# cruze winter driving



## Inline4_driver (Jul 23, 2010)

It somewhat shows how driveable the Cruze is in the snow. But I want to see how good it'll grip a tight corner in the snow.


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Anybody got any good winter driving tips for safe upcoming winter "Cruzing"? Especially tips for those Cruze owners with an A/T as far as maybe using the manumatic to have better control of the car's speed, traction, and gearing when driving in wintery conditions? Which gears should be used when going up and down snowy/icy mountains/hills and should A/T owners let the car do the shifting or take control and use the manumatic shifting? When should the CC and TC be cut on and off when winter driving?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Leave the traction control on except when wheelspin is wanted. If there's a hint of snow on the road, turn the cruise control off so the computer doesn't make a front wheel do a 1-wheel wonder if it hits a patch of snow/ice. If it's ice, slow way down and expect the traction control and ABS to kick in constantly. All-seasons on ice are an awful combination.

Starting in 2nd gear is doable when traction is low. I do that regularly with my MT Cruze since 1st is super-short. And, downshift a little bit on bad downhill stretches, but don't over-do it. Slowing the drive wheels too much can cause them to lose traction, making the car far more likely to swap ends.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

sciphi said:


> Leave the traction control on except when wheelspin is wanted. If there's a hint of snow on the road, turn the cruise control off so the computer doesn't make a front wheel do a 1-wheel wonder if it hits a patch of snow/ice. If it's ice, slow way down and expect the traction control and ABS to kick in constantly. All-seasons on ice are an awful combination.
> 
> Starting in 2nd gear is doable when traction is low. I do that regularly with my MT Cruze since 1st is super-short. And, downshift a little bit on bad downhill stretches, but don't over-do it. Slowing the drive wheels too much can cause them to lose traction, making the car far more likely to swap ends.


Last year we did not have any snow so I am curious of how the Cruze does in snow. Driving the manual transmission makes the drive a little easier, since engine braking helps a lot and the car will not roll away from you. Most cars I have driven with 16 + in tires have no problems with getting stuck in the snow. I am interested more in the handling.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Smooth - one word answer to driving in the snow. The Cruze handles reasonably well in snow. If you are in an area that gets wet snow, get snow tires. Otherwise your stock M+S tires will probably be sufficient. For the first storm, watch out for all the 4WD SUVs sliding into the ditch. If you have and ECO, the belly pans will act like a pair of plastic sleds and prevent snow from bunching up between the front and rear tires, which actually helps in slightly deeper snow. Most cars that get stuck are high centered and the ECO's belly pans reduce the ability of the snow to high center the car.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

The Tune actually may worry me slightly in the snow. I can't really start from second gear, because engaging manual mode will engage 22psi power.. LOL. I've never had any trouble with FWD cars in the snow even with all seasons so it should be ok. My apartment sits on a major arterial that gets plowed first. Maybe we should get a winter pic thread


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

+ 1 again on a winter pic thread!


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

I also plan on testing cornering/manuverability with rated tire pressures vs. extreme pressures(45-50psi), but I'm still waiting for PA's first snow..

With six gears in the tranny, I will be the first to say if there is snow on the road, I will never use 6th. You should always be 1 gear under typical so engine braking is available at the release of the gas pedal, if that makes sense.

I'd imagine with our cars' wheelbase and weight, they should do just find in the snow. This is my Cruze's first winter, and I'm very anxious to see how she does.


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

ErikBEggs said:


> The Tune actually may worry me slightly in the snow. I can't really start from second gear, because engaging manual mode will engage 22psi power.. LOL. I've never had any trouble with FWD cars in the snow even with all seasons so it should be ok. My apartment sits on a major arterial that gets plowed first. Maybe we should get a winter pic thread


Remove the tune for winter.

I'm thinging about doing the same, especially if it's going to be as bad as they say it is this winter.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I drove around on the tune all last winter without issue. Most of the time I forgot it was tuned until clicking the cruise control off to blast an on-ramp. 

Also, I'll use 6th so I don't waste gas unnecessarily.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

OnlyTaurus said:


> I also plan on testing cornering/manuverability with rated tire pressures vs. extreme pressures(45-50psi), but I'm still waiting for PA's first snow..
> 
> With six gears in the tranny, I will be the first to say if there is snow on the road, I will never use 6th. You should always be 1 gear under typical so engine braking is available at the release of the gas pedal, if that makes sense.
> 
> I'd imagine with our cars' wheelbase and weight, they should do just find in the snow. This is my Cruze's first winter, and I'm very anxious to see how she does.


What's engine braking?  I don't think my ECO MT has that concept. It seems to coast forever in any gear. I tend to sit in what ever gear keeps my RPMs low to prevent hard accelerations. In the snow you want to minimize hard acceleration (faster, slower, sideways), etc. in order to maintain traction.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Yeah, the Eco MT doesn't use engine braking that well. Darn 1.4 liters of displacement and tall gearing.


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## ctrider (Sep 9, 2012)

I'm anxious to see how mine does. I wanted to get snow tires/wheels for it this fall, but can't swing it so I'll try to see how the LR tires do. It sounds like this weekend we may get some snow.


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Sweet! ... Cruze winter - YouTube


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## rmass09 (Apr 17, 2011)

Had some snow settle on my cruze this morning, Nothing stuck to the ground though. Not sure if I'm ready for winter yet.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

obermd and I hashed out how the stock Eco tires did in winter driving. He was fine on them out in Denver with its dry light snow. The few times I drove on snow with them on western NY's wet heavy snow, I had issues. Our conclusion was that it depended on local conditions how the tires fared.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> obermd and I hashed out how the stock Eco tires did in winter driving. He was fine on them out in Denver with its dry light snow. The few times I drove on snow with them on western NY's wet heavy snow, I had issues. Our conclusion was that it depended on local conditions how the tires fared.


...and tread depth. Our cars are still fairly new. How will these tires fare once there is 5-6/32" of tread left? If they're anything like thr all season tires I've driven on before, they'll become downright dangerous as tread begins to disappear. 

The question then is, do you replace tires with 5/32" of tread left with newvBulletin all-seasons so you could get around in the snow, or do you buy winter tires on steel rims for the winter and put your factory wheels back on in the spring to get the full life out of them?

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## 204cruze (Oct 25, 2012)

+1 winter pic thread!!! (seeing as so much of the year is winter here)


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

We had a little snow here this morning as well. We were up north yesterday and there was about 8" around Grayling. The roads were a mess too. It was nice to come back last night to no snow at all, and then to wake up to some on the ground was quite a treat... Actually, there was a small dusting outside when I went to bed. But the Cruze is still nice and clean in the garage!


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

It would be cool if someone started a winter cruze pic thread where they post pics of their cruzen in the snow. Maybe you should start it off Sunline?


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Sure, I could do that, once we actually get snow. Today's is all gone, and it's supposed to be dry all this week.


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