I know we've talked about winter tires and AWD all the time, but being able to drive 30 miles home safely in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard last week makes me appreciate the car a lot more. Just want to say thanks to all the helpful advices from this forum, I've learned a lot.
Most of the activities were cancelled before the storm, except a karate black-belt exam that ended 2 hours after it started snowing heavily. It was a long drive through the local roads before being able to get to the highway, and I was basically looking at the GPS map only, couldn't see anything beyond 10-15ft ahead. Saw so many cars got stuck couldn't climb a highway cross, or in the ditch, and at least 4 cars spun in front on my eyes.
Winter tires made all the differences (Blizzak DM-V2 on mine). For the whole winter, it's proven to be reliable, I've never lost control even on black ice. AWD was also really good, so many times I thoughts I got buried in the thick snow, the car felt like floating on cotton but I made it out easily. One common problem during the storm is the thick snow causing problem for FWD to climb the ramp or highway crossing, and the more they spin the wheels in place, the more it compresses the snow creating slushes, which is even more slippery. Most of them backed out and ramped in to get momentum, but eventually had to find a different route, or spun out to the side.
Remember Mazda's ice academy with a scenario where they set up people to drive up a hill, stop, then turn right to show how AWD of the other brands don't work? That's a pretty common situation where people got stuck here: you turn from a small road to a big road, stop there for the light/traffic then couldn't turn because of the hill or the snow bank created by the plowing on the big road. I had to make 6 turns like that, just so glad Mazda's AWD worked. My sister-in-law confirmed that her Corolla got stuck at one the turns almost everytime it snows.
Driving on thick snow, even in straight line, the car would start drifting slightly to the sides from time to time, and to be able to feel it and ease the throttle in time was crucial. Comparing to the CX-5, I hate the Accord so much in that regard, the steering feels so numb and floaty despite it's riding on the XI3. I hope Mazda will always keep their priority on driving-experience, that's how they're different from the moving-appliances.
Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny 60 degree yesterday finally. Enjoyed the whole day changing oil for the Accord, swapping back all-season tires for both cars (still aching from carrying the 16 wheels up and down the stairs), cleaning the inside (the Husky liners were so dirty, took quite a good scrub), and washing the cars with cheap Turtle-wax.
Most of the activities were cancelled before the storm, except a karate black-belt exam that ended 2 hours after it started snowing heavily. It was a long drive through the local roads before being able to get to the highway, and I was basically looking at the GPS map only, couldn't see anything beyond 10-15ft ahead. Saw so many cars got stuck couldn't climb a highway cross, or in the ditch, and at least 4 cars spun in front on my eyes.
Winter tires made all the differences (Blizzak DM-V2 on mine). For the whole winter, it's proven to be reliable, I've never lost control even on black ice. AWD was also really good, so many times I thoughts I got buried in the thick snow, the car felt like floating on cotton but I made it out easily. One common problem during the storm is the thick snow causing problem for FWD to climb the ramp or highway crossing, and the more they spin the wheels in place, the more it compresses the snow creating slushes, which is even more slippery. Most of them backed out and ramped in to get momentum, but eventually had to find a different route, or spun out to the side.
Remember Mazda's ice academy with a scenario where they set up people to drive up a hill, stop, then turn right to show how AWD of the other brands don't work? That's a pretty common situation where people got stuck here: you turn from a small road to a big road, stop there for the light/traffic then couldn't turn because of the hill or the snow bank created by the plowing on the big road. I had to make 6 turns like that, just so glad Mazda's AWD worked. My sister-in-law confirmed that her Corolla got stuck at one the turns almost everytime it snows.
Driving on thick snow, even in straight line, the car would start drifting slightly to the sides from time to time, and to be able to feel it and ease the throttle in time was crucial. Comparing to the CX-5, I hate the Accord so much in that regard, the steering feels so numb and floaty despite it's riding on the XI3. I hope Mazda will always keep their priority on driving-experience, that's how they're different from the moving-appliances.
Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny 60 degree yesterday finally. Enjoyed the whole day changing oil for the Accord, swapping back all-season tires for both cars (still aching from carrying the 16 wheels up and down the stairs), cleaning the inside (the Husky liners were so dirty, took quite a good scrub), and washing the cars with cheap Turtle-wax.
I'd say that's a small cost to drive safely and comfortably in winter.
