Gotta Love Winter...

gordonjuan said:
As one of the resident LEOs here, I cannot agree with and emphasize enough everyone else`s comments about keeping control during foul - especially - winter weather. But really bugs me is when I handle a crash and the striking vehicle has tires that aren`t adequate enough for "ronk weather" (Thanks for the photos!) i.e. Sunny, dry, and 75, much less the usual mix of crap we get here in Southcentral PA in a given winter. Most of the folks had money to get new tires, but didn`t want to deal with the hassle or expense.

As for AWD, we got our first Ford Interceptor Utility (Explorer base) in 2012. The first winter we had it, with our normal "most seasons" tires, we were less than impressed with it. The next winter, our mechanic was able to get snow tires for them (apparently they`re a hot commodity for the Interceptors). It snowed like the dickens then, and the cars performed flawlessly with the AWD and the snow tires. Keep in mind that we are keeping control of the vehicle! :)

Nice timing for this conversation as we`re looking at a possible big storm this weekend. Look out Nizmo!

Gordon
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Here any news about the new RWD based Explorer or RWD Taurus?
 
gordonjuan- Glad to hear your Dept. is using snowtires, that`s not as common as I would`ve thought.

And I bet you have some mixed emotions at those crash sites where the wrong tires obviously made things worse..."play stupid games, win stupid prizes" but you gotta help `em anyhow.
 
gordonjuan said:
As for AWD, we got our first Ford Interceptor Utility (Explorer base) in 2012. The first winter we had it, with our normal "most seasons" tires, we were less than impressed with it. The next winter, our mechanic was able to get snow tires for them (apparently they`re a hot commodity for the Interceptors). It snowed like the dickens then, and the cars performed flawlessly with the AWD and the snow tires. Keep in mind that we are keeping control of the vehicle! :)
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I always wondered what LE departments did for their vehicles in regards to tires. How do the winter tires hold up to the wear-and-tear and high speeds? I could see them being a savior in the nasty weather and scary in the dry at higher speeds you might need to drive when responding to a call.
 
gordonjuan said:
As one of the resident LEOs here, I cannot agree with and emphasize enough everyone else`s comments about keeping control during foul - especially - winter weather. But really bugs me is when I handle a crash and the striking vehicle has tires that aren`t adequate enough for "ronk weather" (Thanks for the photos!) i.e. Sunny, dry, and 75, much less the usual mix of crap we get here in Southcentral PA in a given winter. Most of the folks had money to get new tires, but didn`t want to deal with the hassle or expense.

As for AWD, we got our first Ford Interceptor Utility (Explorer base) in 2012. The first winter we had it, with our normal "most seasons" tires, we were less than impressed with it. The next winter, our mechanic was able to get snow tires for them (apparently they`re a hot commodity for the Interceptors). It snowed like the dickens then, and the cars performed flawlessly with the AWD and the snow tires. Keep in mind that we are keeping control of the vehicle! :)

Nice timing for this conversation as we`re looking at a possible big storm this weekend. Look out Nizmo!
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Always wondered how those new AWD Interceptors handled. Snow tires aren`t a big thing around here anymore, I know before I was born if they declared a snow emergency if you didn`t have snow tires you would be fined and/or removed from the road (atleast this was the case in parts of Maryland where I grew up).

Gonna be an interesting commute this weekend for sure. They can`t quite figure out the snow amount we`re getting...
 
TheMeanGreen said:
Here any news about the new RWD based Explorer or RWD Taurus?
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I have not. I have heard about the hybrids that are coming in 2020 and supposedly blew everyone away at the Michigan State Police trials. Proven electric for acceleration? Yes please! I will say that for my agency, the AWD has served us well and we don`t have a real need for RWD. I can certainly understand any excitement about it. Sure make the EVOC classes more fun!
 
Accumulator said:
gordonjuan- Glad to hear your Dept. is using snowtires, that`s not as common as I would`ve thought.

And I bet you have some mixed emotions at those crash sites where the wrong tires obviously made things worse..."play stupid games, win stupid prizes" but you gotta help `em anyhow.
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Accumulator, that`s a very common - and apt - phrase I`ve been using for over decades.
 
Desertnate said:
I always wondered what LE departments did for their vehicles in regards to tires. How do the winter tires hold up to the wear-and-tear and high speeds? I could see them being a savior in the nasty weather and scary in the dry at higher speeds you might need to drive when responding to a call.
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We are a smaller town-type agency. We don`t often get to high speeds due to the nature of the terrain here. That being said, we`ve had no issues with them at those times. We have them on from Mid-November to Mid-March...and they are indeed fantastic in the foul weather.
 
Nizmo said:
Always wondered how those new AWD Interceptors handled. Snow tires aren`t a big thing around here anymore, I know before I was born if they declared a snow emergency if you didn`t have snow tires you would be fined and/or removed from the road (atleast this was the case in parts of Maryland where I grew up).

Gonna be an interesting commute this weekend for sure. They can`t quite figure out the snow amount we`re getting...
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We`re in the same boat here. In the Susquehanna Valley, that usually means it`s going to be awful. Maybe it`s our "Farm Show week weather" a bit late this year. I`m keeping my fingers crossed.
 
gordonjuan said:
We`re in the same boat here. In the Susquehanna Valley, that usually means it`s going to be awful. Maybe it`s our "Farm Show week weather" a bit late this year. I`m keeping my fingers crossed.
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Yea I live in between two mountain ranges here in Fulton County so it can be a crapshoot as to how much snow we get. We either get dumped on where everybody else gets nothing, or vice versa. Seems our winter drought is over. Supposed to be 9* Sunday night! As much as I hate borrowing it, I might have to use gmas Jeep. That thing is a beast in the snow.

Now having said that everybody`s probably wondering why I`m worried about getting a 4wd or snow tires when I could just use the Jeep. Honestly we`re trying to get her into assisted living, so I`m trying to be independent as far as relying on my own transportation. But that`s a subject I don`t want to think about right now...
 
I always think it`s funny when people think Oregon just gets rain but not much snow. That`s true for Portland and the coast but elevation can make all the difference in the world. Crater Lake National park gets something like over 500 inches of snow on average a year. :o I definitely don`t miss driving conditions like this.

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Desertnate said:
How much abuse did the front facia take on those cars? This weekend, I had to make an airport run and the exit ramp from the interstate hadn`t been plowed, which left only two narrow tracks leadind down the ramp. Had I been in my car that "hump" between the ruts would have easily been higher than the front clip of my GTI and I`m sure the ice chunks and frozen snow would have d
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Nothing stands out that I can remember. My current accord hasn’t seen more than a few inches on the road and or parking lot so far so no concerns there


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And imagine that, it`s snowing again! It`s just supposed to be 1"-3" but grandmother asked if I wanted to take the Jeep, instead of saying no I just said sure. I know why she was so persistent now, it has under 1/4 tank of gas. Dang it, she got me, lol. For a 3.7 litre V6 it sure is thirsty...

I will need it Saturday night though, up to 17" in some spots...
 
Forecasters just came out with their first call here: 3-5" of snow - I can deal with that. Then they announced that was followed by up to .25 inch of ice and mixed precipitation. DOH! Gonna be a fun weekend at work...
 
Yeah we are getting 2-8" across our work area (2-24 across our region) with rain sleet freezing rain mixed in then a flash freeze turning our whole world to a skating rink.

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I feel your pain about trying to keep a car clean in the winter!

I would also like to say that I recently got a 2012 Audi S4 w/Quattro, it has the continental All season tires on it, it is the best driving winter car I have ever driven, and that includes my 4x4 trailblazer I used to have.

The car I had just prior to the S4 was a 2008 Audi A4 with Quattro and conti all seasons (same as the s4). It also did very well in the winter.

I can`t imagine how good they Quattro cars would be with winter tires.

Only reason I bring this up is that if you would like to stay with in the VW family, I have been extremely pleased with my Audis with Quattro and good all seasons (I am hoping to someday do a summer/winter wheel/tire set up on the S4 though). Not sure what your budget is, but a slightly used Audi with quattro may be worth looking into.
 
Still getting use to what the ZR2 can do in the snow and bad weather. So far that thing is a BEAST! AUTO AWD is really all I have needed so far. Calling for one nasty storm this weekend!!
 
Rocker1911 said:
I feel your pain about trying to keep a car clean in the winter!

I would also like to say that I recently got a 2012 Audi S4 w/Quattro, it has the continental All season tires on it, it is the best driving winter car I have ever driven, and that includes my 4x4 trailblazer I used to have.

The car I had just prior to the S4 was a 2008 Audi A4 with Quattro and conti all seasons (same as the s4). It also did very well in the winter.

I can`t imagine how good they Quattro cars would be with winter tires.

Only reason I bring this up is that if you would like to stay with in the VW family, I have been extremely pleased with my Audis with Quattro and good all seasons (I am hoping to someday do a summer/winter wheel/tire set up on the S4 though). Not sure what your budget is, but a slightly used Audi with quattro may be worth looking into.
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I have thought about a Quattro Audi, but something about a used one doesn`t give me a warm fuzzy feeling. My neighbor across the street has a `01 Dodge Dakota V8 4wd and 5 speed manual that he can`t really drive since his left foot is having tons of issues. Told him he aught to sell it to me and that got him really thinking. Has tons of new parts and is really clean inside. We`ll see how that goes.

PA DETAILER said:
Still getting use to what the ZR2 can do in the snow and bad weather. So far that thing is a BEAST! AUTO AWD is really all I have needed so far. Calling for one nasty storm this weekend!!
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Be careful with the auto 4wd function PA. I know in previous models it was prematurely wearing out transfer cases. But be safe this weekend it`s supposed to get nasty!
 
Rocker1911 said:
I can`t imagine how good they Quattro cars would be with winter tires..
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Good enough that we`ll *NEVER* drive ours in winter weather without them. Not even in the `93, with it`s superior (IMO) version of Quattro.

BUT...when it`s really WINTER WEATHER..that kind of AWD doesn`t compare with the 4WD of the Tahoe (also with Blizzaks).

Simply *GOTTA* have ice compound tires to retain steering/braking on...ice. The NON-ice compound winter tires I have for the S8 aren`t even close when things are iced over although they do fine in regular snow. Not that I plan to drive the S8 in winter weather again...
 
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