I just got my xB about 2 weeks ago now, and i haven't had to drive it in bad weather until today. I have a wierd shift at work (i leave for home at 1:30 am) and tonight the roads were nothing but ice... on hills... without guard rails... Needless to say i very seriously considered folding the rear seats forward and sleeping in the car, just stay where i parked at work and camp out. (i have a blanket and a pillow in my car... think about that one however you like. ) But in the end i thought it'd be better to just go home, so i started the drive back. I have a few things to say about that experience:
1.) The traction control actually does something!
2.)I'm never doing that again. Never.

A 30 minute drive took 1 hour and 20 minutes. Has anyone else ever had a rediculously bad drive (weather wise) in their box? I think my box did ok, but the thought of wrecking it made me sick.

 

i have had to drive in bad weather as well, i was going down on a hill where there was sheet of ice, well i started going down slowly and this truck with a trailer hit the ditch and the trailer started to flip up so i couldn't stop on the hill and lucky he saved it but talk about being scared sh!tless lol

 

I know exactly how you feel! I own a 2005 xA since December and we have the worst winter for years here in Wisconsin. I've been driving 75 miles on snow and ice every day now. I can't keep the car straight. It handles terrible and feels more like a sled than a car. I wonder if different tires would help.
I probably will trade it before the next winter

 

It snowed and iced here pretty heavily here in nyc and the conditions were similar to your with the exception of hills, etc. I actually had a blast sliding around and drifting in the snow while the car was screaming BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP meaning i was losing traction. LOLOL. i would turn the wheel and the car would still go straight, i would be sliding in and out of lanes due to snow on the ground, etc. i honestly had a blast!

obviously, the reason i was able to do this was because there was absolutely no one on the roads last night in the area where i was. the plows didnt even come through. so all the roads literally had white snow and ice all over them, maybe 3 or 4 inches worth. enough to have some fun! ;]

 

L33TFooMaster, I live over in Jersey and had to drive home in that same stuff yesterday. It was the first time I had to drive in snow/ice. I have a 4WD that I normally use in bad weather(Go Go Gadget Cherokee). Unfortunately I didn't check the weather report for yesterday(Stupid me ).

The traction control and VSC do have some limited capabilities. I needed to get up a steep ice/snow covered hill and with the traction control on, I went nowhere. With it turned off, I throttled up to 25MPH and slowly climbed up the hill. I was the only non 4WD vehicle to make up that hill, gotta give the box some props!

In rain the box does great, but in snow and ice, I'll leave that for the experts 4WD/AWD...

 

i wouldn't trade my box for anything! i just want it to keep its boxy shape, so i'll leave the bad-weather driving to something else.

 

There are a few people on this site that have photos of their boxes in like 8 plus inches of snow. Some descent sized winter tires and it's great.

Ice-well, with the exception of a rally car with the 108 stud tires there is nothing that helps much-even 4 wheel drive (after all it doesn't help you stop)

 

I feel your pain. I drive over a mountain every day. I can see this tower from my house:

http://www.roberts-1.com/hvski/xc/mo...op_800x635.jpg

snow tires are a must. The stock guys don't have aggressive treads and they're awful in slush.

Good luck and be safe!

 

Dedicated winter tires would make a huge difference. We got our first snow recently and my 2006 xB is just OK on it's original half-worn Goodyear Eagles. But I took my new 2008 automatic Forester out for a trial, and it is truly amazing. On a hill in the subdivision covered with 2 inches of packed snow, I stopped and then floored it in 2nd, which holds a 50/50 split, and it took off up the hill fast without any spin.

 

very true. just because all-wheel-go work really well, doesn't mean that all-wheel-stop works just as well in the same conditions. Although i'd love to see a box with studded tires.

 

in my area...when it rains hard i start to slip when i am on the interstate, and my tires just spin out and the light with the car slipping is on...i hate it when it rains

 

heh i had some thing like that happen too me back last december driving the back roads to avoid a car crash

taking my time every thing fine going up a hill slowed me way down and then this honda ridgeline came zooming up behind me and i slowed him down i did see a mid 90's dodge grand caravan on the side of the road that didn't make it going down the hill...

 

I have the same problem as the seattle metro guy-even worse when I was in Seattle last weekend. It spins crazy easy when it's wet and there is ANY sort of up hill. I put it down to my tires because they seemed to make it worse but now that I think about it I had the problem with the tires before too.

There is a guy with a yello one on here from Montana with a good picture in a foot of snow tih some studs. I think it's on the 'show me your yellow xb' thread.

 

K, i made a hole for my cold air intake on the front of my bumper with a little screen to block big stuff. I had to drive thru flooded waters with a bunch of other people on the freeway and everyone was driving like it was a sunny day. I was doing 20 mph to keep water from flooding into my intake. But my box made it. Cuz he's a trooper! lol.

 

I have the complete opposite feeling towards the xb and snow. Its one of the best vehicles I've owned. I would put my dodge ram 4x4 a head of it just because it could handle really deep snow.

The xb handles great for only having front wheel drive. The VSC works great, but the traction control is limited in its use. I do use snow tires, but last year I just used the stockers. Still handle great. Didn't have as much snow as this year though.

I can easily do the speed limit when its snowing. I don't understand how people have such a hard time in snow when they live in a state that gets snow every year. Another thing that bothers me is when people do 45 in 55 and when it changes to 25 they do 15.

 

^ hahaha, so true, i feel the xB is also awesome in the snow. i was driving quite aggressively the other day when it snowed here in nyc and was able to handle the box really well. i never felt like out of control or 'i should be extra careful on this turn' because the box did so well. i'm at about 23k miles and on stock tires and seriously, it handled really well. i would not hesitate to take it on a long trip in the snow either.

but like you said, definitely need something beefier when there is a lot of snow. i took my h2 to new hampshire during christmas time and thank god i did. i know the box would not have lasted for 2 minutes there. i mean, it would have lasted, but i probably would have ripped the nose + back bumpers off!!!

;-X