Hi all,

Winter is closing in on the New England states quickly and with that, a fair amount of snow.

I ordered my Pat as a 4X2, but am curious as to how it will handle 8 to 12 inches of fresh snow?

The factory tires are Firestone 215R60X17 M&S.

I have had good luck with my last two front wheel drive Buicks. Can I expect the same from Miss Pat?

Probably similarly to your other FWD vehicles, probably with a bit less power though, considering you had buicks, they were probably at least v6.

I'm curious too about how my 4x2 Patriot will handle this winter. I've always had 4x2 vehicles so I don't think I'll have a problem. I'm leaning toward snow tire for the first time to help reduce those "close calls" that have happened in really bad snow in the past.

I think safer driving in inclement weather conditions will help, whether you have a 4x4 or not. I've seen a Wrangler stranded on the median of I-70, facing the wrong way to the road in a snow storm. I figure that the driver was over confident in their 4x4. I've had 4x4s before and I was still able to slip and slide around. Just slow it down, be ahead of the vehicle, and give yourself more time to get to your destination:-) I will say from experience that a 4x4 will help you get out of a snow bank, which I had to hit because someone ahead of me decided to cut me off in the icy conditions (that's the reaction thing I was talking about:-) )

I'm not sure of the weight differential in the Patriot (front v. rear), but, I think you'll do just fine with what you have. FWD has always shown me to be far superior to RWD in slick, snowy conditions.

Winter driving is a test of a drivers common sense. It has very little to do with the vehicles 'ability'.

the snow came down today in toronto, so i went out for a spin this evening and it was great. i do have snow tires on also. i did not turn ESP on either. The jeep stuck to the ground and handled great!!

Would I have better overall traction in the snow with my Pat 4X2 if the ESP was turned off or left in the on position?

It appears that the ESP is always on in my 4X2 because the button says push for "ESP OFF".

Am I correct in assuming that?

Hogdad

the snow came down today in toronto, so i went out for a spin this evening and it was great. i do have snow tires on also. i did not turn ESP on either. The jeep stuck to the ground and handled great!!

The ESP is on what you can do is turn it off partially or fully. But it's on automatically when your start your Pat.

Would I have better overall traction in the snow with my Pat 4X2 if the ESP was turned off or left in the on position?

It appears that the ESP is always on in my 4X2 because the button says push for "ESP OFF".

Am I correct in assuming that?

Hogdad

Overall, better traction with ESP left on... according to my wife's aggressive driving behavior.

Correct assumption in that your ESP is always on unless you turn it off.

oh... i thought it only turned on when i pressed it and it lit up on the dash

its different for 4x2's

when the light is on the dash, it is off,
when its not on the dash, its on.

theres only full on or full off for the 4x2'ers.

You're right.

I re-read the Operator's Manual concerning ESP.

4X2 has two positions. Always on, and Partial Off.

If the 4X2 operator is starting off in deep snow, or encounters deep snow and expects the front wheels to spin, it might be advisable to push the ESP button once to "Partial Off. This will eliminate the ESP system to "take over".

4X4 has three positions. Always on, Partial Off & Full Off (normally used in extreme off road conditions).

This helped me to better understand the ESP System.

I will have had my 4x2 Sport 5 speed for 1 year next week. I have never turned off the ESP. After driving in snow & ice conditions in the midwest (with the stock 17" rubber) I've found that the handling is average. Uphill starts from a dead stop were the trickiest, easy to spin. I'm sure some good snow tires would make a world of difference. Like the others said, it's all about how you drive it, and every vehicle handles differently. Suprisingly my previous 02 Elantra GT 5 speed handled the snow and ice like a pro, without much change in my driving style. But I'm still learning on the Pat, the difference is now I can go through much deeper snow!

I suspect you will do fine in most snow with just FWD. My neon kicks butt in the snow, most of its challenges come in to play when he runs out of ground clearance and starts plowing the front fascia, then I am getting into trouble. Good tires helped alot. I went from Goodyear LS which were okay, to Dunlop signatures on my neon and he is a beast in the snow now (until he runs out of ground clearance)...and you have 2 inches of ground clearance over him.

About a month maybe a month and a half ago i was getting out of work one night. I work the third shift as an IT Tech for a Wellcare company. In the city it was just a light snow, nothing on the ground. I drove out of the city and on my way home it really began to come down. Within 10 minutes it went from light snow to 13 inchs of snow...it was kind of scary.

Anyways i was driving in my Pat, keep in mind it is a 4 x 2, and honeslty i never felt so safe. This snow was hammering down, could barely see cars spinning everywhere but i kept on going with this beasty. My tires spun once for a second and that was when i took a side road off to get to my house faster.

My jeep was extremely impressive and this was stock everything. Stock tires, stock rims no add-ons. I dont think im even gonna buy snow tires this year becuase of how well this thing did. I love my Pat and this was a good test for it. If any of you were wondering how the 4 x 2's fair in the snow, trust me....even with stock everything these beasty's can handle anything.

I love my Pat, and im so happy i got it :)

Thanks for the update, and the positive feedback regarding your Patty 4X2 in the snow.

I recently had the opportunity to try Patty in some light snow here in Connecticut and confirmed the ABS works fine, as well at the ESP watching the panel warning icons light up.

NW PA first winter in the 08 Patriot, stuck once, Dah my fault dropping front wheels into a ditch while parking. FWD has plenty of traction going but ANY vehicle has trouble stopping in snow & ice.Overall satisfied even though mileage has been suffering due to warm up times.

Hi all:

We have now had about 30" of snow in Connecticut this winter, with a few storms of 12 plus inches each.

Patty 4X2 works fine in the snow with the five speed manual. It's certainly not 4X4 but it does the job well with careful driving.

The ESP Icon Light has come on in deep snow when the front wheels start to spin, and the system wants to take over, but with the push of the ESP button to relax the system, I have control once again. Pretty good design.

I have found it very interesting that I can start in first gear, let the clutch out with foot off the throttle, and Patty will crawl through 12" of dry snow without a slip, even up and incline, all by herself with no extra throttle needed. I just steer.

She's a gorilla! I respect this vehicle.

My 4X2 has been fabulous in the snow this year. I've never felt this good about a FWD vehicle in the snow.

Unlike some others, I really prefer RWD if I'm only gonna have two wheels pullin', but that's me. I never owned FWD cars until very recently, had 70's V-8 RWD's and pickup trucks mostly. I don't normally like the way FWD handles in slick conditions at all. That said, the Pat is a dream. Handles the snow like a champ. Stock everything. I am very impressed.

My 4X2 has been fabulous in the snow this year. I've never felt this good about a FWD vehicle in the snow.

Couldn't have said it better Tex. I was ready to kick myself if the fwd Pat turned out to be helpless in the winter. Now I don't have to. The 4x4 is a nice luxury if you have some extra cheese to spend, but not necessary on-road. By the way Tex, we live in the same area so I can verify your Pat got a test.:smiley_thumbs_up:

driven in ~7 inch snow, absolutely no problems. had better tractions than my sedans/smaller cars. and i agree with a member earlier, its not always about the car as much as it is about the driver.

Nice to hear that the 4x2s are worthy in the white stuff. Ours works well in the powder sand of the dry Everglades during our winter months.
ESP off in the real deep stuff? Or just a one-touch temporary-off?

4x2 does not have full off and it would be even less benefit than 4x4 full off over ESP partial. 95% of drivers should never use anything but ESP full on/normal mode. 5% of driver should use it .01% of the time. Until you know you need some wheel slip, leave it on.

Well, yesterday was the best test yet. Holy crap, we got buried.:mad:

The Pat is a killer little snow mobile. Got stuck briefly, once, picking my son up from school. But was able to drive it out. No way would any of my previous 2WD vehicles have gotten out of there. I am really happy with it.

riot handled great yesterday in the **** storm

So far so good, I just have stock 16inch tires, 4x2 2.0L and its working great.
I was watching cars trying to make it up a little hill out of the parking lot that was too slick and they where sliding back down... i waited my turn, and not really flooring it, was able to get up the hill no problem. I had to laugh.

I didn't laugh when it snowed in the GO TRAIN parking lot (in mississauga ontario). The snow drift was up the the windows. I was stuck, tried turning off the esp (partial off) but that didn't really help. it kept kicking in and made it frustrating. All the other cars where stuck badly and I thought it would be no problem. I just rocked back and forth and I did finally get it going. Thought about bringing my kids toy shovel in the back to dig myself out next time.