Extreme Winter Driving pros and cons with Taycan

[bsclywilly]

Did someone say plow?

Got my aero wheel covers on too.

I’ve actually found the grill flaps to be closed most if not all the time driving in the winter. Surprised to see very little debris in front of the radiators after driving in some pretty crazy conditions.

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[BJCanadaMax]

Did someone say plow?

Got my aero wheel covers on too.

I’ve actually found the grill flaps to be closed most if not all the time driving in the winter. Surprised to see very little debris in front of the radiators after driving in some pretty crazy conditions.

Pretty jealous at all the snow you got. It was like this in Toronto last year. In a way, sad...

 

[Jonathan S.]

Wouldn’t the air vents in the front get clogged with snow when you plow through the snow?

I didn’t think to look at that. After pulling out of the trailhead parking lot, I drove only about six minutes to lunch, then six minutes home. So if the snow was causing any problems, I probably wasn’t driving enough to notice them.

 

[JerryLNK]

"Unlike an ICE car, it never heats up on the hood, undercarriage etc. This can lead to snow build up in wheels, on hood and other cracks and crevices since there is no melting while driving. After three days of wet snow during day and freezing at night there was considerable accumulation."

I was confused at first on Sunday when I was driving home in a snowstorm and my hood stayed all snowy ... then I remembered, oh yeah, no engine up there!

Otherwise, no complaints.

Here's a pic of my CT in the snow when we returned from backcountry skiing to the trailhead.
The entirely unplowed trailhead parking lot, with about a foot of snow.

You can see how the front end has been acting like a plow as I pulled into the lot, in Gravel Mode with the Lift height setting.

Super easy though blasting out (with 20" Michelin CrossClimate2 tires).
TikTok here from my social media consultant (i.e., our teenage daughter), with skiing so good that a friend came all the way from Richmond Virginia!
(Actually, he came all that way for the ski mountaineering race I had organized the prior day, but he *stayed* for the powder!)

I took note that you have 20" Michelin CrossClimate2 tires. I have been researching those as a Pirelli Cinturato P7 replacement, which came with my car. Your picture answers my question about the CrossClimate's on snow!

 

[JerryLNK]

I drive into the Canadian ski mountains weekly with my Taycan 4S CT and point out the following for those doing winter driving research:

Pro's

• Traction is excellent, better than my Macan. Also observed on my Tesla, the Taycan power deliver seems much smarter that mechanical differentials.
  • You can literally launch control on snowy roads and the car will accelerate straight and smoothly at its traction limit.
• Gravel Mode apparently provides more "wheel lock" so all four wheels deliver more power rather than the one(s) with most traction. Good for snowy hills, getting unstuck etc.
• Preheating is excellent and responsive.

Cons:

• Unlike an ICE car, it never heats up on the hood, undercarriage etc. This can lead to snow build up in wheels, on hood and other cracks and crevices since there is no melting while driving. After three days of wet snow during day and freezing at night there was considerable accumulation.
• Snow or ice always builds up in the gap where wiper blades rest which can become a problem after a few days.
• The rear window fairing and rear hatch have very tight tolerances leading to binding if ice accumulates here. Need to be careful not to open truck until this area is clear. It seems that it's possible to cause damage.
• Charge port opens sideways so it doesn't create a "roof" for the port. Ice and snow can accumulate in the port area over night.
• Preheat doesn't enable front and rear defrost.

Hope that helps.

I appreciate your post, @Socket part number 176636. Curious, what tires are you using? Thank you, and keep on traveling!

 

[Jonathan S.]

I took note that you have 20" Michelin CrossClimate2 tires. I have been researching those as a Pirelli Cinturato P7 replacement, which came with my car. Your picture answers my question about the CrossClimate's on snow!

I've also put a full winter season on them with my A6 Allroad.

This included a memorable morning when I was driving out early to direct a ski mountaineering race on an epic powder day. Only other vehicles on the roads were the four P: participants in the race, patrollers for the race, plow trucks, and police cruisers.

Overall, sure felt like a Central European / “Performance” winter tire, but with the benefit of year-round use. Any tire is of course a compromise, but the CC2 is such a perfect compromise for anyone who seeks out snow yet isn't driving through, say, the deep unplowed snow of Tahoe, or on the ice of Calgary.

 

[Därk]

Agree, my GTS is very impressive on snow.

Heater is very powerful too.

Found out about the hatch issue the hard way. No damages though as far as I can tell.

 

[pio]

-5 degree Celsius here in NL. After I drove 130 km, back 130 km, I arrived home with 12% state of charge.

Then I noticed that my right side charge port would not open (I have the manual version). So, if I would have been on a longer trip, a HPC session would have been problematic?

I decided to run my charging cable under the car to the other side, which opened normally. But the left side would not have been suitable for a HPC charge, hmm, not good.

I think something got stuck due to the cold weather. I did try to open & close the left side (so you can hear the other side click). But that did not help either.

I haven't heard any similar stories (here) so my problem with the charging port must be rare?

Also, since temperatures dropped below -2, one of the parking sensors is now in constant error (it thinks I am about to hit something). I will have that looked after really soon, because it's quite annoying.

Cheers!
(PS snow is expected next week, wheee...)

 

[pio]

Another thing I want to mention, pre heating is setup a bit too aggressive (in my opinion), I find heating up the battery to 30 degress Celsius is a bit too much and a waste of energy. Also, it appears the car wants to pre heat for 30 minutes (?) or so. Next time I will do this manually and I think 5-10 minutes should be just fine.

 

[Scandinavian]

Did someone say plow?

Got my aero wheel covers on too.

I’ve actually found the grill flaps to be closed most if not all the time driving in the winter. Surprised to see very little debris in front of the radiators after driving in some pretty crazy conditions.

Do your grill flaps close when it’s cold.
I have never seen my flaps closed! Guess that is one for service to check.

My consumption driving in wintry Sweden and Norway is 30 -34 kWh per 100 km. which seems very high. And the air intakes are fully open and now very dirty with salt and Schmitz

 

[RKZ]

Actually super fun four wheel drifting and donuts

You have enough snow in Vancouver to do donuts and drifting? Have had the pleasure of being in Vancouver many times through the seasons and wouldn't have guess that! Happy you enjoyed the experience!

 

[bsclywilly]

Do your grill flaps close when it’s cold.
I have never seen my flaps closed! Guess that is one for service to check.

My consumption driving in wintry Sweden and Norway is 30 -34 kWh per 100 km. which seems very high. And the air intakes are fully open and now very dirty with salt and Schmitz

I suspect the cooling flaps operate on a similar algorithm as other Porsche cars (see below description for 991. Below 9mph they're always open which explains why you never see them closed. I noticed that the tops of the flaps are alot dirtier since they face forward when closed.

 

[Socket part number 176636]

You have enough snow in Vancouver to do donuts and drifting? Have had the pleasure of being in Vancouver many times through the seasons and wouldn't have guess that! Happy you enjoyed the experience!

Not usually but almost always in Whistler an hour away! The drive up can be pretty messy and two feet of snow overnight is not unusual.

 

[Socket part number 176636]

I appreciate your post, @Socket part number 176636. Curious, what tires are you using? Thank you, and keep on traveling!

I am using continental winter contact TS860 s
255x19 front and 275x19 rear.
Winter tires are always tough to optimize. Deep snow you want narrow high profile with more of a lug. Frozen asphalt and ice you want wider and less tread.
I have a 1982 911sc on basically tractor tires and it is greet in deep snow.

 

[Socket part number 176636]

You have enough snow in Vancouver to do donuts and drifting? Have had the pleasure of being in Vancouver many times through the seasons and wouldn't have guess that! Happy you enjoyed the experience!

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