DigMyM35x

Ok, so first let me say that I took my wife's RX today during the 'Blizzard of 2010' in Philadelphia driving her to and from work (she's in healthcare and required to be there otherwise I would never have braved it!!).

The car did GREAT!! The roads were awful - and I don't mean, gee they have a little bit of snow on them awful - they were BAD!!! Some tire tracks but mostly just wet, soft,mushy snow that grabs at the tires. ABS braking all of that stuff.

I was very comfortable driving the RX (much more than I was in her 07). I really like the manumatic shifting - I use that more than the brakes for hills and stops, etc. Great control!!

I was surprised that I was able to back out of our garage because the snow had piled up to the garage door and the driveway hadn't been plowed yet. I knew that was going to be an issue upon my return but I didn't have a choice so I went on my way. (I did throw a shovel in the car just in case).

RX was great on semi plowed, plowed and completely unplowed streets. However, when I got home I couldn't get into my driveway! We were plowed in and the height of the snow was just too much for the RX to get over! On the way out I could pick up some momentum but turning back in, there was just no way to get that same momentum to get over the plow pile. Took 2 miniutes to dig some snow and we were back in the garage shortly!

Incidentally, I did use the lock button through a lot of the trip and it did help give a greater sense of control - lots of piles of snow at intersections and around turns.

Overall, I was VERY impressed with the RX and how well it did in the heavy, wet snow!!!

Jay

jclem

What tires do you have?

DigMyM35x

Stock tires.

jclem

I mean what brand: Michelins, Bridgestones or Dunlops?

sightdev

i don't think any of those tires would make any differences since they are all rated as AS. I don't see myself replacing it with AT tires but my Bridgestones overall were crappy and I didn't expect much since the treads were designed as AS. this has been the most snow for this region and i really hope this is the last snow for the season.

wyau01

I am hoping the same thing, but don't think it's the last snow storm.

kitlz

There wasn't too much snow by the time I hit the roads yesterday but I noticed the same old quirk I had on the previous RXs, losing the back end on turns in slush/snow. So different tires would not have made a difference. I have the Dunlops on my 450h.

Like wyau01 said, this won't be the last storm unfortunately. Next one is in the forecast is Monday night/Tuesday. A baby compared to the last. We'll see what happens.

jclem

Well, I beg to differ. I had the Bridgestones and they were terrible in the snow, so I traded out for the Michelin Latitude HP's(which often come on the RX) and I felt the difference was Huge!! I was curious to hear 'Digmym35x's' experience.
BTW, since when do all tires with the same rating stamped on them, ever perform the same?? Check out some tire reviews sometime.

DigMyM35x

Well, as you can tell I'm no tire expert or I would not have said 'stock' and I would have given you the info you asked for .

Sorry about that! I'll take a look and let you know.

Again, I didn't have ANY back end kick out that made me any more concerned than any other car would do in this type of snow when going around turns but I did use the 'lock' feature a bit and felt a lot more control when I would make turns through some deeper snow.

The issue that got me stuck was the ground clearance. Sometimes a snow pile is just too big to get over unless you have Bigfoot with the 6 foot tires!!! That was the reason I got stuck. I'm not sure the tires would have made that much of a difference in this case. As I said, however, they did great on every other aspect of the driving and conditions were terrible.

I'll report back which tires when I get a second.

Thanks!

Jay

kitlz

Jay,

I mentioned the part about the back end for those who might not be familiar with the RX in the snow. It's important to note I didn't feel like I was going to lose control. It was a little slide going through slush. Now the conditions didn't warrant turning on snow mode. That's reserved for several inches of snow.

In my experience, the RX has been great in the snow. Many times around me the main roads are closed due to accidents or dangerous conditions which forces me to take the more treacherous hilly side roads. The RX has not disappointed, going around stuck cars and stopping without problems.

I agree the snow banks were bad this past storm. Only super big tires or a snow plow could have made it through. It was heavy stuff. The next storm on Tuesday morning is supposed to dump another 3-6 inches, hardly enough to close work. Maybe I can test out the snow mode or the sport shift. Both are great to have.

DigMyM35x

Hi Anita. Sorry if it sounded like I jumped on you for the comment about the back end slide - definitley NOT my intention. I know exactly what you mean since I felt it greatly minimized with the 'lock' mode on. It was pretty neat seeing the difference.

I tend to drive pretty conservatively in the snow and this was bad, bad stuff so I don't think I took any turns fast enough to really kick the back end out and I had great control.

One thing I didn't realize was that the lock mode turns off after you hit 25 mph but it doesn't keep the mode on. So when you come to a stop, you have to hit the lock button again to activate it.

I would have thought it would leave that mode on all the time until you pressed the button to deactivate it. I guess they don't want you leaving it on when you are on dry pavement and the normal AWD is probably good enough for most situations (still would have been fine without 'lock' mode even with such a bad snow).

Not a big deal, just found that interesting.

Drove the RX today but forgot to look at the tires again (told you I was no expert )!

We'll see what the next 4-8 inches we're expecting will hold . . .

Where part of NJ are you in Anita? I'm a northwest suburb of Philadelphia (Montgomery County).

Jay

data2009

Here is what I use in heavy snow. So far, no problems getting around, or in-n-out from inclined driveway (Bridgestones are still awful):

From stop, I turn both the 'Snow Mode' (via wheel controls) and 'Lock Mode' (via button to your right), with the shifter on 2nd gear. This helps move RX on snow without too much hustle (a trusty snow shovel and a bag of salt travel in the back, just in case).

Once the road gets better and allows for 20+ speeds, the shifter goes on 3rd, and both modes are off.

When back on snow, shifter goes back on 2nd, and only 'Snow Mode' is on. This helps RX loose the momentum fast, using engine braking rather relying on brakes to slow down or stop.

I may be crazy, but I enjoy driving in snow. I feel more attuned to the car, in contrast to the daily commute, when I'm often almost on auto-pilot.

kitlz

Jay,

No offense taken I can only imagine how bad losing the back end would be in a non-AWD car! I drive conservatively too in the snow because it's more important to get home safe than how long it takes. I'm in northern NJ about 20 miles west of NYC. We received around 14 inches of snow Wednesday, none last Saturday. So you had it much worst than me this past week.

Glad to hear your RX performed well. Let's hope next Tuesday's storm is more rain than snow.