Just want to say the drive home from work sucked.
Heavy, wet, sloppy snow. Temps making things REALLY slick when you approached anything remotely resembling a clear road surface. And a lot of drivers short of a clue...

What I really want to say is that the Fit is pretty amazing in the snow. First car I've had with anti-lock brakes and traction control, but backed up with 30+ years of winter driving experience in upstate NY.

Even with the 'All-Season' Firestones I think the Fit loves snow. It should be really awesome when I break for new snow tires next year!

 

i too, just had a good 60 mile drive home in the snow for the first time in the fit. i just came down the taconic 20 minutes ago. i was going 70 or so, passed a ton of people, including a few troopers.

midway through the commute, i had to disable the VSA, but once i did, the car worked excellently. i am running 185/65-15 altimax artic snows.

 

I'm currently driving a 2005 Subaru Forester which is really good in the snow. I've got stuck only once while driving unplowed road with 20" of snow.

It's snowing here and I was driving home today going 35MPH on a 35MPH road and the SUV right behind me tailgated me for a while until he changed to the left land and sped like 50MPH+. I saw him rear ending a car at the next light...

I live in Northern Virginia and I found that the first day of the snow in the winter, many people have no clue how to drive in the snow...

 

That's how I felt the first day I took it in the snow with just the Firestones. This isn't my first vehicle with ABS, but it is the first with traction control. Didn't need it my first day out, but I'm sure it'll come in handy climbing a grade on ice.

 

I wasn't relying on the traction control, I just took the flashing yellow light as a warning my foot was being a little too heavy

That said, I could see where it could come in very handy in getting up an icy hill!

 

Thank God for Florida. I hope to never see snow again.

 

I had the pleasure of driving home from work in the wet snow we are getting in the Albany area today (and it is still snowing). My Fit handled well in the snow . I am anxious to see how the "carpeting" in the rear wheel wells will hold up this winter?

 

Driving home from work today in CT today was a nasty one. I thought I was going to need the tire chains I just bought but the FIT drove pretty well to be expected. Just take it slow and easy with the 6MT and got home no issues!

 

Can you elaborate on this? What convinced you to turn it off and how did it effect your drive? Thanks

 

This past week I drove through light subzero snow in Utah, snow drifts in Minnesota, and light high-altitude light snow on I-70 through Colorado. The 2015 Fit handles very well on the black. I did not drive on any completely snowed road surfaces. Now I'm back on the west coast for Thanksgiving. Here, 95% of the people have no idea how the rest of the USA lives each day in the cold ;-) Oh, in the A.M. I'll try and drain the washer antifreeze from the Fit back into the bottle, and replace with tap water...

 

Only once did my Fit get stuck on a hill. I now have better winter tyres so I don't know if I could have been able to get up there with my "new" Micheline X-ice tyres.

I think the Fit is an okay car in the snow. Definitely better than the Matrix which is awful in the snow and a pretty awful handling car in general.

 

Found my 2015 amazing in the snow. Previously I had a 2009 Sport 5 speed manual and my 2015 CVT had it beat all around. 2009 had Continental Extreme contact DWS and was pretty good in snow. Found the 2015 Firestones surprisingly better then expected. We had a very wet sloppy greasy like snow. Stopping I thought was excellent,turning was a bit unsettling,and to get going was pretty easy. All the gizmos the 2015 had over the 2009 made it lots better in slippery driving. Not sure why turning was diminished over stopping and starting,but now I know to ease into corners. Guess design of tire was geared for starting and stopping traction. Was thinking of getting Ice X tires,but don't think I'll bother now with average snows in our area. Looking forward to a deep snow to see if they perform the same. 2015 isn't as much fun in the snow,as I used to delight in parking lot donuts and broad sliding into my parking space at work. Traction control and stability control nixed that fun. Yes I am 63 but still enjoy snow play in a car.


PaFitter

 

Blizzaks are your friends

 

Can't traction control be turned off?

 

yes, but VSA (stability control) cannot be turned off.

i umm, hit a bump, and one of the sensors became disconnected, so now my car does not have stability control... the car works properly, and allows me to momentum drive, allowing me to through a foot of snow with no issue.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but does disabling Vehicle Stability Assist also disable antilock brakes? My guess is no, but ya never know. Worst case is I'm sure pulling the ABS fuse will stop it. Non ABS brakes allow the wheel to lock up and dig into the snow. Be good to know if VSA disables it or not.

The manual states:

With the button pressed, your vehicle will have
normal braking and corn
ering ability, but VSA
®
traction and stability
enhancement becomes less
effective.
In certain unusual
conditions when your vehicle gets
stuck in shallow mud or fr
esh snow, it may be easier
to free it with the VSA
®
temporarily switched off.
When the button is pressed, the traction control
function becomes less effective. This allows for the
wheels to spin more freely
at low speed. You should
only attempt to free your vehicle with the VSA
®
off if
you are not able to free it when the VSA
®
is on.
Immediately after
freeing your vehicle, be sure to
switch VSA
®
on again. We do not recommend driving
your vehicle with the VSA
®
system switched off.
You may hear a motor sound coming from the
engine compartment while system checks are being
performed immediately after starting the engine or
With the button pressed, your vehicle will have
normal braking and cornering ability, but VSA traction and stability enhancement becomes less effective. In certain unusual conditions when your vehicle gets stuck in shallow mud or fresh snow, it may be easier to free it with the VSA temporarily switched off.

When the button is pressed, the traction control
function becomes less effective. This allows for the
wheels to spin more freely at low speed. You should only attempt to free your vehicle with the VSA off if you are not able to free it when the VSA is on. Immediately after freeing your vehicle, be sure to switch VSA on again.

We do not recommend driving your vehicle with the VSA system switched off.You may hear a motor sound coming from the engine compartment while system checks are being performed immediately after starting the engine or
while driving. This is normal

 

I also live in the DC area and your post gives me mixed emotions. I feel bad for the car that got rear-ended, but I love that the SUV is going to have to pay for the damage. I wish more jerk drivers would get into trouble, though not at the expense of other innocent drivers.

 

I've never had snow tires on any of my vehicles and have never gotten stuck. I have only used all-seasons. IMO, so long as you're paying attention to the road and are steady with the brake and accelerator, you'll be fine.

 

some of us drive our cars all week long, in much rougher conditions and need snow tires. i do 30k miles yearly. if i did not have snow tires, i would not have made it home this past wednesday night. i would have been on the side of the road in a ditch like all the non-snow tire equipped vehicles i passed...

 

I haven't been stuck in my work van that doesn't have snow tires either. But just to clarify, when I say "never been stuck", I mean that I didn't need to be pulled out. I got out with my own power.

And I'm with you on the storm Wednesday. I was on the road at the same time you were.