopped wtihout losing control and in short distances. The VCS(or whatever the acronym is) also preformed well, on a banked curve I could feel the rear wheels starting losing control into a drift, as soon as I noticed it I could feel one of the rear breaks tighten up and like the car was under control again.

Thanks again for posting the vid. Having never owned a car with any of these features, it was great to find out ahead of time how they work in snow, saved me alot of frustration.