Base Taycan performance in snow

[DavidD]

Hello to everyone. This is my first post. I am trading my Tesla Model S for a new Taycan!

My build date is approaching and I remain undecided between the base Taycan and the 4S. This will be my daily driver. I can live without the oomph of the 4S (though I will get the extra battery pack regardless.) What I worry about is driving in Chicago suburbs on snowy days before the plows have come through. Having gone through the hassle of summer/winter tire exchange on a Cayman some years back, I want to stick with all-season tires. I know the 4S with all-seasons performs brilliantly on snow. My question is for anyone who owns the base Taycan in a wintry climate -- how does the base Taycan perform on snow?

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[Donlam]

A good set of winter tyres are better than 4 wheels drive without winter tyres on snow.

 

[f1eng]

A good set of winter tyres are better than 4 wheels drive without winter tyres on snow.

Definitely, and not only because of better traction to get going but the car steers and brakes much better too, a no-brainier in snow IMO since it is so much safer.

 

[Ross]

My brother drove off a cliff edge many years ago descending in the French Alps in a Mitsubishi Shogun. He lived in Chamonix so he drove in snow a lot.
His French friends said ‘Did you not realise you should descend in 2WD’.
The front wheels turn and grip better if entirely passive. 4WD can actually be worse in snow. Although modern computer controlled 4wd systems probably compensate for this.

As Lance Armstrong said.
ITS ALL ABOUT THE TYRES.
Although he probably said ‘tires’

So, to finally get to the point.
Do NOT let 2WD put you off driving in Chicago in winter.
It’s all about the tyres. Not 2WD drive or 4wd

Tyre Reviews had been mentioned on the forum recently.

Watch his review on YouTube between a 4wd Mini on summer tyres vs a 2WD Mini on winters on SNOW.

The 4wd on summers is undriveable.

The 2WD smokes it.

Go for it. Don’t let 2WD put you off

 

[Marmolata]

Hello to everyone. This is my first post. I am trading my Tesla Model S for a new Taycan!

My build date is approaching and I remain undecided between the base Taycan and the 4S. This will be my daily driver. I can live without the oomph of the 4S (though I will get the extra battery pack regardless.) What I worry about is driving in Chicago suburbs on snowy days before the plows have come through. Having gone through the hassle of summer/winter tire exchange on a Cayman some years back, I want to stick with all-season tires. I know the 4S with all-seasons performs brilliantly on snow. My question is for anyone who owns the base Taycan in a wintry climate -- how does the base Taycan perform on snow?

it doesn't. seriously, at least with 21" wheels and all season tires. we had an inch of snow here couple weeks back and i couldnt even get out of my driveway. big, wide tires just said, no thank you. I would say unless you willing to switch to winter tires, you will look as silly as those people driving a RWD Mustang in the snow and slip sliding everywhere.

 

[Avantgarde]

Hello to everyone. This is my first post. I am trading my Tesla Model S for a new Taycan!

My build date is approaching and I remain undecided between the base Taycan and the 4S. This will be my daily driver. I can live without the oomph of the 4S (though I will get the extra battery pack regardless.) What I worry about is driving in Chicago suburbs on snowy days before the plows have come through. Having gone through the hassle of summer/winter tire exchange on a Cayman some years back, I want to stick with all-season tires. I know the 4S with all-seasons performs brilliantly on snow. My question is for anyone who owns the base Taycan in a wintry climate -- how does the base Taycan perform on snow?

Looks like we have a lot of similarities. I live in Chicago-land with a Base Taycan PB+ with 21 inch all-season tires. Previously I survived 3 winters with a manual cayman on summer tires in NYC. In all honesty I have not taken out the Taycan on snowy days this year (how many did we have anyways?). However couple observations in case it helps: Before the cayman I had a RWD 3 series (BMW) on summer tires one winter season and it was horrible, horrible on snow, I could not move straight even on completely flat surfaces (and I have some experience driving on snow). Once I upgraded to winters I could climb seriously steep hills fully covered on snow, i was amazed how big of a difference winter tires made as they almost turned Rear wheel drive into an advantage with that car. So when I got my Cayman in a cold December, my expectation was it would be horrible in winter, just like the BMW, and was getting ready to head to the tire shop. But once I drove it on snow, it felt a lot more manageable than I thought. It was no-where close to what I experienced with BMW, most likely because of the mid-engine setup, so I passed on winter tires and was able to live with it for 3 years (i did not commute but drove it on snowy days many times). To be clear I was always overly careful and slow whenever on snowy roads, but have not felt out of control like i did in the beemer. Now Taycan weight distribution feels very similar to Cayman. I tried to get a feel on traction by playing with throttle and break pedals when the roads looked slippery (cold, wet etc) and Taycan feels a lot more like the Cayman in all those conditions where 3 series would be immediately tail happy. The weight (and likely added weight with the PB+!) sits more towards rear (believe it is 54% Rear), really helps. Chicago land is very flat. I think it is pretty manageable. If not and you drive a lot you can always get winter tires then it will be a beast. Finally if snow performance is a consideration, 20 inch wheels will likely perform even better vs 21s given they come with narrower tire width, which means more pressure and better performance on snow. Hope this helps.

 

[xyeahtony]

The majority of cars on the road in snowy climates are FWD/RWD cars. Not everyone who lives in the north drives an AWD car, and they do fine. As long as you have decent tires or drive on salted roads you're fine. As stated above, a car with RWD driving with snow tires will do better than an AWD car driving with summer tires.

 

[DavidD]

Thanks to everyone. Like many of you, my dealer thinks I will do just fine with RWD and all-seasons. Still not sure what to do. (My dealer says I can even slot over to a CT...there are too many awesome choices!)

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