had 6" to 8" when I woke this morning. Drove a round a bit. The car seemed to handel the snow pretty well, even though it has TRD lowering springs and 18s. Has some snow plowing issues, but I guess that is what happens when the snow is higher than the lowest part of your car. Other wise decent experience. The traction control however does not seem to work as well as I expected in deep slush.

 

where do you live?

i was up on Mt Hood, OR earlier in the month and had no problems climbing a steep windy road.

I have stock wheels and tires w/ TRD springs and did some plowing as well. i suspect the
tires you have prolly don't help out much in the snow as well

jim

 

I live in Reno, NV. I have sumitomo 205/r35/18.
When I say the traction control wasn't working as well as I hope, it was more of something I had tried so that I could see what would happen.
Basically, coming around a corner I floored it to see what happened. Pretty much felt like any other car without traction control. Maybe it is not suppose to make that much of a difference. Don't know. Still not complaining. I love my box.
Getting 30 mpg fwy and have only 1200 miles. That is way better than what I was getting in my GTI (18mpg @ ~1200 miles)

 

I also live in Reno and woke up to the same amount of snow. The car does not go up little hills on a standstill (unless you have studs or chains). I almost got myself stuck getting out by my parents house. The traction control doesn't work that well but i found that using minimal throttle works best in conjunction with traction control to limit wheelspin on acceleration. The VSC does work quite well if your slipping around. But the VSC won't save your life if you're driving to fast (tested in a parking lot) ... when there's snow. drive safe and slow. Hey erichlf - i drove down mccarran and saw 2 accidents and 3 cars/trucks/suv's down the ravine. The black ice was nasty at 4pm.

 

Snow? What's snow? I have never been in the snow except for when I was 2. Does Vegas get snow 2???

 

Well, it's not really designed for flooring it around a corner. Only an LSD would give you the kind of hook up you were probably expecting in that scenario.

All TRAC does is modulate the brakes and reduce engine output to limit wheelspin, it can't prevent it, all it can do is slow the wheels down a bit until one of them gains traction again. Flooring it around a corner hardly gives it a change to do that.

When you actually need it, starting (gently) from a stop on a snowy hill, for example, it does it's job well.

 

snow in reno? huh.

 

duh! when you have 18's on- your going to little to no traction in snow - because they are designed for summer use!

 

Your kidding right?
Reno is at 4500 Feet.
Tahoe is 30 minutes away.
Ever heard of the Donner Party?
Donner pass is about 25- 30 minutes away.
If you have not heard of the Donner Party do a search on google.

 

I wondered about the traction control myself a few days ago: I was in an unpaved city lot, (trying to find the right spot for the image you see as my avatar here), and on my way out of the lot started spinning the drive wheels in the mud. Throwing mud up all over everything like a monster truck!

After reading nest's comment above about the TRAC, I guess maybe I was just gunning it too hard there. Otherwise I've been impressed with the way this thing handles in the slick spots.

(Detroit is still waiting for the real snow to show up, though)

 

I just ordered 4 snows for mine. You wouldn't imagine how hard it was to find snows in the factory 185/60-15 size.

Everyone I called kept saying " You have a Neon, don't you?" I would say "No, a Scion." They would say "A, what??" :?:

 

We got a few inches in Minnesota. My traction control did its job. The TCS light came on a few times when I hit ice. I had no real problem's. In the summer it was fun getting that thing to light up when i was taking loverleafs....now it doesnt seem to light us as much as it did in the summer.

 

yeah, Trac and VSC are there to ASSIST the driver. . . not save him/her. Try getting up to 100mph, and then turning the wheel full left. Just see the lights flash before your eyes, as well as your entire life. SUV or not, snow = bad traction. Get good tires and you'll be fine. There was a motortrend article a few years back that compared a Ford Explorer with a Honda Accord, both with snow tires. Guess which one handled, braked, and in general held the best composure and stability? THE ACCORD. 4WD is about getting good traction for acceleration, but when it comes to stopping or turning, it does absolutely squat. And a higher stance may give you ground clearance in deep snow, but in regular snow, lower = better balance = better traction. Yes, ideally in bad weather, you'd want an SUV. But an SUV isn't always necessarily safer. But in the end, it's the tires that count the most, that and how you drive.

 

Yea, I'm not a big fan of the tires the car came with. I dont use them in the summer, but right now I'm noticing the tires suck.

 

Check your owners manual regarding traction control. It states to turn it off when you are trying get out a pile of snow or mud.

 

Good thing to know, since my complex didn't plow.