Winter, snow driving and similar

In St. Louis we are about to get our first real snowfall.. I'm curious how the leaf handles in the snow.

I noticed that even on wet roads, a slightly heavy foot causes the traction control to kick in.
In ICE cars, I'm also in the habit of putting cars in neutral if I start to skid, so this should be an interesting experience.

Also, off-topic.. thanks to the many of you who have posted here about everything from charging protocol to what mods you've done.. makes for good reading.

Just picked up our 2012 Leaf over a week ago. First thing I did was get snow tires for it. The original tires on it do "okay" but we're in the snow belt here, so dedicated snows are better. You'll probably be fine in MO with the stock tires. You may find ECO mode helps reduce wheel spin by limiting throttle input. You can put the car in Neutral still if you want, by the way... (just hold shifter lever to the far left for a second or two). Also, if you get stuck, you can disable traction control (button to left of steering wheel).

I'm sure others whom have had their car longer will comment. I searched and found a few threads from the Midwest area (where I live) and it seems people from Chicago to Pittsburgh have used their Leaf vehicles in the snow with good success. Just be ready for cold weather to make for lower economy = shorter range....

We just had almost 4 inches here in Yonkers ny, at 29f snow was Icy, not slushy. The leaf handled as good as the previous front wheel drive gas cars I've owned - nothing out of the norm with stock tires.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBD0nbGjBfY[/youtube]

I had my dashcam recording the whole time and hoped to pull some footage off of it when I was doing city driving, but it locked up and only recorded the first mile or two. :/

I so enjoyed your video. Thanks for sharing.
Becky

elmobob said:

The leaf handled as good as the previous front wheel drive gas cars I've owned - nothing out of the norm with stock tires.

Click to expand...

We're in our second winter with the Leaf, and I'd agree it's snow handling is at least on par with FWD gas cars. The battery weight in the middle/rear is a plus, as it reduces the likelihood of the rear wheels losing traction. Regenerative braking in ECO mode provides a great way of gently slowing when needed. The generous ground clearance is helpful. The only negative is that the traction control seems too aggressive at times in terms of cutting power on snowy inclines. My car, a 2011, does have a button to disable traction control, however. I also have Kumho Solus KR-22 low rolling resistance, high mileage tires which are somewhat better than the stock tires in snow. (The stock tires didn't last in our mountain driving, though this is typical for us.) Also, where we live, the authorities often require snow chains on 2WD vehicles, so our Leaf has gotten a fair amount of use with chains (which I hate).

I wrote a little bit about my experience in this thread.
I bought some wheels & Blizzak tires for my Leaf, and it's done a great job in the snow so far.

Thanks all.. and nice video.
Looks like it'll be fun times.

I drove around in very slushy 3 inches of snow and sleet we had in MD recently. The car handled very well with stock tires. As others have mentioned, the weight is a real plus. I am very happy with the car overall and with its performance in the snow.

Got 18" of snow in Madison, WI 10 days ago, and been doing fine on the stock tires. Are they amazing? No. Can you drive safely on them if you're a smart driver? Yes.