yaris in snow

[OxyG3nE]

i would like to know if someone notice that when u run into snow with the yaris the engine bay become full of snow.. and it make the car a lot of vibration.. thats the first time i see snow in the engine bay ..

[hystria]

low rider :biggrin:

did you check for any snow/ice in the rims ?

[acrbill]

thats really odd. I haven't hit any large snow deposits and now I am sure worried for the day that I do.

[stuffy]

i haven't had this happen ever and this is the second winter for my yaris, we had a heavy snowfall a couple of weeks ago and nothing like that.

[OxyG3nE]

i opened the hood... and there were snow everywhere around the motor .. was really weird as long as it dont break anything.. ill have to take my g/f car when its snowing.. at low speed there is now problem but when i go fast and the car run on 6 inch of snow its like a snow-plough.. im thinking about puttin back the stock spring ...

edit: maybe if i put the : C-One Aluminum Under Panel it would help ...

[XSarge]

We recieved 1.5 feet of snow a few weeks ago and everything went well here. It drove much better than I expected for such a light car.

[Tamago]

the vibration comes from snow in the wheels

[XSarge]

the vibration comes from snow in the wheels
Yep, free wheel weights to throw the balance off.:eek:

[graywolf_14]

I have driven many fwd cars in the snow and the best so far was a ford festiva. And it had a 155/70/12 I believe and I was taking turns at 30 that in a 95 olds cutles I took at 15 and it the curb.

[foober]

We recieved 1.5 feet of snow a few weeks ago and everything went well here. It drove much better than I expected for such a light car.

Thats what I thought. I'm driving my yaris now instead of my four wheel drive tacoma. Its just alot more controlable in snow and ice. I'd advise getting snow tires and you'll be more than fine. I think that guys problem might be he changed his suspension and lowered his car. The stock suspension works great.

[vodkalush]

my question is why are you driving through 6+ inches of snow.. do they not plow around you....??

[graywolf_14]

Maby he is like me and wants to have some fun in the snow before they ruin the roads by plowing.

[XSarge]

my question is why are you driving through 6+ inches of snow.. do they not plow around you....??
Around here it takes days to get all the side streets clear. And the plows usually don't do anything but the main Highways until the snow stops.

[vodkalush]

i see i see... thats crappy

[dandj]

I have not been impressed with the handling in snow. I believe the bridgestone tires to be most of the problem. I think a good set of snows on the front will make all the difference.

[Yaris]

I have not been impressed with the handling in snow. I believe the bridgestone tires to be most of the problem. I think a good set of snows on the front will make all the difference.
It's better with 4 snows. It would be cheaper to buy winter tires than to be liable for a wreck when your insurance company finds out how you drive in snow.

[XSarge]

I think mine drives almost as good as my Neon with snows. The only problem I forsee will be because of the light GVW.

[swng]

I think mine drives almost as good as my Neon with snows. The only problem I forsee will be because of the light GVW.

Nice to know because I have both the Yaris and some snow here. It snowed this morning:wink:!
In fact the Yaris can take your comment as a compliment:smile:. In the review linked below, the Neon is described as handling well in rain and snow, even better than the Yaris' bigger brother, the Corolla. You have to go to the middle of the page where the comparison is and find the relevant comments under the sub-heading "Handling":

http://www.allpar.com/neon/neon2.html

[Violin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/rjenkie/snow4Medium.jpg

[hasher22]

I wish he had snow in sydney.....the joy of calling in late for work... :)

the joy of makin my name in the snow.......in yellow

[spkrman]

I have not been impressed with the handling in snow. I believe the bridgestone tires to be most of the problem. I think a good set of snows on the front will make all the difference.

x2


My 99 monte carlo driven sanely would slide all over the place :(... and my 2wd blazer loves to fishtail... the yaris doesnt require anything special in the snow, but its also not excellent.

With snow tires I think it would be a great winter car, but for my purposes with mostly plowed roads... the stockers hold up great.

[60 Somethings]

My sister says her LB ran really well the last three mornings here in Portland, OR.

Here's a shot of ours earlier this week - it just sat in the drive until yesterday aftenoon.

[palsan]

I wish he had snow in sydney.....

Careful what you wish for ... :wink:

[mikeukrainetz]

The local cleaning crew does a better job of drinking coffee and taking naps in their cabs than plowing.
Weve had over 8 inches of snow in the past 24hrs. Winter tires would make a huge difference over the crappy stock all-seasons. The tread pattern doesnt lend itself well to cleaning themselves out.

I havent had any real problems but the front lip does a great job of skimming about 2 inches off the top of the fresh snow.... I think If I had springs I could plow my own way to work.

[spkrman]

i'd love to see a yaris plow truck, or what would you even call that? a plow sub-compact?

would kinda suck when you get some snow pushin and run out of torque :)

[Black Yaris]

yeah I think the Yaris sucks in the snow, I think it is mostly due to the crappy stock tires, my wife's 03 Alero is 100 times better in the snow than my car, again I think it is all in the tires.
Stock Potenza RE92's have a UTQG of 120
Average all season radial 420
Wife's Potenza G009's have 600
UTQG=Universal Tire Quality Grade

[Jem_hadar]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/rjenkie/snow4Medium.jpg

My sister says her LB ran really well the last three mornings here in Portland, OR.

Here's a shot of ours earlier this week - it just sat in the drive until yesterday aftenoon.

^^ Great photos guys! Love the looks of Yarises covered in snow! :biggrin: :biggrin:

[stuffy]

damn, i was going to take a picture in december when we got 3 feet of snow in one night.
you couldn't actually see much of the car though, just a pile of snow.

i had a late hockey game that night and i had to help push out 5 cars from the parking lot, my yaris with stock tires and one year of wear had no problems, i didnt' get stuck.

[swng]

......................i had a late hockey game that night and i had to help push out 5 cars from the parking lot, my yaris with stock tires and one year of wear had no problems, i didnt' get stuck.

:w00t::clap::thumbup:

[fearturtle44]

Tires would help the Yaris but the Yaris will never be a great "snow" car. That is why the AWD and 4 wheel drive vehicles are out there. But then those cars will never get the MPG as the Yaris. Tradeoff but where I live the snow/ice is not often (though we got snow/ice yesterday).

Kevin

[spkrman]

handled great when I was spinning around a parkin lot yesterday! Thats the best part of snow, and a handbrake :)

[Pars]

AWD isn't the biggest priority for winter conditions, it's the snow tires that are the most important factor. There's too many city slickers driving AWD cars/trucks mated to regular tires who are misguided into thinking they've got a good winter setup. With the AWD system, you might be able to accelerate more quickly on the slick stuff, but it doesn't mean your braking or handling dynamic is any better then the 2 wheel drive. It's the handling and braking capabilities that'll keep you out of the snow filled ditch and snow tires will improve your chances.

I think the Yaris is above average in the snow, even with the small wheelbase (In snow, long wheel base is usually ideal combined with light weight). The Yaris has a good braking system (with the ABS) and good handling dynamics and is very light. All it needs in some snow tires to make it shine.

[sambo42xa]

[COLOR="Red"]I'm in Southern, NH and we have had some light snow here (snow far)...not counting the ice storm we had last week. My Yaris had crap for traction on light snow with the stock tires (GoodYear) that have only 5500 miles on them and my speed was with caution on the back "curvy roads" here in town :iono: . This is my first winter with this car and I was taking it easy to see how she would handle. On straight runs....fine, no problem. And yes, I have traveled these same roads before with previous vehicles with no problems. Maybe I will invest in some winter rubber for next year. Can't afford new rubber at this time right now. I'd like to find a set of rims first :thumbsup: .
I'm not saying the Yaris sucks in the snow, I'm saying mine does not have good traction on crap for snow on curvy roads at cautious speed/s. I got the stock GoodYear on mine. Funny thing is, we have not had a storm yet and it's almost the end of January!!!
....let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.........la,la,la,la,la,la...........
sambo42xa
Southern, NH
21* degree's here right now.

[Pars]

I believe the 07 Yaris, here in Canada, are equipped with Bridgestone Potenza, which are OK in snow for all year tires. It's a good thing that they burn out quickly, since I'm looking forward to replacing them for dedicated winter tires and get a new set of alloys for the summer.

[sambo42xa]

[COLOR="Red"]I'm in Southern, NH and we have had some light snow here (snow far)...not counting the ice storm we had last week. My Yaris had crap for traction on light snow with the stock tires (GoodYear) that have only 5500 miles on them and my speed was with caution on the back "curvy roads" here in town :iono: . This is my first winter with this car and I was taking it easy to see how she would handle. On straight runs....fine, no problem. And yes, I have traveled these same roads before with previous vehicles with no problems. Maybe I will invest in some winter rubber for next year. Can't afford new rubber at this time right now. I'd like to find a set of rims first :thumbsup: .
I'm not saying the Yaris sucks in the snow, I'm saying mine does not have good traction on crap for snow on curvy roads at cautious speed/s. I got the stock GoodYear on mine. Funny thing is, we have not had a storm yet and it's almost the end of January!!!
....let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.........la,la,la,la,la,la...........
sambo42xa
Southern, NH
21* degree's here right now.

"crap for traction", "crap for snow"..........oop's, sorry..for those of you who do not know this slang.....it means " is not worth S H I T". Just in case you were wondering. :confused:

[qpid]

^^ Great photos guys! Love the looks of Yarises covered in snow! :biggrin: :biggrin:


We have plenty of snow here in Michigan.
Here's a short vid of my Yaris getting snowed upon. BTW the garage was full so that's why the my poor Yaris is out in the cold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-I9TkytHM

[mkaresh]

I have not been impressed with the handling in snow. I believe the bridgestone tires to be most of the problem. I think a good set of snows on the front will make all the difference.

If snow traction is poor, it's usually the tires. Just about any winter tire will be a large improvement. I live near Detroit, and just don't get why so few people buy winter tires. Sure, they're inconvenient, but the improvement in safety is dramatic.

[Pars]

We just had really nasty weather here in Toronto and I was in the thick of it for most of the night. My Yaris is running on the stock Potenza tires and they've got 35,000km of hard use on them, so they're well past the half life. It was awful, not the snow traction, but all the ice build-up on the windshield whle on the go. The -45C wiper fluid wasn't working and I went through a 4 gallon bottle in 30min, then had to make an emergence stop at a service station to buy another bottle of wiper fluid. The new bottle was rated -40C and did a worst job at keeping the ice off the windshield. :help:

Even with constant use of the wiper fluid, I was still driving half blind..very dangerous... In my 20+ years of driving, I've never had it that bad with ice forming on the windshield and the weather wasn't' even that cold (at only -6C while doing about 70km/hr on the highway). After last night's miserable winter performance, my next car is going to have heated mirror and I'm going to have to experiment with different brands of wiper fluid to find a good that can keep the ice off the windshield and then stock up on it.

Regarding handling in the snow, the car was awesome but only at speeds under 60km/hr. Braking was good, the rear end stayed planted during rapid turn-ins (it could be better, but for a short wheels base car, surprisingly stable), controlling the rear end with the hand brakes was predictable and intuitive, ABS did a good job at stopping the car, especially when steering clear at the same time (however, it be nice if the system shut itself off at speeds under 3km/hr). Initial take-off traction was very poor and having to keep the speed down to about 60km/hr was pathetic, but a good set of snow tires should fix that problem.

[YANGSTER]

We just had really nasty weather here in Toronto and I was in the thick of it for most of the night. My Yaris is running on the stock Potenza tires and they've got 35,000km of hard use on them, so they're well past the half life. It was awful, not the snow traction, but all the ice build-up on the windshield whle on the go. The -45C wiper fluid wasn't working and I went through a 4 gallon bottle in 30min, then had to make an emergence stop at a service station to buy another bottle of wiper fluid. The new bottle was rated -40C and did a worst job at keeping the ice off the windshield. :help:

Even with constant use of the wiper fluid, I was still driving half blind..very dangerous... In my 20+ years of driving, I've never had it that bad with ice forming on the windshield and the weather wasn't' even that cold (at only -6C while doing about 70km/hr on the highway). After last night's miserable winter performance, my next car is going to have heated mirror and I'm going to have to experiment with different brands of wiper fluid to find a good that can keep the ice off the windshield and then stock up on it.

Regarding handling in the snow, the car was awesome but only at speeds under 60km/hr. Braking was good, the rear end stayed planted during rapid turn-ins (it could be better, but for a short wheels base car, surprisingly stable), controlling the rear end with the hand brakes was predictable and intuitive, ABS did a good job at stopping the car, especially when steering clear at the same time (however, it be nice if the system shut itself off at speeds under 3km/hr). Initial take-off traction was very poor and having to keep the speed down to about 60km/hr was pathetic, but a good set of snow tires should fix that problem.

Snowed on the 18th here in Tdot? i didnt remember that....but i do remember few weeks back....DA MONDAY....it took me 2.5 hr to get to work (usually 55 min.)
Seeing all the lamps on the QE went out at once this moring was priceless (small blackout to refresh ur memory).
I'll take a pic when i got sometime in the morning....i pretty much have to swipe my car every morning for the past 3 weeks.

for the windshield....try some rainix product or the rainix washerfluid...it works out great for me.

[spkrman]

heated mirrors... yes... without a doubt! This is something I could definitely go for, and something I'm gonna have to look into.

[Jem_hadar]

We have plenty of snow here in Michigan.
Here's a short vid of my Yaris getting snowed upon. BTW the garage was full so that's why the my poor Yaris is out in the cold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-I9TkytHM

OH we got a crap load of snow here in Collingwood, Ontario now!

Feet and feet and feet. Its awesome!

Snow squall warnings here all yesterday, today and tomorrow! NICE!

Cant wait for more. We've been too long w/o it so far this winter.

So long as it starts to disappear around march and april, im content :smile:

[YANGSTER]

Hamilton got a huge dump yesterday. here is the result.
Snow Day!!!!

[Violin]

We had a nasty ice/snow storm overnight. The roads were about as bad as I've ever seen them. My Yaris was surprisingly competent with the stock Potenzas and ABS.

[YANGSTER]

We had a nasty ice/snow storm overnight. The roads were about as bad as I've ever seen them. My Yaris was surprisingly competent with the stock Potenzas and ABS.

i think it was the same system....we got abt 70 cm or 28" yesterday.
Cheers.

[hystria]

I have not been impressed with the handling in snow. I believe the bridgestone tires to be most of the problem. I think a good set of snows on the front will make all the difference.

don't ever think of using OEM tires in snow. Times are changing, soon there will be no need to have 2 sets of tires for different driving conditions. Here's a hint, Nokian sells the very first REAL all-season (in fact they call it all-weather) tire, the WR with a thread wear of 50000miles. It is the only one in the world to have realistic performance for the summer AND the winter weather. http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/hl/nokian.htm

I have the Michelin Harmony all-season tires on my Yaris. Here in Montreal there's no need to ask for arctic temperatures or snow/icy/slush driving conditions. No question, the Harmony doesn't perform as good as a good winter tire, but up to now they feel safe enough to run through the winter. And in dry weather they perform just wonderful and the thread wear is 80000miles :thumbup:

hope this helps :wink:

[boris13]

don't ever think of using OEM tires in snow. Times are changing, soon there will be no need to have 2 sets of tires for different driving conditions. Here's a hint, Nokian sells the very first REAL all-season (in fact they call it all-weather) tire, the WR with a thread wear of 50000miles. It is the only one in the world to have realistic performance for the summer AND the winter weather.

I would think that the Nokian WR tires, coupled with the addition of a rear anti-sway bar, would make the Yaris very decent in the snow.

[firefly1_0]

a heavy rear sway bar in the back would make the rear end break loose even more then without one.

[Jem_hadar]

Hamilton got a huge dump yesterday. here is the result.
Snow Day!!!!

Freaking NIIICE! I love the look of fresh snow on the the world (and a Yaris)

[hystria]

The Yaris handle very well in the snow, it is stable and the rear end doesn't break loose at all - everything is stock except the tires. The only issue is traction, the car weights nothing. One thing to mention too, the clutch was already not very easy to use on dry, now if the car is stuck in the snow it is hard as heck to get out because of the way the clutch grips - it looks like it's hard to have the wheels turning at a low speed.
Here is a pic taken this morning :smile:

[Jem_hadar]

Here is a pic taken this morning :smile:

^5 solid.
Lets keep the Yaris in snowy world pictures comin'! :smile: :wink:

[boris13]

a heavy rear sway bar in the back would make the rear end break loose even more then without one.


So you're saying that adding a rear sway bar would be useless? Or should a thicker-than-stock front sway bar be added as well, if a rear bar is installed?

[Violin]

The rear sway bar does help to keep the front wheels where you want them though. I've never spun out in a front wheel drive car (but that's not to say I never will).

[firefly1_0]

So you're saying that adding a rear sway bar would be useless? Or should a thicker-than-stock front sway bar be added as well, if a rear bar is installed?

in slippery/snowy conditions yes, i think a heavy one is a waste of time...

in some cases a front sway is usless...

in my racecar i have a 24mm sway bar in the rear and the stock 15mm in the front. if the track is hot i remove the front one and its all the more better.

[Pars]

Snowed on the 18th here in Tdot? i didnt remember that....but i do remember few weeks back....DA MONDAY....it took me 2.5 hr to get to work (usually 55 min.)
Seeing all the lamps on the QE went out at once this moring was priceless (small blackout to refresh ur memory).
I'll take a pic when i got sometime in the morning....i pretty much have to swipe my car every morning for the past 3 weeks.

for the windshield....try some rainix product or the rainix washerfluid...it works out great for me.

Hey Yangster, I would have liked to the all the lights go off the QEW after the provinial-wide power blitz. I recall 2003 N.America blackout, I acutally went cruising downtown/gardiner just to witness the chaos...priceless.

I'll give RainiX a try. The last time I tried it, I didn't like it, but that was during summer, I'll have to re-visit.

[hystria]

rain-x it's amazing
it never freezes on the windshield

[Pars]

The rear sway bar does help to keep the front wheels where you want them though. I've never spun out in a front wheel drive car (but that's not to say I never will).

I've had my share of unplanned spin-outs in a front-drive. Not a pleasant experience. If the conditions are slick, having a rear end that stays planted is a priority. With the rear drive, the accelerator will tell how much glue you got in the rear end, not so with the front drive and when it brakes loose, it does so with very little warning (assuming slick condition)... If you live up north and plan to get oversized swaybars in the rear, good luck to ya...

[eTiMaGo]

See, this is where heavy 20" rims and 500lb of stereo equipment would come in handy... snow traction! :laugh:

[boris13]

The TRD rear sway bar is not "heavy" or "oversize," is it? Again, I would think that adding that piece, along with better tires, should provide a handling improvement in slippery conditions.

If I am off base here, feel free to just tell me, "hey, you're nuts!" :)

[Pars]

I think the 07 Yaris doesn't have an extra rear sway bar, in which case adding one in should cause a noticeable change to the car's dynamic. Perhaps with summer tires, it might make for some fun, not sure about the winter. If you do try it, let us know.