Driving in the Snow

5331 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Dktahg, Mar 11, 2005

delphi7x10

Discussion Starter · Mar 2, 2005

Say, if any of you have taken delivery, or those getting test drives in the North East this week could report on how the Ridgeline runs in snow. I thought the tires on them looked good, but my roads were dry, so if anyone could report how it handles in the snow. I would like to know about the VTm, and the tires.

Thanks

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delphi7x10

Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 9, 2005

Hi,

I am still looking for any first hand reports on the Ridgeline handles snow. My wife will be taking a test drive later this week, but agin no snow here.

Thanks

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Ridge

· #3 · Mar 9, 2005

I'm positively sure it handles great in the snow. Between the AWD, and rear locking diff as well as good ground clearence, I just don't see a problem.

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BeerHunter

· #4 · Mar 9, 2005

It just snowed and inch or two in Columbus, so my new Ridge will make it's maiden voyage to work in snow, slop or, (shudder) black ice. I hope the VSA is up to the task. I'll let you know how it goes.

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delphi7x10

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 9, 2005

Beerhunter,

I look forward to your firsthand report.

Thanks

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RidgeInMaine

· #6 · Mar 9, 2005

I picked mine up Monday evening. Tuesday morning it was raining, but all day it rained, snowed, sleeted, snowed etc etc. It was the ultimate crapstorm all day long. Worst one this winter actually.

Driving home was like dry pavement. Absolutely incredible. In fact I was worried about getting overconfident, had to take that into account. It was like all the other cars were in my way, going too slow.
I stopped at the High School parking lot to play, tried out VSA off and on. Pretty cool, you have to try it to know what it does. It kind of takes control of the vehicle, throttle and "feels" like steering to a degree too.

My usual commute is 1/2 hour (rural roads) it took about the same.
My mother took two hours to get home, it usually takes her 1/2 hour too - she has a car.

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zero

· #7 · Mar 9, 2005

Thanks for the report of how the Ridgeline handles in adverse conditions.

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jvacierto

· #8 · Mar 9, 2005

Hey Ridgeinmaine, did you experiment with the VTM-4 lock also? I'm just curious how "transparent" it is and whether you were actually able to make the Ridgeline lose some control.

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RidgeInMaine

· #9 · Mar 9, 2005

I didn't play with the VTM-4. As I understand it's useful to gain posi-traction control when you're really stuck in something...

The manual also has dire warnings about using on pavement and etc...

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steveho

· #10 · Mar 10, 2005

I just test drove a Ridgeline this morning. We just got 1" of slippery snow overnight. I stopped by our local Honda dealer just to test drive this vehicle in the snow. My background comes from driving chevy silverados for 14 years now, so I am familiar with 4wd and how it drives in snow and the various types of 4wd. Here are my thoughts on the Ridgeline in snow:

The second I turned onto a side street, I noticed that the engine power went down dramatically. Even as I pushed the pedal down the engine didn't put out more power. It reminded me of my parents old 4 barrel carb, the way the engine would stumble for 2-3 seconds. That's what the Ridgeline did, although it was the technology at work. Then I turned off the VTM (had to find the switch) and took a corner too fast (on purpose) and understeered hugely. That’s what I would expect with a front wheel drive vehicle. (My rear wheel drive chevy 4x4 would swing the back end around if I did that in 2wd mode.)

I played around with turning the VTM on and off and taking various 90 degree turns. With the VTM on, the drive was uneventful. The engine computer would keep the power in check to not allow too much understeer. With the VTM off, I could have some fun. I managed to pull a handbrake turn (foot brake turn) with some success. I was headed down a straight street at about 15mph, and swung the wheel left, while stomping on the footbrake. When the vehicle was about 90 degrees, I released the footbrake, but I had lost too much speed to complete the turn (without rear wheel drive). So I had to put it in reverse to back up some.

Summary:
VTM ON: not much understeer, not much oversteer, not much wheelspin.
VTM OFF: can generate understeer, hard to get oversteer, and tons of wheelspin.

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Dktahg

· #11 · Mar 11, 2005

Steveho,

YOU LUCKY DOG! Glad you still have positive feedback after trying those few things. I have been wishing everytime I see snow coming that mine had arrived by now. Unfortunately, mine just went into production today. So I still have a 2 week wait. Snow season will be dead and gone bought time mine comes.

ENJOY

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