This is the worst car ive ever driven in snow

[a351must2]

Originally Posted by Citoriplus

You guys want to have fun in the snow.
Try driving a 5 speed Titanium with the Titanium handling package tires.
The Pilot 3 summer performance tires are unreal on dry or even wet roads.
But let it see a snowflake or worse several inches of them and its an adventure just trying to get moving on an snow/ice covered road.
A slight slope is a virtual impossibility and gives the TC system fits.

Ditto, I got stuck in a flat parking lot in <1" of snow with my Ti with the PS3s. Parked it and walked home.

[BrApple]

why do you guys still have your summer only tires on the car during the winter? All the summer only tires I have used don't grip well below 60 degrees.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by BrApple

why do you guys still have your summer only tires on the car during the winter?

+1

The summer tires are not all-season tires - which (arguably), some people believe they shouldn't even be used in the winter anyway.

[Quantos]

How anyone would drive in an actual snowy place without winter tires is beyond me. It's not fun, and simply dangerous. All-season tires are only fine if there's snow on the ground a few days a year only. Over here, winter tires have been mandatory for a few years now.

"In 2008, the province of Quebec made winter tires mandatory and winter collisions fell by 17 per cent and collisions causing serious injury or death fell by 36 per cent. Factually speaking." - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle1358332/

[gkirk]

Originally Posted by Quantos

How anyone would drive in an actual snowy place without winter tires is beyond me. It's not fun, and simply dangerous. All-season tires are only fine if there's snow on the ground a few days a year only. Over here, winter tires have been mandatory for a few years now.

"In 2008, the province of Quebec made winter tires mandatory and winter collisions fell by 17 per cent and collisions causing serious injury or death fell by 36 per cent. Factually speaking." - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle1358332/

I'd love to live in a place where people had to have winter tires. In Maryland as soon as it snows, it's like meteor hit the place. The natural tendency to follow 5 feet behind someone's bumper at 70mph doesn't fly when the ground is snowy.

morons.

Give me boston or NY state drivers any day.

[lewisra]

Originally Posted by Quantos

How anyone would drive in an actual snowy place without winter tires is beyond me.

Hmmm, I've been driving front wheel drive vehicles since 1985 and have never put winter tires on. I've been stuck once that I can recall. I must be really lucky. the only vehicle I ever had issues with was a 1988 Escort GT with the "wide" Goodyears on it. after a month or 2 it was fine.

[detonator555]

I agree with the OP. This is NOT a good winter car. It might be fine in areas with moderate snowfall or hardpacked snow, but it's not working well up here in ski country.

1) I have proper NEW snow tires (15" winter, 16" summer) with fresh studs. I've lived in snow/ice country my entire life. My previous vehicles have ranged from RWD V8 cars and pickup trucks to FWD small cars and minivans to 4WD Rangers and a 2008 4WD Escape. Each vehicle type requires its own finesse, to be sure. Traction is important, but so is the vehicle's tendency to push in corners, stopping ability, manners in snow and slush, and reaction to gusts of crosswind. Tires are important, but some cars are simply better in winter than others.

2) The traction control is way too sensitive for wheel-spin and kills momentum when you NEED it. The correction on the yaw control is aggressive, and we all know that exaggerated movements on snow/ice are not ideal. My Escape had the traction control button on the dash...that's where it should be. This nonsense of scrolling through a menu while you're driving is ridiculous; TC is one of those items where you need it on the fly, not deselected when you start the car. I desperately needed traction control OFF a couple of weeks back when pulling into a slushy, greasy intersection...the car just limped along as I feathered the gas and tried to outwit the computer. I looked like a slow senior citizen trying to jaywalk.

3. The whacky transmission makes it hard to be in the right RPM range for different conditions. I end up using the "hill assist" feature to hold gears longer between shifts, but again it's the driver having to outwit the car.

4. There is no warning light for low washer fluid. For most of you, that's just a convenience. For those of us with heavily salted roads on a sunny morning, it's beyond precarious. Yes, fluid top-ups are done regularly, but a warning light is just that...it keeps you safe.

5. The "Courtesy Wipe" feature where the blades do one last "swish" 3 seconds after activating the washer fluid is infuriating. It turns a perfectly clean windshield into a smeared mess when you've got salt brine kicked up from other vehicles. I hated it on the Escape, and I hate it more on this smaller, lower vehicle.

Anyway, it's a quirky car in the best of weather, but doesn't cut the mustard as a winter driver in heavy snow zones. I dislike it to the point where, when a tree fell on it at work a few weeks back, I was praying for a total loss. It wasn't. I've put 45,000 km's on it in one year, and it still feels weird to me.

[a351must2]

It only snows a couple days every other year where I live and I can work from home if I need to ... thus Summer tires stay on year round. If I absolutely need to go somewhere, I have a 4X4 with AT tires...I got caught by surprise while shopping when I got stuck in the parking lot with the Focus.

[spazzboy]

Over the holidays, Montreal has seen a good dumping of snow.
I did not have too much trouble navigating around in the Focus, but I was a bit let down.

I've installed a brand new set of Continental ExtremeWinterContact 195/65-15 asymmetrical tires on steelies. Based on several sources, the reviews for this tire is pretty good, especially for the price.

This is my first winter with the MkIII.
I agree the TC kicks in early, but when winter driving, I pretend I have an uncooked egg under my foot. This means no sudden acceleration/wheel spin.

I must say that my 2001 BMW 740i Sport with Toyo G-O2 Plus tires handled winter more beautifully; however I will equate that to that car having much more mass and a more sophisticated traction control system.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by detonator555

4. There is no warning light for low washer fluid. For most of you, that's just a convenience. For those of us with heavily salted roads on a sunny morning, it's beyond precarious. Yes, fluid top-ups are done regularly, but a warning light is just that...it keeps you safe.

TSB 12-4-13 fixes the no low washer solvent message!