Check for race car driving schools in your area. They often give winter driving courses. This lets you practice where it's safe to do so. The local SCCA is a place to start.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Would a D Model S make it up this hill?
- Thread starter goldenbyte
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Model S
hockeythug
Active Member
In that specific situation, in parts of the country where that rarely happens, I would not go out on the roads. I don't care what vehicle(unless you own a Sno-Cat) or tires you have on.
Last edited:
Any car with proper winter tires would have handled that better. Tires matter more than awd or 4wd. Do you se the big 4wd truck sliding backwards? All cars have brakes on 4 wheels, but with no grip that does not matter. In parts where this kind of weather is common, you get cars with snow tires or studded tires. Especially studded tires are excellent on ice. Check this video by Bjørn Nyland where he tests Nokian Hakkapelitta R8 studded tires on black ice (probably about the same conditions as the above video):
Last edited by a moderator:
ERP
Ludicrous Member
I remember that day too, one of my co-workers was stuck in that pile-up mess. Studded snow tires are the only thing that would work on that ice. I run Blizzaks on all my cars during the winter, and during those conditions I avoid hills.
Those types of conditions are not uncommon in Colorado Springs. It starts with a ~32 F sunny winter day. The roads warm up above freezing, then the clouds and snow move in early afternoon. It melts on the road for the first few hours. Then around rush hour everything begins to freeze quickly. The roads go from slightly slick to absolute ice rink. It lasts another hour or two until enough snow builds up on top of the ice to restore moderate grip.
On standard powder or packed snow roads the AWD Tesla is absolutely fantastic with fresh Blizzaks.
I just drove from Allentown PA to York PA right smack in the middle of winter storm Jonas with my stock tires on. While it was sketchy, I thought the D handled WAY better than my old Audi S4 that had all season tires. I don't live in an area that gets a lot of snow, but I worked in the ski industry for awhile so it's kind of second nature for me. Two thumbs up for the D though.
If you're in Seattle and you get any snow, I'd just recommend not driving if you can at all avoid it.
I think the Model S is a fantastic snow car, and with good winter tires, its even better. And you can go out and equip it with the best equipment and be the most prepared and get t-boned by a clapped out Hyundai on bald all-seasons.
When the winter driving is sketchy, I'm confident in my driving and in my car. Its the other drivers I'm worried about!
Other on here suggested looking for a winter driving course. I would highly recommend that. Sometimes the police departments sponsor that sort of thing as well. It would be a great learning experience, and probably a lot of fun too!
You could also consider renting a car, getting full insurance coverage and just drive up Snoqualmie Pass some day and try doing donuts in the parking lots if they're empty enough.
