How does your Yaris handle in the snow?

[Killchain]

Actually we had a minor snow on Thanksgiving morning. Light snow with freezing ice with some black ice. I had to work the morning shift. Snow was in interstate highway going to my job.
I slowed down to about 40 mph.
I did feel slop going through slush, as traffic was around me I slowed down to 25 mph, yet the Yaris was in control.

Everyone had troubles, I got to work fine.

http://uptown.kob.com/content/snow-s...c-thanksgiving

[R2D2]

I'm constantly amazed how good this car is in the snow/slush/ice. Even with the stock all seasons (RE-92).

[3dr5speedblk]

We had a ice storm here last wkend ,worst in years!!
at least Thats what the local media said!! ha...ha...

My Htchbk did well!! People were driving with there 4WAYS on!
This thing is like 4w drive!!

[MUSKOKA800]

The car works fine in snow. The OEM sneakers don't. Get winter boots and laugh at snow!

[mo_feezy]

After a few years, my '08 S Sedan seems to do pretty well. Last winter was a really rough one, and the only time I really had any trouble was when the snow was higher than the front bumper of the car. Otherwise it's been fine.

One thing I do is set it to the '2' second gear position on the shifter when I start driving so the front wheel seems to spin slower which limits the slippage I get.

[teddy]

The stock all seasons are just awful in the cold. They slip under moderate acceleration even on dry pavement. Wet/snowy pavement feels like there is no traction at all when accelerating, especially when the car has 4 adults. Braking is surprisingly ok, but that might be in part to the ABS.

Luckily I got winter tires the first winter we had the car, so I've not had to do any real amounts of snow/ice on the stock tires. Winter tires are leaps and bounds better. On ice things are still slippery, braking and accelerating. In snow, even pretty heavy snow, the little car gets the job done quite well. Dry pavement is a beauty.

When conditions are crappy I do drive at low speeds with the shifter in the second gear position. It revs higher but I feel like there is less slippage and the engine braking helps a great deal in stopping.

[Ah Yum]

Originally Posted by teddy

The stock all seasons are just awful in the cold. They slip under moderate acceleration even on dry pavement. Wet/snowy pavement feels like there is no traction at all when accelerating, especially when the car has 4 adults. Braking is surprisingly ok, but that might be in part to the ABS.

Luckily I got winter tires the first winter we had the car, so I've not had to do any real amounts of snow/ice on the stock tires. Winter tires are leaps and bounds better. On ice things are still slippery, braking and accelerating. In snow, even pretty heavy snow, the little car gets the job done quite well. Dry pavement is a beauty.

When conditions are crappy I do drive at low speeds with the shifter in the second gear position. It revs higher but I feel like there is less slippage and the engine braking helps a great deal in stopping.

+1 on winter tires vs stock all season. On winter tires it's quite tossable with confidence, though steering is vague and easy to over or under correct when going sideways. Properly equipped, it's quite an enjoyable car on ice and snow.

[Livo]

Consumer Reports helped me decide on General Artics with Studs. I just went up and down a 4400-ft mountain pass with few drive miles of clear pavement. I had way too much fun. I love this car!!!

[Maitre_Te_Te]

I Use Nokian Hakka 5 studed and my impression or this moment...... VERY NICE

[ddeschen]

Been driving for 40 years and this is the worse car I ever had to drive on an icy or "slushy" slab. OK in snow, not great but OK.

On ice or slush with light to very light cross winds, I feel being on a very delicate balance where I drive with 4 fingers on the steering and super smooth acceleration and braking (which is BTW the easiest part with ABS...). I clearly feel the back end very loose and asking only for a stiffer move of the steering to go in place of front end.

Did my homework; tried different tire pressures to end up with 32F 30R, alignment well within specs (checked 2 different places), no tire deformation for the Toyo GO2+, tried 2 x 50lb sand bags in the trunk, all with no significant improvement.

Now, the potential culprit(s)... My guess:

Light car combined with;
Cross winds pretty high sensitivity and;
185-60-15 (recommended) tires that are too large for winter driving. The car is so light and with this tire size it "floats" on the slippery surface.

Now your opinions...

[BluYrs]

It does float a bit, as said above. But much of it is the way the car feels- the road feel is just not as good as on bigger cars, so many times you feel the car is loose, it's actually not. That said, the car is easy to master in extreme situations and it's quite predictable- so you won't find yourself going sideways without any prior warning.

I have to say my Yaris handles fine in snow. It's got enough clearance to get through most of the snowy patches here (and we usually have a lot)- compared to my gf's New Beetle, it's an SUV. Because it's so light, you don't really get stuck. The other side of the coin is that you'll be going at a pedestrian pace at best, but at least you know you'll eventually get through.

Due to the car being so light, good winter tires are a major factor. So don't be coy to shell out some extra $$ on better tires- you'll be thanking yourself later. I have to admit I'm using the same winter tires for the 4th winter and even though there's plenty of tread left, the feel is just not the same. Will be getting new ones for next winter for sure.

[Idahotom]

I had a long drive the other day across the high desert, on sloppy heavy intermittant snow over asphalt. No wind anyway. I was surprised how well the Yaris did, that kind of sloppy snow can really be a challange in anything. It seemed to cut right through it. I have the stock tires and I run them at 44 lbs.

I have a GREAT winter car,an '89 Toyota All Trac, so have no reason to gear the Yaris up for winter ops, and besides, even with the best of the best in tires, ground/snow clearance would quickly become an issue.

Just the other day we had a black ice situation here, you could NOT see it, no gleam or anything, and I blew off the off ramp I use all the time to get to work. As I was going off in the barrow pit at 35 mph, and trying to remember if there was a steep dropoff or whatever, I was glad I was in the trusty All Trac if for no other reason then I only have 800 bucks invested! Turns out the barrow pit was no problem, in fact I never slowed below 25 before doing a 180 and getting back on the ramp. I'm sure anyone who saw it was amused at my quick recovery and prompt getting back to business as usual. I was in two wheel drive BTW. Didn't even scratch it!

[Eatoman]

Having driven a 4 X 4 for the past 13 years, I can honestly say that I really really miss it! :( Yesterday was the first time I took out the Yaris in 20+ cm of snow, and I had a hard time! Almost got stuck twice at a stop light in traffic, and I DID get stuck in the parking lot at work for a good 10 minutes. As yaris2010rs stated above, the ground clearance REALLY sucks on this car. It is way too low in heavy snow. I do have winter tires on, which helps the car trudge along, but I can't even imagine the nightmare it would be to drive this car with all seasons!

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by ddeschen

Been driving for 40 years and this is the worse car I ever had to drive on an icy or "slushy" slab. OK in snow, not great but OK.

On ice or slush with light to very light cross winds, I feel being on a very delicate balance where I drive with 4 fingers on the steering and super smooth acceleration and braking (which is BTW the easiest part with ABS...). I clearly feel the back end very loose and asking only for a stiffer move of the steering to go in place of front end.

Did my homework; tried different tire pressures to end up with 32F 30R, alignment well within specs (checked 2 different places), no tire deformation for the Toyo GO2+, tried 2 x 50lb sand bags in the trunk, all with no significant improvement.

Now, the potential culprit(s)... My guess:

Light car combined with;
Cross winds pretty high sensitivity and;
185-60-15 (recommended) tires that are too large for winter driving. The car is so light and with this tire size it "floats" on the slippery surface.

Now your opinions...

It's not the car as much as it is the crappy stock tires. The stock tires are among the worse rated for snow, well actually for anything. Only summer tires are worse in the snow.

It's essential to throw on snow tires, especially when you're in Canada.

I have a Wrangler (wife's really) and a Yaris that I put winter rubber on.

Guess what I take out in the snow? The Yaris! Yup, you read that right!

[Betrivent]

Originally Posted by Idahotom

I had a long drive the other day across the high desert, on sloppy heavy intermittant snow over asphalt. No wind anyway. I was surprised how well the Yaris did, that kind of sloppy snow can really be a challange in anything. It seemed to cut right through it. I have the stock tires and I run them at 44 lbs.

I have a GREAT winter car,an '89 Toyota All Trac, so have no reason to gear the Yaris up for winter ops, and besides, even with the best of the best in tires, ground/snow clearance would quickly become an issue.

Just the other day we had a black ice situation here, you could NOT see it, no gleam or anything, and I blew off the off ramp I use all the time to get to work. As I was going off in the barrow pit at 35 mph, and trying to remember if there was a steep dropoff or whatever, I was glad I was in the trusty All Trac if for no other reason then I only have 800 bucks invested! Turns out the barrow pit was no problem, in fact I never slowed below 25 before doing a 180 and getting back on the ramp. I'm sure anyone who saw it was amused at my quick recovery and prompt getting back to business as usual. I was in two wheel drive BTW. Didn't even scratch it!

... 44LBs!?!?!?

[derickveliz2]

.

If the snow is 5" deep or less it handles very good, snow tires are a must!

D.

[yaristotle]

Yaris is very capable of doing complete 360's on Ice...fun if you don't end up in ditch

[ddeschen]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

It's not the car as much as it is the crappy stock tires. The stock tires are among the worse rated for snow, well actually for anything. Only summer tires are worse in the snow.

It's essential to throw on snow tires, especially when you're in Canada.

Got snow tires Toyo Go2+ and got rid of stock tires when I Bought the car.