Snow driving

[PayteKrum]

What drive mode do y'all recommend? Comfort, eco, smart or custom?

 

[n8hegr8]

i would say it doesnt matter. ive heard before though that you can take some pressure out of the tires and it grips a little better. dont quote me on that. ive tried comfort, sport, and eco. no difference. still slip and slides with awd and all season tires.

 

[PayteKrum]

i would say it doesnt matter. ive heard before though that you can take some pressure out of the tires and it grips a little better. dont quote me on that. ive tried comfort, sport, and eco. no difference. still slip and slides with awd and all season tires.

Not horrible horrible in the snow? I live in Wisconsin and we got lots of snow sometimes.

 

[Grump]

Comfort with the guests in the car, sport when its just me (for fun!). I consider the 40/60 split of comfort/eco beneficial. Car is a tank in the snow with AWD and proper snowies, the nannies are surprisingly good. Don't lower your pressure, you want the tires to cut through the snow to reach the road surface.

 

[D.J.]

Don't lower your pressure, you want the tires to cut through the snow to reach the road surface.

+1 on that...

Even says so right in the manual.

 

[Snicklefritz]

when the roads turn to crap I use smart mode and don't touch the paddle shifters. the car supposedly monitors your driving style and anticipates shifting points based on 'the record'. anyway why not give the assist a chance? if you use smart and it never breaks above 'eco' then you are being the conservative driver that you ought to be in winter conditions. awd and a/s tires work fine as long as you have adequate tread depth and stay off the hills if possible. awd is especially good when starting to move, it is no advantage coming down a slope or cornering (at least not much, don't let awd make you cocky).

 

[7Andrei7]

+1 on that...

Even says so right in the manual.

I'm sorry, max 120 km/h?
I always assumed snow tires are the same as winter tires. But now I'm thinking snow tires = studded tires?

 

[D.J.]

I'm sorry, max 120 km/h?
I always assumed snow tires are the same as winter tires. But now I'm thinking snow tires = studded tires?

This statement is not much different than saying - "follow all local speed limits".

Studded tires are addressed on a different page.

 

[Redleg94]

If you aren't consistently driving on snow- or ice-covered roads and you have AWD, you really don't need "snow" tires. If you want something better than an all season, but don't want a full on snow tire, look for an all weather tire. Those are fully winter rated but won't fall apart when it starts to get above 50F. For MOST of us who live where there is an actual winter it's a good choice for winter if you're swapping to a summer tire for the rest of the year.

 

[Stephen Brubaker]

I have two sets of wheels and tires for my Stinger. Have the oem staggered 19 inch summer tires and I bought a set of 18 inch with snow and ice tires. Even though I have snow tires on, I never drive my Stinger in really bad snow conditions unless I have too. I do most of my winter driving with my Mazda CX-5. My GT does have AWD.

 

[Transmetal]

I run snow tires on both the Stinger and our Jeep Grand Cherokee. There is a significant difference, anybody that says otherwise hasn't done a lot of driving in the snow with snow tires. I live in MN, we see a lot of snow, maybe not Buffalo NY type snow but we see a lot. The first winter I got the Stinger (2020) I just ran the stock 19s. It was ok but we really didn't get a lot of snow that year. Fast forward to this year.



We had a storm a few weeks ago, dropped about a foot of snow. My car made it through with no issues, as I'm seeing Jeeps, and pickup trucks spun out in ditches on the freeway. Obviously, driving too fast is a factor but my car is definitely more planted and stable with the snow tires. Plus, I run 18" squared with G70 wheels. I wouldn't go back to running the regular tires in the winter on any car I own. Obviously, not everybody has the space/money to run and store 2 sets of wheels and if you don't get much snow where you live then they probably aren't needed but I'm glad I made the switch.

 

[Thomby]

+1 on that...
Even says so right in the manual.

I know deflating snows for more grip is an old wives' tale, but 4 psi more than (already on the high side) stock seems wild. 40-42 psi snow tires?

when the roads turn to crap I use smart mode and don't touch the paddle shifters. the car supposedly monitors your driving style and anticipates shifting points based on 'the record'. anyway why not give the assist a chance? if you use smart and it never breaks above 'eco' then you are being the conservative driver that you ought to be in winter conditions. awd and a/s tires work fine as long as you have adequate tread depth and stay off the hills if possible. awd is especially good when starting to move, it is no advantage coming down a slope or cornering (at least not much, don't let awd make you cocky).

How do you know when it "breaks above eco"? Accent colors get more aggressive? Haven't spent enough time in that mode to notice.

 

[D.J.]

I know deflating snows for more grip is an old wives' tale, but 4 psi more than (already on the high side) stock seems wild. 40-42 psi snow tires?

yup - that what the manual says.

Other sites echo the same

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=168#:~:text=Several%20vehicle%20manufacturer's%20owner's%20manuals,summer%20and%20all%2Dseason%20tires.

 

[Rodtheviking]

I'm sorry, max 120 km/h?
I always assumed snow tires are the same as winter tires. But now I'm thinking snow tires = studded tires?

A dedicated "snow" tire will have a very soft rubber compound, so I can see wanting to limit your speed. And when the temps get above 40 or so, you would want to remove them anyway. Studded tires can have a higher speed rating and a different compound. I would just go by what the speed rating of your particular tire says. I had some Hakkapeliitta tires that were only rated for 100mph at one time. But I sure wouldn't want to go 100 on some squishy and vague tires.

 

[Snicklefritz]

How do you know when it "breaks above eco"? Accent colors get more aggressive? Haven't spent enough time in that mode to notice.

when you accelerate moderately the drive mode shifts from 'eco' to 'comfort', it's not just the accent color bar. it will stay in comfort for a few seconds before dropping back to eco if you are driving sedately. if you are driving aggressively enough to stay in comfort for a while it won't reduce to eco right away either, sometimes takes half a minute give or take.

 

[7Andrei7]

A dedicated "snow" tire will have a very soft rubber compound, so I can see wanting to limit your speed. And when the temps get above 40 or so, you would want to remove them anyway. Studded tires can have a higher speed rating and a different compound. I would just go by what the speed rating of your particular tire says. I had some Hakkapeliitta tires that were only rated for 100mph at one time. But I sure wouldn't want to go 100 on some squishy and vague tires.

My Conti Winter Contact TS 860 S are rated at 240 km/h and I drove them 200-210 km/h... super stable. They are rated "winter uhp". Before I had Pirelli Sottozero 3, same story.
I'm not sure what "snow" tires are. In Europe we have "all season", "winter" or "nordic/studded". They all have a M+S (mud+snow) ratings and are mandatory in most countries during the winter season.

 

[Rodtheviking]

My Conti Winter Contact TS 860 S are rated at 240 km/h and I drove them 200-210 km/h... super stable. They are rated "winter uhp". Before I had Pirelli Sottozero 3, same story.
I'm not sure what "snow" tires are. In Europe we have "all season", "winter" or "nordic/studded". They all have a M+S (mud+snow) ratings and are mandatory in most countries during the winter season.

Yup, just go by the tire speed rating.

 

[NYBIOMED]

I’m a big believer in snow tires- both studless or studded tires. The studs are noisy AF, but better traction on ice, so a bit of a trade off. I live about 90 minutes north of NYC and can have moderately snowy winters, tho this season has been kinda light and warm comparatively. I also live on a backroad that seems last in the county to ever get plowed, along with a long, uphill, off-grade driveway. So the last, or first, 2 miles can be the roughest for me.

 

[Redleg94]

My Conti Winter Contact TS 860 S are rated at 240 km/h and I drove them 200-210 km/h... super stable. They are rated "winter uhp". Before I had Pirelli Sottozero 3, same story.
I'm not sure what "snow" tires are. In Europe we have "all season", "winter" or "nordic/studded". They all have a M+S (mud+snow) ratings and are mandatory in most countries during the winter season.

IIRC, European "all-season" tires are known in the US as "all-weather" to differentiate from the uniquely North American "all-season" tires while your "winter" tires are what we call "snow" tires here.

 

[Thomby]

when you accelerate moderately the drive mode shifts from 'eco' to 'comfort', it's not just the accent color bar. it will stay in comfort for a few seconds before dropping back to eco if you are driving sedately. if you are driving aggressively enough to stay in comfort for a while it won't reduce to eco right away either, sometimes takes half a minute give or take.

I didn't know it actually shifted modes, I thought it just adjusted settings in the background. Do you have to turn the dial to see what it's in, or is there another indication?