I'm thinking about selling my Jeep Liberty (15 MPG-Best) for an XA (38 MPG

Before I do this I would like some input from XA owners who have driven this past winter in the snow.

Is the XA (5-Speed) capable of making it through this, or is this a pipe dream.

Feedback appreciated

 

I sold a 4X4 truck back in December to buy my xA. I live in the Northeast, so we do get snow. When I got the xA, I new I wanted to upgrade to 16" rims, so I did a bunch of reading about all-season tires. I didn't want to have to switch tires around for winter and summer. I decided on Falken Ziex ZE-512. They have been a GREAT tire for me. They do very well in the rain, dry, or snow. I had a chance to drive my xA in 11" of snow this past winter, and it did just fine. No problems at all. I absolutely love my xA. Selling the truck and buying my little car was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 

i dont like driving in the snow because everytime i do i get some @#%%hole who speeds past me and slings snow all over me almost causing me tot lose control. how are they able to go that fast in the snow

 

They can go that fast using one or both of these methods:

a) lack of sense
b) snow tires

 

You forgot one option:

c) Subaru

:D

 

it will do fine at stock heigth if you get a 5 spd you probly already know to start out in 2nd gear for the most traction

 

very true

personally I apply methods b) and c) and can quite easily do 50mph in a heavy snow storm on the highway while most everyone else is doing 30 because they don't realise how much of a difference snow tires make. But one must not fall into the trap of a). I slow down when there's high closing rates to traffic, or lots of traffic, or if the snow starts getting deep, etc.

unfortunately my 93 Legacy is dying due to unavoidable side-effects of getting on 200,000 miles old, so am looking at an xA. Very conveniently, my Subaru snow tires will fit the stock xA rims perfectly.

I expect that the xA with snows will do just fine in snow.

Has anyone out there run snow tires on their Scions?

 

It will be an interesting thing to see what will happen with my xA this winter. 2 inch drop and studded snow tires will make for an interesting combination.

 

FYI - If your looking for great snow tires try the Cooper Snow Tires "Weather-Master ST/2". I put over 10,000 miles on these last winter in the NorthEast on my XB. FYI my other vehicle is a 4wd GMC Yukon.

I bought an extra set of rims and put 4 on my XB last year. They wear like iron, as they are not as soft a compound as the Blizzaks, etc.. The Cooper tires are a lot less $$$ than the Blizzaks and others and I would rate them excellent in the snow. The tires can be studded, but that makes any tire much noiser. I called Cooper and they talked me out of studding. It was the right decision because these tires are great.

Also there are not a lot of Tire Companies that sell the stock size snow tire. I would stick to the stock size as narrower is better in snow. The Coopers are true Snow tires - in my opinion all of the "All-Season Tires" are a compromise and none compare with a true snow.

They are slightly noisier than the stock tires (as all snow tires will be) and I lost about 1 mpg on the highway. Also you want to remove when the weather gets warm because these are not made to take the high summer temps.

Hope this information is helpful.

 

If your careful, you should be fine because the last winter I drove the scion with bald tires..... No issues and mine is lowered with tein s-tech.

 

I don't know where you're going to get the 38mpg that you believe the xA gets. Yes it's capable of it... but I believe it's with a manual transmission and some very VERY modest driving.

 

Snow is not a problem at all for the xA. Never once was I stuck last year, and I like to compare that to my old boss with her H2 who was stuck two or three times. Winter driving has more to do with the good sense of the driver than the capability of the vehicle.

That said, I will make one reccomendation to you:

Get snow tires. I used Bridgestone Blizzaks on the stock 15 inch rims, and just bought 17s with summer tires in the spring. No compromises on either end that way, you see?

Other than that, just use good sense, and realize that the white fluffy stuff is actually very slippery. Take it easy around corners, keep the revs low, and start to slow down very early for stops.