Driving in snow

[fred12345]

So, nice bit of snow tonight, went out for a drive with summer tyres (some fairly low on thread) and the car was immaculate, top marks - until I had to go up the slope on my drive to park the car and top it up for tomorrow ... There was no space to gain a bit of speed and continue up the slope, I had to start from the snow covered flat bit at the bottom of the slope... I haven't tried any different settings, just on NORMAL, but the car would not pull up the slope, managed only couple of meters up the slope before it "stalled", the wheels don't spin in the snow as you would expect, it's simply just as if there is no power in the "engine" at all, like trying to start up the hill in third gear ..

Any experiences of this type? Could it be due to all these traction and stability settings or something else ...?

At least I didn't wake the neighbours up revving the engine at 11:30 PM ... benefits of EV !

 

[Ruislip Resident]

Snow socks are the answer. I keep a set in the boot, plus some of those track things you put under the drive wheels.

 

[decrep]

If the ZS is front wheel drive, try going up in reverse. It may just give you a little more traction. And you want absolute minimum acceleration.

 

[fred12345]

If the ZS is front wheel drive, try going up in reverse. It may just give you a little more traction. And you want absolute minimum acceleration.

Yes, old school driving tricks... or have couple of mates sitting on the front wheels to add weight ... but, I wanted to go front first to charge the car. Not sure any of the old school tricks would work as the wheels didn't spin at all, it was as if "anti-spin" was on which is weird because on occasion I spin the front wheels in normal weather driving.
I should have stayed in the car and tried switching things off to see what happens but after 4 tries and sliding down the drive, I thought the neighbours might start filming and sharing on YouTube

Anyway, found this on Subaru Outback, maybe that was the reason: "I find in really slick snow (wet slush in May would count) the Traction control kicks in and tries to find traction. If the car can not find traction it cuts the engine and applies the brakes."
"Any difficult technical challenge regarding snow, mud, sand, rock etc. Always! turn off traction control! Always select 1st manual mode! I've done this every time before crossing some bad snow, mud etc and the car has done just fine. Not doing that is basically user error. The goal is to do this before getting the car stuck not after you get stuck"

All this sounds like exactly what was going on with my ZS... (cue in all the usual "software bug", "poor design", "quality" complaints when people have no better explanation ...) so I guess turning off traction control should do the trick ...

* Now, what I should highlight for others is that once the car stops, it starts sliding back and sideways, regardless of brakes, so if anyone or anything is behind you - good luck! I simply reversed/braked my way back before trying again. As @Ruislip Resident says, snow-socks would be a good option for odd snowy days...

 

[decrep]

If the brakes don't hold on the slope, you probably don't want to go up it!