yaris in snow

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by qpid

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

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[hystria]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

hope this helps

[boris13]

Originally Posted by hystria

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]

Originally Posted by YANGSTER

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

[Jem_hadar]

Originally Posted by hystria

Here is a pic taken this morning

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

[boris13]

Originally Posted by firefly1_0

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]

Originally Posted by boris13

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]

Originally Posted by YANGSTER

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.