My trusty Fit got me almost home. The subdivision was not plowed and the drifts were over a foot high. I had to walk the last quarter mile. I'll have fun in the morning digging it out from the snow plows.

My normal 35 miles 40 min drive took over 3 hours in a white-out condition. As long as the packed snow was less the car's clearance. The Fit had no trouble with the OEM all season tires.

The next time there is a blizzard warning, I'm staying home. The drive was nerve wrecking.

 

There's an OEM tire endorsement for you. More technique than tire in most all situations. You mention ground clearance - any real problems there?? I haven't been up against it yet but it is what I saw as a potential issue.

 

Yep,love my Fit in snow. Have Michelin IceX II's on and it is a beast for a tiny car in snow. 9" of powdery snow is it terminal limit,and 7" of wet snow is it's terminal limit. Anything less then that, piece of cake. Had ice here last night,although very touchy it got me home without a skid. Other cars were gutter deep in some places. Did I mention I love my Fit?

PaFitter

 

Stock tires in the ice storm NY got, they didnt plow or salt my dead end hill. it took a bit of rubber, but i managed to get out. fit took the rest of the way like a champ

 

Yea, I got X-ice IIs on my Fit aswell We got around 25cm of snow here, so roughly 10" and my little go-kart just handled it like a champ. The manual gearbox though helps a ton. Selecting the right gear to reduce wheel spin is crucial to getting grip in these conditions. Anywhere where the snow was packed down or even slightly plowed and it just laughed and went like it was nothing.

But still, need to be careful. Hope everyone is ok on this blizzard day

 

mine is lowered on T1R's, i got about 4 inch clearance in the front, along with 15" studded snow tires, and my fit goes through anything. she gets stuck in my drive way, only because the pull in is all ice and snow build up and i have to go slow. then, its a steep hill. so i have no run up to it, therefore, i get stuck. other than that, haven't gotten stuck yet.

the storm you are all talking about, just picked up the pace here. within half hour, roads are covered. i'm watching it all now......sounds like a good one. lol

 

You're right! Technique is way more important. That's one of the reasons all hell breaks loose in southern states when they get snow but people take it in stride in northern states.

I've had front wheel drive cars with MTs since the early 80s and they have all been great in snow. All you need is a decent tire with good tread. Back in the days when I had older American rear wheel drive cars, it was a different story. I had to use snows in the back PLUS put the summer wheels in the trunk to add weight and improve traction. Even then, the back was too light at times and I had to take drastic action to get out of parking spots sometimes.

 

Not so sure the first storm crazies are limited to the south. Never fails around here - first snow it's like everyone forgot how to drive. After a moth we start taking it in stride lol

Problem in the warmer places is they aren't prepared to deal with the big picture. Tulsa OK just got hammered and there's no way they can be prepared for a once every 10yr event. Thing is it's going to be more common, what with the weather patterns swinging around like they are.

 

I hear ya. That's why I wrote "one of the reasons.".

 

Man, I got myself stuck a few times... rocked myself out with a WHOLE LOT of burning rubber. Don't think my (front) tires are going to last at this rate. Maybe I should rotate my tires now (1st rotation at 6k, now past 10k).

I was constantly worried about the height of the snow though... get enough snow under the car, tires not so useful.

 

Yeah - it's important the tires can reach the ground lol

 

Good to hear that the Fit is holding it owns against some really bad weather out there. I am finishing up the winter on the stockers and
then new tires come spring.

 

I'm guessing that GE fit and the GD are similar in snow handling. My Fit is stellar on snow and ice even with the stock SP31 tires UNLESS I encounter a foot and a half of snow at which time I might high center (only happened once). Plows can create "burms" which CAN cause the fit grief. If I can get a run at it even these can usually be knocked down. For what it is (an exquisite econobox) the Fit kicks ass on ice and snow.

 

The plows came and I dug the car out.

At one point the trip home was disheartening. After driving 30 miles on the Hwy my exit ram was unplowed and it was uphill. I had drive another 5 miles to find one that's down hill. I was able to follow a plow half the way home.

The trick to drive in the snow it to keep the momentum going. It was 2am and I drove through most of the red lights and stop signs with caution.

 

I drove home from a show in New Haven on Sunday, ended up missing a couple of entrance ramps from the access road, because the snow was piled so high on the side of the road (between access road and highway) that I couldn't see where the ramp was until I was almost there, too close to turn. My GPS kept saying Make A Left and I couldn't... finally stopped at a red light I saw actual pavement and got on the highway.

New Haven must be broke- some of the streets hadn't been plowed nor salted and there was still packed snow on them- this almost a week after the last snowfall. A little scary with my new car on very narrow streets with cars parked on both sides, but I got home.