XC90 in SNOW - Manual or Automatic?

[gapquinn]

Related to debate on the foot brake but which has better handling in the snow?

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by gapquinn

Related to debate on the foot brake but which has better handling in the snow?

Auto for all non standard surfaces in terms of control as it will act as a low ratio box. For deep snow it probably isn't too important which you have though, but from experience the auto works very well. Probably tyres are more important here as the factory fit ones arn't so hot and much better ones are available.

[XC90 Dave]

For me the geartronic version takes some beating as you can limit the torque by using the winter setting or operate the gearbox manually. In addition you can "rock" the car by fast changes from drive to reverse. I also agree with Roy that tyres make all the difference.

[jet1970]

Without doubt for me when going down hills it was much better switching to manual as you can slow the speed right down without needing to touch the brake. I had a bad experience in mine going down a hill with a corner - I was going down in automatic but even without my foot on the accelerator it was too fast and I started to slide - I had to brake and ended up half in a ditch and was pulled out by a land rover!

From the onwards when ever I wanted to control my speed I flicked over to manual and used the gears to brake. On a flat snowy road auto was fine, I did briefly get stuck in a drive on some very compacted snow but with gentle acceleration the AWD got me out.

[Ron_XC90]

Auto gearbox is great for driving in snow as per earlier comments. Just remember when going downhill to switch to manual and use engine braking as much as possible to prevent sliding.
When it comes to braking, remember that AWD will not do anything here and stopping distance is probably worse than with a normal car due to weight.

As mentioned above, get some decent all weather M+S tyres as they made all the difference for me...

[wagga]

.......and DSTC need to be OFF when driving in snow.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by wagga

.......and DSTC need to be OFF when driving in snow.

Agreed for deep snow, but to be clear for those who don't already know , DTSC can't be turned off . Pressing the DSTC switch only changes it's function to give more power for deep snow and sand.

[jet1970]

What does DTSC actually do and what is the difference in pressing teh switch?

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by jet1970

What does DTSC actually do and what is the difference in pressing teh switch?

It's part of the ABS system and helps stop you crashing or rolling over. Also checks that all the wheels have grip. If you press the switch it changes the characteristics for better progress in certain adverse conditions. There is a lot of tech info on the club pages. (link at the top)

[owenfackrell]

My understanding ,of the bit you can turn off, is that it's the part of the system that stops wheel spin by limiting the engine power, this only works when 2 wheels on the same axel spin. the reason for turning this off is that some times in mud or snow you need to spin the wheels to move and limiting the engine poer just causes you to stop. I have tried this on mud in mine and turning it off made a huge difference to my abbility to get out of where i was.