[Daimlermg]

Going for a test Drive tomorrow for the second time

Coming from many years of four-wheel-drive cars and the IX3 being rear wheel drive only can anyone advise what it’s like in snow conditions. I have a slightly uphill drive to negotiate but if it’s really bad Snow I will just wait until it’s gone before I use the car but if I get caught out with a bit of bad road surface it would be nice to have a bit of feedback from yourselves .

[bilbabon]

I don't have my own experience but I assume I will have wheel chains in the trunk. But people in Scandinavia are driving without them too

[lakmus]

Coming from 530e RWD the difference is big. Electric motors do traction control better than I have ever experienced before which make a huge difference. However the standard setting is pretty aggressive - I like to drive with Traction mode if there is snow (it lets the car slip slightly and is pretty fun to drive).

I drive with Nordic traction tires (I swapped the Michelin Alpin 5's the car came with into Michelin XI3 since they are meant for Nordic winter - and match the name of the car &#128540 and have gotten stuck few times this winter - only time I've missed studded tires. Typically this has happened between -5'C to 0'C, snow on top and ice on bottom - when the traction is the worst. The is car heavy and it helps with traction, but also digs itself into the snow easily if the tires slip a lot. I've gotten out every time on my own with really light pedal and some sand/shovel though.

With the Alpin 5's it felt unsafe for a few days that I drove on snow/ice before swapping (really slow acceleration + very slippery on ramps) - but then again those aren't meant for the Nordics

During a 700 km trip to Central Finland in snow I had no issues at all with XI3 - though I was scared a bit how it will handle in icy roads (in Dec it was under -10'C so the traction was good).

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Daimlermg

Going for a test Drive tomorrow for the second time

Coming from many years of four-wheel-drive cars and the IX3 being rear wheel drive only can anyone advise what it’s like in snow conditions. I have a slightly uphill drive to negotiate but if it’s really bad Snow I will just wait until it’s gone before I use the car but if I get caught out with a bit of bad road surface it would be nice to have a bit of feedback from yourselves .

What winter tyres (for comparison) are you using on your AWD vehicles? That may give an idea of what to expect and what you will need for the iX3.

[Daimlermg]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

What winter tyres (for comparison) are you using on your AWD vehicles? That may give an idea of what to expect and what you will need for the iX3.

I am using standard Pirelli scorpions which are not winter tires and have no problems with those so far
It is situations like pulling off the tarmac onto the verge in wet conditions where it’s muddy to let Somebody pass and potentially losing drive on One side
Also going down hills in the snow having been used to having hill descent control I wondered how are you Control the decent in the iX3

[t41l589]

Originally Posted by Daimlermg

I am using standard Pirelli scorpions which are not winter tires and have no problems with those so far
It is situations like pulling off the tarmac onto the verge in wet conditions where it’s muddy to let Somebody pass and potentially losing drive on One side
Also going down hills in the snow having been used to having hill descent control I wondered how are you Control the decent in the iX3

I've been running Pirelli Scorpian Winter tires on mine since December and can't fault traction in icy and snow covered roads at all. This includes getting up 14% inclines in snow and coming back down with only a little sliding on the way up whilst trying to get some traction. I also set the regen to "low" within the settings for the decline and this was essentially Hill Descent albeit only braking the rear axle.

[Daimlermg]

Thanks everyone for the advice.
I went to the dealer and I have ordered a Msport pro with a towbar for the bike rack
Delivery in June

Just got to decide to pay cash or go for guaranteed residual value with PCP
Not had a PCP or Loan before so it’s new on me

Update
Not going for PcP as I don’t like paying interest

[ThreeXi]

Hello,

Sorry to bump reply to an old thread, but now that autumn is setting in soon and winter won't be too far away, I was wondering if anybody can advise on the best driving mode in snow and ice conditions?

Let's say I've got my winter tyres on the car for example, what driving mode should the car be in?

Does Eco Pro perform better in snow and ice than Comfort?

Should traction control simply be left on?

Should B or D be selected?

Bear with me, I've never driven an "automatic" before, so in certain circumstances in heavy snow and ice conditions with a manual gearbox, I was taught to pull away in second gear, does the iX3 have something similar?

Many thanks,

[lakmus]

Originally Posted by ThreeXi

Hello,

Let's say I've got my winter tyres on the car for example, what driving mode should the car be in?

Does Eco Pro perform better in snow and ice than Comfort?

Should traction control simply be left on?

Should B or D be selected?

Many thanks,

Very mild use of accelerator pedal, Eco Pro helps a bit (though you might want to drive on sport before fast charging).

Traction mode turns off automatically after awhile.

I would avoid using B on slippery conditions, maybe even set regen to low (adaptive realizes quickly it's slippery and coasts more in order to avoid losing grip, I've had it on adaptive winter & summer).