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Snow driving

45K views 62 replies 27 participants last post by  gvsukids 
#1 ·
Hi all.

I have a 2004 Pilot EXL with 4WD. Do you guys have any suggestions or tips for driving in the snow or icy conditions? I have not taken my pilot onto the snow before and I really don't know what to expect. Of course, I'll be bringing a pair of chains and a shovel to help make my life a bit easier. Let me know what you guys think.
 
#52 ·
I went out and tried it. Now I can shift from "D" to "D3," but still having difficulty shifting from "D3" to "2." Yeah, I know I need to move lever towards me to shift from "D3" to "2." But I tried several times, and only succeeded once. At that time I was using all my strength to "force" the shifter into "2" (once it got into "2", it is easy to shift from "2" to "1"). So I figured it was probably frozen up due to lack of use, and it should be OK now that once I loosened it up. But I still had difficulties in subsequent tries. Looks like I'd better to have it check out, I don't want to force it too much for fear of breaking something.
 
#53 ·
sagaliba said:
I went out and tried it. Now I can shift from "D" to "D3," but still having difficulty shifting from "D3" to "2." Yeah, I know I need to move lever towards me to shift from "D3" to "2." But I tried several times, and only succeeded once. At that time I was using all my strength to "force" the shifter into "2" (once it got into "2", it is easy to shift from "2" to "1"). So I figured it was probably frozen up due to lack of use, and it should be OK now that once I "unfreeze" it. But I still had difficulties in subsequent tries. Looks like I'd better to have it check out, I don't want to force it too much for fear of breaking something.
To describe this steering column shift in one word: "confusing" and my wife's RAV4 does not any of such problem at all, smooth and easy. Honda design team, please take note.
 
#54 ·
bigdadi said:


To describe this steering column shift in one word: "confusing" and my wife's RAV4 does not any of such problem at all, smooth and easy. Honda design team, please take note.
Agreed, I don’t have problem with my other cars either. I wonder how Honda expects people to remember all these different ways of shifting (i.e., whether or not to pull lever towards you) when you are in an emergency and need to downshift, since most of the time we would just keep the gear in "D," and don’t get to practice it that often.
 
#55 ·
Alpo714 said:


I agree with you ejthomp. The pilot is definitely a light off roading vehicle. After two trips to big bear, I very confident in my 2004 Pilot. I love the way it chomps through the snow, and I love the way it rides as smooth as silk on the highways. Overall, I believe that honda pilot compliments my rugged life style while maintaining a great ride...

Personal Commentary:
The only "bad" thing about the pilot is its reputation. Unfortunately my personal experiences have not witnessed no more than a murmur about the honda pilot until I purchased one myself. Instead I hear too much and too often about the Toyota 4Runners and Sequoias being the tough and rugged cars. I feel that the Pilot is horribly unrecognized for its superb balance of cargo space, carrying capacity, light off roading, and quality of the ride.

I feel that, we, the Pilot owners, are partly to blame in this. We need to make sure we tell our family and friends what type of car the pilot is, and see for themselves the benefits of owning a Pilot.

I hope that I did not offend anyone by my comments. I just feel that the Honda Pilot should get more recognition for being an "All-around" SUV.

-Alpo
hate to say it, the pilot is more car than not. 'real' SUV's were built on frames and had 4wd and could take a beating but the masses demanded a better ride so they got unibody and AWD, neither are really suited for anything more than a dirt road. The watered down version of SUV's that we have today are fine for what most people need and fit the image people may have of themselves but they're not all that rugged. (and dont get me started on the ridgeline, it may have a bed but it's not a truck) Forerunners got their reputation because they used to be basically trucks, 4WD, not AWD, body on frame, etc. Toyota has been living on the reputation they gained in the 80's and early 90's but a lot of what they build now is junk. Dont get me wrong, the Pilot is a nice vehicle but when there's snow on the ground, I take my truck.
 
#56 ·
whizmo said:
I think underinflation is a trick that mostly helps in loose snow, not ice or other hard surfaces. (It is a common and completely proven trick in polar driving to deflate truck tires down to 4 psi to get unstuck.) But to address the narrow tire concern, I don't think underinflation makes the tire very much narrower, so I think the two concepts are independent. Mostly it makes the tire more compliant and able to conform and "key" into loose surfaces.

One reason narrower tires tend to be better winter tires is that with a narrower tire, you get a tire with proportionally higher aspect ratio (the ratio of tire height to tire width) and a taller tire is better for compliance with rough surfaces, be they off-road conditions or snow. What really kills you with wide tires is that they tend to be low-aspect-ratio/low-profile and you end up with sidewalls the height of rubber bands that have no compliance whatsoever.

And everything is secondary to rubber compound which is the biggest difference between a good winter tire and a good summer tire.

- Mark
funny, the tires on my truck are wider than stock and also have more sidewall...265/75/16's stock, 285/75/16's mounted (of course, this is on my truck, not the pilot but the principle is the same, wider tire, same aspect ratio = taller sidewall). Assuming that you stay with the same overall diameter though, you dont lose sidewall by going wider (unless you change wheels to a large diameter wheel). You also dont gain sidewall when you go narrow, if you stay with the same overall o.d., you end up with the same sidewall height.

And yeah, narrow is better in the snow for a variety of reasons, one of which is that you really arent going for 'flotation' on snow like you do on sand.
 
#57 ·
mainerunr said:


Dont get me wrong, the Pilot is a nice vehicle but when there's snow on the ground, I take my truck.
The Pilot's AWD system was originally introduced on the Acura MDX with the purpose of defeating winter. Equip your truck with a set of Goodyear Integrity tires and put tires with a more aggressive tread design (such as the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo or Toyo Open Country A/T) and rerun the comparison.
 
#62 · (Edited)
But you wanted to put the sand in the back?

The engine and transmission are already over the front wheels.

I would guess you need better tires.

Unless you have a pick-up or a '60 sedan with rear wheel drive, adding weight in the rear does not do much.
 
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