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Re: canyon in snow

45K views 173 replies 92 participants last post by  hyperv6 
#1 ·
Re: canyon in snow

Took the 2016 canyon out in the snow today for the first time and I gotta say I'm really kind of surprised how poorly it performed.

I admit it's been eons since I've owned a rwd vehicle but yikes....the back end wants to come around constantly, and this was only with a couple inches of slushy snow on the road.

I set it to auto 4x4 and that helped significantly but even then on lazy curves I could feel the wheels just barely hanging on to traction.

I think I'm still trying to drive my truck like my GTI, so I'll work on slowing the turns and throttle control but do any of you have any tips? Sandbags in the bed, using full time 4x4 over auto on roads I know are bad, etc?

Thanks!
 
#128 ·
I've driven trucks for 20+ years, often in incredibly challenging conditions. If you do well with 4wd and stock tires, the conditions aren't bad! I've never driven any stock tire, including those on the off-road packages, that do a good job of shedding snow or mud. Once the tires are holding all that stuff, they are useless under any load, even in 4wd, ...such as going through deep stuff or up steep inclines. Also remember, 4wd does nothing for braking, but tires that throw everything off help a lot. The first time I ever put very aggressive tires on a truck I was shocked at how much better traction was. Ice is another story altogether, but at least where I live, I drive on dangerous icy roads about once every couple years. The aggressive treads aren't so great on wet pavement but I've never had more than slight slipping and that's a lot easier to adjust to than having all seasons in heavy snow or mud.
 
#131 ·
I have 20+ years of driving experience in every type of weather, and I’ve never owned a snow tire in my life (not bragging or saying this is a good idea, couldn’t always afford the “extras” for older cars that I would only own for a couple of years. There have been some extremely ugly situations).

This truck did fine in the snow with all seasons. I’ll be getting winter tires next year, but in the meantime, I feel safer and more in control in this truck than any other vehicle I’ve driven in the snow.
 
#129 ·
I'm going into my third winter with my Colorado, in fact we got 8"-12" today. The stock Fortitudes aren't too hot in the snow, but even with those, the truck did well in 4wd. The new Grabber AT2s are a large improvement and maintain as high a level of traction as can be expected in deep snow. Even with the stock tires, I only managed to get stuck twice, and both of those situations involved all four tires spinning freely, deep drifts, and a notable lapse in judgement. We use the Colorado as our bad weather winter family car, a duty it fulfills quite well.
 
#132 · (Edited)
Re: canyon in snow

The goodyears that come on the LT aren't that good in mud or wet snow, they're probably better in wet snow vs mud though. I've been in both
My buddies dunlops on his 2016 4Runner are slightly more aggressive and were far better in the slick mud. I understand mud and snow are two different beasts but they weren't that great in wet snow not to be confused with slush. I'm sure they'd be fine in slush and dry snow.

https://vimeo.com/198202072



-mac
 
#134 ·
The goodyears that come on the LT aren't that good in mud or wet snow, they're probably better in wet snow vs mud though. I've been in both
My buddies dunlops on his 2016 4Runner are slightly more aggressive and were far better in the slick mud. I understand mud and snow are two different beasts but they weren't that great in wet snow not to be confused with slush. I'm sure they'd be fine in slush and dry snow.

https://vimeo.com/198202072

Ya, I'm with you, the HT's do not do well in mud at all and well, I can prove it we got enough of it around right now :grin2:
 
#135 ·
Early this morning I took my 2.5 L Colorado LT out in the snow/ice we had in Charlotte and purposely sought out the steepest hill in my neighborhood which is really steep and pretty long. I knew the road would be untouched as everyone would avoid it. I threw it in 4 hi and cruised right up with no problem in the stock tires. I was actually quite impressed with the power and traction exhibited. That was my first real test of the truck's capabilities other than getting out of a swampy, grass parking lot last summer which claimed a few sedan casualties. It felt great, and I plan to put the truck to better use this year.
 
#136 ·
Having had a chance to try the truck out in horrible conditions; 8 hour drive from toronto to montreal going 80km/h on sometimes pure ice. Had I not installed some blizzaks dmv2 before the winter there are some hills I would never have made it up. My dad with All seasons on his enclave was sliding all over the place while I was just climbing up hills in 2wd most of the time and no extra weight in the back. I'm very impressed with how well the traction control works on these trucks, this being my first truck/rwd vehicle, it's always predictable.

I find the air dam sits really high compared to the bumper on my saturn astra that I drove for 6 winters. :wink2: Now it gets to stay parked over winter, but I do miss driving circles around trucks who thought they could plow through anything with 4x4 and all season >:) Wouldn't you feel like a fool seeing a lowered car passing you in 8"-12" of snow with no problems.
 
#137 ·
Drove in 8 inches of snow tonight to my brothers house to do his driveway while he is in Florida with his new 2500 HD Sierra. Roads were very slippery but the Canyon did great in auto mode
 

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#139 ·
Well there is plenty of it in the Eastern US these last few days and I hope this post finds you all safe and warm.
Now POST up some pics of your ride playing in the snow!
Be safe
 
#141 ·
Re: canyon in snow

Token frostbite photo. Very cold here in the northeast these past few days.



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#143 ·
I live in Quebec, and we already have 40" of snow. So i think i can tell you one thing or two about winter driving lol
I had 2 pathfinder and one ridgeline (old version). My 2016 Canyon is the best winter machine as far. But like any vehicule you need real and good winter tire. They will make all the difference in the world. The grip is one thing, but the breaking part is where you can see a good winter set. So, get good soles and get snow boogey like i do every day for the last 5 weeks....


Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk
 
#148 · (Edited)
Replaced the OEM tires on our Canyon SLT diesel with duratrac's right after we took delivery last March. Today had to go up the hill on our neighbors driveway to get tractor to blow 6+ inches of snow off our driveways. Was able to get up the hill in two wheel drive. Was never able to do this in our old truck, an S10 ZR2 with BF Goodrich tires. Do not know if it is the tires or the truck, but think it is the tires. Picture from top of hill and bottom after snow blown, yes it is a long driveway.
 

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#149 · (Edited)
We got some high winds & extreme cold here the last few days. Yesterday on the way home from work was especially windy & there were drifts forming all over the place, so naturally I had to test out the Autotrak & make sure the Blizzaks still worked.....Verdict Yup they still work! LOL



The snow was very hard packed from the high winds & packed into the slots of my rims.


Not exactly the kind of temps you want to be breaking down in or be stuck/stranded in!


Those Temps are hard on everything!
 
#150 · (Edited)
If you have an air compressor blow gun, blow the snow out of those wheels before you park it - it can pack around the wheel then if it warms up (warm brake rotor) while it's parked then it could slough off the top of the wheel and land at the bottom of the wheel, then you'll have a big lump of ice in the bottom of the wheel and really throw it out of balance.


I've had to clean out my wheels several times already, almost always the back wheels. The fronts stay much cleaner.
 
#152 ·
I didn't remove the snow until the next day, kind of wanted to see if I could feel anything at speed on the way to work the next day. Never noticed anything.

In the past with other vehicles I don't think I ever had the issue your describing happen. What would happen however is the snow would melt a bit (from the heat generated on the pads on the rotor) & then freeze as everything cooled off. Then when you went to drive away next time you could feel & hear the ice breaking free on initial movement.
 
#151 ·
we got 10" over the weekend here in western NC and the colorado did great.. just left it in auto.. didnt have any issues on the main roads.. secondary roads.. or the one lane gravel driveway up thru the side of a mountain where the sun never shines.. haha.. i did stop to get this photo of the sunrise on Monday..
 

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#154 ·
I've had it happen once and it was very noticeable, the right rear corner of the bed was hopping up and down. I had to pull over and get some of the ice out, I didn't get it all and could still feel it thumping so I parked it in a warm garage and got it all melted off. My last vehicle had cheap winter steel wheels you couldn't reach in and clean out and it happened all the time with those black metal wheels, a little sun shine during the day and all the snow/ice fell to the bottom of the wheel then by the time I was off work the sun had set and refroze everything tight. I no longer buy cheap black metal wheels but run aluminum mags where it's easier access to clean out.
 
#155 ·
Got some snow driving in this weekend up in Tahoe as remnants of the 6 feet of snow that buried the region last week. Main roads were all but clear and mostly used 2WD, but side roads up to the houses around Squaw Valley were still full on somewhat packed down snow. Got a good feel for the traction - not as good as real snow tires, but passable at current tread depth (8/32") - I'm on the factory GY AT tires that come on the Z71 models. 4WD works well, as expected. Overall no issues starting from a standstill on a hill. No added weight in bed and I have the ext cab long bed which is worse case for rear axle weight.


 
#157 ·
I have weight in the back year round.
OEM fold a cover (32#)
2 swing out tool boxes (approx 120# loaded)
A piece of 3/4 CDX covering the length of the deck between the wheel wells (40#)
Assorted gear in bins (60#)
So that's roughly 250# all the time,
Smooths out the ride.
Improves traction and handling.
Saves me from burning off the tires in no time flat with that Minimax low end grunt. :)

Yes. coming from a full size, it does sometimes feel not quite as planted ans my full sizes, but it never got squirrely on me unless I wanted it too.
 
#158 ·
Was in Lake Tahoe last weekend and was blown away how well this truck handled this much snow. Had it in Auto 4x4 the whole weekend and it had no problems especially on unplowed rows with 10" of fresh snow on them.

IMG_0329 by B. Wild, on Flickr
IMG_0352 by B. Wild, on Flickr
 
#159 ·
Just did a 150 mile trip up through the mountains here; some slush, then hard pack snow, then ice, then rain on ice, water standing on the road....in other words, lousy roads. I am still running the original OEM tires which did OK the first winter. However, after 15,000 miles these things are pretty bad in those conditions, especially the slush. I will be upgrading to studded tires next winter....
 
#160 ·
Got about 14 inches today, backed into my driveway instead of driving in so I didn't plow with the air dam....and got stuck! Ha
Had to clean around it with my bobcat and shovel to free it up. Did pretty good otherwise.
 

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#161 · (Edited)
I run non-studded winterforce, incredible tire, and not expensive. I found the OEM All Terrain tires wer not good on snow at all. They floated and skated around... All though if all you were doing was staying on the road in 4WD you would probably do just fine. I ice fish and get into unplowed boat launches and "off road" for winter situations and have not had an issue with the winterforce and 350# of sand bags. Never use AUTO yet...
 
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