Help: Best settings in Snow / Ice?

[RyanC]

Three words - good snow tires.

Born and raised in Colorado, worked for the ambulance district up here in the mountains and have been out in the worst conditions around. I'll take a two wheel drive car with good snow tires over any 4WD with OEM tires every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Now a 4WD with good snow tires? Unstoppable. (and a hell of a lot of fun!)

 

[B'klyn_Mike]

Now to add my voice to the choir. (Disclaimer: this vehicle is a 4WD I-4 RAV4 w OEM tires and 7.5 inches of ground clearance) I almost got in a pickle yesterday in about 12+ inches of soft snow on a street that a red lifted pick-up (4WD?) had a problem getting through. When it was my turn I had 4WD engaged, TRAC and VSC disabled and the tranny in D. No good - got stuck in the same spot as the truck.

OK, now I check the dash to see if the 4WD, TRAC and VSC lights are lit (indicating that the RAV is in 4WD and the TRAC and VSC systems are OFF), drop the tranny into LOW (4 SPEED) and firmly apply 'skinny pedal'. Guess what happend next? After some fish and rooster-tailing the RAV powered right on through the stuff! Made it home no problemo.

Lessons learned:

1) Always assess and reassess the driving conditions at hand.
2) Turn on/engage 4WD when in a low traction environment.
3) Turn off TRAC and VSC when in 4WD and in snow conditions with little/no traction.
4) Moderate to copious amounts of 'skinny pedal' are sometimes warranted and are OK.
5) Snow tires ARE a sure bet in the snow.

And finally:
6) Size doesn't always matter - it's how you use what you got!

Mike :artist:

 

[M1911]

Three words - good snow tires.

Born and raised in Colorado, worked for the ambulance district up here in the mountains and have been out in the worst conditions around. I'll take a two wheel drive car with good snow tires over any 4WD with OEM tires every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Now a 4WD with good snow tires? Unstoppable. (and a hell of a lot of fun!)

I just put a new set of snow tires on my 4Runner. 4WD helps you go, but doesn't help you stop or turn.

 

[angrydog]

4) Moderate to copious amounts of 'skinny pedal' are sometimes warranted and are OK.

Hey mike, can you elaborate on the term; 'skinny pedal'?

@OP Last winter was when I got the new Tundra. It was parked on my icy rear driveway which is also steeply sloped. My driveway had a previous layer of hardened snow/ice with another layer of recent snowfall. The truck would not budge in 4WDhi or 4WDlo (Made me nostalgic at the moment because this was the rig that I drove through 14+ inches of snow the day before it got parked). Like others experienced, I turned off all the assistance tools (TRAC & VSC) and viola! The Tundra gripped/clawed its' way out of the driveway.

Then again after this past weekend's 12 inch snowfall, I'm dealing with black ice now. My 4R slipped 2 times going at ~30mph and the TRAC & VSC did their job by not fish-tailing the rig or even landing me in a ditch.

Moral: I think each scenario is different and like Ryan said; tires make a huge difference.

 

[sandcrawler]

Three words - good snow tires.

Born and raised in Colorado, worked for the ambulance district up here in the mountains and have been out in the worst conditions around. I'll take a two wheel drive car with good snow tires over any 4WD with OEM tires every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Now a 4WD with good snow tires? Unstoppable. (and a hell of a lot of fun!)

:iagree:

 

[B'klyn_Mike]

Hey mike, can you elaborate on the term; 'skinny pedal'?

Why most certainly! :hatsoff:

'SKINNY PEDAL' = ACCELERATOR! :surfer:

Mike :artist2:

 

[angrydog]

Why most certainly! :hatsoff:

'SKINNY PEDAL' = ACCELERATOR! :surfer:

Mike :artist2:

Awe man, I feel so played. Sorry never heard anyone use that term before. Sooo, lets move on and act .

 

[Falls]

To the orig poster .

Don't feel bad about the wise arse comments here . The questions you asked is understandable . I too have a problem figuring out how this stuff works and what the difference is between ATRAC - TRAC - VSC . This is my second 4R and my 12th 4x4 , im just not used to the Toyota terminology .

lets take it easy guys .

 

[M1911]

After trying both 4H and FTFWD, I think that I agree that if you are driving at higher speeds (no not dangerous, just faster than slow) on snow packed roads, you should be in the FTFWD if you have a LIMITED. The center diff being unlocked and all the gizmos really help keep you on track in the turns. Is this the common consensus? Be nice.

That is my advice. Leave it in 4 hi unlocked.

 

[B'klyn_Mike]

To the OP and anyone else interested, here's a link describing how Toyota's 4WD systems work: 4WD Simplified Version 4.0

Mike :artist:

 

[sandcrawler]

To the OP and anyone else interested, here's a link describing how Toyota's 4WD systems work: 4WD Simplified Version 4.0

Mike :artist:

here's the latest version updated with the correct info for the 2010+ 4Runners.

(sorry, Mike. i don't mean to stalk you to post the link to this update! :cheers

 

[rob522]

Just got back from a run in some snow/ice. Tried out what people have been saying here. Left the center diff unlocked for most of the trip. Some ice here and there, not much. Areas of 8" fresh snow. Stuck to the road like glue, even with the gay 245 stock Bridgestones. I went ahead and locked the diff (out of habit from driving a Taco for years) when i was starting out on heavy snow. I don't think i needed to do it.


My $.02, YMMV

 

[M1911]

Locking the center diff turns off the electronic spin protection, which is probably something you don't want to do in the snow.

 

[mywife's4runner]

Locking the center diff turns off the electronic spin protection, which is probably something you don't want to do in the snow.

locking the center diff does NOT turn off anything in high gear, but you can if you want. only low gear turns off VSC and TRAC, but you can turn on ATRAC in LOW

 

[NYRunner]

Also keep in mind you are hauling along a LOT more weight compared to the EVO. So under-steer will be more severe and braking distance possibly longer depending on conditions.

And 4x4 on slick surfaces are HARDER to control and drive than 2WD. In 2WD you can use the brake/drive differential to steer the car by vectoring brake pressure versus drive traction. In the snow the 4WD will be a blessing; on ice/slick roads, you need to be more careful. As mentioned before, thats why you see all the Jeep guys in the ditch or guardrail when it's slick out because most don't know/remember that ....

Okki

Great info- I had a '77 Monte Carlo as my only RWD vehicle, and in the snow/ ice I knew how to manuever that thing around like a stunt-driver. The rest of my cars were front wheel drive and I never had a problem driving through many blizzards to go skiing through the years.

My Limited is my 1st 4X4~ and with all of the icy roads around here you may have just saved me some future bodywork with that post, which made total sense once I read it... Thanks!

 

[Koz]

From my perspective all these electronic nobs and switches equate to gimmicks that not only become confusing to get straight, but actually in my case get in the way of driving the vehicle effectively.

Absolutely NOT!

These systems are lifesavers and work pretty much automatically. They are capable of doing things that are impossible to be done by any human alone. Just turn them on and let them do their thing.

Koz

 

[M1911]

locking the center diff does NOT turn off anything in high gear, but you can if you want. only low gear turns off VSC and TRAC, but you can turn on ATRAC in LOW

In the 4th gen it turns off ESC.

 

[mywife's4runner]

In the 4th gen it turns off ESC.

Ok. In 5th gen 2011 it does not



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vardo]

Three words - good snow tires.

Born and raised in Colorado, worked for the ambulance district up here in the mountains and have been out in the worst conditions around. I'll take a two wheel drive car with good snow tires over any 4WD with OEM tires every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Now a 4WD with good snow tires? Unstoppable. (and a hell of a lot of fun!)

Smartest post Ive seen in T4R.org in a while. Snow tires make ALL the difference.

-Vardo

 

[DaveS]

Absolutely NOT!

These systems are lifesavers and work pretty much automatically. They are capable of doing things that are impossible to be done by any human alone. Just turn them on and let them do their thing.

Koz

Very true - couple of years ago I came over the brow of a hill on a snow packed road one evening and some idiot had parked/abandoned his car out in the road in 8" of snow at the bottom of the hill. Was only doing about 30mph - but still had to shed speed and steer to get clear of it - VSC and ATRAC clicked and beeped like crazy and the 4Runner just drove round like it was on bare tarmac. When you are driving around in the winter in 4500lbs of steel these systems are absolute lifesavers when you really need them (along with a good set of winter tires! - thank you Blizzaks)