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

[BluYrs]

The above seems very true. The Yaris lets the driver know in good time when things are going to get difficult so you have enough time to react and slow down. It also tracks well and even though the feedback through the electronically powered steering is somewhat vague, it's easy to keep in check.