Hello,

I am contemplating the purchase of a continental but I live a snowy area....
Do some of you have experience with snow driving the Conti?

(I know there was already a post in 2009 on this topic).

 

Hi Fred,

I drove mine this past winter in Canada with snow tires and worked really well.

The AWD system is really good. I never experienced any loss of traction.

Make sure you have winter tires. It will be dangerous to drive this car without snow tires even if there is any slight build-up of snow/ice on the road.

Be sure to use your brake liberally and early as the car is very heavy and generates a large momentum.

 

Have PLENTY of experience in the snow with an 06 GT and 07 GTC and they are both excellent when using Blizzak LM60 tires. The tire specs handle the immense weight of the car and the all-important traction was excellent up to about 6 inches of snow and still usable in 12 inches. Of course 'snow' can vary from dry and fluffy to wet and slushy so keep actual conditions in mind. I'd suggest mounting your winter tires on one-piece rims, as sand and salt can do undesirable things to multi-piece rims. In some ways I prefer driving in the snow as you can do some fun 'handling clinic' driver testing in the snow at 'sane' speeds that are simply not do-able in the dry/wet. Of course all the usual caveats of driving in snow/ice such as lower traction capabilities, longer braking distances, rewards for smoother driving skills, etc.


Have fun

 

Hi,
I actually went up in the worst snow-storm tis side of the pond, when I collected the car brandnew from the dealers in UK. All roads were covererd with min. 2 inches of snow.
After many hours of delay I managed to take the last -because of excessive snowfall- going cartrain to France ( next train got stuck in the Chunnel , a tunnel under the sea, for several hours), where things were even worse. It was nearly impossible to get off the train and onto the ramp. It was about midnight with no visability due to the snowfall and the first car of the convoy really took an old service road that ended in a pasture about three meter deeper. All cars - me included- followed. We were forced to try to get the car 3Meter up to the ramp, on grass covered in thick snow. Workers from the Chunnel thredded the snow and tried to push each car up the very steep hill. When it was my turn I had seen some akward thing. Especially the front-wheel driven cars did'nt make it and slided backt into the pasture.
When the push-team came to my car I asked them to step back ( as I was afraid that they would push dents in my brand new car with only 40miles). To everybody's surprise the car just went straight up the hill, even without noticibly spinning the wheels. I saw the unbelief in the eyes of the drivers in the line I passed....
On the roads to my hotel there was literally no traffic: all trucks and most cars (also 4X4) were parked for the night on the curb/emergency lane. The 'B' never skidded and plowed its way without 'blinking an eye'. Ofcourse the tires were new!
Next day I drove home (about 250kms) on snowed highways. On straits I did 70-90kms/hr. Never a problem.
I also drive a Range Rover for several years. The ride in the GTC was much firmer, especially in -tight- turns . So now it's my favorite car to take out in the snow.
christian

 

Thanks for all your answers, very encouraging. I will try two different ones tomorrow, never drove any so I am eager to see what it's like....