For the first time in my history of cars ('69 Mustang, '91 and '01 Miatas), the Element gives me the freedom to travel in a snowstorm. Today was our first snow outing ('04 EX GGM).

With snow and Presidential Inaugural street closures hitting about the same time today in DC, I left work early to get out to Arlington, Virginia, to pick up my dog. Before leaving DC, a friend zipped over from his office to throw is bike in the Element and catch a lift.

On a nice day, dropping the top on the Miatas always took the sting out of a traffic jam. Today was the most fun I've ever had in a hardtop in a traffic jam.

The Element handled with no problems unplowed freeway, overpasses and residential streets with 3 or inches or so of snow. We changed lanes with no problems from tire ruts. The E effortlessly climbed fairly steep unplowed hills (Arlington Ridge Road area) combined with tight turns. The ABS kept the E straight and stopping quickly when slamming the brakes. The AWD kept the E straight when I stomped on the gas to get going again (deserted side road). Wanted to test the E's abilities a little.

It wasn't the ultimate snow test by any means but it gives me confidence that the E will nicely handle most of the snowstorms DC is likely to get. For tougher situations, I've got chains at the ready (I lived on Mt. Hood in Oregon and still prepare accordingly even in DC).

A tougher snow situation may well develop this weekend. I'm hoping.

Love the E. :-)

Glad to hear it.

I used to live near Ridge Road, on 21st St between Ives and Joyce. I found the biggest problem driving in the snow there was the yahoos on the road going 2mph, or abandoning their cars when it wasn't bad at all.

Best wishes,

Went up to my gf's in queens yesterday in the snowstorm
handled SUPERBLY in snow/icy conditions and even messed around in the restaurant lot ;) ;)

Solidified any doubts i had previous on

1. owning a truck
2. owning an element
3. driving in horrible conditions...!

VERY HAPPY= me

Big Noreaster expected this weekend in the NY/NJ metro area with more then 12" of snow expected. Make for good photo ops.

Big Noreaster expected this weekend in the NY/NJ metro area with more then 12" of snow expected. Make for good photo ops.


NICE

i dont care if we get 20" 's i'm still going to be cruising out to queens to hang with my gf with the fresh new TL rims ;)

There are numerous postings about snow experiences on the site - try the search function. My E has yet to be stopped, slowed, slide or swerved by the Cleveland winter which has included rain, snow (up to 14"), sleet and ice - sometimes all on the same day as it did the day before Christmas. Well, I did balk at the 18" deep, five foot wide pile of frozen ice and snow the snowplow left at the end of the driveway one night. So far I haven"t read a negative one.

I loved how it handled in the snow. I played with it a bunch too, goosed the throttle, backend will kick out, but only when I goose it to make it act loopy. When it counted, it handled GREAT. Though it took me almost 3 hours to get home from work :( It was still a blast to drive. ABS is a godsend compared to my last car, (civic) with no abs. I love snow.

I loved how it handled in the snow. I played with it a bunch too, goosed the throttle, backend will kick out, but only when I goose it to make it act loopy. When it counted, it handled GREAT. Though it took me almost 3 hours to get home from work :( It was still a blast to drive. ABS is a godsend compared to my last car, (civic) with no abs. I love snow.

ahhh civic si's... MEMORIES......

For the first time in my history of cars ('69 Mustang, '91 and '01 Miatas), the Element gives me the freedom to travel in a snowstorm. Today was our first snow outing ('04 EX GGM).

With snow and Presidential Inaugural street closures hitting about the same time today in DC, I left work early to get out to Arlington, Virginia, to pick up my dog. Before leaving DC, a friend zipped over from his office to throw is bike in the Element and catch a lift.

On a nice day, dropping the top on the Miatas always took the sting out of a traffic jam. Today was the most fun I've ever had in a hardtop in a traffic jam.

The Element handled with no problems unplowed freeway, overpasses and residential streets with 3 or inches or so of snow. We changed lanes with no problems from tire ruts. The E effortlessly climbed fairly steep unplowed hills (Arlington Ridge Road area) combined with tight turns. The ABS kept the E straight and stopping quickly when slamming the brakes. The AWD kept the E straight when I stomped on the gas to get going again (deserted side road). Wanted to test the E's abilities a little.

It wasn't the ultimate snow test by any means but it gives me confidence that the E will nicely handle most of the snowstorms DC is likely to get. For tougher situations, I've got chains at the ready (I lived on Mt. Hood in Oregon and still prepare accordingly even in DC).

A tougher snow situation may well develop this weekend. I'm hoping.

Love the E. :-)


I live in Arlington Virginia and hope to see some substatial snow this weekend to put the Element to the test. I have had my Element for a little over a year and a half now and still haven't experienced what it can really do in the snow. We hardly got any snow last year. Right now though I think there is so much salt on the roads I will once again have to go in search of an unplowed parking lot or something.

LittleDogBox
Arlington, Va.

We just got 8-10 inches last night here in chicago. Driving home from work at 12:30 last night, a usually 20 minute drive took an hour and a half! But the E did great, even turning into the unplowed parking lot at home (with close to 12 inches of fresh powder and a very tight parking space). Somewhere under that pile of snow in my attached photo is my E... :)

jdiane - is your E behind bars or you?

hee hee :) My E is behind bars because I dont have the requisite used lawn furniture to save a spot on the street! (In Chicago, if you dig your car out a street space, it is common to claim 'your space' with old lawn chairs, kitchen tables, etc...). :)

We just got 8-10 inches last night here in chicago. Driving home from work at 12:30 last night, a usually 20 minute drive took an hour and a half! But the E did great, even turning into the unplowed parking lot at home (with close to 12 inches of fresh powder and a very tight parking space). Somewhere under that pile of snow in my attached photo is my E... :)


Finally got my E out a little while ago. We certainly don't have 12 inches yet but we do probably have about 6 inches. I drove all around the neighborhood looking for unplowed hilly streets to go up. The E did GREAT!!!!!
In some ways I am more impressed with it than my old 90 Jeep Wrangler.
Don't have to take in out of 4WD when I get on the highway. Can't wait for it to snow even deeper. I put new Geolander Yokohamas on it a couple of weeks ago and I think they just plow right on thru the snow great.

LittleDogBox
Arlington, Va.

Finally got my E out a little while ago. We certainly don't have 12 inches yet but we do probably have about 6 inches. I drove all around the neighborhood looking for unplowed hilly streets to go up. The E did GREAT!!!!!
In some ways I am more impressed with it than my old 90 Jeep Wrangler.
Don't have to take in out of 4WD when I get on the highway. Can't wait for it to snow even deeper. I put new Geolander Yokohamas on it a couple of weeks ago and I think they just plow right on thru the snow great.

LittleDogBox
Arlington, Va.


LDG -- Saw a couple Elements (one dark blue) buzz by Pentagon Row around 2:00. Tense ride in from Arlington (South 26th Place near Inge and 23rd) to Capitol Hill this afternoon. Looked like DC plows had not been out yet. The Element did great but I was scared one of the cars would sideswipe us on the 14th Street Bridge. There is no way I would be on the streets today in a sedan without chains. Route 1 in Crystal City was extremely slick going toward DC. Am impressed that the Element does so well on the stock tires and look forward to your further assessment of the Yokohamas. Later on this afternoon I may put my new tire chains on and see how well those go one and work. Better to now figure them out now and not in an emergency someday. Was pleased how the E so easily whipped around on my block and backed into a parking place as if it were dry pavement.

It's a little out of season but newfound ability to post pics makes me pull this one out of mothballs. Besides, kind of refreshing to see snow pics on a hot humid July day.

These two pics are of the snow adventure that was the inspiration for this thread. For next winter I'd like to have black wheels with a more snow-worthy tire and then swap out for the alloys again in the spring.

beautiful. i'm twitching right now just thinking about snowboarding again.

Hey you guys. I've been thinking about replacing my short wheelbase AWD Caravan with an E sometime in the not too distant future. I use the van for all kinds of stuff, but probably the biggest use is for driving back and forth up snowboarding in the winter. How's the defroster in the E? The setup in the Caravan is lousy. Even with the fan and heat on high (all windows cracked to keep from getting too hot) in the full defrost mode, the wipers still pack up pretty quickly with wet snow as it builds up at the bottom of the windshield. The dash defrost vents are just not adequate to keep the glass heated enough except in a couple small spots. Does the E do any better? Pleast tell me yes :D.

ron

Gee, R11, I wish I could speak to that authoratatively. We only had one significant snow (by DC standards) this winter -- pictured below -- so I haven't had a lot of experience with snowstorms. And certainly nothing like what you'd see on Hood or east Portland's ice storms.

My defroster worked fine in the snow and temps we had -- lows in the 20s. You need some advice from Buffalo, then you could have confidence. :|

Well, thanks anyway hiker chick. If anything I guess the E wouldn't be any worse. At least I'd seriously hope not...


ron

I have had fairly good results with the defroster on the E over the last Chicago winter. The night before I took the the photo early on this thread, it was a crazy blizzard and I was stuck in rush-hour type traffic at one in the morning and there was some 'snowballing' on the wipers, but under normal conditions, the defroster has done well in the winter (it gets foggy when warm/cool and raining, especially on the side mirrors). BTW, I put my snow-E photo up on my desktop at work when we started getting 90+ temps a few weeks ago-- really cools me off! :)

Thanks jdiane. I'm sure the defroster in the E will be better than the Caravan. It's just pathetic... Even semi-pathetic would be a welcome improvement :D

ron