Have you driven your XD in snow/blizzard?

sibmx · Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 19

How does XD handle in snow? I spent hours trying to find any information regarding snow driving in XD and could not find anything. If you have driven your XD in snow please respond and rate XD's capability of winter road handling(especially want to hear opinion from XD owners from "snow" states like Montana, Wyoming, Colorado....).
Here is the scale:

1 - Stayed at home, impossible to drive. I wish I never sold my Tahoe...
2 - Drove it once, will never do it again unless I really have to.
3 - Driving is possible!!! But it's scary. My Focus was better...
4- Climbs snowhills with little effort, plows through the snow if careful. Ocassionally gets stuck. (that's your average FWD car)
5- Drives like a champ! Never got stuck! Holds the road!Ocasionally skids. Feel confident driving my XD in any weather conditions. Just one step behind AWD cars and SUVs.

Please share your experiences. All I could find was the story of one guy from Chicago who said it kept skidding in snow and is worse than most FWD cars. Could not find a single positive review.....

Zefoxe · Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 519

cant help you right now, winter is 3 months away for me :P

Metro273 · Posted: 8/29/08 9:17PM Post subject:

It's a front wheel drive car, made by Toyota, of course it's gonna drive good in the winter, as does the xB... :clap:

SLODEANIS · Posted: 8/30/08 8:50AM Post subject:

OK, I live in Colorado and I have had my xD for one year now. First, I sold my Honda Ridgeline for the xD, so I had AWD before. My first snow storm in my xD was awful and I truely believe it was because of the tires. I have the factory Dunlop tires and they SUCK. I replaced them with some Dunlop Winter Sport 3D and what a difference. The factory tires made traction impossible and the VSC was always beeping at me. Once I replaced the tires, VSC was more difficult to activate and the traction control really helped. Overall, I never once got stuck with the new tires and the addition of Traction Control/VSC sealed the deal. Overall, I' m very pleased with the winter performance of my xD.

sibmx · Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 19

SLODEANIS wrote: OK, I live in Colorado and I have had my xD for one year now. First, I sold my Honda Ridgeline for the xD, so I had AWD before. My first snow storm in my xD was awful and I truely believe it was because of the tires. I have the factory Dunlop tires and they SUCK. I replaced them with some Dunlop Winter Sport 3D and what a difference. The factory tires made traction impossible and the VSC was always beeping at me. Once I replaced the tires, VSC was more difficult to activate and the traction control really helped. Overall, I never once got stuck with the new tires and the addition of Traction Control/VSC sealed the deal. Overall, I' m very pleased with the winter performance of my xD.

Thanks for your response. How did it perform driving up and down the hills when it was snowing?

vfrjim · Posted: 8/31/08 3:39PM Post subject:

I drove a year with the xD in the snow (got it last oct) and there were no problems with an Auto with the factory tires and no VSC. If there was a lot of snow, I would place the shifter into 2nd gear to go up steep hills without problems. If you know how to drive in the snow, it performs like a FWD car is expected to perform, just fine.

OPINIONATOR_xD · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Posts: 114 Location: Countryside, IL.

driving in snow with my xD in IL where it's a flat landscape mostly everywhere is not that bad. In montana, colorado,etc... it'll probably be a different story unless you got 4wd.

pwg_860 · Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 79

IMO,

the factory 16's rate very poorly in the snow. I'm in Ct and live in the hills.

This season I'm mounting some narrow 15's with a more aggressive tread,

maybe some blizzacks or other good winter tire.

Andyman · Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 84 Location: CNY

I drove my xD through a decent upstate NY winter last year, including an early-spring trip to VT. Worked like a champ! I'd give it a 5 on your scale - I never got stuck in it. Of course I have to give most of the credit to good snow tires - I think that's the biggest single thing you can do on any car. In my experience the ABS and VSC performed as advertised and were very helpful in the snow. There were a couple times where I had to go up fairly steep hills covered with icy slush - just about zero traction. I've never had VSC/traction control before, so it felt a little weird when the car kind of took over control. So the engine slowed down and it felt odd, but it worked! Just climbed right up the hills.
My only concern would be the ground clearance - if the snow is fairly heavy/dense, and significantly deeper than the undercarriage, the quality of your tires and traction control becomes irrelevant. If the car's frame is supported by the snow rather than the wheels, you're quite literally stuck.
But I don't have any hesitations recommending it as a good winter car, as long as you get decent snow tires!
Good luck,
Andy

CarbonXe · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 6475 Location: Parsippany, NJ

Bridgestone Blizzak. They'll improve any cars performance in the snow.

nate4g63 · Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Oil City, PA

oh yeah the blizzaks are insane, we through a set on my buddies awd talon last yr and that thing went through the snow better than most trucks!! rediculous traction!

dick_larimore · Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Central Indiana

I drove last winter with Cooper snow tires on my Xd replacing the stock "3 season" Dunlops. The vehicle had excellent traction. If you must drive in deep snow, buy snow tires.

JDMJim · Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1982

xD was fine in the snow with whatever tires came on it. smoked on the highway. summer tires in the rain? nother story....