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S60 & V60 '18> / XC60 '17> / S90 & V90 '16> / XC90 '15> General Forum for the SPA-platform 60- and 90-series models |
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Tips for driving big automatic in snow?Views : 9329 Replies : 55Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Mar 1st, 2018, 09:46 | #1 |
Getting to know my S90
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Tips for driving big automatic in snow?
Hi all,
I'm picking up my S90 on Saturday and there's a lot of snow on the ground here in rural Suffolk. My total experience of driving an auto-box is a couple of hours in my Dad's car 20 years ago - and I was hoping to ease myself in gently. I would guess it's not as easy to control in slippery conditions as a manual (e.g. by starting off in 2nd) so any winter driving tips fot big automatics would be much appreciated! BTW, my current car is 4WD Yeti with snow-rated tyres which is pretty easy to drive on snow in comparison. |
Mar 1st, 2018, 10:05 | #2 |
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I guess it's as much, or perhaps even more, a matter of tyres.
If you go gently on the throttle, you will hardly notice the gearbox
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2018 XC90 T5 (5 seater) |
Mar 1st, 2018, 10:28 | #3 |
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You can still manually sellect 2nd or 3rd gear with an automatic the old version XC90 boxes had a winter mode button that just put it in 3rd gear to set off and when you stopped ready to pull away again.
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Mar 1st, 2018, 10:45 | #4 |
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If the car has Drive Mode Select you could try putting it in ECO mode. This reduces the throttle response and should also produce gentler, more progressive gear changes.
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MY17 XC90 D5 Powerpulse Momentum: SENSUS, Osmium Grey, Blond, Walnut, Xenium, BLIS + CTA & RCM, Winter Plus, Fuel-fired Heater, Heated Rear Seats, Power Extensions, Tinted Windows Coming soon: XC60 Ultimate Recharge MY24 or 25 or... |
Mar 1st, 2018, 11:10 | #5 |
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This definitely works, just make sure you plan well ahead, avoid dynamic mode, unless you want to spin the front wheels for fun.
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MY20 XC40 T4 R-Design, Xenium, Intellisafe Pro, Winter, Tow bar, Thunder Grey Previous: MY18 V90, MY15 V60 |
Mar 1st, 2018, 11:26 | #6 |
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Just driven my V90 to work in Suffolk on snow covered roads and I was surprised at how good it was. I was extremely gentle on both the accelerator and brake, but did nothing special. I hope the trip home is as good.
On the other hand my partner's Mercedes SLC cannot get out of our road.... Oh and as for other people's driving - atrocious. Too fast, too close. Having someone 10 feet behind me when in a total white-out trying to work out where the road actually is was not fun. I guess they had the benefit of my lights to follow, which made them invincible.... Nick |
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Mar 1st, 2018, 17:08 | #7 |
Sales Monkey @Volvo Npton
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This is what I did in my V90 this morning... seemed to do the trick
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Mar 1st, 2018, 17:13 | #8 |
Getting to know my S90
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Thanks, will switch to ECO mode (perhaps for the only time). I hadn't really considered manual change up either so this will help too.
Fingers crossed! |
Mar 2nd, 2018, 09:46 | #9 |
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I've swopped to narrower tyres for more 'bite' for the winter months. 235 instead of 275 width. Am too stingy to swap out the perfectly good summer-biassed tyres for winter ones though. If it gets that bad, the Volvo won't be able to negotiate the deep drifts anyhow.
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XC90 D5, 2017 Inscription. Dark Grey. Xenium pack. Winter Plus with HUD. Black leather interior with alloy trim inserts. Ownership ended June 2020, Happy motoring times! |
Nov 26th, 2021, 20:24 | #10 |
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It should have the winter ‘W’ button on the box which makes it very slow and steady to start and selects a higher gear.
It should be every inch as good as a Manual really. |
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