Omfg! How Bad Is The Yaris 1.5 T-sport In The Snow

[toyota-tech-21]

My old yaris was a 1 litre 'W' reg S model and was amazing in the snow cause of its lack of ompf, thin tyres, and gearbox. It was like a snowmobile and got me almost anywhere.

I sold it and bought a yaris 1.5 t-sport and this is the first winter iv had it. I thought it would be ok but how wrong was i. The wide tyres, bigger engine and higher ratio gearbox makes me think that im driving on skis. Everywhere i go i get stuck and have to either rock it back and forward for half an hour or find a poor passerbier and get them to tow me out. I was shocked lol.

Apart from that, its a lovely car and hope to keep it for next winter so i can come on and have another moan haha

stevie.

[z-tune-z2]

Hmmm, I've driven in thicker snow than what we currently have in the West Midlands (last year) and it was fine for me, though I did take it painfully slow! Currently we have about an inch at max of snow so I'm hoping I'll be fine tomorrow!

[ninosport]

My TS is great in the snow. I havent had a problem when driving normally, only when pulling hand breaks in the car park for fun. I guess it just depends on how you drive it. A mate of mine cant even get up a little hill into work in his Vectra and I go up with ease. Ive even stopped halfway and let someone in and carried on.

[alfiejts]

A big part of it is down to tyre pattern and depth of tread.......

Certain tread patterns are much more suited to ice and snow than others and if you have even half worn tyres, you'll notice a big difference in the grip in snow...

So the same car can behave very differently depending on the tyres fitted....

Our last Yaris had a "chunky" tread pattern which is exactly what you ned in winter (not special winter tyres, but the "ordinary" replacement tyres fitted when the previous ones wore out just happened to have such a design...).

Our new Yaris has tyres with continuous strips of rubber around the tread and much less chunkiness - which is great for summer performance but much worse in the snow...

Cars with less power are often easier to drive in winter conditions because its harder to put down "too much power" and lose traction, but its the tyres that make the biggest difference....

There's a sepaate thread here on winter tyres here for info too - which takes things even further, but is commonplace in Europe as the tyres we drive around on all year round in the UK aren't designed for use in winter conditions or below 7degrees centigrade....

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=103163

[Raeman]

I've just had 2 new Avon's fitted to out SR and the snow traction is great now. Still spins for fun but very grippy when you need it.

Maybe you need some new tyres on your T-Sport or, pull away in 2nd gear to avoid it sitting there spinning. ;)

[Chris81]

I agree with the OP. The t-sport really isn't much use in the snow but it's lethal in the ice. Now I know no car is designed to drive on ice but I was stuck going up an icy incline the other day when other cars had no major problem. Just spinning and spinning despite all attempts of pulling away in 2nd, 3rd, hardly any revs etc. Can only put it down to combination of weight of the car and high ratio gearbox.

By the way, my car's on Bridgestone potenzas with about 5mm on them. Useless!

[ninosport]

Tbh I havent had any problems on ice or snow with my TS. If you drive slowly and not give a rats a** whos behind you and dont care how long its takes to get where you want, you shouldnt find it difficult at all.

[Raeman]

And here's me saying mine was ok now with new front tyres......Today was a nightmare, i just could not stop the thing wheelspinning everywhere, dangerous too. :censor:

Chris, your theory may be right, lightweight car, peppy engine, high ratio box all add up to serious concentration in these conditions.

My Accord on the other hand copes really well with this snow, probably because it's heavier so more weight on the front, hence more grip?

Now did Toyota ever make a 4x4 Yaris??

[minidoughty]

they did! well sort of...

they made a 1.3 AWD vitz

That would solve all of your snow problems, lower powered engine with even less getting put down per wheel, heavier (drivetrain), i assume different gearing, and 4WD!

[alfiejts]

They still do.

I can't read Japanese but there's enough English text on the Toyota Japan web site to show that the 1.3 4-wheel-drive Yaris is still available in all trim levels except the RS (the equivalent of TS/SR in Japan).

The main difference internally is that the 4WD has a different floorpan to accomodate the drive shafts and so the rear seats have to fold differently...

http://toyota.jp/vitz/concept/grade/index.html

http://toyota.jp/vitz/concept/grade/gradeval/index5.html

[Yaris SR Kid]

Very bad! Especially when its low!

Happy snow ploughing!

[Chris81]

Loving that photo! Can't have done your front splitter any favours. Did you skid off the road?

[KPARRIS-JONES]

My old yaris was a 1 litre 'W' reg S model and was amazing in the snow cause of its lack of ompf, thin tyres, and gearbox. It was like a snowmobile and got me almost anywhere.

I sold it and bought a yaris 1.5 t-sport and this is the first winter iv had it. I thought it would be ok but how wrong was i. The wide tyres, bigger engine and higher ratio gearbox makes me think that im driving on skis. Everywhere i go i get stuck and have to either rock it back and forward for half an hour or find a poor passerbier and get them to tow me out. I was shocked lol.

Apart from that, its a lovely car and hope to keep it for next winter so i can come on and have another moan haha

stevie.

It's a small city car that is meant to get you around cheaply and in your case, quickly! It is also down to the tread and tread depth but to be honest, it wasn't designed to drive through snow and ice on a regular basis. If it was a snow-mobile then yes you would expect it to thrive on snow. The fact your old Yaris was great in snow is a bonus, not exactly a feature. I don't think you should call it a bad car, it does what it's supposed to and from the people I speak to, it does it well! :D

Not me having a dig at you or anything mate, just don't expect a city car to do everything! :)

[Craig Sheffield]

1.8 SR has been OK in the snow, just wish there was a button to turn off traction control!

[Yaris SR Kid]

Loving that photo! Can't have done your front splitter any favours. Did you skid off the road?

Had to park up against the curb as well as i could, didnt go too well, we cleared some snow before aswell! Luckily the splitter is pretty secure!

[gar]

Loving that photo! Can't have done your front splitter any favours. Did you skid off the road?

Had to park up against the curb as well as i could, didnt go too well, we cleared some snow before aswell! Luckily the splitter is pretty secure!

Got a 1.3cdx auto, wee-wee easy to drive in snow as just apply brakes, put in gear and slowly release brakes. Just let it move off at tick-over! Same can be done with manual, let clutch up slow, no gas!

[Johan007]

I found the T-Sport was ok in the ice (you can feel every slide) but the lower ride hight was always going to be an issue on fresh snow. The narrow tyres on the stock T-Sport helped turning. I Should have been driving the Auris that feels more confident but would take me forever to dig it out of the snow and really needs new front tyres.

Mid day has been fine but I find people drive way too fast during the morning and night when the temperature gets bellow -1 especially as like I said you get a feel for what little grip there is more so in sports set up.

Anyway count your self lucky your not in a RX8 or similar.

1.8 SR has been OK in the snow, just wish there was a button to turn off traction control!

Its missing features like that I don't consider the SR to be a sport... more so a standard car with body kit (it is with the Auris range)... does the SR even have uprated suspension on the Yaris? As far as I am aware the only sporty range Toyota do now are the 180's. I am not taking the mick as my next car will probably be the Yaris SR.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

My Yaris hasn't been too bad in the snow. Only got stuck once or twice but gave it a push and it easily got moving again!

[RS4]

I have fitted a set of 175x65 R14 Vredestien Snowtrac 3 Winter tyres to my D4D and it has very good levels of traction and grip on snow and ice. In fact, I got my RS4 which is all wheel drive stuck on driveway the other week and the Yaris can get up and down with no problems.

Lee

[Madasafish]

Years of experience of driving in snow - I learned to drive in Northern Scotland where 2 metre drifts in winter were normal) taught me you need:

narrow tyres

little power

grippy tyres

and LOTS of ground clearance to get through thick snow..

My D4D with standard tyres was OK: just trundled along at 1,000-1,500rpm and avoided braking..

In ice? You really need studded tyres. Period.

I just try to not drive on ice.. (I run regularly - snow is OK with trail shoes and very sharp treads. On ice? I walk on the verges..)

Some of the US You Tube videos of cars sliding sideways at 3 mph show how dangerous ice is...

[RS4]

Winter tyres make a massive difference on snow covered and icy roads as their design is substantiated for providing high levels of traction (i.e. improves the ability to set off from rest) and grip when cornering/braking in the said conditions. Some of the issues that improve traction are as follows:

1) Tyres with a high static coefficient of friction (e.g. fit a winter tyre).

2) Reducing the torque at the drive shafts (e.g. using low engine revs or selecting a higher gear ratio to set off) which reduces the propulsive force at the tyres contact patch.

3) Using larger diameter wheels which again reduces the propulsive force at the tyres contact with the road. Obviously, this is not feasilbe for most vehicles.

When cornering, the tyres on a car provide the centripetal force which prevent it from sliding off the road. The issues that improve a cars ability to make a corner without skidding are:

1) Tyres with a high dynamic coefficient of friction (e.g. fitting a winter tyre on snow and ice).

2) Reduce speed.

3) Reduce the radius of the corner.

For braking it is the same as above omitting point 3.

Hope the above of is of help.

Lee