How are the 2011's handling the snow?

mainemomoftwo

One of my major concerns about the Odyssey is the lack of an AWD version and the lower ground clearance. I'm curious how your 2011's are handling the snow this winter.

ckid

I love our Odyssey and hate saying anything negative but, it was awful, got stuck in 2.5 inches of snow, I did put on Goodyear Forterra Triple treads, which have less than 11,000 miles. This is my wife's car and it concerns me greatly with the low(er) ground clearance and lack of AWD, felt extremely let down. True story, I was trying to make it up an exit ramp in NJ and got stuck, a kind soul in a Pilot, went around me and said he would make tracks for me, which he did and yet I was unable to get through. I suppose I could just stay home everytime there is more than 2-3 inches of snow, but that seems a tad absurd. My wife is considering a new vehicle and while we love our odyssey 9 months of the year, am seriously considering a behemoth SUV instead.

Wish Honda would stop using focus groups in the South / Southwest US and pay some attention to those of us that have to deal with snow. I would gladly pay extra for AWD and better ground clearance.

Hope this helps.

crybaby

we purchased a new 2011 mustang from the showroom catalog.when it arrived it had a tire mobility kit in the trunk rather than a compact spare.the salesman was as surprised as we were. a call and e mail to ford motor did not solve the problem. we are waiting to hear if they will suply a compact spare and tire changing kit. we are not comfortable driving any distance because their road side assistance requires a spare to changge a flat and if it happens on a weekend or after hours and a dealer is not open. then what? any one else discocvered this and how did you handle it?

pf2001

Thanks for the update. That is my concern too. I live in Philly and do not want to get stuck when it snows. The only van that has awd is the Sienna. I am debating between the two vehicles.

dungeonlaa

Very expensive (for replacement and maintenance) PAX tires on Sienna AWD. After I checked price and issues with it I got Odyssey :shades:

robr2

AWD isn't going to help you much if the tires aren't up to the task. I drive in Boston snow and insist on using snow tires. IMHO, all seasons are a compromise in all cases.

Try changing tires before changing vehicles. It's a lot cheaper.

denver5357

This is why we reluctantly traded in our '05 last year for a Pilot Touring. We live in Colorado, and the Ody just wasn't going to work for us when it came to snow. We bought it because it snowed so little in the 10 years we had lived here that we became accustomed to the pattern. Since 2006, it has snowed much more and we found ourselves garaging the Ody in snowy weather.

It is true that better tires can help. But with that low of a clearence, it may not matter because tires don't help much when a vehicle "high centers."