[Synergy3214]

Hello Folks,

I've had my 2015 Volt for two winters now, and I'm continuously floored how well this car does in crappy weather. It handles snow covered grades with relative ease, a light touch on the throttle and it will claw it's way up the hill. Also, the Traction Control is really fantastic, I assume because it's easier to retard the flow of electricity to wheels, than it is an engine. Also the ability to turn the TC off is handy as well. Contrast this to my Partner's new Prius Prime and it's night and day. The Prime just doesn't seem to "dig in" and you're that idiot inches through an intersection with the orange TC light blinking all the while.

Kudos to the Volt team for designing a really well performing FWD car in these conditions.

Anyone else feel the same way?

 

[canehdian]

It's the best winter car I've driven. Perhaps only made better with AWD, but really not feeling like it's necessary, IMO.

 

[DMC5180]

Conditions and Tires make the most difference in any car. My experience is just the opposite. Currently my Volt is the worst winter driver I've ever owned and I have hundreds of thousands of miles of snow driving experience. The front wheels spin easily and the car pushes the front end (car tries the go straight while turning wheels driving around town on anything but dry pavement). I'm sure if the car had blizzak tires, it might be a vastly different experience. I just have the All-Season tires that were New when I got the car 9000 miles ago.

My wife's previous car (95 Eldorado) was excellent in winter conditions.

Fresh wet slushy snow is the worst driving. Where as driving on Hard snow single digits F or lower provides for good driving in most vehicles with all-season tires.

The unique thing about the Volt is that Silent EV driving gives you no audible clue as to how much power (torque) is being applied to the wheels. It is very easy to make the traction control engage. With an ICE Vehicle you can judge the engine Revs and exhaust note and therefore feel the power level being applied.

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[hellsop]

Do not fear the traction control. It is Doing The Right Thing, at least 99% of the time. If it's not activated, you're not slipping. If the speedo is about right, then you're not slipping. The car is also quiet enough that you can HEAR tires slipping over the lack of engine noise, so if you don't HEAR wheels spinning, you're not slipping. Trust the car; you're doing better than you think.

 

[llninja]

In icy snow packed conditions, I find that driving in L helps you not lose traction when trying to slow down. Hitting the brakes in these condition attend leads to longer stopping distances. But, my daughter's AWD Subaru Crosstrek is far superior to the volt's FWD. the bad think about the Crosstrek, is that wherever my daughter takes it, snowageddon follows. First IL in 2014, then Boston in 2015 and 16, and even last week there was a blizzard. Wherever she goes for med school is doomed.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

In icy snow packed conditions, I find that driving in L helps you not lose traction when trying to slow down. Hitting the brakes in these condition attend leads to longer stopping distances. But, my daughter's AWD Subaru Crosstrek is far superior to the volt's FWD. the bad think about the Crosstrek, is that wherever my daughter takes it, snowageddon follows. First IL in 2014, then Boston in 2015 and 16, and even last week there was a blizzard. Wherever she goes for med school is doomed.

There may be a resolution to this problem: switch cars with her 8^)

 

[Jefferios]

I believe the car does a good job in the winter. Its better than my Aztek, but worse that my Smart. Snow tires will make it excellent assuming you don't get high/centered.

 

[llninja]

There may be a resolution to this problem: switch cars with her 8^)

No, the car was here for the snowageddons. As soon as the Crosstrek left, I haven't needed to shovel snow. Plus she lovers her CUV and hates the visibility in the volt. If anything we'd add a Subaru Outback or a Chevy Suburban to the fleet. Though with some of the recent ELR postings on this forum, I'm getting the itch to get one.

 

[KenC]

Winter perfomance all comes down to the tires, as far as I'm concerned. 2wd, 4wd, doesn't matter, good snow tires make all the difference.

 

[Barry]

My Volt handles great in the snow with all season tires. I have tried to make it slide and spin out and it is very hard to get it to let go. The only way I could get it to do anything interesting was to turn off stability control, build up some speed in reverse, then floor the accelerator and spin the steering wheel. Otherwise, it was solid. Even the emergency brake wouldn't make it fishtail.

 

[DMC5180]

My CPO'd car came with a New set of Definity HP 100's. (PepBoys store brand). Perhaps a Name brand LRR tire would perform better. I'm not going to throw away tires that are fine in Normal dry/wet conditions. But once these are worn out. The car will get a more trusted set of treads going forward.


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[deekster_caddy]

What kind of tires it's on makes a big difference. In this case the car's weight also helps it dig in and push ahead through the snow, but if you don't have good tires it almost doesn't matter. My first winter with my Volt was 2012/2013 (I got it in December '12), and it was a very snowy winter. I drove it through many inches of unplowed/partially plowed snow crashing over plow-berms etc and it trucked right through it all on the OEM goodyear fuel-max tires. Not bad, but not great either. I've always driven heavy FWD cars in the snow, (Buick Regal, Riviera), and the Volt is a lot like them. I switched to snow tires for the following winters and there is no comparison - the Volt is unstoppable (except when you want it to stop, then the snow tires really shine). The Volt definitely has one of the best traction controls - I rarely need to turn it off with my snow tires, even in this deep slop we've had the past few days. The only time I turned it off was in an empty parking lot so we could do some reverse donuts There is the occasional need to turn it off to spin your way through a deep messy intersection where the traction control is really holding you back, but that's a pretty rare experience with this car.

Interesting side note - with no heat coming from the ICE under the hood, the snow doesn't melt off the hood! (see photo)

 

[Joe67]

Hello Folks,

I've had my 2015 Volt for two winters now, and I'm continuously floored how well this car does in crappy weather. It handles snow covered grades with relative ease, a light touch on the throttle and it will claw it's way up the hill. Also, the Traction Control is really fantastic, I assume because it's easier to retard the flow of electricity to wheels, than it is an engine. Also the ability to turn the TC off is handy as well. Contrast this to my Partner's new Prius Prime and it's night and day. The Prime just doesn't seem to "dig in" and you're that idiot inches through an intersection with the orange TC light blinking all the while.

Kudos to the Volt team for designing a really well performing FWD car in these conditions.

Anyone else feel the same way?

I don't find my 2012 Volt to be that much better than my 2005 Impala in the snow really. Tires make a huge difference as mentioned above. It's a ~3700# FWD car, that's it really.


I drove last winter (Michigan) on Assurance tires. While it was as OK as my Impala was on all seasons, Blizzaks have been clearly better this winter, although snow has been sparse.