4WD vs AWD vs WHAT WHEEL DRIVE??

[Senor_Taylor]

Not sure Blizzaks would help here either, the more knobby tread of the BFG's were what could dig in to the deep snow and move it. Blizzaks aren't quite so aggressive.

its not the aggressiveness of the knobs, its the siping within the tread blocks (all the little cut-lines in the tread) along with compound and tread depth to an extent. mud terrains with big, solid knobs are remarkably poor in the snow for that reason. most snow tires look completely pedestrian going strictly by tread look but the grip is eye opening....there's a lot of weird tech behind compound and tread design for that stuff that seems like it wouldn't work.

Spot on.

Blizzaks or not I can guarantee snow tires would do better than what is on your truck now, Jake. Blizzaks are some of the better snow tires.

Big blocks does not mean better traction for snow.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

You don't really put "snow tires" on a truck unless you're crossing Alaska or something. You would just use an offroad tire or mud terrain. I've bot BFG Ko2's in my future now that I've melted half of my tread off.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[ScottyB]

You don't really put "snow tires" on a truck unless you're crossing Alaska or something. You would just use an offroad tire or mud terrain. I've bot BFG Ko2's in my future now that I've melted half of my tread off.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

this is true. if a tire's got the snowflake symbol on the side then its rated for "severe snow duty" but i was just making a point earlier that an aggressive tread isn't the biggest determining factor in the effectiveness of a snow tire.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I spent the majority of the snow running around in 4high. Tires were aired down to about 20psi and I found myself gliding right over the top.

Our plow truck driver gave up about 4AM saturday morning so we got snowed in pretty good but wanted to go skiing :lol:

I left the tonneau cover open to grab snow. It helped immensely compared to the last time I drove in snow with no weight in the rear. The 80PSI highways did "alright". Had to shovel to get up my driveway, but thats because my driveway is a sharp uphill.

Almost got stuck going from my neighborhood to the main road. The plow had gone through the main road and gotten it about 5 feet high. Said "fugg it" and as I got close I went shit and slowed down like a wuss. Hit it a little too slow and high-centered. Threw it in 4-lo and rocked it back and forth a couple times did the trick. Wayyyy better with the weight than last year.

Then headed up to PA for Liberty to go skiing. AMAZING conditions that rivaled conditions out West. Didn't want to leave!

Before the snow I was debating getting a set of extra wheels and getting some all-terrains. Nevermind for the ONCE a year and still managed just fine. Not worth the expense.

[WRXtranceformed]

We got very little snow compared to up north but tons of ice and slushy stuff. I didn't take the RDX out in the worst of the ice cover because we didn't need to and that's just dumb. I did take it out to dinner on Saturday night though and got to test out the new tires / car on our neighborhood roads and some plow build up on the main roads. Handled it like a champion, you could feel the SHAWD readjusting when I would hit the gas to get it to purposely lose grip. Don't think I've had a car that felt this stable in sketchy conditions since our old Isuzu Rodeo (anyone remember those things?)

[JustinG]

8 inches of ground clearance + 16in of snow....not happening, so after digging out.....



+ of parking in the garage, no snow on the cars
- of parking in the garage, having to shovel 40yds of driveway.

Mazda did ok for the small amount of snow it actually drove in. I didn't shovel the end of the driveway, which was a mix of compacted and loose snow with tracks already in it. Could feel the wheels slip and then it would transfer power.

Got it stuck when backing down the drive way to make more tracks where I didn't shovel, shovel scoop out from in front of each tire and turn off the Traction control, a little bit of spin and it was out.

[WRXtranceformed]

^^ Ouch, that looks like a lot of work. Our driveway on the farm in Leesburg is a little over a mile long. I called to check on my dad and even though he had parked the trucks at the end of it he ended up having to plow it twice in the middle of the storm with our old John Deere tractor. Basically he wouldn't have been able to actually walk to get to them for at least a week if he hadn't. He doesn't think they will get to plowing the "main road" for another week anyway.

There is actually a sunken driveway between that spring house and the main house

[Senor_Taylor]

We had a fun time with this one. We got 25 inches here in Harrisonburg. They plowed one strip through our street. So, after I got home from work yesterday, we spent about 3 hours loading up my truck with snow and taking it down the street to dump. There is so much snow out here that we couldn't even dig out 4 spots, so we dug out 2 and a half, and fit 4 vehicles in them. It's a mess. Cars are abandoned or parked in the street everywhere.

The BMW probably won't move for a month. It's behind about 10 feet of snow that's 3 feet high.

[Ken]

God i had the best time when we had that blizzard down there. Also the time i nearly puked in Wal-Mart. Good times.

[Jake]

God i had the best time when we had that blizzard down there. Also the time i nearly puked in Wal-Mart. Good times.

Agreed, so much fun! Someone needs to post the old Goodspeed videos...

[Senor_Taylor]

Nevermind. My shoveling of snow continues to its 4th day.

The difference between driving my truck and the bimmer is impressive. Tacoma has no traction control or anything and I employ the "spinning is winning" mentality everywhere. The BMW's traction control is so odd to me. I've never driven a car with any kind of driver aids except for ABS (My current Taco is the only one that even had that, and it's only on occasionally). The way it cuts power when it slips plays tricks on my mind I'm not exactly sure what to do. Also, trying to work a clutch on ice and snow is a new thing to me.

[Jake]

Nevermind. My shoveling of snow continues to its 4th day.

The difference between driving my truck and the bimmer is impressive. Tacoma has no traction control or anything and I employ the "spinning is winning" mentality everywhere. The BMW's traction control is so odd to me. I've never driven a car with any kind of driver aids except for ABS (My current Taco is the only one that even had that, and it's only on occasionally). The way it cuts power when it slips plays tricks on my mind I'm not exactly sure what to do. Also, trying to work a clutch on ice and snow is a new thing to me.

Your DSC is two-stage. You can press the button briefly to partially disable the system (it will allow for some wheelspin before cutting in) or you can hold the button down for ~10 seconds (maybe 5?) and it will disable entirely. When you do the longer press, the DSC light and the "Brake" light will illuminate amber in the dash. You can ony reenable DSC from the "all off" mode by restarting the car. If you do the "quick press" you can press the button again to turn it back on.

My 128i had a similar type of system (two stage) and I found the easiest thing to do was to hit the button so it was still monitoring things, but allowing wheelspin. That would get me away from stoplights easily enough, but keep me going in a straight line at higher speed (30+ mph) with little drama.

As far as a clutch on snow/ice, just release it with very very little throttle. You'll feel it bite, but because snow has less resistance than asphalt, you don't need as much throttle to get the wheels moving.

[Senor_Taylor]

As far as a clutch on snow/ice, just release it with very very little throttle. You'll feel it bite, but because snow has less resistance than asphalt, you don't need as much throttle to get the wheels moving.

I think this is what I need to know. I experimented a little earlier with the ice in my spot and it was pretty cool how you could kind just idle and let out the clutch,

[PDenbigh]

Those with trucks and SUVs:

Check out Cooper A/T3 tires. They won Overland Journal's tire of the year award FWIW. I put them on my F150 to replace some goodyear wranglers. For an aggressive AT tire (17/32" tread depth) they ride great, are quiet, and performed really well during this snow. They are sipped and "M+S rated", though they don't have the snowflake "severe snow rating." There's a version that is snowflaked though if that's your thing.

Other AT tires in my history include Yokohama Geolander, Bridgestone Duler AT Revo (not "2"), and Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor Pro Grade. All have been great. If these Coopers wear well I think they will be my favorite though.

Why you should trust me:

[RawrImAMonster]

Weather like what we had over the weekend made me wish I still had my Evo. That thing did amazingly well in the snow considering it had all-seasons (conti dws) and exactly a beer can worth of ground clearance in the front. Back when we had 18" a few years ago, I literally plowed our uphill driveway since I was the first one out. The only time I got stuck with it was when I was backing up and snow got built up underneath it. Going forward, the clearance was low enough to prevent that from happening. I imagine the Evo X's are even better since they have active yaw control instead of just the active center diff.

The xterra does alright in the snow for having shit tires on the back. It has the system that brakes on one side or the other to act like a LSD somewhat. Once I got rid of the giant snow pile from the plow trucks, it made it out of the driveway without much of an issue.

[Ken]

Weather like what we had over the weekend made me wish I still had my Evo. That thing did amazingly well in the snow considering it had all-seasons (conti dws) and exactly a beer can worth of ground clearance in the front. Back when we had 18" a few years ago, I literally plowed our uphill driveway since I was the first one out. The only time I got stuck with it was when I was backing up and snow got built up underneath it. Going forward, the clearance was low enough to prevent that from happening. I imagine the Evo X's are even better since they have active yaw control instead of just the active center diff.

The xterra does alright in the snow for having shit tires on the back. It has the system that brakes on one side or the other to act like a LSD somewhat. Once I got rid of the giant snow pile from the plow trucks, it made it out of the driveway without much of an issue.

Yes, my Evo X was fucking fantastic in the snow; especially with Blizzacks. I drove through easily 6-8 inches of snow without much of a hassle. Used to love blowing by the Jeeps and such who were struggling (admittedly with probably stock tires.)

God i miss that car.