the x in snow and just rear wheel drive ???
Very bad it does terrible take a honda Accord better , or a Car that its front wheel drive

All them passengers and luggage helped for sure. I have also found that letting the air down some in the rear tires helps in snow,(don't forget to air back up when on the highway).. Yes we do have snow in southern California, you just have to climb a mountian to find some. Mojave

Hey,

I was in Mammoth a few weeks ago (Jan 25-31) and we got 40in of new snow while I was up there. I drove my 02 X-SE 2wd up the mountain and she held up great. Granted, there was little "new" snow on the ground while I was driving and she's got a new pair of shoes(30in Bridgestone AT Dueller Revo's), but the X made out like a champ. Once we got there, I had to limit my driving to times when the roads were clear and there was little traffic just to be safe, but if you can handle difficult driving conditions, the X will do you fine....

Another Proud XTERRA owner,

Christiaan

Prolly the best tip ^.
I would like to add that tires make a difference. Was recently in Mammoth (weak snow compared to other areas) and there was mostly ice and little snow on the ground. I had chains and wasn't going over 25mph. I'm happy report I didn't feel any slippage. I'd like to attribute it to the tires ( Bridgestone D\'s , check out their snow traction rating), chains, & the load (5 passengers & gear).
We're going up again this weekend so I'll see how I do .

Coming from Canada and have learned to drive in the Winter on icy roads. The best recommendation I find for slowing down is frist to be in Neutral if automatic or clutch pushed in if Manual.

Downshifting can help you slow down, but if it's too slippery, the rear wheels might lock and cause the rear end to swing. I do this all the time with the hand brake on my Civic when making turns on slippery roads. It's fun when planned and controlled.

If the backend starts to swing when you push on the gas, just let off the gas and counter steer, 9 times out of 10, you will be able to get it back straight.

As far as tires, keep all 4 the same, if not you won't get even braking which can cause you to spin.

I've had a few rear wheel drive vehicles, and the best thing for traction (besides good tires) is a lot of weight in the back. Since you're going on a trip, you'll have luggage, if you're luggage is light, put more weight like sand bags. Keeping the gas tank full makes more weight too.

And the most important thing, which you probably already know, braking distance increase significantly when it's slippery so plan ahead and start slowing down ahead of time when you need to stop.

As far as chains very few people use them on passenger vehicles for snow traction. Sure they help, but in most cases, it's not worth the effort to put them on. By that, I don't mean that they are useless, I mean that in most cases you can do without. Only snowplows and tractors use them because they need the extra traction to push heavy loads.

56kz2slow.

Just reading this a month later. I been in a lot o snow in the mountians of So Calif. .. Yes we do have snow... with only 2wd you are going to be pretty limited, especially if you hit a hill. Adding some weight is definitely a good idea, and letting the air down some also helps,(don't foget to air back up when you are back on good roads). I didn't see anyone mention cable chains, they can help a lot, and don't forget when stopping 2wd or 4wd, once you are skidding they slide in the direction of the nearest tree at the same rate..

Mammoth 3 weeks ago... got out of the lot w/o chains no problem even with a manual tranny. However, to my advantage & enjoyment I was in pure powder... I was able to DUST all the snow off my X:


Out:


We would've been okay without them but we were req'd to put on chains. These are the "no roll type" by SCC which are snap to put on even for my cold little fingers:


Tread pattern: (note you can see both tread patterns, w & w/o chains)


Yay!

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