GTI in a snow storm on a mountain?

[BinaryPie]

Hi everyone.

I'm trying to determine how winter-ready the GTI is.

I know with some good snow tires and chains (Fuck you CA DOT) I should be fine on normal days when the plows are out.

However, I am wondering about how hairy shit gets when you are in the middle of a snow storm going to or coming from a major mountain.

So those of you who ski/ride 20+ days a year and have driven your GTI through hell and back. How was it?

Thanks!

[kootenaydub]

Great, as long as you don't expect to be speeding or even driving the speed limit. Slow and steady wins in snow.

With good snow tires and all the safety esp crap we have it's pretty damn safe.

Carry a little folding/telescopic shovel, and some carpet pieces if you don't have winter rubber mats and it's should be pretty hard to get stuck on the roads.

Have fun!

[PornKing]

I went to Tahoe on stock All seasons.....very impressive.

[BlaineWasHere]

Get some snow tires... done. I never got stuck last winter and I'm kinda low...

[v-dub89]

The MKV is great in the snow with snow tires. I only got stuck once last year, but it was my fault. I was trying to go up a hill with about 1 foot of snow (someone's driveway, it had snowed so much within the few hours I was there). The rabbit wasn't stuck, it just couldn't get any further up the hill. It was dark and everything is snow covered, so I couldn't see much, so I started reversing and didn't turn enough and backed up into the snow bank. That is what got me stuck lol

[GGERG15]

I live in Rochester, NY during the shitty months and I've been fine. I'm running all-seasons too.

I will have to drive through the rockies on the way home (CA -> CT) at the end of the month... now that I'm not sure about....

[Khobin~]

Mine's done fine through 2 winters on All-seasons. Got stuck once, that was one morning I pulled out of the garage and tried to plow through a 2 1/2 ft drift in the back alley... otherwise the park lot exit at my work was always notoriously ice, with lots of people getting stuck trying to get up and on the road. In the GTI I never had to take more then 1 shot at getting up it.

...One day I'll get a set of Snow tires... one day...

[BinaryPie]

Fantastic!

Going to paint my classics some ridiculous color and throw some snow tires on. Then its 20+ days in Tahoe this year :D

[vdubya 6]

im in jersey and plow snow i knoe its def now the kinda snow you guys see but i had to go in to work w/ my huffs and bald summer perf tires that was horible.
i had to take my moms jetta sking in VT cuz my tires were shot the jetta did well in the snow

i just got some ice bears for this winter. any one use them b4 how are they ?

sorry for the jjack

[BinaryPie]

Originally Posted by vdubya 6

im in jersey and plow snow i knoe its def now the kinda snow you guys see but i had to go in to work w/ my huffs and bald summer perf tires that was horible.
i had to take my moms jetta sking in VT cuz my tires were shot the jetta did well in the snow

i just got some ice bears for this winter. any one use them b4 how are they ?

sorry for the jjack

I'm going with blizzaks :)

I grew up in Vermont but always had 4WD Jeeps :) So FWD is a new experience for me. I'll just drive slow and easy.

Will have to drive in stock mode that way my torque doesn't fuck me over.

[vdubya 6]

Originally Posted by BinaryPie

I'm going with blizzaks :)

I grew up in Vermont but always had 4WD Jeeps :) So FWD is a new experience for me. I'll just drive slow and easy.

Will have to drive in stock mode that way my torque doesn't fuck me over.

i got steelies w/ brand new ice bears for 270$ i couldnt turn that down thats why i got them

[GodSquadMandrake]

I went with Nokian Hakkepeliita 5 studded snow tires.
In the mountains it can get a little sketchy, but that's with any car. But the MKV is especially prone to understeer so you have to be very careful with corner entry speed, throttle on corners, and downshifting. I think coming down a mountain and coming up on a curve too fast is the most dangerous part. You have to resist the temptation to trail brake, downshift or whatever. Just brake in a straight line and then smoothly enter the corner.
But yeah even coming out of corners or climbing hills the MKV can be a little twitchy in the front end doing the one wheel wonder thing.
The rear end can be twitchy too but it's easy to reel in if it starts to slide. Just give it a little gas to transfer the weight to the rear and the rear tires should grab again.

It doesn't give the driving confidence of my MK2 or my Subaru of course, but it does ok in the snow. It's just a porky car with a lot of power.

[BinaryPie]

Originally Posted by GodSquadMandrake

I went with Nokian Hakkepeliita 5 studded snow tires.
In the mountains it can get a little sketchy, but that's with any car. But the MKV is especially prone to understeer so you have to be very careful with corner entry speed, throttle on corners, and downshifting. I think coming down a mountain and coming up on a curve too fast is the most dangerous part. You have to resist the temptation to trail brake, downshift or whatever. Just brake in a straight line and then smoothly enter the corner.
But yeah even coming out of corners or climbing hills the MKV can be a little twitchy in the front end doing the one wheel wonder thing.
The rear end can be twitchy too but it's easy to reel in if it starts to slide. Just give it a little gas to transfer the weight to the rear and the rear tires should grab again.

It doesn't give the driving confidence of my MK2 or my Subaru of course, but it does ok in the snow. It's just a porky car with a lot of power.

I'm mostly worried about the torque. I'm just going to drive like I did the few times I decided to attempt to get my Jeep up to the mountain in RWD. Very slow and very careful on the throttle.

[GodSquadMandrake]

Originally Posted by BinaryPie

I'm mostly worried about the torque. I'm just going to drive like I did the few times I decided to attempt to get my Jeep up to the mountain in RWD. Very slow and very careful on the throttle.

Yep that's about it. The torque on this car comes on very quick so especially with a chip it's easy to just get wheel spin.

[cwhite09GTI]

grip it and rip it....good snow tires and having a good feeling for when u need to spin the tires (taking the traction control off...ie going up a hill)

[slickvic]

Originally Posted by GodSquadMandrake

Yep that's about it. The torque on this car comes on very quick so especially with a chip it's easy to just get wheel spin.

Yeah ya definately need to set your program back to stock for winter unless you want to deal with all the wheelspin goofiness.

[RockymtnGTI]

Colorado here-

I am running Vredestein Wintrac extremes and had NO issues at all with the 20+ inches we had last week.

Coming from a modded Subaru turbo with snows, I have to say i am pretty impressed so far. The only issue I see is trying to start from a standstill at times (The Subie was unbelievable in the snow)

The GTI has ESP -which has already saved my ass (I was being stupid 'testing' the handling of the new snows at 90+ and hit some black ice)
I know the Subie (w/o ESP) would NOT have saved my ass in the same situation.

Overall I am very confident my setup will get me through the mountains this year with no issues.

[RockymtnGTI]

Originally Posted by vdubya 6

im in jersey and plow snow i knoe its def now the kinda snow you guys see but i had to go in to work w/ my huffs and bald summer perf tires that was horible.
i had to take my moms jetta sking in VT cuz my tires were shot the jetta did well in the snow

i just got some ice bears for this winter. any one use them b4 how are they ?

sorry for the jjack

I ran Hankook Icebears on my Subie for 3 seasons- great tire!

There are probably better all out snow tires out there- but the Hankook is very good in the snow, very good in the rain, and still fun for when the roads are dry. I would definitely buy them again.

[Moses]

i have driven my GTI through hell and back.

it is IMPERATIVE that you put the car in stock mode during a snowstorm, and it is imperative that you leave traction control on.


with good tires it is amazing. i literally drove around a line of 10 cars stuck on a hill, spinning the shit out of 2nd, i was the only one who made it up the hill!!

don't do anything stupid, stay out of boost, and the car is a frikken beast.

[ajt23]

Originally Posted by Moses

i have driven my GTI through hell and back.

it is IMPERATIVE that you put the car in stock mode during a snowstorm, and it is imperative that you leave traction control on.


with good tires it is amazing. i literally drove around a line of 10 cars stuck on a hill, spinning the shit out of 2nd, i was the only one who made it up the hill!!

don't do anything stupid, stay out of boost, and the car is a frikken beast.

This. I always keep my flashloader in the car during the winter. We dont see to many bad snowstorms down here but better safe than sorry.

[BinaryPie]

<3 APR :)

Stage II+ here and there is no fing way I'm running that in the snow.

Thankfully all it takes is 2min and I'm back to stock mode :D

[phil]

I was Stage 2 last year in the snow, ran fine.

Wintersport 3Ds on Huffs