Nissan Versa Cold Weather & Snow Driving

in Nissan
How do we get world wide information on how well the Versa or Tiida handles in snow? Some small station wagons like the Toyota Matrix are reported to be horrible in the snow, with owners having to change to the absolute best winter tires for adequate traction.
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Mark.
I'm guessing that 5 minutes of running will have very hot air blowing. Hope so as you will be more satisfied with it.
Tony
The stock tirs are excellent tires, I don't understand why Nissan choose a narrow tire, my replacements well be 195-60-15s not the 185's that are on there now...
Most OEM tires are designed to be cheap, have low rolling resistance, and ride quietly. You'll find most OEM tires have poor customer ratings compared to aftermarket tires - even those from the same manufacturer.
Winter tires make a huger difference - I even put them on our AWD Subaru. If you drive enough in snow and ice to make two sets of wheels and tires worthwhile, you can buy dedicated Winter tires. They wear relatively fast(most don't have a UTQG wear rating) so are winter only. Popular tires include the Nokian RSI, Michelin X-Ice, Goodyear UltraGrip, and several Blizzak models.
If you don't want to hassle with two sets of tires, the Nokian WR is a passenger all season with the Severe Duty Snow rating - the mountain/snowflake icon. BTW, Nokians are not sold mail order but you can go to nokiantires.com to find local dealers. We have them on our Mazda MPV.
195/60-15 is as close you get but the tire would perform better on 6". My car for example has 205/60-15 but in winter would be 185/65-15. Of course this is summer to winter tire sizing. Living in Ohio winter specific especially studded my wife and grandson are so much safer.
I'm might suggest a better very affordable tire I've tried and just love? (I've been buying tires for 45 years )Grand Touring category Kumho Solus (called now) quiet, awesome wet control (hydroplaning nill even above speed limit toll road OOPS) and price is hard to beat.
What ever talk to someone ie: Tire Rack but I'd stick with 185/65-15. It's more about tire than size.
Continentals (OEM) well I wouldn't want them if someone gave them to me.
My son has a Versa very good bang for the buck transportation and he can't to put Kumho's on his. He the one--try'em dad!
Versa
Impressive ergonomic interior packaging (absolute breeze to get in a out of especially for us leading edge baby boomer's and also recent crash protection results.
And for those of us that grew up with muscle cars/etc. -- they're fun but today's economics problems we need more vehicles like this.
Early forced retired YORF
Paul
Tony
P.S. The reason why you talk about the Versa is why I bought mine, ergonomic Interior, love how the seats feel and getting in and out is breeze...
As for snow driving, well so far just a week, not a lot of experience, but it is a little worse than the old Trecel in the snow probably for several reasons. The wider tires and longer wheel base tend to make the car want to ride over slick snow rather than cut into it (and hit ground for traction).
In addition I suspect the transmission gearing may play a role too. It seems to move best in snow with the overdrive off and it seems to do better when you don’t drive it aggressively (unlike the trecel which needed a little uph to get through). Otherwise it will tend to spin it’s tires.
On a whole while the snow driving is a little worse, it is still very deal able and I wouldn’t call it bad. It just isn’t amazing like the trecel.
Incidentally, I've owned many cars and driven front and rear wheel drive and have never had as many problems as with this car. In other ways it's a great car, just not in snow. And I've heard all the jokes about it being my 'heavy foot' but since I've driven a ton of other cars and it's never been a problem till this one, I have to wonder if it isn't the car. At the very least, test this car in snow and ice conditions.
This morning it was a bit of a problem since it had really built up one day when the temp was right around freezing so the packed snow was very wet. Then the temp dropped a lot and the stuf turned into a very lagre solid block that pretty much was touching all four tires for the entire length of the wheel wells. The ice block also extended down behind the wheels as well. There really was no room for any suspension travel. Going over a small bump would REALLY make a noise as the tire hit the ice. Took about a half hour to chip enough of it out to feel safe from having the ice cause problems.
First time we had the Versa out in the snow, I noticed the designof the wheel wells tended to cath a bit more snow than my other vehicles. This time was probably a unique set of circumstances
But, I agree with you in that the fender wells almost seem to be designed to hold as much slush, snow and mud as possible. I usually try to knock it off before driving into the garage but it's impossible to get it all. I can see that it could build up to being a solid mess.
Otherwise I didn't have any problems driving.
I'd actually say the Versa handled a bit better in snow than my '96 Sentra as it is 300# heavier than that Sentra was.
Only got the Versa in February, but we did have a solid week of driving in snow with it. Will have a little more to say once I get through a full winter, but I'm not expecting any real issues.
I agree about the wheel wells, though, they really plug up.
So, 5 stars, Nissan!
By checking on the web, they are well rated and expensive enough to buy.
How is it for starting in cold temperatures and heater defroster performance?
Service staff at dealer mentioning Continental tires not being what they are advertised thus not rendering after sale service as expected.
All they did was to switch front tires.
So yes, may be something with those tires.
We're putting them back on at the end of the week, and I might even get a set for my Versa