I think the TCH is "two" wheel, front wheel drive. If so, it should do quite well in winter weather. Do not have one YET.

 

The TCH traction control system uses individual wheel braking and power reduction to prevent excessive wheel slip on one side. This isn't the same as having some kind of limited slip system in the drive train to give you good balanced drive from both front wheels.

Traction control, while good on icy, hard packed snow or wet roads, is often annoying when trying to accelerate in deep snow. Sometimes in this case having one tire spinning moderately is better than two tires barely spinning in a slow controlled fashion, unless you are a patient person.

 

We're finally back online after being without power for over 2 days!!

The wife drove home thru the storm on Thursday, making her way from south of Buffalo all thru the 40 mile wide swath of storm territory. She encountered just about every type of scenario you could imagine, including wet snowy roads, deep slushy roads, and heavy ice build up on the roadway.

It took her about 1 1/2 hours to make her way, the road crews just weren't prepared for an October snowstorm!! She passed many stuck cars & trucks along the way....

Our TCH has OEM Bridgestone tires and she said that we should keep them on because she didn't experience any slippage other than normal deep snow problems when she was starting up from a dead stop at a traffic light. Even the uneven built up of heavy ice on the NYS Thruway (I-90) did not present any problems & she never lost control of the car at any time.

The other drivers however, did present problems when they pulled out in front of her, but she was able to stop without any trouble...

The biggest problem was the lack of traffic lights at major intersections; at the height of the storm there were about 400,000 with out power.... there are still over 150,000 dark homes.

The amount of damage to the trees is phenomenal... estimates of 50 - 70% of the local trees have sustained heavy damage--- 100's of Thousands!!! We were lucky, there are only a few dozen large branches that we lost, mainly from a large willow tree on the property. The state has estimated 10 million square yards of debris to be cleaned up... The National Guard is now operating throughout the area in the cleanup help.

Many school systems have closed for the entire week & generators are going like hotcakes!!!

(We have a 3KW so our fridge & sump pumps were taken care of as well as power for my Ham Radio Gear & lights...)

Our powerplant is now helping out the sister-in-law's house!!

 

Thanks for the info, wireless. Sounds NASTY out there.

I was hoping you were going to say that you had the Michelin tires, though (as I do). I look at the tread pattern on them, and I have my doubts about their winter handling. I guess I will have to wait until the real snow flies here.

I notice it is easy to spin them when it is rainy and you are starting out from a dead stop (especially as you go over painted crosswalk lines on the pavement).

 

I'm sure that they're not as good as snow tires. However, I've owned many front wheel drive cars in Massachusetts with all-season tires, and did just fine. I'm guessing that the VDIM probably helps tremendously in the wet stuff.

 

It's snowing in Denver right now....we'll see if it builds on the roads tonight...