Snow Driving?

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Okay, but not great IMO. We have a smallish amount of snow where I am now but having lived in MN and upstate NY previously I am far from a newcomer to the white stuff, and we did get several inches a couple of times this winter. FWD helps as does a pretty good weight distribution and an overall fairly hefty weight for the tire cross-section avoiding surface-skimming, but it's not really much different from a comparable small-medium size car. Not a Miata, but not a Subaru either.
 
EvansvilleLeaf said:
Okay, but not great IMO. We have a smallish amount of snow where I am now but having lived in MN and upstate NY previously I am far from a newcomer to the white stuff, and we did get several inches a couple of times this winter. FWD helps as does a pretty good weight distribution and an overall fairly hefty weight for the tire cross-section avoiding surface-skimming, but it's not really much different from a comparable small-medium size car. Not a Miata, but not a Subaru either.

I love in Norway where we have a lot of snow. The Leaf is a VERY competent winter car in my opinion. Not as good as AWD cars of course, but the weight distribution and more effective traction control makes it better than most other FWD cars.

But the tires are of course more important than car choice. I use Hakkapeliitta 7 winter tires.
 
jkirkebo said:
I love in Norway where we have a lot of snow. The Leaf is a VERY competent winter car in my opinion. Not as good as AWD cars of course, but the weight distribution and more effective traction control makes it better than most other FWD cars.

But the tires are of course more important than car choice. I use Hakkapeliitta 7 winter tires.
+1. I live in a mountain area with winter snow and have been very happy with the LEAF's performance, considering it's not an AWD car. The stock tires aren't that great, though.
 
Anyone use Nokian WRG2s on their LEAF? I had them on my prius and they were very LRR with the benefit of snow traction. Wondering how the compare to the OEMs.
 
I had Blizzaks on my car this winter, and it did very well in the snow.

IMG_20121226_120000.jpg
 
jkirkebo said:
I love in Norway where we have a lot of snow. The Leaf is a VERY competent winter car in my opinion. Not as good as AWD cars of course, but the weight distribution and more effective traction control makes it better than most other FWD cars.

But the tires are of course more important than car choice. I use Hakkapeliitta 7 winter tires.
I agree, the LEAF is a fine snow car for a FWD. It even has decent ground clearance for a car of its type, so it doesn't lift up unless the snow is fairly deep and heavy. With good snow tires on plowed roads it makes a fine snow country commuter, within its winter range limitations.
 
I put wide snow tires on my car this winter, and I ran into a few problems with it really wanting to following ruts while in deep heavy snow (more so than any of my previous cars). Skinny snow tires next year should help.

Here was me driving home (about 27 miles) pushing through snow the whole way on 6 bars with occasional heat.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBD0nbGjBfY[/youtube]
 
kubel said:
I put wide snow tires on my car this winter, and I ran into a few problems with it really wanting to following ruts while in deep heavy snow (more so than any of my previous cars). Skinny snow tires next year should help.

Here was me driving home (about 27 miles) pushing through snow the whole way on 6 bars with occasional heat.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBD0nbGjBfY[/youtube]

That's impressive.
 
We have had our Leaf sine 12/28. We live in the snow belt in Ohio and immediately purchased snow tires. It has been quite a capable car for daily driving, and we have put over 2500 miles on in the two-and-one-half months we've owned the car. As noted in other replies, it is no AWD vehicle but it does the job nicely. Compared to other front-drive German sedans I've driven it does quite well, but definitely a good set of tires will help. Many people are unhappy with the factory tires in the white powder, so keep that in mind. Be safe!
 
I'm happy with the LEAF in snow. I run General Altimax Arctic snow tires on all four wheels. No trouble in six inches of snow. More than that might be too deep.
 
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