Last winter my Nokian WRG3 SUV's were down to about 4 or 5 /32's. Several times when making 90 deg turns at intersections, the front tires would get into a couple of inches of snow when the rear tires would be in a little snow, and the front tires would snow plow and lose all traction. The result would be the Tribeca would partially turn. Eventually the front tires would get some traction and then the rear end would swing around. This would happen at about 10 mph, under light acceleration or coasting. Under these conditions I saw front wheel drive cars not having this behavior. With 5 / 32's I would expect better traction. Has anybody else experienced this?
A few more questions:
Do other people feel the need to use dedicated snow tires? I would hate to pay for TPMS reprogramming twice a year.
The Nokians are not a dedicated snow tire, but an all-weather with good snow ratings.
Is this behavior a result of the rear end having better traction than the front end, and the back just pushing the front? If so, this seems like a critical limitation of the VTD.
I was driving the same speed as traffic each time, or slower.
It seems to me like the Tribeca just loses front traction easily when making sharp low speed turns.
Flat land, areas of really good snow maintenance/treatment/removal, or people with flexible/semi-flexible schedules mean you can get by with lesser tires.
Steep grades, poor winter maintenance, inflexible schedules increase the important of snow tire choices.
I have Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires that I put on my Tribeca for winter driving and notice no such behavior. I have not measured the tread lately, but this was at least the fourth season using them.
I don't bother with TPMS for the winter set of wheels. I just make a point of checking pressure periodically... like we all used to before TPMS, lol. The light on all winter is annoying and I assume I'll burn out the bulb sooner than later.
Bought my Blizzaks last winter and I was amazed ... Beside the light in the dash, if you don't put tpms in the winter wheels could affect other stuff, like traction control or abs?
With experience over 2 Winters with my ‘08 here in WV and equipped with O.E. Goodyear all season tires I have never experienced what you described. With the ‘97 Impreza Sport (Outback Jr) I owned years ago the back end would go out even with very light throttle going around a corner in slippery conditions.
Thanks guys. I didn't check the date on the Nokians. But since the tire size isnt a high volume, they may have been old. When I get the 60k service done, I may ask for an alignment check. I could get some snow tires on cheap rims and just ignore the TPMS warning next winter.
It's kind of f>#ed up that the tpms needs to be programmed twice a year if you live in an area where is mandatory to have winter tires and you have on both sets, tpms...
It's easy to get programmable TPMS in the winter tires that are programmed to match current summer tires. I did this on my last set of winter tires for the tribeca. Discount Tire did it for me.
I think the computer can store only 4 tpms at time, meaning that having sensors in both summer and winter wheels (tire+rim+tpms), you have to reprogram them 2 times a year... Correct me if I'm wrong.
I didn't ask detail questions, Discount Tire just offered it up, and I paid for them. They weren't more than other TPMS sensors I've purchased in the past.
Now I just swap the tires, the light never comes on.
I went with Toyo Celcius and the great thing about these tires is that they are a 60k mile snow rated tire (shown by a mountain and snowflake on the sidewall). They work very well in snow and ice but the great thing is that I don't have to bother with switching them seasonally from summer to winter tires because they are rated to last long like a regular all-season tire.
Depending where you live... Me, In Montreal I'm not playing since the cold season starts in November and finish late April maybe May... Cescius wants to be something between all season and winter tire. You have gains and loses , the tread life for sure it's gonna be great, but you'll never beat a dedicated winter tire in the cold season. Just saying
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