Recent Experience with Tacoma and Snow

Do you really expect us to believe that in an emergency situation you have time to reach down and find the "bypass switch". If you had time to do that then you weren't in a any real danger of hitting the Volvo.

 

I have been happy with the snow performance of my 2013 Tacoma. I have been driving Grand Cherokees for the past 8 years and a Cherokee for 6 years before that. The feel of the truck is very similar to the Cherokee and I am enjoying having a little more latitude to "goof" around. The Grand Cherokee was impossible to slide or skid etc, the traction control and quadra drive just kept it going straight no matter what (ice does not apply of course). I always put winter tires on my vehicle.

My own opinion is that people should go out and find an open space somewhere after the first snowfall and spend 20 minutes sliding around. It gives you a feel for the traction systems and the dynamics of the vehicle so you understand them and can work with them. When I was learning to drive my father would take me out to a local shopping center that did not have light posts in the middle of the parking lot after the snow fell. We would get going about 60 and he would yonk the e brake and give the wheel a little tug and sit back and tell me to recover from whatever chaos he had caused.

I am having a blast with the truck the really really early winter and it handles way better than expected.

 

Also worth noting whether the truck's bed was full of snow...this significantly aids in traction.

 

Yep. Takes a little longer than thinking oh shit! Big difference when you know your vehicle, how it responds to different situations, and how to drive. I had to go from 55-ish down to about 5 and by the time I got down to a roll I was about 2 feet from the Volvo. Had ABS still been in control I would have shortened it a bit. I've been driving in snow for 25 years primarily in 4x4 toyota trucks and BMW's. Never have I had an issue with stopping in any of the BMW's I have owned with ABS. Yet in every Toyota truck I've had with ABS I have rolled into intersections hundreds of times in the snow, rolled past my corner, etc. They can't seem to make an ABS system that actually allows the vehicle to stop once it engages. And I've always had good tires too. Their ABS systems just suck. Once a single wheel starts to slip you lose all braking power.

 

What is abs and traction control? I just keep good distance and slow down ahead of time. I am a bad example of a snow driver though, since I usually am trying to slide sideways down the road on purpose.

 

I think it's more driver experience and skill then electronic goodies. I grew up in Michigan and saw my fair share of snow and never have a problem in it.

I get a feel for my truck, the road conditions, and then drive appropriately for the conditions. Usually I'm going faster then all the other people on the road and never have a problem with close calls. Only rarely is ABS activated and it's ultra rare that traction control kicks in without them being planned occurrences .

For what it's worth I'm using the stock Dunlop tires that came on my SR5.