It's Lovely Weather For A....

First real chance to test the SX4 out in DEEP snow.

I took it to several unplowed parking lots, the last of which had 10-12 inches of unplowed snow.

Well the video is nothing too impressive (despite 20 minutes total of snowbashing, all I can say is the person shooting the video is not exactly in my good graces), but I was able to salvage a bit of it.

I did get the car stuck on a 2ft snow bank that, oddly, I created while doing donuts and slaloms. Fortunately this isn't the cars fault, as no car is designed to drive when the wheels are only about 80% on the ground on a slippery surface. We cleared the snow out from around the car and the wheels and it still wouldn't go with the wheels spinning but not much movement. Perplexed we finally we cleared some snow out from the mid section under the car and pulled out like a champ.

All I can say is you would have to try really hard to get this little guy stuck assuming you put decent tires on it. I still have the not so great stock all seasons on it until I get the new ones mounted, so I actually expect much better performance.

I've been driving 2WD cars for the last 9 years, and with a good set of snow tires they are pretty formidable in any weather, but AWD is simply a different league in performance. So much so that even with the All-Season tires, I found myself turning off the ESP (traction/stability control) and AWD the other day on my drive home just to have some fun! But when you've got a 4 hour drive to NH on a Friday afternoon in January, the I-AWD, stability control, and a good set of tires will really make things a lot less stressful!

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