Well, we finally got our first snowfall on Saturday (approx. 2-3" depending uponlocation). We were out shopping at Sam's Club. It was raining when we went in the store andwhen we came outeverything was covered in snow.

Anyway, it gave us an opportunity to test our new Outlander in the white stuff. We first tried the regular "4WD" setting and found the reaction time a bit slow. You could feel the front wheels slip and then 1-2 seconds later the system would divert power to the rear wheels. We then switched to "4WD Lock" and found this setting provided a much more secure and stable feeling with much less slipeage, at least while traveling in a straight line. As we all know, AWD/4WD does not help you stop quicker and that's where things got tricky. Even when going slow and applying very littlepressure to the brake pedal, ABS kicks invery easily. Even on the slightestinclines it isdifficult to come to a smooth, controlled stop. In addition, the back end slid out a good 9-12" on an ice covered roadon oneoccassion before the stability control kicked in and got us back on track.

Compared with our Pilot which we drove later that day, the Outlander feels muchless secure and needs to be driven withgreater caution and concentration/precision. I suspect the main culpret to be the18" Goodyear Eagle LS-2 tires on the Outlander. Aside from being wider and lower profile than the tires on my Pilot, they also are probably the worst OEM all-seasontires I've ever experienced. They have decent dry traction, but they SUCK inlight snow/ice. Just check out the customer reviews at www.tirerack.com. Since this vehicle will primarly be used by my better half to commute to and from work (less than 2 miles each way), we have decided to not get dedicated snow tires. Instead, we have decided to replace the crappy Goodyear tires w/ the Yokohama YK520's, which areavailable only at www.discounttiredirect.com. They seem to have very good customer reviews. I'll be sure to let you all know if this change has made a significant improvement in foul-weather driveability.

Have a great Holiday Season and drive safely!

 

I agree. We also received some snow a couple of weeks ago and I found the 4wd Lock to the most beneficial. I think the Goodyears are decent, but that's about it. Even with 4wd I had some trouble backing into the garage. I also blame the tires.

 

lol, none of the OEM tires are worth having.

the yokohama geolanders that are on pre 07s are horrible.

infact ill be subscribing on this thread so i can update when i purchase my new all seasons.

please let us know if you decide to change yours as well.

 

Thank God I moved to Cali! The AWD/4WD function is just a joke compared to the old Outlander with AWD. The tires seem ok to me...but there is no rain or snow here so what the hell do I know?
Just be safe!

 

why on earth would you say something like that?

AWD is AWD, regardless of implimentation.


the main issue is the tires. Not a good winter choice.

 

Only because I drove my '03 Outlander in NY for 3 years worth of crap conditions. Now in Cali with nice Conditions...I see a big difference. Yeah...it's probably just me, but I just had to let y'all know what I thought.

 

I couldn't agree more. If I were to buy another new vehicle I would try to order it without factory tires....lol, they are for the most part, all garbage and poor excuses for the only thing seperating your new baby from a telephone pole tango.

 

I'm already on the hunt for new ones.

 

I have heard good things about the Pirelli Scorpion ATR among many others-sporty looks available in low pro sizes with supposedly fairly good winter handling. Time to hit Tire Rack eh?

 

I'll have to check those out