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Winter tires and 4x4 and no issues getting anywhere in a Canadian winter... Conditions be damned...
As for someone bashing the Qashqai for their intelligent AWD, I'll have to side with the ones who mentioned the Murano and Juke since I've also owned an Xterra and my wife currently owns a Rogue SL AWD. Nissan definitely makes one of the best traction control systems out there and puts Ford's to shame. The only better traction control system I've ever experienced was my BMW 3-series, but even then, Nissan almost ties it. It's more than instant, it almost predicts slip before it happens. My F-150 will take a full second to react, and I can spin a tire for 1-2 seconds before it applies the brake to the wheel or even get the flashing slip light in the dash... Too slow!
I laugh everytime I see one of those commercials promoting AWD systems. I always tell people the only thing AWD/4WD does in snow is get you stuck worse. In deep snow you’re going to get hung up. It doesn’t matter how many wheel drive you have, when they’re all off the ground you’re not going anywhere. If you were in 2wd you won’t be very far in or stuck very badly so just about anything will pull you out. If you buried it in 4wd you’re going to need a big heavy vehicle or something with a winch and most likely a shovel. Also, already mentioned by a few others, 4WD/AWD does nothing to help you stop. If you needed to have AWD/4WD to drive that fast, then you shouldn’t have been driving that fast.
Mud is a completely different scenario, where 4wd is an absolute must, but that is never shown on any of the tv ads.
I don't understand the people that will drive 35-40 mph in a 50 zone and slow down to 20-25 mph in a 35 zone. If you can safely drive 35-40 on part of the road why can't you do it on the other part of the road?
My F-150 will take a full second to react, and I can spin a tire for 1-2 seconds before it applies the brake to the wheel or even get the flashing slip light in the dash... Too slow!
Lots of ice after the weekend snow melt refroze Monday and Tuesday night. 1-2 seconds is an eternity for a system monitoring a 50 point tone ring. Maybe you are giving too much gas, taking a few seconds to get the wheel spin back down? My 2015 feels almost instantaneous, definitely reacting in something less than a half second.
Guys having fun bashing how little snow it takes to shut down the south should give it a try sometime. I drive all over the world and the south is nothing like up north. NOBODY has snow tires, chains, or studs. The temperature is just below freezing, so any activity on the road quickly turns into a sheet of ice, finely polished by the masses on summer tires and of course there will be little to no salt at critical locations. It's amazing how little traffic it takes in those conditions to turn the road into a sheet of ice. The road in front of my house is shaded two lane at about 4.5 grade. It goes through phases at every storm of blocked with wreckage, closed, and then reopened a day later. Once it ices over you need chains or studs to get up it safely. If you start sliding the ditch is 6' deep and starts right at the edge of the pavement. The hard frozen surfaces of the north are nothing like it.
Well, I know from first hand experience that even with good snow tires, some ice conditions have ZERO traction and no matter how good the AWS/AWD/4x4 and traction control is, when there is no traction, those systems are useless. Only studded tires can save you in those conditions. Been there, Done that!
Speaking of which, todays forecast
...Freezing Rain and Snow Expected Today into Wednesday Morning...
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO NOON
CST WEDNESDAY...
* WHAT...Heavy snow expected through Wednesday morning, mixing
with freezing rain this afternoon. Total snow accumulations of 4
to 7 inches expected. Total ice accumulations of up to one
tenth of an inch expected this afternoon.
* WHERE...Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties.
* WHEN...From 9 AM this morning to noon CST Wednesday.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Travel could be very difficult. The
hazardous conditions will impact the evening commute.
I laugh everytime I see one of those commercials promoting AWD systems. I always tell people the only thing AWD/4WD does in snow is get you stuck worse. In deep snow you’re going to get hung up. It doesn’t matter how many wheel drive you have, when they’re all off the ground you’re not going anywhere. If you were in 2wd you won’t be very far in or stuck very badly so just about anything will pull you out. If you buried it in 4wd you’re going to need a big heavy vehicle or something with a winch and most likely a shovel. Also, already mentioned by a few others, 4WD/AWD does nothing to help you stop. If you needed to have AWD/4WD to drive that fast, then you shouldn’t have been driving that fast.
Mud is a completely different scenario, where 4wd is an absolute must, but that is never shown on any of the tv ads.
I disagree. Trying to get home up an incline on packed snow in 4x2 even with the rear locked did nothing. A quick click to 4x4 got me home. So telling people 4x4 only gets then stuck worse is incorrect. It has its uses, and a 4x4 or awd will always be more capable under power than one without. If the driver takes that extra capability and gets himself stuck worse, that's on him.
18 F150 XLT 4wd I also owned a 2017 Escape AWD and now a 2018 Murano AWD. I will say this, I will take the AWD anytime if it is offered as an additional option on an XLT versus the 4WD switch. AWD auto is by far the way to go.
Originally Posted by caperj
Agree on the juke my sone has one it is great in the snow here in canadas winter. Fun little car to drive
My 2001 Escape was an awesome little snow demon. Anything below 6" and I probably would prefer it over a full size, 4x4 truck. I felt like I had the most control over that SUV. I miss it.
Georgia still can't be as bad as this scene in North Carolina where they got like 5 inches. I complain about drivers around here, but I was in disbelief with this picture until my buddy who lived in Raleigh at the time told me he saw people actually leave their cars on the side of the road and walk home. 4WD didn't appear to matter in this scene.
I shake my head every time I see this picture. I also laugh at some of the awesome meme's that have come from it.
People in Charlotte aren't any better than our friends in Raleigh when it comes to snow and ice, and unfortunately we tend to always be on the ice side of things due to our location in the state. Back in my college days I used to go around pulling people out of ditches with my Jeep. Now it's not worth the liability when/if something breaks or goes wrong.
I shake my head every time I see this picture. I also laugh at some of the awesome meme's that have come from it.
People in Charlotte aren't any better than our friends in Raleigh when it comes to snow and ice, and unfortunately we tend to always be on the ice side of things due to our location in the state. Back in my college days I used to go around pulling people out of ditches with my Jeep. Now it's not worth the liability when/if something breaks or goes wrong.
Isn't that sad that you can't help people anymore without worrying about them turning around and suing you? I helped an elderly individual change his tire last year who couldn't squat (he had a cane) when it was -15 out. I was finishing up with my food at Arby's when I noticed several people just walk right by the guy even though it was clear he was incapable of physically changing the tire. He was so appreciative, he tried to write me a check for a $100...I refused and just told him that I was happy I could help. I have to wonder if the people that just walked right past him without offering help were just that unhelpful or if in the back of their mind they were worried about "what if I change the tire and it falls off...how much will the guy try to get me for."
