Driving in Colorado snow?
We have been very apprehensive about driving our Smart in the snow. We live in Colorado and have had a pretty rough winter so far. We drive 4wd Jeep Liberty (18mpg) and grind our teeth every time we put the key in the ignition because the mileage is so bad!
So...any experience driving in the snow?
So...any experience driving in the snow?
Views: 29
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Foothill on -
I've been driving in upstate NY for two winters and the car does fine in the snow (after the plow goes through, don't try plowing around in 12" snow, the smart's ground clearance is way too low
Blizzak snows from TireRack.com do help
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Permalink Reply by Todd Blackley on -
Ditto, I live in Park City, UT and the snow tires are a big help. I commute to SLC every day. Do watch out for the snow/ice clumps that fall off of car's wheel wells. The smart ground clearance is not that great.
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Permalink Reply by Carl Hamlin on -
I've been driving Aki about in the snow for a bit now, and I haven't had any real trouble to speak of. Just take your foot off the accelerator when the triangle with the exclamation mark starts blinking, and you'll be fine.
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Permalink Reply by Fred on -
We had a pretty bad winter in Boston last year and I drove our cabrio every day but two. It was amazing in five inches of slush on the city streets. The combination of the ABS and ESP kept us going in the direction we wanted. I even climbed up our driveway with several inches of snow on the ground (my old Mercedes wouldn't do that). The real secret is to not go out in really deep snow as a trail blazer and to be gentle with both accelerator and brakes. Try it... you'll be astounded!
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Permalink Reply by John on -
Einstein does fine on ice or packed snow here in Anchorage, but I got stuck in an unplowed parking spot last week. I had to rock back and forth and was lucky to get out of there.
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Permalink Reply by RocketJohn on -
My wife's been getting around for two winters now in Denver, Colorado... Stock tires... works fine...
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Permalink Reply by Ron Stock on -
Stock tires work fine in New Hampshire. Two winters with no problems.
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Permalink Reply by Jimmy C on -
This may be a little late but I've driven my Smart in Boston for two winters now. The first without and the second with snows. The snows make a big difference for the better. With the all seasons it was OK especially with the help of the ESP and anti-lock brakes but those systems were used quite often especially when the roads were not completely clear. This year I got a set of Blizzaks mounted on rims with the pressure monitors from Tire Rack (and they were delivered in one day!) and I noticed a marked improvement especially with the fact that the ESP system rarely engaged. As others stated, don't bother trying to drive it if the depth exceeds the car's ground clearance. There just isn't enough weight to get through.
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Permalink Reply by Becky Lane on -
I'm in the DC area and we've had 3 Blizzards this year, now 56" of snow. Once the plows have come by I've had NO problem. I did get the triangle with the exclamation mark once. Thanks Carl for the advice.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. X on -
This is my third winter. In most cases it drives fine. The biggist problem is going up hill in slush. The EPS keeps going on , making it impossible to get traction. I wish they would have put a on/off switch just for this occasion. I think I will put in a on/off relay to fuse #11.
Oherwise no real problems that my wife couldn't push me out of. :)
Becky Lane said:I'm in the DC area and we've had 3 Blizzards this year, now 56" of snow. Once the plows have come by I've had NO problem. I did get the triangle with the exclamation mark once. Thanks Carl for the advice.
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