Winter Driving

[JoeS]

So, do I take my i MiEV to work tomorrow with it's original all-weather tires, or do I take my 9 year-old Elantra which also has all-weather tires but with less tread? Decisions, decisions.....

Sounds like a good day to play hooky from work. :roll: It's not the iMiEV not making it that I'd worry about, but all those other terrible vehicles and their often-clueless drivers.

 

[tonymil]

Take the i MiEV with the Active Stability Control and rear-motor/rear-wheel drive. It's a perfect combination for snow. I find the i MiEV to be very stable in wind and snow conditions. We are bracing for the same weather, when we are done with it - we'll pass it on to you.

Thanks MLucas, I'm actually looking forward to it!

 

[tonymil]

Sounds like a good day to play hooky from work. :roll: It's not the iMiEV not making it that I'd worry about, but all those other terrible vehicles and their often-clueless drivers.

Well, not going in to work isn't an option, but if (when) things start looking bad I'll just leave early. I think I'm going to take MLucas' advice and take the MiEV. It's been fine in the snow we've already had. I also worry about the "other drivers", it's amazing how reckless people can be, I'll just take it slow and keep my eyes everywhere

 

[MLucas]

Take the i MiEV with the Active Stability Control and rear-motor/rear-wheel drive. It's a perfect combination for snow. I find the i MiEV to be very stable in wind and snow conditions. We are bracing for the same weather, when we are done with it - we'll pass it on to you.

Thanks MLucas, I'm actually looking forward to it!

How did you and your i-MiEV do? The snow was much heavier up in Niagara on the Lake than in Buffalo, so the first part of my commute this morning was snow heavy. I wish I had a camera in the car to show how well it does. I'm still running with the stock tires, as well. I'm very impressed by how well this car does in the snow, so much better than my 08 Versa and that was good but not as good as the i MiEV. My car was able to easilly pass the slow going vehicles out there with confidence.

 

[tonymil]

How did you and your i-MiEV do? The snow was much heavier up in Niagara on the Lake than in Buffalo, so the first part of my commute this morning was snow heavy. I wish I had a camera in the car to show how well it does. I'm still running with the stock tires, as well. I'm very impressed by how well this car does in the snow, so much better than my 08 Versa and that was good but not as good as the i MiEV. My car was able to easilly pass the slow going vehicles out there with confidence.

It was completely dry this morning, the snow is just starting to fall here in Albany, but the pace of the snow is picking up rapidly. Glad to hear that you did so well. I expect my drive home to be much more interesting than my drive to work.

 

[JoeS]

...I expect my drive home to be much more interesting than my drive to work.

tonymil, your silence is deafening! From the news accounts, further east that is one nasty storm! Hope all is well with you.

 

[MLucas]

...I expect my drive home to be much more interesting than my drive to work.

tonymil, your silence is deafening! From the news accounts, further east that is one nasty storm! Hope all is well with you.

I'm on pins and needles waiting for tony's report on how his drive went since I'm the one that recommended taking the I-MiEV. I not only had to drive to work in the storm, I also had to drive back home as well. The plows had not gotten to the QEW between Fort Erie and Niagara on the Lake, driving conditions were extremely dangerous with slick and snow covered roads. My I-MiEV went through just fine and I didn't have any trouble at all. The only spot I got stuck was turning into my subdivision, the intersection was piled with snow and as I slowed to make the left, the car got stuck. I rocked it back and forth but no luck, then I turned off the ASC and I was able to drive it right out and made it through the rest of the unplowed subdivision.

I just hope tony had the same luck and is just sleeping in this morning.

 

[tonymil]

Sorry guys, I just signed on. It was a complete non-event. The heavy snow didn't start until after I got home from work. I don't think there was even an inch on the ground when I was driving home. So my science experiment will have to wait.

Did anyone else venture out in the white stuff? It sounds like Long Island got hit pretty hard.

 

[JoeS]

tonymil, happy all is well with you.

...the intersection was piled with snow and as I slowed to make the left, the car got stuck. I rocked it back and forth but no luck, then I turned off the ASC and I was able to drive it right out and made it through the rest of the unplowed subdivision.

MLucas, thank you for this insight.The owner's manual also suggested disabling ASC in this situation. What I don't quite understand is:
1) Does the ASC simply prevent both wheels from not only spinning but even turning at all on the loose surface?
2) I don't believe we have a limited-slip differential, so I assume when you disable ASC that one or both wheels are probably spinning as you work your way out(?)

Enquiring minds want to know in case we ever take our iMiEV up into the mountains :roll:

 

[DonDakin]

Hi all,

My thoughts on the ASC is: leave it on all the time.

I am so used to driving FWD cars for the past 30 years I think I forgot how squirrely a rear wheel drive car is in the snow. It's fun to drive but it can get out of hand quickly. I basically have no problems with the ASC turned on in the snow. I have not driven in a foot of snow or anything like that but just he normal plowed streets with the drifts that build up here and there during the snow storms on the way home. So far no problemo.

I like the ASC because you can drive without really caring about road conditions too much.

It's kind of the same story with our SUV. You don't have to worry about snow at all you just go. Mind you the 4WD SUV will eat up 2-3 feet of snow no problem and that would be tuff for the iMiev but the analogy is still good.

Don.....

 

[tonymil]

Just saw this new post by a MiEV owner about his negative experience using B mode in snow. This may be a precautionary tale:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232095&page=7

Personally what little driving I've done in snow has been in E mode and has not caused me any problems.

 

[peterdambier]

Winter is almost over - except they threatened it would come back again next week.

I usually do drive in "B". Going long distance I do try "C" but in the end or after another break I am back in "B".

"B" is so convenient. Get your foot off the gas and it starts breaking already but that is the problem in winter.

We have been in the snow and we never lost control. Ice is another story. I am glad we never met ice, except when I was not able to get to the doors because our i-MiEV had become an ice ball.

I used to drive a Volkswagen Beatle and I oftlen lost control in snow or on the ice. There was no way to ever get it back until the car came to a stand still facing whatever direction it decided fasionable. The little "i" you cannot compare although both cars are tail driven.

 

[MLucas]

tonymil, happy all is well with you.

...the intersection was piled with snow and as I slowed to make the left, the car got stuck. I rocked it back and forth but no luck, then I turned off the ASC and I was able to drive it right out and made it through the rest of the unplowed subdivision.

MLucas, thank you for this insight.The owner's manual also suggested disabling ASC in this situation. What I don't quite understand is:
1) Does the ASC simply prevent both wheels from not only spinning but even turning at all on the loose surface?
2) I don't believe we have a limited-slip differential, so I assume when you disable ASC that one or both wheels are probably spinning as you work your way out(?)

Enquiring minds want to know in case we ever take our iMiEV up into the mountains :roll:

JoeS - just noticed these questions from last month. What I felt was the ASC kicked in as soon as it felt a 'slip' condition and reduced their rotation. What I needed in this situation was as much wheel spin as I could give it so that the tires would eventually grab and pull me out of the snow. When I had a non-reduced output from the motor, I was able to use the torque to its fullest to move the car out of the snow. But, as I rocketed out of my predictiment, the car was quite squirly without the ASC and I was glad to turn it back on again.

 

[MLucas]

Just saw this new post by a MiEV owner about his negative experience using B mode in snow. This may be a precautionary tale:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232095&page=7

Personally what little driving I've done in snow has been in E mode and has not caused me any problems.

This forum posting sounds like BS to me. He talks about how he doesn't like the interior and some other junk about the car. We got some good snow this year in January and February with plenty of ice and I've used B and E with no problems at all. At first I was a bit timid about how the i MiEV would do in winter so I drove like a ninny on the first real snow day. But, then I started easing up and letting the ASC take control and I had some real fun with this car. I could take the corner into my subdivision which is usually snow covered and ice underneath faster because the ASC would turn a brake on to correct the situation and sometimes reduce my regen. I also could drive on the unplowed QEW in the fast lane passing slow going front wheel drive cars with no problems. I just had to learn to let the ASC take control and it worked beautifully throughout the season. Also, I'm running with the stock tires - no snows on my car.

Another factor that confirms this is BS or that the poster has turned off the ASC which would cause this situation, is that it is a typical manuever with manual transmission vehicles is to downshift during icy conditions instead of using the brake to slow down which is very similiar to our regen.

 

[JoeS]

MLucas, thank you for the update. Yes, I had a similar reaction in reading that poster's writing.

Despite having ASC kick in at inopportune times either disabling regen and/or kicking in ABS (especially when going fast on a downhill curve and hitting a rough road surface), I really like having ASC in our arsenal of toys to play with. Hey, it keeps my wife safer, and I appreciate having the ability to disable ASC for some spirited driving.
Edited to remove off-topic comments.

 

[Barbagris]

Just saw this new post by a MiEV owner about his negative experience using B mode in snow. This may be a precautionary tale:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232095&page=7

Personally what little driving I've done in snow has been in E mode and has not caused me any problems.

Attention here, euro owners of iMiev's clones, we only have "D" and is equivalent to the "B" described in this story... our options are limited.

 

[tonymil]

Just saw this new post by a MiEV owner about his negative experience using B mode in snow. This may be a precautionary tale:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232095&page=7

Personally what little driving I've done in snow has been in E mode and has not caused me any problems.

This forum posting sounds like BS to me. He talks about how he doesn't like the interior and some other junk about the car.

Actually, I've been following his post since he bought his MiEV last March. He does hate the way the car looks on the outside and he does complain about the seats and the shifter being too close to his leg - he's a fairly big guy - but he also has positive things to say. On the other hand, he also drives the car hard. He has written about the car fishtailing through turns on dry pavement. He must be charging up at work to be able to make his 80 miles round trip. So I don't think his post is BS, but his experience may be unique to his driving habits.

Here's a picture of him, his MiEV and his truck:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Evadman/MiEv.jpg

 

[peterdambier]

Staying with "B":

Two days ago, driving around a curve in the woods I met a caribou. They are called "Reh" here but they look very much the same and I would not like killing them nor risking our car. I was glad lifting my foot got me full breaking even before I hit the breaks.

We have a lot of construction works and some circumvents mean you have got a very narrow road. Going uphill and passing another car, actually letting him pass, we both got two wheels in slippy mud and two wheels on the road. With "B" and "ASC" I got our i-MiEV climbing uphill again. "ASC" gripped the wheel in the mud with the breaks so the other wheel could track the car out of the mud again. It was a peculiar feeling with one wheel rattling and the car was moving very slowly but it was moving after all. The car behind us was a 4WD and the driver wondered how the little "i" came out of the mud. He was ready to help and he had already helped ICE cars out of that same situation.

I have been in snow and ice and I did not see any problems. Nevertheless I did not speed neither in the snow nor on the ice. Maybe that is why I did not see some of the problems you might get on a frozen highway.

 

[MLucas]

Just saw this new post by a MiEV owner about his negative experience using B mode in snow. This may be a precautionary tale:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232095&page=7

Personally what little driving I've done in snow has been in E mode and has not caused me any problems.

This forum posting sounds like BS to me. He talks about how he doesn't like the interior and some other junk about the car.

Actually, I've been following his post since he bought his MiEV last March. He does hate the way the car looks on the outside and he does complain about the seats and the shifter being too close to his leg - he's a fairly big guy - but he also has positive things to say. On the other hand, he also drives the car hard. He has written about the car fishtailing through turns on dry pavement. He must be charging up at work to be able to make his 80 miles round trip. So I don't think his post is BS, but his experience may be unique to his driving habits.

Here's a picture of him, his MiEV and his truck:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Evadman/MiEv.jpg

Fishtailing? On dry pavement? Really?

The i MiEV is rock solid driving in all conditions, the 600 lbs of batteries puts things right in the first place. Fishtailing is usually a behavior of rear wheel drive light back end vehicles like old wagons and all pickup trucks. That is why trucks have sandbags in the bed during winter time. The i MiEV ASC will not let the vehicle 'fishtail', brakes will turn on and prevent that from happening. The weight of the motor on the rear wheels helps keep things in line as well. Now I'm really not believing this guy's tall tales.

I really tried to get my car to cut loose while the ASC is on and it won't happen. I had a lot of fun this winter trying really hard to see how good the ASC really is, and it does work very well. I remember the poster that put the pictures up of his car in the snow and the snow was spraying out from the car, he had to turn the ASC off to make that happen.

Last weekend, a car pulled right in front of me while I was driving at 35 mph. I had to do a full slam on the brake, all the seat belts tightened up and my sons goldfish crackers were found all over the front seats and the dashboard. The ASC kept the car in line with no fishtailing.

I'm sorry, I just can't believe this is the same experience that I have with my i MiEV with the stock tires and heavy snow and ice usage. I've never had an experience where I felt the car was going to turn ass end around on me.

 

[tonymil]

Well I finally got to drive my MiEV on unplowed/underplowed roads and it did just fine. I kept up with traffic, which on local roads was about 25-30 mph and on a brief stretch of highway it was about 45 mph. No problems. I kept it in E, used B mode to begin slowing when needed. I even got to test the abs brakes in my parking lot and it stayed straight as an arrow. The ride home may be more interesting as there might be some slippery stuff under any unplowed snow. This is with oem tires with over 7,000 miles on them. I'm happy!