MK3 in snow

[CDNFocusFan]

Originally Posted by gsxrboy

I am with you there, I purchased the same tires as you 195/65R15 and they cut through the snow with ease. I see a ton of SUV's on the road with all seasons and I smile as I pass them on the road. 4WD/AWD is a performance feature and not a safety feature!

They're phenomenal tires aren't they! Even on ice from a dead stop at a red light they just seem to chew into the ice. No complaints at all. It's night and day really.

[Strix]

My car was pretty decent in the snow last winter.

This winter, after the modifications (aka shoddy repairwork) that Hines Park Ford helpfully did on my car, it's much more 'normal'.

Now when the tires transition from spinning and no traction to gaining full purchase, there is a helpful <SLAM!> from the front end so that you know you now have traction.

I'm fairly certain this condition is 'normal'... for my car anyways.

[BiffTannen]

This is my first winter with my '12 SE. So far this year, we've had 3 snowy days, today being the 3rd.

My biggest issue with driving in the snow is my driveway. I've had a 4x4 Tacoma for the past 10+ years so I never really knew how bad it was (unless I was helping my wife get out of the drive way). The drive has a bad combination of incline & a wind alley that causes really bad drifts. Even with having a 4x4 I was always out there working on the driveway to make sure it's clean.

In any case during the first 2 snow days of the year I had issues getting out of the driveway. I hated the feeling & after reading a bit here on FF I've come to realize the Conti tires aren't very good.

This brings us to today. Today I tried something different & I had much better luck getting up the hill. I put the car into Sport Mode and left it in gear #1. Also, the Traction Control was on. I didn't seem to have any issues today, even with a really slick & icy drive.

Hopefully the experiences will improve with snow tires. I've hated the idea in the past & have always thought All Season would be fine, however I might end up making the purchase.

[raptor1956]

Originally Posted by CDNFocusFan

Truth be told I hated my focus in snow. We had a terrible dumping of 12 inches of thick white crap. Obviously any car would have a hard time, but even afterwards the slush it left behind made driving terrible.

My answer: Winter tires. I picked up a set of Michelin xIce i3's on steelies over Christmas. It's like night and day. Now bombing around in slush, freezing rain, snow, whatever is fine. They're also a touch quieter than my factory 17's.

Now if only the dealer would get my block heater fixed.

I've had Blizzak's before and they were great but have no experience with the Michelin's X-Ice Xi3 -- how well do they last? I'm thinking about using them for 3 months or so but even in the dead of winter there's many days with perfectly dry roads and I'd be concerned that this would eat the tires up real quick.


Brian

[e30og]

drove through PA mountains with some light snow, 3 or so inches, scary but not because of the Focus. Car did fine, easier to engine brake with the manual. No problemo. Not Canadian though so I wouldnt know snow best

[Joey D]

I thought the car was awful until I put winter tires on it. Now it's excellent in the snow.

[paul21]

I'm just curious, those with good snow experience on the conti's, are you using sedans with 195 tire widths?

[suss6052]

The car is much better on snow if I put it into manual mode and gear up a gear or two over where it wants to be in automatic mode. It can still slip a bit, but it was seemingly much worse when left in drive as it holds onto lower gears and tends to engage the traction control much more readily.

It can still slip around a bit, but not enough to be too concerning by comparison to full auto.

[BiffTannen]

Originally Posted by suss6052

The car is much better on snow if I put it into manual mode and gear up a gear or two over where it wants to be in automatic mode. It can still slip a bit, but it was seemingly much worse when left in drive as it holds onto lower gears and tends to engage the traction control much more readily.

Agreed! This is exactly what I did today and it was great.

[Bogey]

Best winter tire I've owned, been Winguard with studs, cheap too, a Walmart special.