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Now, I am from Ottawa where we get dumped on quite a lot.
Right now wife and I are looking to buy a 2nd car and the AVEO is looking better and better. But what about snow handling? My wife will be using the car for commuting 40km a day (from one end of Ottawa to the other end, but not all highway driving).
So I wanted to find out what or how well it handles in the snow and ice.
We are looking at getting the AVEO 5 hatchback. Yellow colour.
it does ok but with a lot of other cars u really should invest in a decent set of snow tires
it never snows in philly but the one time it did last year i hit some ice then hit a tree
The stock all seasons suck. I'm running nokian WR2 AWP all around and after 2 montreal winters haven't had much of a problem with winter handling.
I'm in Michigan and it is ok on snow. It's not as good as a Subaru but it sure is a hell of a lot better then the camaro I had!
when, and i say when it snows in ny i always have on my bridgestone blizzaks. never had a problem. left my 4wd suburban at home all winter.
its all about the driver....i drove to college one day on a really snowy day and roads werent even plowed yet and i did fine...it was high enough for it to hit the oil pan...but its all about the driver....this is when i had 17x7's too
I agree with Sam..it's all in the driver's ability to not drive beyond the cars limitations. I live in Western NY and drove all winter without incident.
i live in southern ny and this winter was mild by comparison with others we southern new yorkers have had. i drove my aveo all winter too, but extra traction and a good set of winter tires never hurt anyone.
Thanks for all the feedback folks. Wife and I believe in winter tired. We have a van that we have two sets of tires for. Summer tires and winter tires.
Wasn't until two years ago when I broke down and got snow tires that I really noticed the different.
Thanks everyone ;>
I live in Alaska and have an 09' Aveo5 and mine does great. You will want to change the tires though. I put my MSR 17's on, but I wanted to run year-round with them so I use Bridgestone Potenza Grids. The best winter tire hands down is Bridgestone Blizzaks though. I would just recomend you buy some cheap steelie 14's and put blizzaks on them then swap for summer. You're wife should be fine, the wheels are 4x100 so they're pretty cheap.Quote:
Originally Posted by djl_ottawa
My stock aveo with factory tires did GREAT.
mine did great in the snow too, only thing is there is some rear "sway" at highway speeds on snowy/icy roads..
might not be an issue for you, but i was driving 120 miles a day in the snow. and its not something that isn't correctible. taking your foot off the gas and slowing down by 5 mph usually eliminated it..
its one of those things if you just dont panic.. it will be fine. hard to describe what it feels like, also keeping a 50lb bag or two of salt in the back of the car helps keep it from happening.. (plus if you get stuck you can through salt down to get out)
Yeah, I was doing just fine on the stock kumho tires that came on mine, but I always change my girlfriends wheels in the winter to blizzaks...peace of mind you know?Quote:
Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit
Everyone says that the stock tires are fine if you drive for the conditions which is true. But it's other drivers and unexpected accidents that will get you in big trouble if you (or your tires) can't react fast enough to avoid situations. I always run snow tires on my Wave, especially because it's such a light car, it needs all the traction it can get.
+1 I work for a trucking company here and our main company motto is "Watch out for the other guy". Too true.Quote:
Originally Posted by 07_aveo
my tires were all bald through the winter, only had 3000-5000 miles on the car, but i still managed better than most..
got a new set at 5000 miles, and now i am at 7500ish, and they are doing good wear wise..
This thread is one of the more popular ones for people coming to the site from search engines.
So far the concensus is: It's fine. But get snow tires. (That advice really applies to most vehicles.)
I've driven subcompact front wheel drive cars of many types through many Canadian winters with zero problems. Winter tires on all 4 wheels and common sense are all you need. I haven't driven an Aveo in snow, but I can't imagine there's anything different about its winter handling compared to any other car in its class.
Anyone care to update with their Aveo experience from the winter we're now leaving behind?
With heavy wind and snow the back end gets squirrelly before the front end. This is straight I found around 35-40 mph is 2-3" of snow. But also in snow that just settles on running out salt jobs.
My Aveo5 handles well up here in Alaska. It responds and handles well on ice and hard pack, but gets really squirrely in slush and fresh powder more than 6". I made it the whole winter this year on the stock Kuhmo's, but got stuck in the driveway a few times, as it's a slight incline. A couple of times I just had to floor it in reverse to get out. :lol:
My 06 hatch Aveo handles good but it gets stuck all the time even with full tread recommended tires. .
Why can't makers of these light little 1 front wheel drive cars put a temporary posi traction device in so we can at least get out of the 2" of snow on flat ground they get stuck in all the time. If they are worried about driving with it on, just make it automatically switch out over 2 miles an hour. Why wouldn't that work ?
Last year in Iowa, my cheap a$$ land lord never plowed the parking lot. I could always get out. The AVEO rules.
Try severe weather rated winter tires calewis. It's like trading ice cubes for sandpaper. You'll be amazed.
x2 on that one.. i have cheap cheap cheap ($60 for the set of 4) studded snows on my car, and while the tires "feel" funny compared to my summer performance tire, i never get stuck, even when the snow is up over my fog lights and i rip the bumper off.
It's hard to get stuck in these cars... ive driven mine in snow deep enough to scrape under the car all the time, with a 3-4 inch drop...
Just get good winter tires, i had Toyo Observe on mine, never got stuck once, so much snow was built up between the bumper air dam and radiator i had to take a hammer and break it off because it froze from the radiator's heat a few times per winter.
Once i entered a driveway that hadnt been cleaned with just over a foot of snow, bumper acted like a shovel and snow got on top of the hood, opened the door and i was pushing snow with the door lol i got stuck there, but not for long, back up, 2nd gear, floor it bam right thru the plowed snow and out the other end.
If i got outta that with a 4 inch drop, no one should get stuck unless its prety extreme conditions.
i live in virginia, don't get much snow but when we do it's a lot. drove in it this year, only a couple of problems. if the streets aren't plowed the best you could mess up your front end plastic due to low ground clearance. second you feel every bump. nice thing was i tried to make it slide a couple time and only got a little drift, low body weight helped a lot. 07 hatchback
I just drove icy/slushy highway for about an hour. Only time I slid was if I tried to stop to fast :) It was fun passing people in the non salted left lane on the interstate. The right side of road was just water and they were doing 55-60 on a 65, I was in a hurry and wanted to do 70, so I did. It's gotta be embarrassing for the people in the AWD etc that I can pass them up in the bad weather.
Car handles amazingly in the snow. Hard to break lose even if you're trying. It's the wind you need to worry about...
aaaa aaaaaa aaaaaa aaa ......aa......a...... blown away in the wind.Quote:
Originally Posted by cheese007
Copied from the national weather service @ 12:28 am wednesday 2/2/2011
"A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST WEDNESDAY.
* SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND INTO EARLY
WEDNESDAY. VERY HEAVY SNOWFALL RATES...OVER 1 INCH PER HOUR...
WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA BETWEEN THROUGH 2 AM
EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW WILL DIMINISH TO FLURRIES
AFTER 10 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING.
* SNOWFALL TOTALS FROM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDDAY WEDNESDAY ARE
EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 15 TO 20 INCHES ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A
LINE FROM SIGOURNEY IOWA THROUGH THE QUAD CITIES...TO STERLING
ILLINOIS. NORTHWEST OF THIS LINE...8 TO 16 INCHES ARE EXPECTED
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL IOWA TO FAR NORTHWEST ILLINOIS. SOME
ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE.
* STRONG NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS...FROM 25 TO 35 MPH WILL
CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. WIND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 45 MPH WILL BE
POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL DIMINISH TO TO 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY
MORNING. THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND FALLING POWDERY
SNOW WILL RESULT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...INCLUDING HEAVY SNOW...
STRONG WINDS AND VISIBILITIES BELOW A QUARTER MILE THROUGH
EARLY WEDNESDAY.
* ROADS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SNOW PACKED AND SLICK TONIGHT WITH
CONSIDERABLE DRIFTING MAKING ROADS DIFFICULT TO KEEP CLEAR
OVERNIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. TRAVEL ON AREA ROADS WILL LIKELY
BECOME NEAR IMPOSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY TONIGHT. DRIFTS OF 3 TO 6
FEET ARE LIKELY.
* WIND CHILL READINGS AS LOW AS 10 BELOW TO 15 BELOW ZERO WILL
BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY MORNING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS THAT FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW...STRONG
WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES OF ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS ARE
OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. THIS WILL CAUSE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...
MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL! IF YOU MUST
TRAVEL DUE TO AN EMERGENCY...TAKE YOUR WINTER SURVIVAL KIT. IF
YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE UNTIL HELP ARRIVES."
The hardest part of the trip was pulling into my driveway.
oh it was 1.8 miles all in town.
REPORTS FROM MEDIA AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALLY INDICATE THAT HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES HAVE GONE OFF THE ROADS. THE GOVERNOR HAS ACTIVATED THE NATIONAL GUARD WHO ARE CURRENTLY RESCUING STRANDED MOTORISTS.
This came from weather service for our area.
yeah, PA reset all the speed limits on all highways to 45 last night, not sure if its been lifted yet, i guess ill find out hen i go up them.
i've been on the highways when they were closed, but never in the aveo.. my awd TT, with sport snows. got pulled over twice being told by state boys to get off the highway, i told the second one, to radio ahead to let me pass, as its unsafe for them to try to catch me.. and unsafe for us both to pull off the highway (even though you didnt "know" where the highway was...)
Lol, Yeah we have people stranded around here too with 7 foot snow drifts on some of the county roads. I didn't see any cops last night, they probably said screw this and stayed home.
i live in fort riley KS and we have been getting quite a bit of snow and ice over the past two months. mine (2011 aveo5, manual with the stock tires) does just fine. i just have to be easy at starts and stops to prevent spinning and sliding. other than that i have no real easy in the snow.
If you have the 5spd, second gear starts are a great thing, sometimes 3rd if it's really slick and you know how.
Took my room mate to work early yesterday morning. 6 inches in the street. No issues other than the aforementioned room mate whining that I wouldn't let him drive my new car, let alone in 6 inches of unplowed snow. I need a new room mate. lol Preferable one that is female and has her own tools.
Lol, good luck with that. My GF and I have an understanding, her truck is hers, and my car is mine. Although I work on and drive the truck occasionally, she don't get to drive my car. If she knew how to drive a 5 spd that might be a different story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daug1502
And that is why I got a 5spd...cuz my wife didn't want to learn when I offered to teach her :)
Before my brother-in-law passed away, he had a 5 speed Kia Spectre5. My sister couldn't (and still can't) drive a manual. He would offer to teach her, but she refused every time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratchet104
My dad's trick for having my mom keep away from driving his car is that he got a Pontiac G8, and he made it "too powerful" for her. I guess one day she said she'd never drive it because it's too fast for her. My dad's response was "good, I didn't want you to drive my damn car anyways". Now that I think of it, maybe I should go do this to my car to defer her from driving mine... Or go with the cheaper option, and go take my driver's test, get my license & change the title where I'm the primary owner, then my dad. I don't trust my mom's driving in ANY car! Including a 4-cylinder, 106 hp car!