Huh?
Sounds to me like an exaggeration. If there is 12" of snow fall, how does the car get "buried"? Maybe some loose snow blown by the wind or tossed by a plow, but to me the word "buried" does not imply a small amount of snow leaning against the Jeep. (If it was buried, how did you get the door open to get in the drivers seat in the first place?
) The not turning ESP off does not compute either, as my own experiences with deeper snow have underlined the need to have ESP at least partially off when starting to move. Of course, that has been with snow actually under the vehicle too. If you start moving with dry pavement under the wheels, you might be able to get enough momentum before hitting the small snow bank for the ESP not to be able to bother you.
If the Jeep had actually been "buried" I would expect a) that with ESP on the computer would not let you dig your way out of the snow, and b) once you have more hard snow under you than what the ground clearance is, you become high-centered. I
have clawed my way through being partially high-centered, but that was with ESP off, 4WD lock on and studded winter tires. (The front of the Jeep was lifted onto hard-packed snow but the rear wheels were able to push me forward enough for the front wheels to get some traction again. You could see where the Jeep had been lifted by its skid plate after I drove through the snow bank.
) And the snow was certainly not up to the door handles, but simply somewhat higher than the ground clearance!
And finally, a four wheel drive does not help if you lose traction - winter tires are
always a better choice in winter conditions! Going in a straight line is one thing, but when you come to a slippery curve, those summer tires are going to lose grip much, much sooner than quality winter tires. Of course, some of you live so far south that you don't really get winter conditions, so to those of you the differences between tires are pretty much a moot point, I suppose.
I'm not trying to dispute the abilities of the Patriot as a winter car - I've had mine through one winter and it performed very well. But even the Patriot can not perform miracles, nor change the laws of physics.
