Kurt Spitzner has driving in his veins, and those veins are filled with ice. As ops manager and 13-year veteran聽of聽the in Steamboat, Colorado, Spitzner makes his living teaching people how to drive with control and confidence. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about managing mass through space,鈥 he says,聽鈥渁nd that mass responds differently when it鈥檚 cold.鈥 Here鈥檚 how to manage the mass of your family-packed SUV.
Tires Are Everything聽
I can鈥檛 overstate the importance of having appropriate tires. If you can鈥檛 properly connect to the road, it doesn鈥檛 matter how advanced your traction control system is. The rubber compounds in summer tires and many all-season tires can start to lose their flexibility when the temperature drops below 45. A good rule of thumb: if you can see your breath, you should be running winter tires. Period.
Use Your Ears
When the road is wet, you鈥檒l hear what we call the 鈥渟izzle,鈥澛爓hich is the sound of water from your tires splashing up against the underside of the car. As the聽road starts to freeze up, the sizzling sound will get softer and eventually stop,聽but the road could still look like just a wet road.
Smooth Is Bad
Particularly on a familiar road, you may notice that the pavement suddenly feels smoother than normal. This could mean the water between all the tiny imperfections is starting to freeze up and expand to fill the gaps, making it smooth聽and slick.聽
Traction Control聽
If you have an advanced AWD system, there鈥檚 no reason you shouldn鈥檛 use it whenever the temperature drops below 45. The fuel mileage penalty is almost nothing, and it will improve performance even on nonsnowy roads. If you have an older SUV with a 4WD system that shifts into place, wait until the roads have some lubricant (at least a half-inch of snow)聽before engaging.
Watch Your Lights聽
More new cars have LED headlights and taillights. They鈥檙e聽great for visibility聽but don鈥檛 put off heat like conventional lights, which means they can quickly become covered with snow and ice. Always carry rags in your car in case you need to clear off the lights.