Looking for tips on winter driving
 

I have a 2010 sport w/automatic. Being as the car is pretty low to the ground and I don't have a remote starter or an overdrive option, was wondering what some of you suggest for the coming winter months on the road.

What are your tips for driving through snow, icy roads?
How about dealing with frozen shut doors? I imagine it will happen.

Please post your comments for all to see. I’m sure there are a lot of people curious.

There's alot of threads on this.

Best thing is a set of winter tires.. not necessary, but they work wonders in the snow.
Haven't had any real issues with frozen shut doors.

I see you're from ny. There's a group of us tristate fits that get together about once a month.. ur welcome to join us. Check the NY forum

There's the normal winter driving tips -- drive slow, leave plenty of space in front, and try driving around in a parking lot.

If you have trouble starting off, you can throw the shifter into "S" mode, upshift to 2, and start off in second gear to limit the torque going to the wheels.

I never had the doors freeze up on me, but I'd probably make sure the door seals are lubed sufficiently. I'll probably do this myself in November or so.

I personally think the stock Dunlops are not that great below freezing on snow covered roads though -- I couldn't make it up a very slight incline last winter.

Get a set of Nokian Hakka winter tires and you're set. Of course whenever there is snow, and moreso ice, on the road, you should be careful with your driving and drive slower and less aggressively...I think that should be pretty obvious.

-fill the windshield washer fluid container with fluid that will not freeze

-check to make sure your antifreeze is good for winter temperatures

-winter tires all around... all seasons do not cut it

-carry jumper cables or a battery booster, de-icer fluid for the locks (preferably not inside the car), snow brush, shovel, cell phone, blanket, etc.

-get a block heater installed for those really cold nights

-go easy with the throttle and braking when on ice & snow

-no abrupt directional changes

-doors can freeze shut and may require a little persuasion to open... sometimes pushing the door inwards will break the "ice seal"

-remote start is nice but not a necessity

-if conditions are really bad stay where you are and wait for the roads to be cleared and conditions improve

My background... 30+ years driving in winter conditions in northern Canada but now transplanted to Texas. :D

This upcoming winter will be my first with The Fit.

In general how do they perform in snow or ice?

I'm coming from a 1993 accord, which actually did amazingly well in the snow. I almost felt that as long as I was careful and not in a hurry I could drive it in almost any circumstance.

I'm a little worried and assuming that just because of it's size and weight and lack of clearance The Fit will not be as accomadating in this area.

I'd be curious as to owners impressions of ability.

Nice thorough post Paul.
fitchet I plow snow in the winter, so when I get called in its usually really bad out already. Both of my fits did just fine on stock tires. Obviously, winter tires give u a helluva lot more traffic.
As far as your accord, they too are kinda low. The accord does have a weight advantage tho.

Wow Paul56, you’ve got some good advice there. Some of things you mention I never would have thought off. For example, pushing in the door instead of yanking it to break the ice. If I would have had that idea on my last car I would have save the weather stripping.

Any recommendation on washer and de-icer fluid? I was wondering if they make some sort of portable heater appliance for thawing out car doors. Like a heating pad or blow dryer sort of thing.

sorry hondaFORlife. I ran a few queries searching for winter tips but couldn't find any dedicated threads or info. mainly fragments.

No problem. Sometimes the search doesn't work so well. Every winter there's a whole bunch of threads similar to this one .. So I'm sure you'll get the info ya need. =]

Definitely this. At least one member here had the factory fill of washer fluid freeze on him in the winter, cracking the windshield washer reservoir in the process. No recommendations on brands, but make sure you get one that goes down to -30F or something. The normal non-winter ones only go to 32F which isn't good enough. I like the Rain-x winter fluid, except for the streaks it leaves on the car and plastic bits.

If NYC ever got cold enough that a block heater was necessary, I'd be afraid to think how cold it would be in northern Canada :p. I've had my car start up fine down to -5F.

I hear it can get in the negative digits in some places there. Even living in NY, I realize in the summer time the FIT can take a bit long to start up. And forget about the warm up time. You can be sitting for awhile before the light indicator goes off.

Not unusual to have -50 Fahrenheit up where I used to live in Canada during the winter.

Running a lighter weight oil or synthetic was another measure taken with those kind of temperatures.

Let me reiterate this point---GET SNOW TIRES!! Even the cheapies will do. Actually, I found my cheapo Hankook tires were just as good as Blizzaks, Hakkas, etc. (tried them all). Other than that, Just use common sense.

Fit Specific Advise:
-Keep extra fluid in the car because you will go though alot of it trying to keep that big @@@ windshield clean.
-Its easy for the back end to swing out on icy areas. Consider putting some weight in the back if you don't have rear passengers.
-dont let the windows fog, which for me, means running the defrost at the two highest settings almost all the time

General advise:
-slow down A BUNCH before you attempt a 90 degree turn. always assume there is a patch of ice there.
-increase your following distance
-find an empty parking lot where you know there are no parking barriers, etc and have alittle fun. learn how to trun into a slide to avoid a spin-out.
-learn how to slide into parking spots that would normally require a 3-point turn with the use of the handbrake :rotfl: good fun (only for professionals to attempt)

BlackUp - I've actually never had an instance where I had the back come around on me in a FWD car. Well, not with snow tires. Only in RWD cars and trucks did I sometimes have problems where the back end would get wiggly.

In a freak ice patch on the interstate about 1200ft long and 4 lanes wide, I "wagged the tail" a few times, :rotfl:. Witnessed about 15 minor crashes all around me at once but I squeaked through. I was rolling the stock Dunlops though..... ftl

Best advise I can give is if it's a bad storm, just don't do it. I made it through our worst winter in a decade last season with my Fit. I'm not complaining- it handled it fine. But I put it through some challenges I had no business doing. And in the name of what, work? They sure wouldn't give a shit if I wrapped up my Fit just to get to the office. Never again. If it's one to four inches, fine. But six and up- stay the hell out of it. And while I made it through two blizzards literally in the middle of them, the Fit did very well holding the road. The biggest problem with the Fit is snow getting in the wheels and REALLY throwing the car out of whack with a wicked shimmy. It's the open design of the wheels. That's why deep snow is a no-no in this car. Other than that, you'll be suprised at how well the Fit handles it.

And it's just around the corner again. Good grief.

Dan

Shockwave - try snow tires and you'll see a drastic difference. I use my car as a snow plow at times. 6"- 10", no problem!

But I agree- if at all possible, stay off the roads. Even if you're equipped for snow, many others aren't.

Make sure the hand brake works well, it's always good to have some fun.

Thanks.

Last couple Pacific NW winters were mild. Now that I have a new car, we will probably have the End Of Times Winter....

I'll take it easy....and if it's too bad? Then I guess I stay home from work.