Very very odd, I've driven a lot of 4x4 vehicles, and the Patriot does as well or better than all of them in snow, except for deep snow where it's a clearance issue, not the 4x4.

I'd have it checked, sounds like maybe it's not engaging the rears, but even in FWD it should do better IMHO.

I never even lock the 4x4 except off road.

 

I would say no. Your Patriot should be great in the snow.

I have the 6 speed diesel and was kind of glad I had the Jeep when I saw the snow and with a 75 mile drive to work from the Midlands to Cambridgeshire. It felt very sure footed the whole time.

If you have no dash lights, I presume your brake locks and 4WD lock must be working.

What tyres are you running? I have Nokian WRG2's and they seem great in this kind of weather.

 

If everything is working on the vehicle it has to be tires.

I know from driving my XL7 with and without winter tires on snow/ice/slush that its a night and day difference.

 

Thanks for the replies .

Just been out expecting to dig out my pride and joy .
Thought id try and drive out one more time .

Managed to get it out of the snow covered lane and up the steep hill outside which has now been cleared .

Took it for a spin , tentatively trying iceier and snowier roads , seemed to cope ok .
Still didnt like steep hill starts , had to back up and take a run at them.
Didnt seem that different in 4 or 2 wheel drive ,
Couldnt really be sure if rear wheels had additional traction in either mode .

Perhaps marginely better in 4wd , maybe i was just hoping .

As i live in a rural area managed to find some proper "green lanes".
Gave it a blast and coped pretty well.

Still not as planted as my Cherokee which almost never lost traction regardless of terrain
Really dont know what went on the other day and im not at all confident it was just a glitch .
Not convinced 4wd is engaged as it coped quite well in 2wd, think it needs checking out

Tyres are Continental conti premium contact 2 apart from near side front which is a Bridgestone Turanza ER 300 .

I really have no idea about whats good and bad choice of tyre .
If the 4wd IS working then tyres must be at fault .

Input welcome

 

Just looked up the spec on my current tyres .

Great SUMMER tyre !!!!!!!!!!

Mmmmm , that might be it

Still gonna check 4wd is working ok , but think i may have found the problem .

 

well to start the Patriot is all wheel drive with a lock lever to make it 4 wheel drive but the computer will over-ride the lock if needs be.

But your problem is tires.
from Tirerack's website:

Grand Touring Summer tires are for drivers who want a combination of sophisticated appearance, competent handling and H-speed rated (or higher) durability, along with dry and wet traction from their tires. Often used as Original Equipment (O.E.) on sophisticated coupes and luxurious performance sedans, Grand Touring Summer tires are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.

You are driving on high speed summer touring tires in ice and snow...you deserve what you get.
I'll bet money the Cherokee at least had all terrain tires, not summer tires, right?
I mean they aren't even all season tires...they are purpose built as summer, touring tires.

Come on, eh?

 

Chastizement taken on board :doh:

A little slack please , ive only had it a few months .
Didnt even know what tyres i had till today and i realised they might be pants

Thats why i joined the forum , to learn and hopefully assist .

New tires will be sourced asap


Not sure what was on the Cherokee but no doubt they wernt summer ones .

Thanks Guys , appreciate the help

 

Sorry, that does read a little more snarky than I would have come across in real life.

Here is a great tire that will handle summer and winter:

They will be my next tires on as soon as the factory rubber goes away.

 

No problem .
Ive been known to dish it myself , made me chuckle actually

Grateful for all the help.
Trip to the garage tomorrow

 

New tires changes the vehicle in a big way, and lets you use the potential that your car has. Any ideas what tires you want? I recommend a good AT tire. Especially since you have 4wd and snow

 

I thought i would just say that when we first got our patriot it had the continentals on (quite worn) and it was rubbish in snow and ice,so i put pirelli scorpion str's on and now it's like a different car, no probs at all in the snow we've got now.

 

Good to know tyre change had such a dramatic impact.

Open to suggestions about what one to got for .
having a look on line now , most seem to be about £100-£130 each.
Willing to pay decent money as long as they do the job .

 

Yokohama geolanders are popular and can be had in stock sizes. I have fallen rocky mountains, which is similar to their wild peaks, and I really like them, but you have to go up in size quite a bit to get them.

 

That's odd bro, I've got fresh factory 17''s on my 2013 and was ripping through the snow last weekend. Were you trying to turn on compact snow/ice? While accelerating with an incline... with bad tires... I can definitely see this happening to any vehicle really, off-road or not. If your tires were spinning that's a grip issue, totally.

 

it's funny how some people post without reading the thread

 

Drama over !! All sorted

£600 lighter but even that can stop me grining
Got a set of Continental 4x4 winter contact tyres on board and as predicted the difference is phenominal .

Been out looking for steepest roads poss , the more snow and ice the better .
Also a little bit of off road .
Coped fantastically , now its predesesor can r.i.p.

Performing as expected .
Kept the old tyres which can go back on when its warmed up a bit .

Thanks for all your help chaps .
Seems obvious now , but every day is a school day

 

Some snow, doesn't matter much which tires you have, it can be tough. I'm off road in winter almost every weekend. The worst is the snow that's like snow cone ice, especially on top of solid ice. In that, no tire will work, which is why I carry chains too.

Glad you got this sorted out.

 

A bit late to the thread but UK Patriots come with Continental summer tyres as standard, have chatted to a few owners here ho complained a out snow performance.

For future reference of people checking for tyres, we have Pirelli Scorpion STR, they are a road biased AT tyre but are M&S rated and have worked fine for us.

 

When i first got my Pat a few months ago i thought it sucked in the snow too until i had to take it into the dealer for some warranty work.They gave me a front wheel drive loaners car which slid all over the road.I was happy to get my Pat back from the dealer.Definitely better than a FWD car.The Pat is a bit lighter than what im used too but handles the snow well.Im used to driving big honking 4x4's with all the extra weight for traction.

 

StuR, glad you got it sorted. I went the other way with tires. I had the factory Goodyear SRA's, and they worked very well in the snow. But I was unemployed when they finally wore out, so I had to just get something as cheap as possible. So I picked up a set of four used michelin gas saver tires ($80 for all four off craigslist). They are not good in the snow! Way more slipping and sliding and the front wheels almost always plow straight ahead when trying to turn now. Definitely more challenging to drive. Now that I have a job, I'll have to start saving for a new set of proper off-road tires.

 

Had a really nasty drive after work Friday, yesterday. Only a couple inches of snow, but lots of traffic, and a couple inches before the road crews got to it. My whole drive, about 50 miles, was really nasty conditions, packed snow from cars.

I was there at the same time they shot this, on the side that's pretty much stopped.
http://www.wtae.com/weather/Slow-go...rs-on-Parkway-West/-/9682608/18281400/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/1095ogbz/-/index.html

I started out on back roads in the country, hit I 79 north, then got off on the Parkway (in the video), through town, and north on 28, then back out in the country on roads that had 3-4 inches of snow on them, some no other tracks, some packed from other vehicles.

In this one, when they interview the girl in the car, was about when I was on the same road.

http://www.wtae.com/weather/Weather...oundup-Snowy-day-throughout-Pittsburgh/-/9682608/18285210/-/k6pjj6/-/index.html

I really had no problems at all, never slid, never slipped, never locked 4x4, I did use L gear for one hill, nothing felt bad enough to use down-hill-crawl. I had to watch out for all the other vehicles though. Tractor trailers were slid off the road, a couple against the medial. Cars in front of me, and a 4x4 pick-up, slipping and sliding, and I was worried they'd slide back into me.

 

March 2014……UK ……new Patriot owner and NO BLOODY SNOW!! If I had bought a little convertible we would have had 6ft !!!!!

 

That happens. I bought a '74 Cherokee in March '79 and didn't see a flake that year. Only got a few inches in '79-'80 and that was in October while we were in Florida on our honeymoon. Our plans for moving to a rural part of Maine fell through (just as well) and I traded for a Volare.

This year I made the mistake of taking the MIL's Saturn to work when they predicted snow showers. What we got was a mini-blizzard -- about 6" in two hours. The highway dept was caught flat-footed and it was all packed down before they got to it. My FWD Patriot would have had no problem, but I spent 2 hours praying I wouldn't have to come to a complete stop.

There's something going on here about reverse psychology -- seems washing my car in July is as good as a rain dance.