SO how does the Leaf do in REAL snow in REAL life?

[treinjapan]

Sapporo is known as the "city with the most snow", so as you can imagine, I was hesitant to get a Leaf. I never found any "real world" videos online of people driving in real DEEP snow on real roads. But we went ahead and bought it anyways, and here are the results of my findings.

(A link showing some snowing city statistics: http://www.rhinocarhire.com/Top-Ten/Snowy-Cities.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

We got a 2012 Leaf G (SL everywhere else I think) with Blizzaks, and I came from a 2002 Subaru Legacy (AWD). Sapporo gets insane snowfall, but the temps aren't that bad, averaging probably somewhere around -3 or -5 celsius. We live on a street that only gets plowed once a year. For the most part, because people drive over the snow and compact it, it's not often deep and "sandy" like driving on a beach, but it gets compacted and compressed, often making for really bumpy and almost hilly roads. Obviously this REAMS your mileage, so sometimes I get as low as 2.2 km/kw with the heater on. But once out on to the main streets that are better maintained, that jumps up to 5 or 6 km/kw.

As far as handling and not getting stuck and stuff, the Leaf does just fine. The only time I've been "stuck" so far in the Leaf was when I tried to drive up a hill of really loose and "sandy" snow that was about 2 feet deep. I got stuck, so I just backed up and went up it with a bit more speed, then we got through it. I never got stuck on that particular hill with the Legacy, but sometimes you could feel the back tires pulling you sideways a bit before traction kicked in.

As I get more used to driving an FF car again, I'm sure my confidence will elevate and I'll be brave enough to try the mountains or other more precipitous places, but for now, I'm very satisfied with our Leaf!

 

[garsh]

I have a set of Blizzaks for the winter too. We don't get a lot of deep snow on the roads in the winter (the township is really good about getting the roads clear on most days), but the few times I've had to use them on snow-covered back roads, they've done really well.

 

[CMYK4Life]

I have had the same experience in the snow with the Leaf. It does well. No better or worse than a front wheel drive car of similar size.

 

[RonDawg]

I think the person who made this video is a member here. He's in Michigan, an area quite familiar with snow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBD0nbGjBfY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not deep snow mind you, but with the right tires it shouldn't be a problem on snow that isn't deep enough to drag on the undercarriage.

 

[hill]

The search tool can be your friend
From another mnl post about snow:

yes ... it does ok
.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The search tool can be your friend
From another mnl post about snow:

yes ... it does ok
.

Around here we call that much snowfall "Wednesday."

 

[eclecticflower]

Brrrr...that pic makes me love my garage even more....
Yes, it does just fine in the snow, like other front-wheel drive cars.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

They plow your road once a year? What it is, a special occasion, like "National Plow Day"? Nuts.

Makes no sense to me.

 

[XeonPony]

they don't bother to plow it here, we just dump sand on it and use it as the highway! it does great.

 

[treinjapan]

They plow your road once a year? What it is, a special occasion, like "National Plow Day"? Nuts.

Makes no sense to me.

Yeah, they're actually really hardcore about keeping all the main streets moving, but leave the smaller backroads to the individuals that live on them. Our street is only 4 meters wide, so it's hard for the plows to get in. This year it hasn't been too bad since I've had the snowblower to keep it relatively clean by shooting all the snow out onto the main street's park/snow area, which is now about 12 feet deep now.

Last year we had about 16m (52 feet!) of snow, and the city blew their plowing budget before we were even halfway through the winter, so this year they're being especially hardcore conservative