Yaris Pretty Good In The Snow And Ice

[aygoal]

Alfiejts, was that sliding with winter tyres fitted?

With socks fitted remember that the rear wheels are only along for the ride so try to only brake while going straight.

[alfiejts]

I wasn't braking. I was crawling down a town centre street at about 5mph. Lost the traction when I just squeezed the accelerator very slightly to move forward...

No - the A3s not on winter tyres. Just on fat 18" summer tyres.

We just got one set of winter tyres for one of the Yarii. Planning to change the A3 in next couple of years so didn't seem a worthwhile investment.

That seemed enough of an investment last year - having second thoughts now.

I always do my braking on the straight - even in the summer - years of track driving, the IAM course and numerous skid pan training days drive that home.

[aygoal]

Ok, I was just thinking if the winter tyres were giving way I was not sure what would help.

My 19" wheels with 45 profile summer tyres are sitting at the back of the garage until march now. My 4x4 was hopeless on them and you feel even dafter stuck in a mid size 4x4.

16" wheels & 70 profile M+S tyres may not look as sporty, but I'll live with them for 3 months!!!

[alfiejts]

Two sets of Auto Socks arrived today by TNT - only ordered yesterday. Excellent service. If anyone wants some but is struggling to get stock, I got mine from www.roofbox.co.uk and www.van-racks.co.uk Both are the same firm trading through different web sites - although they seems to have different sizes available between them.

Took the Yaris out on our local "frozen deep snow" roads (just "around the block") and they really do give it significantly better grip - but they really are meant ot be a "get you home" aid, so not sure how long they will last in normal town driving over mix of blacktop cleared roads and compacted snow uncleared roads, but we'll see this winter...

I'm thinking they'll actually be even more important as the frozen snow starts to melt and we're driving on slush & water over frozen snow.

"Toothy" comes home tomorrow with her winter tyres on, so be interesting to compare two identical cars back to back on the same road - one with summer tyres and one with winters.....

[mrpj]

I've found my Yaris to be very good in the ice and snow on it's "standard" tyres. I must say that the very smooth take off with the MMT is excellent as long as the throttle is used sparingly!

Up until today, that is, I lost control leaving a Tesco carpark - hands up, my fault - and ended up badly damaging an alloy wheel on the kerb which stopped the progression of of my slide. Only walking pace so could have been worse.

Beyond repair so a new alloy I'm afraid. Also having the front suspension and steering checked as a precaution 4th Jan at dealers.

[Sico2]

I've found my Yaris to be very good in the ice and snow on it's "standard" tyres.

What are these? Toyota have fitted Dunlop Sport Sp 01 on mine.

Sorry to hear about your alloy. Even on winter tyres, you can't be too cocky in a bend.

[mrpj]

"What are these? Toyota have fitted Dunlop Sport Sp 01 on mine."

Yes, the same tyre. I agree re "winter" tyres no doubt fitted to these vehicles?

I was sliding slowly toward a lamp post head on and a multitude of pound signs were flashing before my eyes when the kerb came to the rescue. I only hope the impact hasn't knocked anything out in the steering or suspension.

[aygoal]

Ours has continetal premium contact 2s fitted to it. They have only lasted 12000 miles and we need 2 new ones on the front already. The edges have worn more than the Middles so better get the tracking checked. The snow grip is not too bad for a summer tyre so perhaps they are a softish compound

[Cyker]

The two biggest problems I have are

a) Torque (I have to be soooo careful as I can easily wheel spin going up my drive, even using nothing but the clutch on my D4D!) and

B) The power steering has far too much assistance so it's very hard to 'feel' what's going on. I often wish I could dial-back the power-steering in the Yaris, even in normal weather, as it seems set up for an old woman but on slippy surfaces you basically get zero feedback until it's too late to be useful :(

[Sico2]

I agree about the power steering. Sometimes when my Yaris slides on icy road a bit and I start o correct the direction, I can feel no resistance in steering wheel. It's like turning a toy or PC steering wheel.

aygoal-I read that uneven front tyres wear is caused by too-high-speed cornering. And I don't mean 40-50mph+. Low speeds in some cases are already too much, where i.e. you lean hardly on one side in your seat can make you think how much pressure is put on your rubber trying to keep all the weight in the line of turning. I realised it only after 3,500M when I was told in Toyota on my 1st service my rear tyres had 7mm thread and front 6. I thought always it's normal wear but it isn't.

[alfiejts]

By "uneven wear" they don't mean different from to back - they mean uneven across the tread of the front tyre.

If you corner hard, you'll scrub it off at the edges of the tyre more than in the middle of the tread - so you'll need to replace your tyres sooner becaiuse they'll wear out faster as you scrub the rubber off the edge of the tread.

If you corner less agressively, you'll get even wear across the whole width of the tyre, so you don't need to replace them until the whole tyre wears down.

On a front wheel drive car, the fronts will always wear more than the rears and that is normal.

Its because there is more weight on the front of the car, because you use the tyres for steering, for braking and for accelerating.

The rear tyres have a much more easier time of life, take less strain and last for more miles. That is normal.

And with regard to the steering - you won't get any feedback on ice - that's how you know you are driving on a slippery surface!

Its not the power steering that puts the feel into the steering, its the resistance between the rubber and the road as you turn the wheel.

If you have "over assisted steering" you will get even less feel on grippy roads, but no power steering system can inject false feel when you are driving on ice and there is no resistance to turning the wheels....

[Cyker]

The point was that the Yaris' steering is already very light and it can be hard to tell when you're on a less grippy surface because it's *still* very light.

My previous car had much less assistance and the change in steering resistance when you hit a more slippy road was much more obvious compared to a Yaris.

That is the downside of over-assisted powersteering; The upside is that it's a lot easier to to tight parking manoeuvres in the Yaris :)

It's a pity there isn't an adjustable setting. I can't remember what car it was but I remember there was one with a button which switched the power steering between assist and extra assist. That was pretty neat. :)

[Hartside]

I can't remember what car it was but I remember there was one with a button which switched the power steering between assist and extra assist. That was pretty neat

That was the girly button in the old Fiat Punto. :D

[Madasafish]

Diesel Yarises don't have overlight steering! :-)

[Cyker]

It is compared to my old hydraulic PAS Fiesta!!! :P (Not that I'd ever go back to that PoS car!!!)

Why, is it quite different between the D4D and the 1.0? (I notice you have access to both. IIRC you brought one back from the dead some time back too so if anyone knows you would! )

[alfiejts]

The diesel engine weighs more than the 1.0, so there's more weight on the front wheels and that would make it feel heavier - although I suspect that what's really going on here are different people's personal views of what's over light and what's not.

The big difference in "feel", I'd suggest, is the move from hydraulic assistance to electrical assistance.

I've read many road tests of cars with electrical assistance that complaain that the feel is "dead" compared to previous models with hydraulic assistance.

Indeed I remember that on one particular car (can't remember which) they fitted electrical assistance to the lower models but changed it for hydraulic on the sporty models of the same vehicle....

They've gone to electric cos it saves power and therefore cuts emissions....

That all said, they recently changed my Yaris steering column (and electrical assembly) cos they reckon it had a fault on it (there was a click as you moved it from side to side) and you can really tell the difference. The new one is much more "dynamic" and has much more feel than the old one did....