Yesterday morning it was pouring rain and the roads were icy and slick in Lake County, Illinois. When I got to the commuter parking lot in the evening, my Blizzard Pearl was covered with heavy wet snow. We started her up and put it in reverse ... but oh no ... it was icy under the snow where she was parked in the morning and I could not back out of the parking space over the mound of snow behind my car ... she just wouldn't budge off the ice ... so I cleared as much snow as possible from behind the car with my foot to make it more level ... and Blizzard Pearl finally moved out of the parking space! Then we drove home for 2 hrs. on the expressway and streets and she performed well during the snow storm and slick roads ... we had 8 inches of snow! When we arrived home, Blizzard Pearl was parked in the street until I could snowblow the driveway so she could safely enter the garage. I saw an suv in Libertyville get stuck in the middle of his driveway, so I knew there was no way Blizzard Pearl could make it up my driveway. Blizzard Pearl is resting comfortably today in the garage and the suv (12 mpg) is taking her place today. But I must say how admirably she performed during the snow storm and icy roads yesterday and got me home safely.
Mine did pretty well in the snow yesterday as well. I had to deal with just a few 4-6 inch spots. After the initial warm-up and defog, I could keep the defrost on most of my one hour commute home. My car has OEM everything.
That storm is going to combine with another this afternoon/evening, and we're in for a nor'easter tonight (8 - 12+ inches forecast), so hopefully I've had the same good experience.
Last summer I purchased Michelin Defender all season energy tires and they seem to work quite well for traction in rain and snow thus far ... I hope the Nor'easter that is headed for the East Coast today is not as bad as they are predicting and wish everyone safe traveling ...
Thanks for the review. Winter performance has really been the only thing I have been hesitant on. I like to use all season tires year round, rather than switch to winters. That worked great with my Forester (I had HydroEdges). But, I cannot deal with 21 MPG in a new 4 cylinder car.
Yep, that storm is set to batter the Northeast with up to 30" of hurricane winds snow. Time to batten down the hatches. DBCassidy
About 4 inches this morning in the neighborhood and some of the surface streets. Positively impressed. ECO mode is your friend for smooth take offs. Original Yoko S33's with 12k miles on them.