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Winter Performance First Impressons

13K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  tyrelirwin 
#1 ·
Although we added 4 Goodyear Ultra Grip snow tires in October (NO studs), we only recently have gotten REAL winter weather here in Upstate NY (30 miles South of the Canadian border). Saturday 12/23/2017 was freezing rain, which turned to snow, which resulted in ice, snow, and slush on our roads. This car handles beyond EXCEPTIONAL!! On previous owned cars, WITH 4 snow tires (no studs) there was slight skidding now and then, to be expected in these extreme driving conditions........and occasional activation of the ABS/anti lock brakes, when braking to a stop. So far, this Niro has not skidded once, nor has the ABS kicked in. This car thus far, with it's 4 snow tires, is the best car I have ever driven in winter weather hands down! Several months left to test it out but so far it's been GREAT!
 
#5 ·
Remember that you have much much better torque curve here thanks to the electric motor which actually have almost full torque available at almost zero speed.
Have you tried to start from full stop on a hill in Niro? It is not possible on any petrol only car to start so smoothly and so slow on high slope without burning a clutch or spinning a wheel.

With good tires, even without AWD starting on snow/ice in Niro would be much easier than any other 2WD car, of course when you do it gently.
 
#6 ·
I also have Goodyear Ultra Grips WO studs on my Niro and have been driving in everything from hard packed snow covered roads to ice to slush over the past 4 weeks and have had no problems driving in any of it. It did start to slide once on a very tight solid ice covered corner but the Niro quickly corrected out of it. Not sure if it is the tires or the car that works so good but the combination work well together.
 
#7 ·
We line the in Seattle area (tons on rain) and recently purchased a 2019 Niro PHEV. I noticed with the added wight of the extra battery in the rear the front tires want to spin a lot if given any decent amount of accelerator pedal from a stop or coming out of a corner. I don't drive it like a race car by any means but I do have to prevent from getting ran over by these a$$holes up here.

We have a trip to the mountains planned in Dec and I think we will take my truck cause I don't think this will do well in the snow at all, especially this wet snow we get here.
 
#11 ·
We had our first moderate snowfall, about 6 inches, tonight. We have 205/60/16" Michelin X-Ice 3's on our Niro SX Touring. Took it to an empty parking lot and Lettr' Rip. The Niro was extremely predictable and confidence inspiring. Stability control worked awesome and the anti-lock brakes only needed to engage on a very hard stop.

Another upside is that the car rides significantly better with these tires than with the summer 18" wheel/tire combination. It's also uncanny that a snow tire can be SO quiet. Bravo Michelin!:)
 
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