Snow soon to fall, some questions...

[narly charley]

Alrighty guys... I live in the "rust belt" and I haven't driven a Yaris in the snow yet... I live one mile south of Lake Michigan, so we get a LOT of lake affect snow, I live in the "snow belt" of Indiana. I've driven small FWD vehicles in the snow, but nothing this small or light.

What is to be expected with ice/snow/slush with the Yaris?

I'm a smart driver, I was just wanting sort of a "heads up" before nature takes an albino shit on the Chicago area. Thanks!!

[david_827]

i live in the northeast and we get pounded by snow as well, especially the ocean affect snow. As long as you've got good tires and drive carefully you should be fine. My Yaris took last years New England winter like a champ

[suckerface]

+1 on the tires. I commuted from Madison to Milwaukee last year, and didn't have any real problems. I've moved into Milwaukee since, and still, with Bridgstone Blizzaks, have yet to come anywhere near getting stuck. Just drive smart, and you'll be fine.

[CTScott]

+2 on the tires. I found my 09 daily driver to be decent on its stock tires and excellent once I bought a set of true snows. The Yaris really does well in snow with having so much weight right over the front axles. Crashy, my snowplowing Yaris is truly a testament to that. She has plowed over 3 feet of snow with no issues.

[Hershey]

Have the Blizzaks for the sedan . Good traction for those poor conditions .

[mryaris]

Another vote for dedicated snow tires. It's a different car with snow tires.

[narly charley]

Alrighty, thanks guys!

[daf62757]

Originally Posted by narly charley

Alrighty guys... I live in the "rust belt" and I haven't driven a Yaris in the snow yet... I live one mile south of Lake Michigan, so we get a LOT of lake affect snow, I live in the "snow belt" of Indiana. I've driven small FWD vehicles in the snow, but nothing this small or light.

What is to be expected with ice/snow/slush with the Yaris?

I'm a smart driver, I was just wanting sort of a "heads up" before nature takes an albino shit on the Chicago area. Thanks!!

I drive to Chicago once a week from Indy and never have any problem. I am guessing you live near Portage so you have to deal with the Lake Effect Snow. You shouldn't have any problems. Just drive with caution and try not to stop on hills!

[Astroman]

Tires do make all the difference! I picked up 4 nearly new studded tires a couple of years ago for $50. Only got stuck once in a gals parking lot because I parked on ice, it got some sun, and the drive wheel sunk. A shovel and some kitty litter and I was free. There are some pretty gnarly mountain passes and where I live they didn't plow last year and I was fine.

[Hershey]

Originally Posted by Hershey

Have the Blizzaks for the sedan . Good traction for those poor conditions .

The sedan has the 70s' and the '11 FIT has the 60s' . The space between the tread of the 70 is wider than the 60 . That should help discard snow from the tire better . The 70s' were originally on a 2010 3 door we had . They did very well in an ice storm of early 2011 .

[Hershey]

We had studded tires , but they were scuffing up the new driveway . They were the Cooper Weathermaster ST-2s' , sold those to someone we know that has an 2010 YARIS 3 door that's used for his business . Could get up hills that he couldn't climb in previous years . Would run those if not for the driveway . If no driveway to be concerned about , get studded for extra insurance . Still stop / grip better on ice than the Blizzaks and other non studeed snows .

[Hershey]

The extra $40 for getting 4 tires studded is cheaper than kissing a guard rail or other that could cause thousands in damage due to all season tires . Even injury or worse .