Winter Driving

Puppy80 · Sun Dec 05, 2010 6:41 pm

Having only gotten my Kiz in March of this year, I missed out on the fun of snow driving. Friday night we got dumped on with a couple inches of snow. I took it to the gym before the roads where completely cleared. I love having AWD!! I got a little over confident though, as I was driving a little to quick...who doesn't

and drifted a little bit. All and all it's good in the snow

gaww · Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:59 pm

But be careful of (not necessarily so) deep snow, The 2010's are pretty low to the ground, and the 2011 sports lower still. The plastic front bumper will NOT make a good snow plow.

I got my 2010 after the December dump in western NC last December. I was the first one to get out of the hilly neighborhood in my Moreno (which scraped a bit), but would not have even attempted it in the Kizashi until the snow got knocked down my other vehicles.

ThunderSky · Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:59 am

We got about a foot of snow over the last 2 days, and this thing is awesome in the snow. My wife had to go about 50 miles last night after work and was very nervous about the roads. When she got home the first thing she said was "this car is a tank in the snow, I love it".
Just Sharing.......

TheHolyGhost · Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:37 am

More great news, stay safe out there!

Hawkzilla · Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:19 pm

We just got close to a foot of snow and had blizzard conditions last weekend. I drove my gf's new Kia Sportage SX AWD and my Kiz in the middle of the storm before side streets were plowed. I can honestly say my Kiz got around better than the SUV. I even entered a street that had consistent foot-deep snow cover and I decided to barrel through even though I knew my Kiz was probably to low to the ground to handle it. To my amazement, I even buzzed right through that obstacle. There were people digging out their driveways that looked at me like "what the hell kind of car is that??".

All this with the original all-season radials to boot... the need to rename this car to something that means "master of snow".

EnfinityX · Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:42 am

gotta say agree with everything said above.

on another note my other car is a subaru outback. =D, both cars are tank in the snow. no worries this winter.

edit: with snow tires as well XD. cant bear to put those nice rims in the salt.

Sarahlu03 · Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:37 am

A couple questions... I have had my kizashi since August, and I live in Indiana, we have had quite a bit of snow/ice this year, compared to the last, I have noticed that if I drive with it in the "manual" mode but drop it down a gear it seems to get better traction... Is this the same for others? Or should I turn off the traction control? I heard somewhere that you should in snow.. is this true?
Also when I go to start up my car in the morning, because sadly I don't have a garage, I don't leave my keyfob inside, but still am unable to lock the doors, I'm worried about someone stealing my car, because I can't lock it. If the keyfob isn't inside the car, can someone still drive away with my car?!?
thanks

Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:56 am

What you are describing is engine braking, and if it is slippery it is almost always a better idea than hitting the brakes. Engine breaking is a large part of what makes manual transmission cars superior in the snow.

Turning off the traction control should probably only be done if you are stuck or racing. I don't like traction control, but for average driving it help keep your car heading in the direction you point it.

I'll let someone else tackle the locking question because I still don't own a kizashi, but what I do with my mazda is physically lock the door with a spare key. Most cars will let you lock the doors if you use a key from the outside.

AlexRuiz · Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:42 am

Sarahlu03 wrote: Also when I go to start up my car in the morning, because sadly I don't have a garage, I don't leave my keyfob inside, but still am unable to lock the doors, I'm worried about someone stealing my car, because I can't lock it. If the keyfob isn't inside the car, can someone still drive away with my car?!?
thanks

How about having both keyfobs with you? Leave one inside while the car is running, take the other with you.... I'll do the experiment tomorrow.

Hawkzilla · Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:26 pm

I would leave your TC on at all times with this car. I have had other cars where I needed to turn it off, but with my AWD Kiz the TC works very well and only kicks in when you really need it. Maybe if you have a big drift to plow through and you have momentum already, then I can see turning it off.

I'm actually looking forward to more snow.