Be honest! What's the deepest snow you've driven in with your LR4

[dlimanov]

great points here. i’ll just add that studded nokian hakkapaeliitta tires make your already capable rig into unstoppable beats in the snow. no all-season or all-terrain even come close.

 

[itsaguything]

we use blizzaks, x-ice, conti wintercontacts.
funny how we all rate these tires differently.

I have driven with studs and chains/straps, and I’ll take the straps over the studs in snow any day. On ice, the studs.

 

[ktm525]

@Longtrail and @mm3846 thanks for the helpful replies. Next winter, I am definitely going to invest in a set of premium snow tires. Not sure if studs would be helpful, but they might. As far as the programs go, I was thinking along the same lines. Wasn't sure what the right work around might be, but the description for the snow, gravel, grass setting made me suspect the traction control was washing over everything to make the truck drive the way the engineers thought best.

I can't see the traction control, but I can see the dynamic headlights. I'm the kind of guy that is more than capable of turning my high-beams on and off during times when it seems most appropriate. Plus, the high-beams turning on and off with the auto setting seems almost random. Same with the dynamic intermittent wipers. I'd rather have straight up intermittent wipers and set the interval for the rain conditions. Of course, traction control for a truck that relies on it so heavily is more important than gimmicky auto headlights or wipers. Not sure I want to mess with that too much.

How many days a year do you see yourself driving on accumulated snow ?

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

@ktm525 We're just south of Surrey, BC on the USA side. Occasionally, we will get a Nor'easter blowing frigid air and winter storms in from the Fraser River Valley up north in BC. When that happens, we'll get some snow for sure, but I'd say it's only on the ground for a couple weeks per year (if that).

That said, we live in the foothills of the North Cascades and can play in the snow with a 45 minute drive to Mt. Baker anytime from late Fall to late Spring. Don't ski so we haven't made that trip as often as we'd like.

The real problem are kids headed to, or coming back, from Mt. Baker Ski Resort. They drive like maniacs. We almost got into a head-on collision with one that crossed way over the centerline on a blind curve and corrected at the last instant. I'm all for having fun, but I'm not going to put my family in harm's way just to play around in the snow.

 

[Longtrail]

Looks rough!

 

[ktm525]

I wouldn't bother with winters. Perhaps some type of modern chain/strap system that you can throw on for the odd crazy situation. Maybe some type of all weathers.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

Thanks to everyone for chiming in with your comments and advice. That was a lot of fun. The roads are clear again and it's likely that we won't see another significant snow for the rest of the year.

On a side note, a lot of people say that the LR4 should be used as a fun occasional vehicle rather than a daily driver. The LR4 has been a great daily driver for me, and here's why. I've heard it described as a "Swiss army knife" and I have found that to be true. I've loaded it up (including the roof rack) and taken it camping with my kids. I've hauled a 3-bedroom house worth of household items in a U-Haul trailer in a recent move. I've lowered the middle seats and packed it full of boxed items to put into self-storage, making multiple trips. I've used it to haul a large amount of yard debris using a rented utility trailer. I've used it with a bike rack mounted to the trailer hitch to take the kids out bike riding. I've taken it to the drive-in movie theater to watch movies with the family, the rear hatch open and the seats folded flat (so the girls could cuddle up with blankets and pillows). I've taken the family's Irish Setter to the dog park and Vet in the large wire crate I load in the back. Now I've taken it through the snow to get me where I needed to go when we got hit with a recent snow storm. It's done all of that while being a little different, unique, and sharp looking.

I don't know what else you can ask out of one vehicle. Better gas mileage? Not needing to pay for premium unleaded? Fewer and less costly repairs? Okay, fair enough. But if I needed two or three vehicles to do what the LR4 does, that would cost me even more in the purchase prices, the insurance, and maintenance/repairs. It's a versatile vehicle and if it doesn't outshine all other vehicles in one area, I have to appreciate the fact that it does a lot of things pretty darn well.

 

[ftillier]

It looks sharp, does pretty much anything you ask of it, the only downside is the fuel consumption. We have multiple cars already, so for us the LR4 is there for fun/family trips/inclement weather. If we had to drop to one car only, the LR4 would probably be the one that stays. That could change in a few years when kids are a bit more grown up and moved out, and we don't need all the seats.

 

[ktm525]

Thanks to everyone for chiming in with your comments and advice. That was a lot of fun. The roads are clear again and it's likely that we won't see another significant snow for the rest of the year.

On a side note, a lot of people say that the LR4 should be used as a fun occasional vehicle rather than a daily driver. The LR4 has been a great daily driver for me, and here's why. I've heard it described as a "Swiss army knife" and I have found that to be true. I've loaded it up (including the roof rack) and taken it camping with my kids. I've hauled a 3-bedroom house worth of household items in a U-Haul trailer in a recent move. I've lowered the middle seats and packed it full of boxed items to put into self-storage, making multiple trips. I've used it to haul a large amount of yard debris using a rented utility trailer. I've used it with a bike rack mounted to the trailer hitch to take the kids out bike riding. I've taken it to the drive-in movie theater to watch movies with the family, the rear hatch open and the seats folded flat (so the girls could cuddle up with blankets and pillows). I've taken the family's Irish Setter to the dog park and Vet in the large wire crate I load in the back. Now I've taken it through the snow to get me where I needed to go when we got hit with a recent snow storm. It's done all of that while being a little different, unique, and sharp looking.

I don't know what else you can ask out of one vehicle. Better gas mileage? Not needing to pay for premium unleaded? Fewer and less costly repairs? Okay, fair enough. But if I needed two or three vehicles to do what the LR4 does, that would cost me even more in the purchase prices, the insurance, and maintenance/repairs. It's a versatile vehicle and if it doesn't outshine all other vehicles in one area, I have to appreciate the fact that it does a lot of things pretty darn well.

If you can afford the upkeep they are fine as daily drivers. IMO they are expensive miles if you are piling the mileage on.

 

[f1racer328]

You can do full on suicide spins with the DSC off if you want to. The truck eventually gives up and lets you put the power down.

I've never had great luck with this.

Sand mode with DSC off seems to be the best combination but I can still feel the ABS grabbing a wheel here and there.