As in not a good idea....

We took our 3 y.o. to an event and it rained and rained. When we came back, I saw a new Impala stuck. I thought probably doesn't know how to drive, but then it dawned on me, no, he's stuck, and so are others. Had a very bad feeling going back to the car. A Subaru and an Explorer pulled over, so I passed and what do you know. I doubt it would have made any difference with snow tires, and brings the distinct possibility to light that this car can get stuck in the snow. Put the tranny in snow mode, gentle as can be on the accelerator, and did nothing but dig further and further in....

 

That sucks! Not the ideal car for snow conditions. But good thing you just clay bar'd and polished her. That mud should be a breeze to get off. Just need a good underbody wash.

 

So how did you eventually get it out?

Did your son learn any new words today???

 

use the snow button, you start out in 2nd gear to avoid slippage

 

I assume the "event" you took your child to was either a TORC off road race or some Equestrian event?

It must have been a joy to get back in the car with mud covered shoes after getting the family out of the car....

Nothing a little soap and water can't fix....

 

This was a Thomas the Train event, though one could envision the same sort of field parking at soccer, etc. The only lesson I've learned is that one really needs to know the path out--don't ignore seeing other cars becoming stuck, you're next--meaning, potentially watching other cars to see where they get stuck, and where they may get out safely....the Subaru and Explorer pulling aside was a first ignored clue that led to disaster...in the end 3 guys manning the parking lot pushed us in reverse back onto the grass....then they suggested that I build up some momentum and take the other muddy path out....did not ever stop once rolling and they were right....

Maybe the difference with snow and snow tires would be that digging in, eventually the pavement would be there....s*** looks like I'll be putting them on Monday (was holding out, rather keep the 245's on)...

The charcoal mats are toast but I figure that's what mats are for and they can be cleaned up/vacuumed. Wrong car for this event!

 

The mats might clean up pretty well. We got ours muddy on the '05 (Ecru) and used my pressure washer and some Simple Green and they cleaned up very well.

 

Glad you got it out OK. Yep, wrong car for that event, but then, who knew? I already have a fresh set of new mats in the garage for when the current ones go beyond cleaning. Or I just get lazy and toss them.

 

Tested the snow button just the other day. It was a little stressful, I had to stay in the tracks of the other cars.

 

It has to be "interesting" to drive a heavy powerful RWD car in the snow. Does the combo of weight, snow button and traction control work well?

 

Yep....the mud was a humbling experience and now I know must be careful even with 4 snows....once those rear tires dig themselves in, there's no hope. It would have been interesting to have been in my wife's x-over SUV, to know what would have happened. We saw a FWD version of her SUV totally stuck, along with other FWD cars. and a Subaru Outback was being very careful but somehow made it....

 

The snow button was effective in that it felt like the car was reacting sluggishly. I was able to keep traction going up the pass and the only time it broke free was changing lanes.

The snow button was good in that it made the best use of the traction available.

I was trying to build speed up the hill and it gave me speed but cautiously.

 

That's a prime way of stating it. The car seems to react to throttle commands more slowly. I noticed that it starts out in 2nd gear when in Snow mode, so you don't loose traction so much when in 1st, but, yeah, sluggish...

 

So all the power is on leash. That's why the car is less likely to break loose. I grew up driving in Northeast winters. With the right car/truck, it's more fun than a video game. Come to think of it, driving in Boston anytime is a game w/ no rules. Hats off to anyone that drives a 430 in the white stuff.

 

Seems like not that many cars have limited slip anymore, I'd imagine traction control really does a number on the brake pads, i.e. the phenomenon where rear brakes wear faster than fronts (on my BMW, when the computer is reset, the fronts go to 90,000 miles, and the rears go to 45,000 left). After about 3k of driving, the fronts say 90,000, rears 40,000. When I was stuck, I was being as gentle as can be, with the snow button depressed, but I still felt like I was thrashing my tranny...