What size tires? What brand? Hanook or Continental?i had about a 250 mile trip up I-26 accross I-40 then down I-75 about 3 weeks ago. snow and black ice in all lanes the entire time with multiple accidents, jack knifes and weaving cars in the process. i drove at very moderate speeds the entire time and only got the traction light one or two times (during steep uphill grades). during braking i only noticed the abs kick on once and that was partially on purpose checking out the avaliable traction. im sure what i saw was very minor compared to many parts of the county but overall i was very pleased with the manners of the Passat and performance of the tires.....not as good as my 4x4 f350 on 37" bfg m/t's but that isnt an apples to apples comparison.
Where'd you go to "trade in" your tires?I just bought some Michelins Primacy XV4's and traded the Hancooks. We have had lots of snow in the last three weeks. These tires seem to function very well. I have not had the experience of black ice yet. I'm sure they will be squirlie.( the only thing that works is studs)
How much did they give you? Tempted...Discount Tire has always been great to me.I traded them at America's Tire. ( also known as Discount Tire)
I hear you will have to wire a switch to do it.Can you turn off traction control on the 12 Passat? Somebody told me you can't on it or the 12 Jetta?
Don
The stock 18's were a little scary in the snow, after one week of this I ordered Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 215/60R-16 mounted on OZ 16" wheels, an incredible difference the car is now a blast to drive in the snow, very predictable handling and the traction control doesn't interfere anywhere near as much. You can also get the ass to swing out a bit with a little hand brake as you corner. I highly recommend using Winter tires on this or any car.How are the new Passats in the snow?
I have the stock hankooks w/17" wheelsWhat size tires? What brand? Hanook or Continental?
I'd rather not want to find out how it does in snow or ice. When this happens in east Texas, we are in deep sh$t anyway so there won't be much driving done.I had quite good luck with the 17" Hankooks from my SE w/sunroof. Drove it about 1600 miles from Nashville to northern Michigan through some pretty nasty weather and they handled well. All the back roads up north end up as compressed ice with snow on top and it did great on that as well.
If you live in an area with a lot of snow and ice, I'd always recommend snow tires, but in my experience, the Hankooks are just fine for snow/ice if you don't drive through it enough to justify another set of tires.
Very impressed with my TDI's performance this week in a North Texas Ice Storm. If you are going to drive a sedan in the snow, I don't see how you can get much better than the FWD Passat. The accelleration is so easy to control to prevent spinning, and the ABS Brakes had me stopping straight every time. We had about four inches of freezing rain and sleet fall this week, so that is about as deep as I think you'd want to attempt without getting high centered in a rut somewhere, but very impressive still. I was one of the few in the crew that made it to work, and I have a 30 mile commute to Dallas.
I pulled into a school parking lot which was closed for the day, lot's of open room to play, starting, stopping, turning. The most impressive thing to me were the brakes, which I would slam on at 25 mph to see what would happen. You can feel the ABS at work, and I was simply amazed at how I stopped straight every time. I drove by fender benders and abandoned vehicles which were turned opposite traffic the whole way, and ended up driving a coworker home who didnt want to attempt it.
So, on flat roadways, I am very confident now with this vehicke in snow and ice. I wouldn't want to do any serious downhill though without proper tires. Storms like this don't happen every year in my neck of the woods, but nice to know I am covered when it does happen.
Can you turn off traction control on the 12 Passat? Somebody told me you can't on it or the 12 Jetta?
Don
read this thread about disabling traction control: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=342176I hear you will have to wire a switch to do it.
I posted this quote 11 months ago and now it has come true. Flight cancellations from the NE delayed my return to Dallas by a day. In some respects that was a blessing. That said, on Saturday morning I had my first opportunity to drive the Passat on icy roads and I was very surprised how well it handled the poor road conditions. I never really had any issues at all other than a few bridges that were like cobblestone roads. I did learn one thing that I thought I would pass along. Long ago (over 40 years) I learned a technique that I would use when driving a vehicle with a automatic on ice. If you are slowly trailing another vehicle and they start to slow down, I would put the vehicle in neutral and coast as opposed to using the brakes. The advantage here is that the drive wheels would stop trying to move the vehicle forward and you would naturally slow down. This technique does not work with the DSG. As we all know, at slow speeds when you lift off of the accelerator our cars slowdown on its own pretty well. If you were to pop it into neutral, you will have the sensation of speeding up. So the lesson learned for me is to always leave the car in gear. It does a great job all by itself.I'd rather not want to find out how it does in snow or ice. When this happens in east Texas, we are in deep sh$t anyway so there won't be much driving done.