CVT in snow driving

[GermanCivic]

CVT works great on snow and ice. I was impressed how good the traction is. I'm not even on winter tires, I'm using Vredestein Quatrac 5 all season tires for two winters now.

As long as you leave ESP and VSA on, it works really great. Here I played a bit with the handling and also the brakes, everything only at a very low speed.

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[Myx]

CVT works great on snow and ice. I was impressed how good the traction is. I'm not even on winter tires, I'm using Vredestein Quatrac 5 all season tires for two winters now.

As long as you leave ESP and VSA on, it works really great. Here I played a bit with the handling and also the brakes, everything only at a very low speed.

Thank you for this post and video. I have the same tires and I know they have a snow rating but are not snow tires. I have yet to test them in the winter though.

 

[IronFusion]

My coupe with cvt handles well in the snow. S helps with passing and acceleration without slipping as much. I shift down from D to S or L for engine braking, and the smooth transition in ratios doesn't break traction like an auto can.
That said, having winter tires is an other-worldly experience vs A/S on this car.

 

[NotSerious]

From my research (YMMV) the following "All Weather" tires are a cut above regular all-season tires in winter (although they are not as good as dedicated winter/snow tires).

Nokian WR G3 are the best all weather tires for winter conditions.
Toyo Celsius are the second best all weather tires in winter conditions.
Michelin CrossClimate2 are pretty good in winter conditions.
Michelin CrossClimate are ok in winter conditions. Better wear, mileage and quieter than the above.

Note that in general, the better the tire is in winter conditions, the noisier they are on dry pavement, the worse the fuel mileage you can expect to get and the faster they wear out. So, the Nokian WR G3 is the best of these all-weather tires in winter conditions but the worst for wear, noise, and fuel mileage. All weather tires are also more expensive than all-season tires.

 

[IronFusion]

From my research (YMMV) the following "All Weather" tires are a cut above regular all-season tires in winter (although they are not as good as dedicated winter/snow tires).

Nokian WR G3 are the best all weather tires for winter conditions.
Toyo Celsius are the second best all weather tires in winter conditions.
Michelin CrossClimate2 are pretty good in winter conditions.
Michelin CrossClimate are ok in winter conditions. Better wear, mileage and quieter than the above.

Note that in general, the better the tire is in winter conditions, the noisier they are on dry pavement, the worse the fuel mileage you can expect to get and the faster they wear out. So, the Nokian WR G3 is the best of these all-weather tires in winter conditions but the worst for wear, noise, and fuel mileage. All weather tires are also more expensive than all-season tires.

+1 on noise and wear. The tread on snow tires is a different compound and at mild to warm temps they wear quickly. Handling also drops off.
I got lower-diameter wheels for my snow tires, two weeks after I received my car (2016). When I later got dedicated summer tires on new wheels, I was left with the factory wheels. I put inexpensive Raptors on them, and use that set between summer and winter.
Where I drive winter is not a full season, so the old "turkey day to tax day" period for winter tires would see a lot of wear and inapplicable use. Last year I didn't put the winter tires on. I still don't have them on (esp. bc covidling). And for after-winter, sometimes I don't put my summer set on the car until mid-late May; they can't be out in temps below 40f, even if they're just sitting in a stack without load on them.
I fear for my life bc of the distracted, aggressive, and just terrible drivers around me. That's why I have winter tires. Self defense.

 

[GermanCivic]

@NotSerious
That's intersing, I never heard that there is a difference between all weather and all season tires. In my country it's exactly the same thing: all season tires is just another phrase for all weather tires.

@IronFusion
After 15 years of changing between sommer und winter tires evey season, I wanted to tryout all weather tires.

The main reason is that where I live there is not too much snow and evaluation. There are maybe only five or ten days per year were snow tires would be the better choice. And when there is an absolute snow mess, I just let the car parked and walk or take public transportation or whatever. Most of my routes are under 10 miles, so that's not a big deal. Of course it would be something different if I had to commute 50 or 100 miles every day, then I would probably choose winter tires again.

After evaluating for weeks between all these all weather tires:

• Michelin CrossClimate+
• Goodyear Vector 4seasons
• Vredestein Quatrac 5
• Fallen Euroallseasons
• Bridgestone Weather Control
• Nokia Weather Proof
• Continental Allseason contact

I chose the Quatrac 5 from Vredestein because, they're fitting my profile and the user reviews and overall ratings were pretty good. Many people are complaining about the noise of the V-formed profile tires and the Quatrac 5 don't have a typical V-formed profile.

I drive them since only 17,000 miles and had two winters with them, it's great so far. They're not louder than my summer tires and they're exactly the same in terms of fuel efficiency. The only downside I've experienced is they feel a bit soft when emergency braking on super hot asphalt (I posted a video of that situation in another thread:
https://www.civicx.com/forum/thread...rman-autobahn-dashcam-video.53775/post-867999


PS: OP will hate us for transforming this CVT on snow thread into an all weather tires thread

 

[NotSerious]

Here is a comparison from Consumer Reports of some of the most popular all weather tires available. It appears that the best balanced between winter and summer performance is the Michelin CrossClimate. The best "winter" performance tires (Nokian WR G4 and Toyo Celcius) seem to perform poorly in summer. The CrossClimate2 are not tested, but I expect that they may be slightly better than the CrossClimate at a significant extra cost. Take the treadwear estimates with a grain of salt. These tires do not last as long as they claim. The treadwear estimates are in kilometers. 120,000 km = 75,000 miles, 80,000 km = 50,000 miles.

Note that these all weather tires wear faster and cost more to purchase than the normal all-season tires, so their cost over time is substantially higher. Considering that they perform more poorly in summer (noise, wear, gas mileage) many drivers will probably just opt for the all-season tires unless they need the better winter performance. Note that the Nokian and Toyo all weather tires have fewer tire sizes and only a few retailers carry them.

 

[GermanCivic]

Some german consumer reports look similar to that. The Quatrac Pro and Crossclimate2 are both the new models.

For me personally the downside of the CrossClimate is it's V-profile, I wouldn't recommend that when you enjoy silence and driving comfort.
The tires may be good in the first year, but so many people in the forums complain about the noise of the CrossClimate after just one or two years.

Now I still have no idea what the difference between all season and all weather tires is, can you please tell me a tire model which is all season?

 

[NotSerious]

Now I still have no idea what the difference between all season and all weather tires is, can you please tell me a tire model which is all season?

"All weather" is a fairly new category of tires that perform better in winter than all season tires but worse in summer. The purpose of these tires is to enable drivers who live in colder climates to have reasonably good winter and summer performance without having to switch out their tires twice a year. It saves money and hassle. They are a compromise tire. Not as good as winter tires in the winter and not as good as all season tires in the summer.

All season tires actually perform poorly on cold (below 0 degrees celsius/ 32 degrees fahrenheit) pavement, ice and snow. Some organizations are lobbying to rename "all season" as "3 season" because they perform so poorly in winter. If you drive on snowy or icy roads more than a few times a year, and don't like to switch out your tires twice a year, all weather tires may be a safer tire for your usage than an all season tire. There are many more all season tires (Goodyear Assurance, Michelin Defender, Michelin Premier, General Tire Altimax,...) than there are all weather tires.

All Season vs All Weather vs Winter tires.

 

[GermanCivic]

I never slipped once last winter. EX-T + factory tires. I usually drive with ECON on, so that probably helps.

My tires are slipping pretty often in the wet, but also on dry pavement, when I floor the gas pedal too hard.
I already experienced this during the last winter. Guess it's time to get a new set of new tires.

I always wonder if there would be less tire slipping with the 6MT....

 

[TheHorse13]

My current 2019 shitbox is outfitted with Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus tires. I turn off traction control and the CVT behaves exactly how I want it to in the snow. Roll the shifter back to S for engine braking down hill or in general. L can be used just as much and as effective depending upon speed. Bottom line, if you know how to drive in snow, this car is extremely well behaved.

As for the tires, the Continentals perform light years better than the junk that came with the car when new. I couldn't afford the Michelin option but I'm extremely pleased with the lower cost Continental offering.

 

[GermanCivic]

Bottom line, if you know how to drive in snow, this car is extremely well behaved.

That's a good point, I recently got stuck on a parking lot 10-15 cm of fresh snow. To be fair there was a slope, other FWD cars with winter tires had no problems to drive. Some guys helped pushing it out and I could leave the parking lot in reverse gear lol. But as I said before, my tires are already six or seven years old and it's time for new ones.

From what I have seen on tire tests, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus seems like a fantastic tire. Too bad they don't sell it in Europe

 

[TheHorse13]

That's a good point, I recently got stuck on a parking lot 10-15 cm of fresh snow. To be fair there was a slope, other FWD cars with winter tires had no problems to drive. Some guys helped pushing it out and I could leave the parking lot in reverse gear lol. But as I said before, my tires are already six or seven years old and it's time for new ones.

From what I have seen on tire tests, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus seems like a fantastic tire. Too bad they don't sell it in Europe

I can confirm that the Continental tires work extremely well on the shitbox Civic. They bite into the snow and you get confident precise response when you turn, accelerate and brake. They wear really well and I have not had a single hydroplane incident since I put these tires on the car. I'd buy them again without blinking an eye.

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