Planning a set of Michelin Xice tires for winter.

[Planerench]

Last winter we had 7-8 of snow on the ground at one point. One of my cars couldn’t leave the driveway. This is my get to work car. My backup is a Cessna 172. 2014 Spark EV

Edit: tires are ordered!

 

[Planerench]

Update, having only driven two days on the factory Ecopas I was not prepared for the lack of traction of the Michelin Ice X i3 at 75* in the dry! I was leaving town for work and wanted as many loose ends tied up as possible. Under hard throttle the fronts just whirr like a sewing machine with wheelspin. I will definitely have to accelerate (pun) my efforts to get a spare set of wheels for warm weather tires!

 

[JeremyW]

I have dunlop direzzas on mine, there's a 20% range penalty, but it makes the car so much more fun. I can still break traction when accelerating, but it's a lot less than the ecopas. The motor in this car is insane!

 

[Jester84]

When I had the crappy Kuhmo's on mine,,, it would spin from anything below 30mph and bark the tires at 40mph...with the fuel fighter tires..zero spinning unless under 10mph. Its pretty nice. 400ft-lbs is hard to tame on a skinny tire below that speed no matter the compound.

 

[NORTON]

Update, having only driven two days on the factory Ecopas I was not prepared for the lack of traction of the Michelin Ice X i3 at 75* in the dry! .... Under hard throttle the fronts just whirr like a sewing machine with wheelspin.....

Traction Control should not let that happen... Do you have TC turned off to get this wheel spin?

It's my understanding that you want to save winter tires for snow season. They wear quickly and the best winter traction is when they are new down to about 50% used. And shouldn't be used in warm weather.

I have a bank courier friend who goes through tires like we go through tooth paste .. :lol:
He has a spare set of wheels with Blizzaks, a battery impact wrench, fast floor jack and times himself doing the swap the night before snow is in the forecast! He uses up old winter tires in warm weather just to get done with them so he has a fresh set for winter.
I get all my info from him.

I have not gone that route. I like Snow Days ! It's an excuse to stay home, pop corn, and binge watch....

And for some unexplainable reason,,, Winters are just not that bad anymore..... :roll:

 

[Planerench]

Could be tire noise but feels like wheelspin. It’s October and we will be below freezing every morning from here til spring. I’ll wake to snow before you know it. I’m not risking my car in the winter.

 

[Jester84]

I wish there was a way to make them spin like that lol!!

Unfortunately the software is far too invasive and stops the spinning with T/C off and Stabilitrak off (which turns back on immediately for some reason)

I find it silly...but what can we do lol

 

[NORTON]

TC and SC come back on automatically above a certain speed.

 

[Planerench]

So day one I left the tire shop and drove a mile to the body shop. Upon leaving the body shop I was shocked by wheelspin when I tried to jump out and join the traffic. The next two times was demonstrating acceleration with SC and TC selected off. Still, much more drama than the Ecopas!

 

[Planerench]

I am back in town. First thing this morning I increased the pressure in my new snow tires to the maximum cold published on the sidewall (50psi). Let’s see what that does!

 

[Planerench]

Took the wife on a drive today up to Bogus Basin ski resort about 5000’ above Boise. Saw some hideous figures on the climb up and regenerated nearly two bars of battery on the way back down. Did some scavenger hunting for charging stations. The Sierra club charger didn’t work but Idaho Power had two free 3.3kw within walking distance of a restaurant so we plugged in and went to eat. Then we went to the mall and found the one free charging station occupied. No big deal. We had enough power to get home with two bars remaining. Quite an adventure with just enough range anxiety to make it fun!

 

[NORTON]

Sounds like an awesome shakedown cruise!

Welcome to the future !

And it only gets better from here!

Report that dead L2....

 

[Planerench]

I got a crash course in EV public charging! There was an ecomentalist parked next to the station at the Sierra Club. He walked up to his Ford Ener-G and asked how long I had been there. Three minutes was my answer and the plug wasn't working for me. He was surprised as it seems he uses that station often. Maybe just operator error.

The second station was unoccupied when we arrived (two chargers) but upon our return a Leaf driver was hooking up to the other charger and was picked up by an Audi. I suspect for the remainder of the night (free public charger).

The last one is the sole charging station at our largest mall adjacent the main entrance. It was occupied by ?Ford when we got there and was vacant when we left. I'll bet that spot is my unicorn! One spot for the entire mall.