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Snow Mode


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Well I done 200 miles with it on the other day, and on the motorway in 6th (manual), you could notice the mpg needle staying resonably steady.

I tried on a nice flat stretch of road going along at a steady 60, and when i push the snow buttom the needle would shoot up about 10 mpg.

So i think it does make a difference

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Well I done 200 miles with it on the other day, and on the motorway in 6th (manual), you could notice the mpg needle staying resonably steady.

I tried on a nice flat stretch of road going along at a steady 60, and when i push the snow buttom the needle would shoot up about 10 mpg.

So i think it does make a difference

I do a LOT of motorway miles, and - although this is probably the best type of journey for MPG in the Lex, I get through a full tank every 4 days (64 quid!), totalling nearly 250 per month. This, with a new house and more bills, has meant that my only other option would be a ...... diesel.

:crybaby:

..the is220 is a bit outta my price-range right now (although there are good models to be had), so I've stuck the snow button on for about a week now - I filled up on Thursday morning last week and I've still got enough to get me to work and back tomorrow - I reckon it's given me an extra days worth of journey, which is about the same as the Diesel Focus I had during a recent bit of insurance repair (although I was driving that pretty badly because it was a bit crap)

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i managed to get 460 miles (give or take 5) on a full tank from aberdeen to Horsham(west sussex) when i came home for xmas. i did have to refuel just b4 the m25 but half the country on 1 tank is pritty good in my book. got around 420 on the way back but i had alot of presents :blush:

next time i go home.. if i drive, ill whack snow mode on and see what happens.

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some people seem to believe when they press the snow button it transforms the is200 into a "4x4 go anywhere vehicle" with james bond style tyre spikes but then still compain that the car slips/skids when driving on snow or ice with summer tyres :rolleyes:

yes that is a bit of sarcasm and not aimed at anyone on this thread.......

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some people seem to believe when they press the snow button it transforms the is200 into a "4x4 go anywhere vehicle" with james bond style tyre spikes but then still compain that the car slips/skids when driving on snow or ice with summer tyres :rolleyes:

yes that is a bit of sarcasm and not aimed at anyone on this thread.......

I know all too well, I've already written off one is200 on the ice (fish tail, fish tail, spin, spin, backwards into a tree) and I'm still "clenching" in the new one whenever there's mud on the road .. :)

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I find i often get through fuel rather quickly, and will test the SNOW button to see if it has any effect.

I know i went from exeter to bristol and back last night - 150mile round trip. Took almost half a tank, around £30. So trying to do the maths... comes to around 25 mpg. Not great, but not too bad, considering. Did it in about 50 mins eash way, so the average speed is pushing 100mph, with the supercharger whiring away.

I was worried that the supercharger would drink fuel, but my old Celica (normaly aspirated 2 litre) was about the same.

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  • 2 weeks later...

On my Auto the Snow Mode doesn't seem to do anything to the gearbox. It still seems to start in 1st gear. I think it just makes the ECU less responsive to the gas pedal. I seem to get about half the power for the same pedal movement. This makes it much easier to dose the power for smooth starts on ice.

It does help to make the wee beastie into a go anywhere 4x4 supercar. A few weeks ago I was driving uphill on one inch thick sheet ice and happily passed a Jeep spinning all four wheels and slowly sliding back down the hill. The TSC, top notch winter tyres, and the sandbags in the back probably helped too!

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Isn't the Snow button the same as a Hold button?

It's for when you are decending a long hill. Normally an auto gearbox would keep changing up and the car would go faster and faster. You'd have to apply the brake to slow the car down as there's no engine breaking. If you use the Snow button it'll apply engine braking (I think this is the key) so that you can control the car on the engine.

Unfortunately I live in Suffolk - never snows and there's no hills...

Cheers

jack

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The snow mode changes (reduces) the throttle response to prevent wheel spins from stand still. It's more noticeable in the auto I would imagine as this removes the variability from the driver when bringing the clutch out on a manual. You can certainly feel the difference. If you're in traffic and turn the snow mode on then it makes the initial take-off much more smooth when you dab the accelerator.

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Isn't the Snow button the same as a Hold button?

It's for when you are decending a long hill. Normally an auto gearbox would keep changing up and the car would go faster and faster. You'd have to apply the brake to slow the car down as there's no engine breaking. If you use the Snow button it'll apply engine braking (I think this is the key) so that you can control the car on the engine.

Unfortunately I live in Suffolk - never snows and there's no hills...

Cheers

Jack

I thought U just took it out of drive and into one of the numbered gears on auto to stop it changing all the way up when going downhill?

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Snow mode doesn't help downhill - the auto will happily change up and roll as normal. You need to either pop the gear lever down to 3 etc, or better switch to manual and choose 4,3,2 depending on the conditions.

I've been using snow mode a lot recently - we've had over 50 inches of snow this winter. I agree with Durg, it's all about throttle response and no influence on the gearbox. I wish it would influence the gearbox, being able to start in 2nd or even 3rd would be useful at times. I also use snow mode sometimes on the I-94 during the morning rush hour crawl - it makes the car much smoother in slow traffic.

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Rory - you are right. I thought it ridiclous that I was driving a car where I didn't know what certain buttons were for, so after trying them on the way home (to no avail) i dug out the user guide and it does state that it controls the throttle...

Looking forward to some snow.

Cheers

jack

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