Hazardous Road Ride Report

[DMZ]

I recently purchased a 2007 Yaris LB. As I perused through the threads on this forum I have read mixed reviews concerning handling on wet/snowy/icy roads. So, I decided to take it up in the mountains near my home and give it a test on different road conditions. It was a perfect day for it, as there was snow in the mountains last night, but the sun was out this morning so the road surface would be variable.

I did my test on a rolling two lane State Route where the altitude starts at 1,800' and climbs to 5,400' at the summit of a pass. The road had been plowed once, but was not sanded.

My car is stock LB with nearly new Michelin Harmony All-Season radial tires on it.

I have lived in the PNW my entire life and consider myself a very experienced winter/mountain pass driver.

Here are my observations:

Wet road with some slush patches - no problems when I reduced speed to 50 mph.

Slush with compact snow in shady portions - no problems, reduced speed to 40-45 mph

Hard compact snow and ice - At speeds > 45 mph there was a wiggle in the rearend. 35 -40 mph, the car tracked very well and felt secure.

Fresh snow(1") on compact snow and ice - kept speeds at 30-35 mph and experienced no problems. Higher speeds and the back end wants to come around.

All in all I found the Yaris to be a good performer on snowy/icy roads w/o dedicated snow tire or studs. I think the key is to keep the speeds down, be smooth and light on the brake/throttle, and use the handy 3rd gear lock on the down hills. The Yaris gives good road feedback and lets you know when things are getting a little to loose.

I give it