Owned This for 2 Years and Finally Some Snow!

With the odd weather pattern here in KC, today is the first opportunity I've had to drive in any real snow. So far so good, but you HAVE to turn off VSC and traction control, what a pain in the a**.

Thought I would snap a couple of pics too, not of my 4R, but others who aren't as fortunate to have my 4R!

Buying a 2WD Prerunner seemed like a good idea!

And I would suggest NOT buying a BMW unless you can afford snow tires! This dude was holding up the busiest street in Overland Park by being stuck on flat ground!! ARRRGH!!

Looks like fun.
I agree on the BMW. Recently got my wife a 325 and I told her that if it ever snows here again (not likely) the BMW stays in the garage. :lookout:

OHP said:

Looks like fun.
I agree on the BMW. Recently got my wife a 325 and I told her that if it ever snows here again (not likely) the BMW stays in the garage. :lookout:

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My wife had a V8 Lincoln LS before her XC90 and it was the same way, just not good. I would normally take it and she would take my truck or my S60R when I had it. The Lincoln's weight distribution was allegedly 50/50 but it made no difference.

The R would go through anything though, it was freaking bad a** in the snow. Only got stuck once, but it was because I attempted to bust through a snow pile that was about 3' high and I didn't have enough momentum and got high centered. But, dug a bit under the tires and ended up making my way out. I got over confident in it I guess. :cheers:

Husker Z said:

With the odd weather pattern here in KC, today is the first opportunity I've had to drive in any real snow. So far so good, but you HAVE to turn off VSC and traction control, what a pain in the a**.

Thought I would snap a couple of pics too, not of my 4R, but others who aren't as fortunate to have my 4R!

Buying a 2WD Prerunner seemed like a good idea!

And I would suggest NOT buying a BMW unless you can afford snow tires! This dude was holding up the busiest street in Overland Park by being stuck on flat ground!! ARRRGH!!

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I live about 3 hours from KC in Junction City, KS and was able to put my 4WD to use in snow as well. It was really nice to get out and play around. lol.

How much snow did you guys get in KC? We got about 3 inches.

"dude was holding up the busiest street in Overland Park..."

Which street is that?

It's fun, isn't it!! I was out playing in it again tonight. Love it!

<<<< said:

"dude was holding up the busiest street in Overland Park..."

Which street is that?

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Metcalf, right at 83rd street.

Lyric, we got 2-3" I would guess. It's hard to tell as much as it blew around.

Husker Z said:

With the odd weather pattern here in KC, today is the first opportunity I've had to drive in any real snow. So far so good, but you HAVE to turn off VSC and traction control, what a pain in the a**.

Thought I would snap a couple of pics too, not of my 4R, but others who aren't as fortunate to have my 4R!

Buying a 2WD Prerunner seemed like a good idea!

And I would suggest NOT buying a BMW unless you can afford snow tires! This dude was holding up the busiest street in Overland Park by being stuck on flat ground!! ARRRGH!!

Click to expand...

I thought the best thing for snow was to leave it it in 4Hi & go slow. Only if you are slipping, do you lock center diff which turns off VSC. All my info comes from other threads on the topic. Correct me if I'm wrong because I really would like to know. From the FLA, now in KC & never had to deal with the white stuff. Had the day off so I didn't leave my place. Driving in the snow & ice got me a little skeered.

I wouldn't lock your the center diff unless you get stuck. I just turned off my traction control to keep it from robbing power from me on every spin. Sometimes when trying to get out into traffic and you spin it takes all the power and you just sit there, it's dangerous.

Your definition of real snow and mine are complete different.

MikeInNH said:

Your definition of real snow and mine are complete different.

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Well, with the winter we had last year, I'll take anything we can get!

In KC, we deal with a lot of ice storms, we're right on the line of heavy snow or ice.

Husker Z said:

I wouldn't lock your the center diff unless you get stuck. I just turned off my traction control to keep it from robbing power from me on every spin. Sometimes when trying to get out into traffic and you spin it takes all the power and you just sit there, it's dangerous.

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Kinda what i was thinking.

The 08s can turn off VSC without locking the center diff.

Husker Z said:

I wouldn't lock your the center diff unless you get stuck. I just turned off my traction control to keep it from robbing power from me on every spin. Sometimes when trying to get out into traffic and you spin it takes all the power and you just sit there, it's dangerous.

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I don't want to be the donkey's ass and poop on the fun in the snow parade. But from someone who drives on snow and ice every winter every day, well into march april, what is dangerous is driving out into traffic prematurely enough that you need enough "POWER" to merge and cut into traffic, rather than sitting there waiting for a minute longer for a better oportunity to merge. The guy behind you can wait, or eat some hitch receiver. You just need more distance between you and other cars, for everything you do on ice and snow.

VSC and systms like that are the biggest life saver after seat belts.
VSC is not dangerous. I can't think of a time where I have felt VSC took power away from me, that I felt in danger. But the first few times it comes on, it can freak you out. Beeping and blinking, and maybe trac chattering... You need to sort of practice or train for it. I know I practiced purposefully to figure it out and get comfortable with it. Now it doesn't even phase me to hear all the beeping and blinking and slowing down. It's also pretty fun. Cause when you have total control of the throtle back, you shoot out like a canon if you left your foot on the gas.

Actually, I feel like it works better if you leave you foot on the gas. Take it off, and it can't power any of the wheels to pull you in the direction of your steering wheel, but only slow you down, which might very slow down your slide into the snow bank, but not correct the slide so you avoid it.

Remember VSC is trying to prevent the slide. It doesn't know there is a car coming that is heading right for your driver side door. That is still the job of the human, to not get out infront of cars when they should have waited for a better opportunity.

That's my take on it.

Now that I'm done pooping on the party. Have fun with it while you can. I have a mount infront of my house from snow clearing, about 12Ft long, 5ft wide and 5ft tall, I can spare some. December isn't over yet, I'll get more.

OHP said:

Looks like fun.
I agree on the BMW. Recently got my wife a 325 and I told her that if it ever snows here again (not likely) the BMW stays in the garage. :lookout:

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The VSC equivalent (DSC or DTC or what ever they call it) on my wife's BMW is superior to the Toyota VSC. I believe BMW pioneered this technology about 10 years before Toyota started. It is amazing how it manages to control the slide, so quickly, and precisely. It literally, just kind of totally stops the rear end from sliding out, and then just about stops you in your tracks, pointing in the direction you want to go, instead of ending up sideways or 180 the other direction, or in a snow bank. Again, I keep on the gas, and when I'm positioned in the direction I want to go, and I have 100% throtle control I can pull it out, otherwise, yeah, you just sit there. Again, lots of fun fun here, I always freak out at how it knows to do that, but alos usually I'm expecting it, since I purposfuly pushed it a little hard into a corner I know has some ice under the snow.

But it's traction control system, leaves to be desired. It's also so light, there is little weight on the rear drive wheels, and is so low to the ground that it becomes snow plow going down the street. I have been stuck with that car on pretty much flat street, if the snow was deeper that a few inches and I didn't have a running start, like getting out of a parking spot. I've also had to use my 4Runner to pull it out of my icy driveway with a tow rope. Maybe the AWD xdrive version is good?

I drove up from central KY to upstate NY over the last two days through all kinds of road conditions, ponding water, sleet, snow, thunderstorms, while avoiding and sometimes not avoiding road debris. The end of the world did not happen it sure seemed like some sections of 71 and NY17 had taken mortar fire. TFR was solid, never a mis-step. Always solid even when it got dicey. Looks like we're going to get upwards of a foot before we head back on Monday. Got to find me an unplowed parking lot!

12 hrs in the saddle was a challenge. I found that I had to slide the seat forward and move the back to a more upright position to eliminate lower back fatigue. I think the leather seats might have eliminated that particular issue. I was 20.1 mpg for the trip running 4wd hi constantly. Running Firestone Destinations and wondering about the next set of tires. I put GY Fuel Max on my daughters CRV and had a bump in hwy mpg from 27-28 to 30.5. If I picked up 2 mpg on the 4Runner I'd have to consider it.